David Emmons Johnston

(1845 - 1917)
Home State: Virginia
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 7th Virginia Infantry

Before the Antietam Campaign:
He enlisted 13 May 1861 at Giles Courthouse in Company D, and was promoted to Corporal on 28 April 1862. Wounded at Williamsburg, VA on 5 May 1862.

The remainder of the War:
Promoted to Sergeant July/Aug 1863. To Sgt.-Major 12/10/63. Wounded in the side at Gettysburg in the bombardment which preceded Pickett's charge on 3 July 1863, and captured. He was at the General Hospital West's Bldgs, and Chester. Exchanged in November 1863. Captured again at Sayler's Creek, VA on 6 April 1865 and held at Pt. Lookout. Took the Oath of Allegiance to the US on 28 June 1865.

After the War:
Lawyer in Pearlsburg, 1867. Lived in Princeton, WV 1870-1893. Prosecuting attorney, 1872-1876. State Senate, 1878. Judge, 9th Judicial Circuit, 1880-1888. To Bluefield, WV, 1893-1908. Democratic Presidential elector, 1896. Served in U.S. House of Representatives, 1899-1901. To Portland, OR in 1908. Lawyer in the pulp and paper mill industry, in Portland Trust Co., and Citizens' Bank.

Author of 3 books: History of Middle New River Settlements; Four Years a Soldier, and Story of a Confederate Boy in the Civil War.

References, Sources, and other notes:
Basic information from Riggs1. His photograph here from an online edition of Confederate Boy, hosted by UNC's Documenting the American South project.

Birth Date: 04/10/1845 Place of Birth: near Pearlsburg, VA
Death Date: 7/7/1917 Death Place: Portland, OR Burial Place: Lincoln Memorial Park, Portland, OR

Notes

1 Riggs, David F., 7th Virginia Infantry, Lynchburg (Va): H. E. Howard, Inc., 1982 [AotW citation 9732]

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