Civil War Union Army Officer. He served during the Civil War as Captain and commander of Company C, 140th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry, being commissioned on August 22, 1862. On the 2nd day of the Battle of Gettyburg (July 2, 1863), Captain Acheson led his company toward the fighting in the Wheatfield area after the start of the late afternoon attacks by General James Longstreet's Corps. He was then killed in the woods north of the "Stoney Hill" area by two shots from men of the Confederate 3rd South Carolina Infantry. The intense fire from the Confederates forced his men to leave his body amongst the rest of the dead and wounded in the area (a subsequent attempt the next day to retrieve it was driven back by Rebel gunfire). After the Confederates retreated after their defeat in the battle, his remains were located and interred in a grave on Weikert's farm. To mark the site, one of his men carved the initials "D.A" in the boulder near his grave. This helped to located Captains Acheson's body when his family came to retrieve it and take it home to Washington, Pennsylvania, where he was buried in July 15, 1863. Five years later a member of Company C revisited the site, deepened the carved initials, and added "140 PA". This inscription can still be seen today in the Gettysburg National Military Park, and is located on the western side of the John T. Weikert farm, inside of the tree line that marks the border of a field. It is often marked with a flag. In 1991 Sarah Gould Walters published "Inscription at Gettysburg: In Memoriam to Captain David Acheson, Company C, 140th Pennsylvania Volunteers". (additional information by Russ Dodge) (bio by: Ethan F. Bishop)