HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



49 



1861, and was the first military force to 

 pass through Baltimore after the riots of 

 April 19, 1861. The company being mus- 

 tered out at the end of their three months' 

 service, Captain Davis, by order of the 

 secretary of war, raised at Doylestovi^n the 

 One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, Penn- 

 sylvania Volunteers, and a battery known 

 at its inception as the "Ringgold Battery," 

 but later as "Durell's Battery," an excel- 

 lent history of which has lately been writ- 

 ten and published by Lieutenant Charles A. 

 Cuffel, of Doylestown. Colonel Davis went 

 to the front with his regiment November 6, 

 1861, and served throughout the war as its 

 colonel, though frequently filling positions 

 and exercising commands commensurate to 

 a much higher rank. His military record 

 during the civil war, as briefly summed up 

 from the records of the War Department, 

 is as follows : Captain Company I, Twenty- 

 fifth Pennsylvania Regiment (Doylestown 

 Guards), April 16, 1861, in the Shenandoah 

 Valley campaign; mustered out July 26, 

 1861 ; colonel One Hundred and Fourth 

 Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, Sep- 

 tember 5, 1861 ; provisional brigade com- 

 mander, November 11, 1861 ; commanding 

 First Brigade, Casey's Division, Fourth 

 Corps, November 30, 1861 ; wounded at 

 Fair Oaks, May 31, 1862 ; commanded First 

 Brigade, Second Division, Eighteenth 

 Corps, January II, 1863 (Second Division, 

 First Corps, March 10, 1863; commanded 

 United States forces at Port Royal Island, 

 South Carolina, May 27, 1862, post of Beau- 

 fort, South Carolina, June 14, 1863; First 

 Brigade, Terry's Division, July 8, 1863, at 

 siege of Charleston, S. C. ; commanded U. 



5. forces at Morris Island, South Carolina, 

 January 19, 1864; District of Hilton Head, 

 Port Pulaski, St. Helena and Tybee 

 Islands, South Carolina, April 18, 1864; 

 First Brigade. Hatch's Division, July 4, 

 1864; wounded at siege of Charleston, July 



6, 1864, losing fingers of right hand ; mus- 

 tered out September 30, 1864; brevetted 

 brigadier-general. United States Volun- 

 teers, March 13, 1865, "for meritorious ser- 

 vices during the operations against Charles- 

 ton, South Carolina." In connection with 

 the distinguished services rendered by Gen- 

 eral Davis in the operations before Charles- 

 ton we publish below a letter written by 

 Major General Gilmore, then in command 

 of the forces there, which shows in what 

 light his services were held by his superior 

 officers : 



"Headquarters, Department of the South, 

 "Folly Island, S. C, Nov. 26, 1863. 

 "Col. W. W. H. Davis. 104th Pa. Vol. Inf., 

 Commanding Brigade, Morris Island 



S. C. 



"Dear Sir :— Although entirely unsol- 

 icited by you, directly or indirectly, I deem 

 it my duty, as it is certainly a pleasure, on 

 the eve of your departure for a short leave 

 of absence in the North, to express to you, 

 officially, my high appreciation of the zeal, 

 intelligence, and efficiency which have 

 marked your conduct and service during 

 4-3 



the operations against the defences of 

 Charleston, still pending. Much of our 

 service here has been trying, indeed, upon 

 both officers and men, but I have been most 

 nobly sustained by all, and by none more 

 zealously than yourself. I wish you a suc- 

 cessful journey and a safe return to us. 



Very Respectfully, Your Obt. S'vt., 

 (Signed) Q. A. Gilmore, 



"Maj. Gen'l. Com'd'g." 



The above letter, received on the eve of 

 his departure for a short visit to his family 

 and friends in Bucks county, was an en- 

 tire and gratifying surprise to the general 

 and is -much prized by him. 



The One Hundred and Fourth passed 

 through the thick of the fight, and rendered 

 valiant service in the defense of the Union, 

 and left many of its numbers in their last 

 sleep under Southern skies. General Davis 

 was largely instrumental in securing the 

 erection of a monument to the memory of 

 his fallen comrades at Doylestown. 



At the close of the war General Davis re- 

 turned to the management and editorship 

 of the "Democrat." He was honorary com- 

 missioner of the United States to the Paris 

 Exposition in 1878; was Democratic candi- 

 date for congress from the seventh district 

 in 1882, and for the state at large in 1884. 

 In 1885 he was appointed by President 

 Cleveland United States pension agent at 

 Philadelphia, and filled that position for 

 four years. In the midst of a life of busi- 

 ness activity General Davis has devoted 

 much time to literary and historical work. 

 In addition to numerous lectures, addresses 

 and papers on historical and other subjects, 

 he is the author of the following publica- 

 tions, "El Gringo," 1857 ; "Spanish Con- 

 quest of New Mexico,"* 1869; "History of 

 One Hundred and Fourth Regiment, Penn- 

 sylvania Volunteers," 1866 ; "History of the 

 Hart Family of Bucks County," 1867 ; "Life 

 of. General John Lacev," 1868; "History of 

 Bucks County," 1876; '"Life of John Davis," 

 1886; "Doylestown Guards," 1887; "Cam- 

 paign of 1861. in the Shenandoah Valley," 

 1893; "The Fries Rebellion." 1899: "Doyles- 

 town, Old and New," 1904, and a revised 

 edition of the "History of Bucks County," 

 1905. All of these publications are consid- 

 ered the best authorities on the subjects 

 treated and most of them now bring in 

 the market double and treble their original 

 subscription price. General Davis has been 



*The eminent historian, George Bancroft, read the 

 entire manuscript of the " Spanish Conquest of New 

 Mexico" prior to its publication, and in a letter to 

 General Davis, from Berlin, under date of February 

 17, 1869, said: "You are the only American I know 

 who had the opportunity and the curiosity to investi- 

 gate the subject, and our new acquisition is rising so 

 rapidly in greatness and value that a new interest 

 attaches to the romantic career of the adventurers who 

 discovered it, and I trust that you will publish your 

 valuable work." Thomas A. Janvier, author of the 

 " Mexican Guide," and an extensive contributor to 

 Spanish-American literature, in a letter to the General 

 says: "Your history is one of the most scholarly and 

 thoroughly satisfying works in the whole range of 

 Spanish-American literature. It has the charm of 

 style of the old chroniclers, and much of their charm 

 of quaintness. with an exactneFS that is not, in all 

 cases, an old chronicler's characteristic." 



