The Old Willis Home Place (1906) The home of Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. & Julia Ann Graham Willis Babb's Bridge, Louisiana (near present-day Long Leaf, La.)

The Photo: Robert Kenneth "Ken" Willis, Sr. (b. 1877; d. 1951) has the reins in his hands, Robert's first wife Eulah Hilburn Willis (b. 1884; d. 1919 of the flu) is in the backseat. My great-grandmother (and Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr's wife) Julia Ann Graham Willis (b. 1845 d. 1936) is holding a fish and standing. Robert "Ken" and Eulah's baby girl Flossie Litton Willis (b. August 5, 1905) is held by an unknown lady. Flossie told me that this photo was taken on her first birthday in 1906. Footnote: Robert "Ken" Willis, Sr. after Eulah's death, married May Johnson, and had three sons. One of those sons, Robert "Bobby" Kenneth Willis, Jr., was the first soldier killed in action in World War II from Rapides Parish. He was killed on December 7, 1941. The Pineville American Legion Post was named in his honor. He is entombed in the USS Arizona at the bottom of Pearl Harbor.

My great-grandfather Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. in the Civil War

Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. & the 16th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry in the Civil War by Randall "Randy" Lee Willis Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. (born 2 APRIL 1839; died 22 MAY 1900) enlisted, September 29, 1861, at Camp Moore, Louisiana, (Camp Moore Confederate Cemetery and Museum) in the Confederate Army as a Pvt. 5th. Company Battalion, Washington Artillery of Louisiana. He was (March 16, 1864) in Raxdale's Company E, 16th Louisiana Regiment, Gibson's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. He was promoted to 2nd Sergeant on March 5, 1865. He was captured and made a prisoner of war. Daniel was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi on May 14, 1865. Daniel H. Willis, Jr.'s obituary in the Alexandria Town Talk dated June 23, 1900 states: "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 Chickamauga 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." His obituary also records: "He was paroled at Meridian, Miss., in May, 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." I was named after my grandfather, Randall Lee Willis, whom was named after Randall Lee Gibson. The 16th Infantry Regiment, organized during the fall of 1861 at Camp Moore, Louisiana, contained men from East Feliciana, Caddo, Livingston, Rapides, Bienville, St. Helena, and Avoyelles parishes. After fighting at Shiloh and Perryville, the unit was assigned to General D.W. Adams' and Gibson's Brigade, Army of Tennessee. It was consolidated with the 25th Louisiana Regiment from December, 1862 until the late summer of 1864. The unit participated in the difficult campaigns of the army from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, moved with Hood to Tennessee, and shared in the defense of Mobile. The regiment lost 14 killed, 48 wounded, and 27 missing at Shiloh, then the 16th/25th lost 37 killed, 159 wounded, and 17 missing of the 465 engaged at Murfreesboro and thirty-five percent of the 319 at Chickamauga. In December, 1863, it contained 265 men and 116 arms. During the Atlanta Campaign, May 8-28, 1864, its casualties were 11 killed, 47 wounded, and 5 missing. During November, 1864, the 16th had 115 officers and men fit for duty. It surrendered with the Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana. The field officers were Colonels Daniel Gober and Preston Pond, Jr.; Lieutenant Colonels Robert H. Lindsay, Enoch Mason, and W.E. Walker; and Majors Robert P. Oliver and Frank M. Raxsdale. *General Gibson was later an agent for Paul Tulane in founding Tulane University, of which Gibson was the first president of the board in 1885. He was elected (but not seated) as a Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1872; he was reelected and seated two years later and served continuously until 1882. From 1883 to 1892, he served in the U.S. Senate. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. and the 16th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry Battles Compiled by Randall "Randy" Lee Willis The 16th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry was organized at Camp Moore (Camp Moore Confederate Cemetery and Museum) on September 29, 1861, just north of Tangipahoa, Louisiana. It contained men from East Feliciana, Caddo, Livingston, Rapides, Bienville, St. Helena, and Avoyelles parishes of Louisiana. The regiment moved to New Orleans and spent the winter at Camp Benjamin. In February, 1962, the regiment went to Corinth, Mississippi, as part of General Daniel Ruggles' brigade. Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862) Tennessee Corinth Campaign (April-June 1862) Mississippi Farmington (May 9, 1862) Mississippi Kentucky Campaign (August-October 1862). The regiment was part of General Daniel W. Adams' Louisiana brigade during the invasion of Kentucky. Perryville (October 8, 1862) Kentucky The army went into winter quarters at Tullahoma, Tennessee. At Shelbyville, Tennessee, General Braxton Bragg consolidated the 16th regiment into five companies and merged it with the 25th Louisiana Regiment on November 30, 1862 as the 16th and 25th Consolidated Regiment Infantry. The 25th Infantry Regiment was originally organized in April, 1862, with men from Madison, Morehouse, and Concordia parishes of Louisiana. 16th & 25th Consolidated Regiment, Louisiana Infantry Battles Murfreesborough (December 31, 1862-January 3, 1863) Tennessee Jackson Siege (July 10-17, 1863) Mississippi Chickamauga (September 19-20, 1863) Georgia Chattanooga Siege (September-November 1863) Tennessee Chattanooga (November 23-25, 1863) Tennessee Missionary Ridge, November 25, 1863 Georgia/Tennessee Spent the winter at Dalton, Georgia. Atlanta Campaign (May-September 1864) Georgia Rocky Face Ridge (Mill Creek) (May 8, 1864) Georgia Resaca (May14-15, 1864) Georgia New Hope Church (May 25-June 4, 1864) Georgia Atlanta (July 22, 1864) Georgia Ezra Church (outside Atlanta) (July 28, 1864) Georgia Atlanta Siege (July-September 1864) Georgia Jonesborough (August 31-September 1, 1864) Georgia Florence (October 30, 1864) Alabama Franklin (November 30, 1864) Tennessee Nashville (December 15-16, 1864) Tennessee On February 3, 1865, while at Mobile, Alabama, the regiment was broken up. The remnants of the 16th Louisiana were consolidated with the 1st Louisiana Regulars and 20th Louisiana as a new unit. The men of the 25th Louisiana were merged with those of the 4th Louisiana Battalion." 16th Regiment, Louisiana Infantry Battles Continued Mobile, Alabama (March 17-April 12, 1865) Spanish Fort Alabama (March 27-April 8, 1865). CS Brigadier General Randall L. Gibson evacuated the garrison, on March 8, 1865, after dark along a treadway only eighteen inches wide and about 1,200 yards long and fled to Mobile. Following the evacuation of Mobile, Alabama the men of the 16th Louisiana were consolidated with the 13th Infantry Regiment and designated as the Chalmette Consolidated Infantry Regiment in April 1865. On April 9, 1865, General Robert E. Lee’s surrenders the army of Northern Virginia to General Ulysses S. Grant. The 16th Louisiana surrendered with the Chalmette Consolidated Infantry Regiment at Gainesville, Alabama on May 8, 1865. Daniel Hubbard Willis, Jr. was paroled at Meridian, Mississippi on May 14, 1865. Sources: Bergeron, Arthur W., Jr. Guide to Louisiana Confederate Military Units, 1861-1865. Baton Rouge & London: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. pp. 112-15: Source: Sifakis, Stewart. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Louisiana. New York: Facts On File, 1995. pp. 100-01 Booth, Andrew B. Records of Louisiana Confederate Soldiers and Louisiana Confederate Commands. 3 vols. Spartanburg, SC: Reprint Co., 1984. E565.3L872. Confederate Military History, Extended Edition. Vol. 13: Louisiana. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot, 1988. 631 p. E484C65.1987v13. Crute, Joseph H., Jr. Units of the Confederate States Army. Midlothian, VA: Derwent Books, 1987. Daniel H. Willis, Jr.'s obituary: Alexandria Town Talk, 23 June 1900 Current, ed., Encyclopedia of the Confederacy Wier, Jerry Johnson, Army of Tennessee Louisiana Division The Association and Tumulus, The Center for Louisiana Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana, 1999. LOUISIANA HISTORY, the journal of the Louisiana Historical Association, vol. 28, pp. 245-262 and vol. 36, pp. 389-411. Also see http://www.civilwar.nps.gov/cwss/soldiers.htm Film Number M378 roll 31 The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors System maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration and National Park Service.