Greenlee Davidson

Son of wealthy lawyer and planter James D Davidson (1808-1882), in 1860 he was a 25 year old attorney living with his parents, 6 siblings, and 10 slaves at Lexington in Rockbridge County, VA. He was briefly an aide-de-camp to Governor John Letcher in 1861 as Lieutenant Colonel of Cavalry, then enrolled on 17 February 1862 in Richmond, VA and was appointed the original Captain of the Letcher Artillery. The battery had a reputation of being formed among the lower strata of society. Captain Davidson wrote "I have a very desperate & unruly set of men."

He and his battery remained at Harpers Ferry after the surrender on 15 September 1862. They were not at Sharpsburg on the 17th.

He was mortally wounded in action at Hazel Grove, near Chancellorsville, VA on 3 May 1863.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3, which says he was killed outright at Chancellorsville. The quote above from Peter S Carmichael's The Purcell, Crenshaw & Letcher Artillery (1991). Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860. His gravesite is on Findagrave. His picture from a photograph in the collection of the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, VA.

He was probably born James Greenlee (his maternal grandfather's name) Davidson, but dropped the James as an adult.

Governor Letcher named his 12th and final child Greenlee Davidson Letcher (1867-1954) in the Captain's honor.

His journal and other papers are in the Rockbridge Historical Society Collection.

06/21/1834; Lexington, VA

05/03/1863; Chancellorsville, VA; burial in Oak Grove Cemetery, Lexington, VA