Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Daniel's Last Days

     Daniel Davis was born on the 15th of April in 1838 in Marlborough, NY to Charles Davis and Susan Lounsbury.  He and his brothers David and Ferris joined Company A of the NY 120th Regiment to fight for the Union side in the Civil War.
     Daniel enlisted on the 6th of August in 1862 and mustered out on the 22nd of August.  He bravely fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville and Gettysburg where he was wounded on the 2nd of July 1863.  A few months later, on October 12th, Daniel was taken prisoner at James City in Virginia.
     Belle Isle, VA with its pretty name was an island in the James River that served as a prison with harsh conditions.  This was where Daniel spent the last days of his life - wasting away from disease and malnutrition until he finally died.
     I don't know exactly when he died or where he is buried but I had one of those green leaves (hint) on ancestry.com which showed that Daniel is listed on the Find A Grave website.  The person who posted the information to the website had the correct information for Daniel as far as date of enlistment, mustering, etc and there was even a date of death.  I wondered how this person had the date of death and name of cemetery but no plot #.  According to the Find A Grave website, Daniel died on March 1,1865 and is buried in Richmond National Cemetery.  The cemetery's website does not have Daniel listed and it states that they received bodies from the Belle Isle Cemetery. Those were the first interred at the national cemetery.  Where did the person who posted Daniel's memorial get his information from? Did he get this from a list and if so and he doesn't have a plot # then how does he know that Daniel is actually buried there?  The date of death listed 1 March 1865 can't be correct because Daniel's widow, Olivia applied for pension in May of 1864.
     When did Daniel Davis die and where is he buried?