Davis, Benjamin Franklin, 1831-1863
Born in Alabama, Davis was the eldest of six sons born to Benjamin E. and Matilda Holladay Davis between 1831 and 1843. Matilda Davis died in 1843. Benjamin E. Davis died in June 1846. Benjamin Davis and his five younger brothers became wards of an uncle, William Taylor, who lived in Monroe County, Mississippi. Davis was appointed from Mississippi to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, graduating in 1854. Among his classmates were Jeb Stuart, Stephen H. Weed, Oliver Otis Howard and William Dorsey Pender. Davis was originally assigned to the 5th U. S. Infantry but transferred to the 1st. U. S. Dragoons March 3, 1855. Wounded while fighting the Apache in frontier New Mexico, Davis served with the dragoons in New Mexico and California. He was a captain with the 1st Dragoons when he was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 1st California Volunteer Cavalry Battalion on August 19, 1861. He commanded this battalion until he resigned on November 1, 1861, to return east with the 1st U.S. Cavalry. At the outbreak of war, Davis decided to stay with the Union, and was promoted to captain, 1st U.S. Cavalry Regiment, July 30, 1861. Davis had three brothers who served in the Confederate States Army, two with the 11th Mississippi Infantry and a third in the 2nd Mississippi. Neither brother who served with the 11th Mississippi survived the war. The brother who served with the 2nd Mississippi survived the war but took his own life several years after hostilities ceased.
Commissioned colonel of the 8th New York Cavalry Regiment on June 25, 1862, Davis was leading that unit on September 14, stationed with the defending force at Harpers Ferry, after the town had been invested by troops under Stonewall Jackson. Finding his commanding officer Col. Dixon S. Miles unable to protect the force from bombardment and ready to surrender his troops, Davis and fellow officer Lt. Col. Hasbrouck Davis with his 12th Illinois Cavalry determined to fight their way out northward out of the encirclement.
...
| Publication Date | Publishing Account | Status | Note | View |
|---|---|---|---|---|
2023-09-14 08:09:24 am |
Jesse Wilinski |
published |
User published constellation |
|
2023-08-23 12:08:15 pm |
Jesse Wilinski |
published |
User published constellation |
|
2022-01-26 11:01:00 am |
Jesse Wilinski |
published |
User published constellation |
|
2022-01-26 11:01:58 am |
Jesse Wilinski |
published |
User published constellation |
|
2016-08-13 07:08:53 am |
System Service |
published |
||
2016-08-13 07:08:53 am |
System Service |
ingest cpf |
Initial ingest from EAC-CPF |
|
