| L.D. Slaughter | 5th Battalion Ohio Voluntary Cavalry |
| by Sam Watson |
Lewis Davis Slaughter was a man from Columbus, Ohio. He was born somewhere in Pike County on March 4, 1843. He moved to Columbus between the 1850 and 1860 census with his family. Lewis Davis attended Otterbein College in the fall of 1860 and attended classes through 1863. He was supposed to graduate from Otterbein in the spring of 1864 but he never would.
Instead he joined the newly formed 5th Independent Battalion of the Ohio Volunteer Calvary in July of 1863. He entered as a private in the 5th Independent Battalion and helped Captain Ijams capture the notorious John Morgan in July of 1863. When the regiment reported to Camp Chase in July he was promoted to bugler. There his regiment went to Eastern Kentucky to guard the Union citizens from guerrillas and insurgents. The regiment was mustered out in November of 1863 but Lewis Davis wasn’t mustered out until March of 1864.
Lewis Davis returned home to Columbus and settled down at 1035 Dennison Ave. He lived there with his wife, Laura C. Slaughter, and their children. Lewis Davis learned about carpentry and became a contractor for a growing city in Columbus. Lewis Davis passed away March 20, 1896 from bowel trouble. He is buried at the Otterbein Cemetery next to Otterbein College where he attended for three years. His name is on a monument along with hundreds of other Union soldiers in front of Towers Hall on the Otterbein campus.
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