The
Military Career of General W.W.H. Davis
Submitted
by Layne Blavier
W.W. Davis was
a well-educated man who had extensive schooling in his pre-adolescent
and teenage years. His military career began at the early age of ten when
he enlisted in a local militia unit called the Liberty Guards. As a young
adult Davis attended the Norwich University, a military school in Norwich
Vermont. Upon his graduation he was appointed military instructor at the
Military School in Portsmouth Virginia.
When the Mexican War erupted Davis enlisted as a private in the 1st Mass
Infantry where he quickly rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant, due in no
doubt to his military training and schooling. During the war his responsibiliti
es
increased, as he was Aide-de-Camp, then Assistant Adjutant General,
next he was Commissary Officer, until finally he was mustered out in 1848
as Captain of Co. E 1st Mass Infantry. ..13
years later when the guns of war sounded, Citizen Davis again offered
his services to the United States. With the rank of Captain, Davis led
Co I of the 25th Pa Regiment, a company he raised in the 24 hrs following
the bombardment of Fort Sumter. The 25th was also known as the "First
Defenders". They were a 3-month unit with the distinction of being
the first troops to pass through Baltimore following the riots. Previously
rioters in Baltimore, who were Southern sympathizers, violently vented
their displeasure on the Union troops marching through town while answering
President Lincoln's call for the defense of Washington D.C. The deadly
confrontation prompted the army to begin shuttling troops through Baltimore
in the middle of the night to avoid anymore-possible bloodshed of civilians
or military personnel. The 25th's journey through Baltimore passed without
incident. After service on the Upper Potomac, Captain Davis was mustered
out of the 25th in July of 1861. Upon his return home Davis began raising
the 104th Pa Vol. Regiment composed primarily of Bucks County residents.
Davis became the Colonel of the 104th in a way that was, according to
the Doylestown Democrat, "unique among commanders of the Civil War."
Davis was not mustered in as Colonel in the usual way; instead he mustered
himself in by "taking the oath of allegiance before Squire John B.
Pugh, of Doylestown." Be that as it may, Colonel Davis quickly gathered
and trained the troops he would soon lead into battle. Davis and the 104th
were bivouacked in Washington D.C. where Davis was put in command of a
Provisional Brigade consisting of the 52nd Pa, 56th NY, and his own 104th
Pa. Davis was given the title of Provisional Brigadier General although
still officially a Colonel. This would start a trend in which Colonel
Davis served as Brigade or Divisional Commander without actually being
promoted to Brigadier or Major General. He remained a Colonel throughout
his service in the war despite letter campaigns by his superiors to have
him promoted to Brigadier General. It wasn't until March of 1865, after
his military service ended, that Colonel Davis was Brevetted to Brigadier
General.
On Saturday, May 31st 1862 Colonel Davis and the 104th experienced their
deadliest encounter of the war. Positioned at the front of George McClellan's
Army near the outskirts of Richmond Virginia, the 104th became engaged
in a fierce struggle against the counterattacking defenders of that Southern
city. Facing overwhelming odds and lacking support, the104th was driven
back across the casualty-strewn field. In the confusion the regimental
colors were left behind. Colonel Davis seeing this, organized a squad
to retrieve the flags before they could fall into enemy hands. A mad dash
followed by close combat yielded the colors to the men of the 104th ,
but not before Davis and others were wounded. A severe wound to the left
elbow forced Colonel Davis away from the front for a short period of recuperation.
This heroic struggle led to the decoration of Hiram Purcell with the Medal
of Honor.
Davis rejoined the 104th in time to be transported with them to Charleston
S.C. While assigned to this area of operation, Colonel Davis was stationed
on Morris Island, Folly Island, and James Island just some of the many
islands that ring the Charleston Harbor. In this theater, Davis would
take command of Brigades, Divisions, and at times entire Union forces.
One assignment given to Davis and the 104th by General Gilmore, the commander
of the Dept. of the South, was to have cut, four hundred 11-1/2 ft long
by 5-inch dia poles for the mounting of a gun to be used to bombard the
City of Charleston. Known as the "Swamp Angle" this 200 lb Parrot
Rifle was to be located in an impenetrable marsh near Morris Island. The
poles supplied were driven into the bottomless swamp and became the foundation
for the battery that would eventually lob shells into the city. In one
of Davis' lectures he tells a funny story concerning the daunting task
of working in the muck and mire. "The active work, of building the
battery, was assigned to a Lieutenant of the New York Engineers, and when
the place was pointed out to him, by his Colonel, he said it was impossible,
to which the Colonel replied, "there is no such word as impossible"
and said the battery must be built there. This settled the question, and,
to encourage the doubting Lieutenant the Colonel authorized him to call
for anything he might need; whereupon the Lieutenant made requisition
for "one hundred men, eighteen feet tall to wade through mud twelve
feet deep." This little bit of pleasantry cost the Lieutenant his
arrest, but he was soon released and the battery was built by men of ordinary
stature." On Morris Island, he took part in the final and successful
assault of Fort Wagner site of the earlier defeat of the 54th Mass Colored
Inf. A portion of the 104th which he designated "Boat Infantry"
were later tasked with "prowling around the harbor of Charleston
trying to intercept the enemy's relief for Sumter." On one instance
the men brought back to Davis a brick from the demolished walls of the
still Confederate occupied fort. General Davis was later put in sole command
of Morris Island and it's nearly 10,000-man detachment. From this post
he was transferred to command of the Middle District, a large sector,
which included Hilton Head Island and the crucially important Fort Pulaski.
....Following a leave of absence, Colonel Davis
returned again to command troops stationed around the Charleston Harbor
area. While on reconnaissance during the siege of Charleston, Davis was
struck in the hand by fragments of an exploding shell. The fingers on
his right hand were carried away by the blast. Again he was sent home
to recuperate from his wounds. Following his recovery, Davis was ordered
to Philadelphia to sit on the General Court Martial board, an assignment
he would continue until being mustered out of service.
Following the cessation of hostilities, General Davis' opinions on reconstruction
paralleled those of the late President Lincoln. In a letter to the city
of Harrisburg's 4th of July celebration committee in 1865 he wrote, "Let
conciliation and generosity be the ruling policy; let the people of the
South be treated as erring citizens and not as implacable foes. Let there
be neither confiscation nor hanging for political offenses; let justice
everywhere be largely tempered with mercy." In the years following
the war Davis was instrumental in gathering funds for the erection of
the 104th Monument in the center of Doylestown. He was also active in
the organization of his regiment's reunions. These gatherings were held
at various locations around Bucks County; from Quakertown to Bristol and
from Hartsville to Frenchtown. As the years marched on and the veterans
passed away, the celebrations grew smaller and smaller. General William
Watts Hart Davis eventually joined his fallen comrades on December 26,
1910. General Davis spilled his blood while leading his men in defense
of our nation and because of this and his other contributions to society
we remember him here today.