Richardson Clover was appointed to the United States Naval Academy from Missouri in July 1863 and graduated in 1867.

[1][3][4][5][6][7][n 1] Following a year's leave accompanying his marriage, Clover was posted to the torpedo station at Newport and then attended the Naval War College from September 1887 until January 1888.

Subsequently, he was posted to the cruiser Chicago, serving as executive officer under Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan, author of The Influence of Sea Power upon History.

Clover was also member of the War and Strategy Board established by the Secretary of the Navy John D. Long to provide him with operational and strategic advice.

In the period leading up to the Spanish–American War, Clover organized intelligence-gathering efforts to establish the location, condition, and order of battle of the Spanish naval forces.

After a short hiatus at home he became the commanding officer of the battleship Wisconsin from January 1904 to December 1905, while for most of this time also serving as Chief-of-Staff of the Asiatic Fleet.

Then after a one-year hiatus he became a member, then the president of the Board of Inspection and Survey from February 1907 to July 1908, during which he was promoted to rear admiral.

[1][3][16][19][20][21] Clover died on October 14, 1919, aboard a Union Pacific train, west of Cheyenne, Wyoming[22] while en route from San Francisco, California to Washington, D.C.[21] He is buried with his wife in Arlington National Cemetery.

She was the daughter of Senator John F. Miller from California, the wealthy former head of the Alaska Commercial Company.

Beatrice married Thomas Holcomb, who served as Commandant of the United States Marine Corps during the early part of World War II.