Private David McDougal

David McDougal born in Gorham, Maine on January 8, 1841. Along with his mother and two sisters he journeyed to Iowa in September, 1858, to join his father who had preceded them. They were among the first settlers at Nevinville, in Adams County. David worked on the family farm with his father before answering President Lincoln's call.

At the age of twenty-three, he enlisted in Company D on February 6, 1864. McDougal survived his first enlistment, and joined most of his comrades in signing up to see the war through to its conclusion. In February of 1864, he would be mustered as a veteran, and in August he transferred into the Fifth Veteran Cavalry.

Less than a year later, on June 23, 1865, McDougal would perish due to illness. He had been transferred to the military hospital in Louisville, Kentucky. Yet even under the care of the surgeons at the hospital, he could not recover from the disease which assailed him. Following his death he was buried at Cave Hill National Cemetery in Louisville.

Very special thanks to Kerrie Alexander of Australia, who shares a common ancestor with Private McDougal, even though the young soldier tragically perished before he could have a family of his own.