Robert Davis

At age 16 he served as a Private in the First Massachusetts Infantry from 31 January to 15 July 1848 during the Mexican War. On 11 June 1858, by then a 26 year old farmer, he enlisted again, in Newport, RI in Company I, 2nd United States Infantry, and advanced from Private to Sergeant by 1862.

He was wounded by a gunshot to his right arm in action near the Middle Bridge at Antietam on 17 September 1862.

He was treated at the Locust Spring hospital on the Geeting Farm near Keedysville, MD, then at a US Army hospital in Frederick, MD from 22 to 27 September. He was then sent on to Washington, DC.

He was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 19 November 1862 (to date from 18 July) at Falmouth, VA, and was promoted to First Lieutenant on 20 October 1863. He was honored by brevet to Captain on 1 August 1864 for his actions at Spotsylvania and around Richmond, VA.

He remained in US Army service until retired on 18 July 1866 at the rank of Captain. His retired grade was reduced to First Lieutenant on 3 March 1875.

Service information from Heitman1 and the Register.2 Personal details from family genealogists. His gravesite is on Findagrave, source also his photograph (c. 1865), contributed by Jeffry Burden.

He married Mary Miranda Emerson (1837-) in February 1857 and they had a son, Henry (1858-). He married, secondly, Martha Ann Judson Beck (1831-1903) in December 1883.

04/29/1832; Needham, MA

12/30/1889; Lunenburg, MA; burial in Cambridge Cemetery, Cambridge, MA