Captain Daniel C. Davis: Commander of Company E — Led His Men Through the Continental March with Faith and Military Discipline (1813–1883)

Daniel C. Davis was born in 1813 and joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early 1840s. When the Mormon Battalion was organized in July 1846, he was appointed Captain of Company E — one of five company commanders who led the 634-man Battalion on its 2,000-mile march from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to San Diego, California.

As a company commander, Davis occupied a position of both military and spiritual responsibility. The Battalion's officers were expected not only to maintain military order but to sustain the morale and faith of men who had left their families in Iowa, who were marching into unknown territory, and who were doing so in the name of both the United States Army and their God.

Davis led Company E through the entire march — through Kansas, New Mexico, the Arizona desert, and finally into California. He was present for every challenge his company faced: the water shortages, the extreme heat, the bull encounter near Tucson, and the final mountain crossing into San Diego. He administered to the sick alongside those in his company who held the priesthood, maintained the Sabbath observance that was a consistent feature of Battalion camp life, and kept his company together through eight months of extraordinary hardship.

After discharge in July 1847, Davis returned to Utah and continued his service to the Church and community. He was respected as a proven leader — a man who had commanded under pressure and brought his company home intact.

Daniel C. Davis died in 1883 in Utah. His captaincy of Company E during the Battalion's historic march is his permanent place in the story of the Restoration.