An Indian arrow finally had its intended effect on Captain Berry.

No information is available regarding David Berry's, birth, family, formative years or residence in Santa Cruz County.

Company L records note that David J. Berry was enrolled as a First Lieutenant in Company L of the 2nd California Cavalry on September 23, 1861, in Santa Cruz, California; however, no personal data regarding him was recorded at that time. Berry served as the executive officer of that company during its training period at Camp Alert in San Francisco and in its movement to Fort Churchill, Nevada Territory, in August 1862.

On October 12, 1862, David Berry was promoted to Captain at Fort Churchill and left Company L to become the commander of Company A.

During January 1863 Captain Berry's company participated in the battle of Bear River in Washington Territory.
“Shoshone raids under Chief Bear Hunter during the winter of 1862-63 provoked Federal retaliation. Troops under Col. Patrick E. Connor set out from Ft. Douglas, Utah, in the deep snow of January 1863 towards Chief Bear Hunter's camp, 120 miles north near present-day Preston, Idaho. The Native American camp included about 300 Shoshone warriors defensively placed in the Battle Creek ravine west of Bear River with high embankments in which the Indians had cut access trails. Shortly after dawn on January 29, Connor's troops appeared across the river and began crossing. Before all of the men had crossed and Connor had arrived, some troops made an unsuccessful frontal attack which the Indians easily repulsed inflicting numerous casualties. When Connor took over, he sent troops to where the ravine debauched through the bluffs. Some of these men covered the mouth of the ravine to prevent any escape while others moved down the rims, firing on the Indians below.”

During the Battle of Bear River, David Berry was severely wounded in the right shoulder and treated at Camp Douglas in Salt Lake City, Utah. He later returned to Camp Union in Sacramento, where he died on May 9, 1865, from internal ailments resulting from the arrow wound he received at Bear River. The location of his remains is not known.

(CMWR, Pg. 284; MAHL; SCSn November 12, 1972; WSAC, Battle Summaries American Battlefield Protection Assoc. http:// www.cr.nps.gov, [16 September 2008])