FRANCIS, DAVID H. (1836~1907) David H. Francis, Confederate veteran, was born in Virginia in 1836. With the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and was mustered into Lieutenant Colonel Alexander W. Stark's Battalion B, 1st Corps Artillery, Army of Northern Virginia. According to his military records on file in the Virginia State Library, Francis was a sergeant in Captain William W. McComas' Battery in the Giles Artillery.
During the War, the Giles Artillery served in West Virginia and then moved into North Carolina, where they participated in the Battle of South Mills on April 19, 1862. Soon after, they returned to Virginia and were stationed on Chaffin's Bluff. Here, they spent the remainder of the War guarding the Confederate capitol, Richmond. On April 9, 1865, the men of Giles Artillery were surrendered at Appomattox.
In 1867, Francis, who never married, moved to Texas and eventually settled in Calvert, Robertson County, where he worked as a civil engineer. Suffering from a broken hip, he moved to Austin on February 28, 1905, to live in the Confederate Men's Home. He remained in there until his death on May 2, 1907. He was later buried in the Texas State Cemetery.
Information taken from: Charles E. Chambers, Virginia Confederates in Texas, (1993); Virginia Confederate Rosters, The Library of Virginia website, http://eagle.vsla.edu/conros/virtua-basic.html; Giles Artillery webpage, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Hills/1850/gilesarty.html; and Confederate Home Roster. |
Follow Us