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W.D. DeSaussure
(1819 - 1863)
Home State: South Carolina
Education: South Carolina College, Class of 1838
Command Billet: Commanding Regiment
Branch of Service: Infantry
Before Sharpsburg
He practiced the law with his father (former U.S. Senator William Ford De Saussure) in Columbia and was a member of the 1st SC Regiment of Foot militia. He was Captain of Company H, Palmetto Regiment of SC Volunteers with service in the Mexican War from December 1846- June 1848, and was twice wounded at Churubusco in August 1847.
The town council of Columbia voted a splendid silver mounted sword to be presented to Capt. William D. DeSaussure on his return from Mexico as a mark of the admiration of his native town for his distinguished gallantry and noble bearing during his command of the company of volunteers from Columbia in the Mexican war.He served terms in the South Carolina legislature 1848-51 and 54-55. He was commissioned Captain in the 1st United States Cavalry on 3 March 1855 and saw service in the West.
On the Campaign
He commanded the regiment in Maryland.
The rest of the War
He was killed by a gunshot to his chest in action at Gettysburg, PA, near the Rose House, on 2 July 1863.
References & notes
His early service from Heitman.1 Mexican War details from Robarts' Mexican War Veterans: A Complete Roster (1887) [online]. The quote above from the Laurensville Herald of 16 June 1848. Personal details from family genealogists. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a photograph hosted online by Historical Data Systems, contributed by Michael Williams.
He married Mary Louisa Ravenel (1826-1887) in January 1860.
Birth
12/12/1819; Columbia, SC
Death
07/02/1863; Gettysburg, PA; burial in First Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Columbia, SC
1 Heitman, Francis Bernard, Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army 1789-1903, 2 volumes, Washington DC: US Government Printing Office, 1903, Vol. 1, pg. 369 [AotW citation 24854]