Collection: Thomas B. Davis collection

The Thomas B. Davis collection contains two items. The first is a letter from Davis to his sister, Mrs. Camillus Christian, dated March 22, 1863. This letter was written while Davis was a cadet at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, VA. In this letter he mentions activities at VMI, Civil War news ("a considerable cavalry fight on the Rappahannock"), the unusual late snows, and provides an early use of the term rat as a reference to new cadets ("The legislature is still cutting up about our maltreating the new cadets, or as we call them, Rats....says that we are a set of precocious youths who came here to avoid conscription"). The second item in the collection is a VMI cadet account book containing school expenses.

Dates

1862 - 1864

Creator

Davis, Thomas B. (Thomas Bowker), 1842-1864 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

There are no restrictions

Conditions Governing Use

There are no known restrictions. The user assumes all responsibility for identifying and satisfying any claimants of copyright. The VMI Archives must be cited as the source of the content in publication. Contact the VMI Archives for additional information.

Extent

2 items

Additional Description

Biographical / Historical

Thomas Bowker Davis was born in Lynchburg, Virginia in 1843 (some records show 1842). He entered the Virginia Military Institute in January 1862 and resigned in January 1864 in order to join the Confederate Army. Davis enlisted as a Private in Company D, 2nd Virginia Cavalry Regiment. He was wounded in action and captured on October 8, 1864 near Fisher's Hill; he died in prison on October 20.