At the battle of Beverly Ford in June 1863, Davis was killed while in command of the 8th New York Cavalry. At Upperville, the 1st U.S. Cavalry met the Jeff Davis Legion and the 1st and 2d North Carolina regiments in a mounted charge. The regiment lost 53 men (most to saber cuts). At Gettysburg, its loss was 16 men. Several more men were lost in a series of skirmishes during the Confederate retreat to Virginia.