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Note: census for 1850 name is Willis (16).
census for 1860 name is Wells, which agrees with his military enlistment papers, and with Elizabeth Wrick Davisson.
In the Civil War in the Union Army as a Corporal in the 6th West Virginia Cavalry, Company K. Enlisted 10 July 1861 at age 23. Killed in action at Droop Mountain on 6 November 1863.
(Annual report of the Adjutant General of the State of West Virginia 1864)
Droop Mountain Battlefield State Park is located in the Greenbrier River Valley north of Lewisburg and is the site of West Virginia's last significant Civil War battle.
On November 6, 1863, the federal army of Brigadier General William W. Averell, in his second attempt to disrupt the Virginia-Tennessee Railroad at Salem, Virginia, faced again the Confederate troops of Brigadier General John Echols. Throughout the morning, Echols' smaller confederate army held the high ground and blocked the highway with artillery, but in the afternoon was overwhelmed by the crushing advance of federal infantry on his left flank. Following the collapse of his lines, General Echols retreated south into Virginia with the remnants of his command.
The family believed he was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.
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