David Camden de Leon

degree from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia (where his parents had lived before moving to South Carolina) in 1836.

[4] At the beginning of the Mexican War, he went with General Zachary Taylor to the Rio Grande, was present at most of the battles in the campaign toward Mexico, and entered that city when it surrendered.

[5][3] At the battle of Chapultepec he earned the sobriquet of "the Fighting Doctor," as on two occasions led a charge of cavalry after the officer commanding had been killed or wounded.

[3] Like most Southern officers in the regular Army, he resigned his commission at the outbreak of the Civil War, forfeiting his opportunity to become U.S.

[6] At the close of the war he went with some other Confederate soldiers to Mexico, "vowing never to return to the conquered South until she was free".