I would like to invite anyone of you living in Virginia, and or family to the dedication of the Confederate Marker of: Pvt. David Aldrin McDonald Troup's Light Artillery, Athens, Clarke County, Georgia. b. 8 Feb 1815 Franklin County, Ga., now Banks d. 28 Jun 1862 Chimborazo Hospital Oakwood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, Confederate Cemetery Sons of Confederate Veterans General Robert E Lee Camp # 1589 Saturday, March 25, 2006 11:00 a.m. David was the son of 'Old James' McDonald b, 1756 Sleat, Isle of Skye, Scotland, a member of the Sleat Clan, Lord of the Isles. James and his three brothers came to America to fight - to fight the British, and for the free land. James and Hugh fought, while the older brother, Ranald, stayed behind and cared for their youngest brother, Ronald. Awarded land in N.C., they soon sold it and made their way to Ga. where they settled in what is present-day Banks County. James raised a nice family of 7 children before his wife, Sarah Nancy Carruthers died 29 Jan 1829, and then he married a widow, Nancy Bailey Mize, and David was the 1st of their 5 children, and 14 yrs. of age when his father died. He was not a young man when he enlisted, he had a good job as a supervisor of street cleaners in Athens. His wife, Huldah, brought more money into the household as a seamstress, and she trained their oldest daughters to do the same. And then came the war. Their oldest daughter, Nancy Cordelia McDonald Quailes, moved home and kissed her young husband in the Palmetto Sharpshooters goodbye. Then Martha came home and kissed her husband, a Mr. Woods, good-bye. Sarah came home and begged her fat her to join the Troup's Artillery and take care of her young husband, James White, and the bagpipes began swirling, and the battle cries of thousands of MacDonalds he heard in his head. Even at 46 yrs. old He had to go, there was no other way. Oh, I am sure his wife said, "David, don't you know wars are for young men, you're nothing but an old fool!" However, his mind was made up, he packed his rucksack, and marched away with his son-in-law. They trained for awhile in Ga., and after a triumphant parade through Athens, they boarded the train and rode off to war. They met the enemy in the mountains of Western Virginia and roads with mud four feet deep, then snow the likes of which the boys from Georgia had never seen. Finally, they received the orders they had been hoping for, and were sent to the penisula to join Cobb's Legion. In March, they were in Suffolk, then by train to Goldsboro, and by April was once again on the penisula facing McClellan's army. On the 18th of April, the Yankee army tried to cross the flooded fields, and Troup's Artillery saw their first major action at Wynne's Mill. While the Ga. legislature passed a bill saying that young men under 18, and 'old men' over 35, would be discharged from their conscript, and the retreat to Richmond was the last time they would march with their company. On the 18th of May, David, and five other men were released due to 'over-age', however David was too weak to proceed further, and reported to the Chimborazo Hospital with pneumonia, where he finally died on June 28, 1862. Sure! ly, in his delirium, he had thoughts home and Huldah, and how he longed to be in their big soft bed while she mopped his feverish brow. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery with his fellow soldiers, three to a grave. His family never knew where he was buried. Troup's Artillery went on to distinguish itself at 7-Pines, Antietam, and further, until the fruitless battle was lost. When I inherited my grandmother's hand-written notes on her family, I saw the name McDonald and wondered why I had never heard it before... but Nancy, David's oldest daughter, not long after the war was over, weakened after nursing her only son until his death, gave birth - too early - and both she and her baby daughter died. The baby was buried in her arms. My great grandmother, Hattie Nina Quailes Bowen, was the only one of Nancy's children to survive, and her father remarried fairly soon, and the name McDonald faded out of the family. Memories of her mother faded, and the grandfather, she had never met, however she cared enough to move the bodies of her mother, baby sister, and older brother to Bowman, Elbert County, Ga., where, eventually, she would rest. Well, I live not too far from Richmond, and when I started looking for my McDonald kin, you cannot imagine my surprise and delight finding David in Oakwood! I immediately ordered a marker, and paid to have his grave marked...and now I needed a dedication appropriate for the occasions. The Sons of Confederate Veterans Mechanicsville Chapter will be performing a small service to conclude with the firing of three artillery pieces, and hopefully, a piper. A friend has sent me some dirt from David's father's grave in Banks County, Ga. This is to invite you to attend if you live nearby or are traveling in the vicinity. Thank you ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.385 / Virus Database: 268.2.2/280 - Release Date: 3/13/2006