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W. P. Davis, 2nd Louisiana Inf.

Greg Coco's book, Gettysburg's Confederate Dead, lists W. P. Davis of Company K, 2nd Louisiana Infantry as having died in the ranks at Gettysburg. Davis was buried on George Wolf's farm "under an oak tree near a fence, near the Gatehouse on the York road." Davis was reinterred to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond on 3 August 1872. Now John B. Linn was a Lieutenant in the 51st Pennsylvania who was recovering at home when the battle was being fought, but determined to visit the field afterwards. His experiences were printed in The Civil War Times Illustrated of Sep/Oct 1990. Linn arrived on 7 July on the road from York, and when about two miles from the town he crossed the fields to the left (south) of the road. Linn came across a grave marked "W. P. D. 2nd Louisiana," and nearby saw "his little tin bucket, cartridge box, coat, contents of his haversack were lying about, and near the fence the shell that killed him." Linn pocketed a cartridge from the box. However, I'm not sure how Linn deduced that the shell he saw was responsible for killing Davis. Johnson's Division did sustain a very few casualties in the artillery duel on late 2 July while waiting to attack Culp's Hill. It is perhaps more likely that Davis was wounded during the charge that evening or morning of the next day and was brought back to a field hospital on Wolf's farm, where he died. In any event, Linn provides one of the few detailed descriptions of the area surrounding a soldier's gravesite at Gettysburg.

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W. P. Davis, 2nd Louisiana Inf.
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