David, age 19, who was living with the Samuel Morse family in Illinois also joined the Union Army. He joined on May 7, 1864 at Greenbush, Illinois and signed up for the "100 Days" group. He enrolled as a Private with Captain Reece's Company C, 138th Regiment, Illinois Voluntary Infantry. His residence at the time of enrollment was Berwick, Warren County, Illinois. He said he was a farmer and born in Scotland. He had a light complexion, blue eyes, sandy hair, and was 5 foot 7 inches tall, the same as his father, John. David mustered out of service in Springfield, Illinois on October 14, 1864 after serving for 116 days.
The 138th Illinois Infantry Volunteers were organized at Camp Wood, Quincy, Illinois by Colonel John W. Goodwin. On July 26 the Regiment moved to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas because they were assigned to garrison duty at Weston, Missouri which is located near Leavenworth. It is interesting that he was assigned to Weston, Missouri and later lived in Weston, Idaho.
The report said the five counties along the western border of Missouri was over run and in possession of bands of guerrillas and bushwhackers. During July, August and part of September, Company C [David's company] and F were ordered to occupy the post there in Weston, Missouri and operate from that point in driving the guerrillas from the territory. The two companies were in active service, scarcely a day passing without a conflict with some of the many desperadoes infesting that community. Then early in September after having cleared the five counties of these undesirables, the two companies returned to Fort Leavenworth to continue their services in garrison duty. [Dyer, Frederick H. "138th Illinois Infantry Dyer's Regimental History", http://www.rootsweb.com searched 10/7/2001.]
David along with his Regiment was mustered out of service of the United States at Springfield, Illinois, October 14, 1864. [Edited by Bateman, Selby, Moffet and Rogers, Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Warren County, Munsell Publishing Company, Chicago, 1903, p186.]
David enlisted once again for service on March 15, 1865 at Springfield, Illinois; this time as a Private in Company H of the 83rd Illinois Infantry Volunteer Army. However, on June 26, 1865, he transferred to Company I of the 61st Illinois Infantry and was discharged on September 8, 1986 in Nashville, Tennessee. Prior to his release, Robert E. Lee had already surrendered to Ulysses Grant on April 9, 1865 in Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia, but as mentioned earlier, soldier were still needed to help maintain order even after the war officially ended.
After David finished his military service, he went back to Illinois and spent some additional time with the Samuel and Martha Morse family. Elizabeth Lapray, David's widow, thought David was with the Morse family for about a year after the Civil War ended. If that is so, David would have been with the Morses from the later part of 1865 into 1866 or 1867.
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