Willis,Daniel Hubbard and Julia Ann Graham Willis, Family of;
Rapides, Louisiana
Submitter of Org. File: Randy Willis
Submitter of Text File: Jo Branch
Date: 28 Jun 2004




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Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. in the Civil War
 
Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. enlisted, September  29, 1861, at Camp Moore, La.,  in the Confederate Army as a Pvt. 5th. Company Battalion,  Washington Artillery of  Louisiana.  He was  (Mar.  16, 1864)  in  Raxdale's Company E, 16th. La. Regiment, Gibson's Brigade, Army of  Tennessee.  He was promoted to  2nd Sergt.  on  Mar.  5, 1865.  He was captured and made a prisoner of  war.  Daniel was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi on May 14, 1865.   (Also see Andrew B. Booth,  "Records of  Louisiana Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands,"  (New Orleans, La. 1920) Vol. I: 1115)
 
Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. fought in many of the great battles of the Civil War, including  Shiloh, Bull Run, Perryville, Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga. 
 
Excerpts from Daniel H. Willis, Jr.'s obituary: Alexandria Town Talk,  23 June 1900:  "He participated in all the hard battles of  that army and for bravery, soldierly  bearing, discipline and devotion to duty, he was unexcelled in his entire Brigade.  He was made Orderly Sergeant of  his Company at an early period of the war.  It has always been said by his surviving comrades that when any particularly dangerous service was required, such as scouting parties to ascertain the position and movements of the enemy, he was always selected for the place, and never hesitated to go, let the danger be what it may.

He was for a long time connected with the famous Washington Artillery, and at the battle of Chicamauga so many horses of the battery to which he was attached were killed that they had to pull the guns off the field by hand to keep  them from falling in the hands of the enemy.

He was paroled at Meridian, Miss.,  in May of  1865, and brought home with him a copy of General Gibson's farewell address to his soldiers and of him it can be truly said that through the remaining years of his life he followed the advice  then given by his beloved commander.

His love for the Southern cause, and for the men who wore the gray, was not  dimmed by years, but he lived and died firmly convinced of the justice of the  cause for which the South poured out so much of her best blood and treasure...Before death he expressed a wish that he might see his children who were at home, especially Randall L., his baby boy, whom he had named in honor of his beloved Brigadier General, Randall Lee Gibson.  He also requested that his Confederate badge be pinned on his breast and buried with him."
 
Gibson,  later helped establish Tulane University and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1883. I was named after my grandfather,  Randall Lee Willis,  who was named after Randall Lee Gibson,  in 1886.  Current, ed.,  "Encyclopedia of the Confederacy"  (also see "Army of  Tennessee Louisiana Division The Association and Tumulus"  by Jerry Johnson Wier, The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana,  1999).