Sam Davis was a young man from Tennessee who served as a Confederate soldier and spy during the U.S. Civil War. Captured by Union forces while carrying incriminating information, Davis was sentenced to death by hanging but was offered freedom if he revealed the source of his information.
What decision did the young 21 year old make and why?
Early Life of Sam Davis
Samuel Davis was the eldest child of Charles Lewis Davis and his second wife, Jane Simmons Davis. Born on October 6, 1842, Sam was raised near the small community of Smyrna, Tennessee which lies about 20 miles southeast of Nashville.
Edythe Whitley, in her book Sam Davis, Hero of the Confederacy, wrote that school teacher A. H. Sharp described Davis as a student who was "modest and unassuming in demeanor...quiet and deferential" and that he earned the respect and esteem of his schoolmates. In military school he was known as an excellent student and was considered to be a true and trustworthy friend.
Whitley wrote that Davis was "a friend and could be trusted implicitly."
Sam Davis in the Confederate Army
After Abraham Lincoln won the United States Presidential election in November, 1860, 18 year old Davis enrolled in the Nashville Military Academy in Nashville. Once the Civil War broke out in April, 1861, he left the military academy and joined the Rutherford Rifles, which became Company One of the First Tennessee Infantry.
As a member of the First Tennessee, Davis served during the summer and fall of 1861 in West Virginia under General Robert E. Lee and, from December, 1861 to February, 1862, in Virginia under General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. Returning to Tennessee, Davis and First Tennessee served under General Albert Sidney Johnston until April, 1862, when Johnston was killed in the Battle of Shiloh.
First Tennessee then came under General Braxton Bragg's command. Following that change, Davis participated in the Battle of Perryville, Kentucky in August and in the Battle of Stones River in Murfreesboro, Tennessee from December 26, 1862 to January 5, 1863.
Sam Davis Becomes a Spy
Early in 1863, just a few months past his twentieth birthday, Davis joined Coleman's Scouts, a group that was co-founded by his older half-brother John Davis. The group was led by Captain Henry B. Shaw who used the pseudonym E. C. Coleman on all of his correspondence.
Coleman's Scouts were quite successful in obtaining information on the size, disposition, and movements of Union forces. As a member of the scouts, Sam traveled through many parts of Tennessee, including Nashville, where he was able to obtain valuable information for Confederate forces.
Capture and Trial of Sam Davis
On Friday, November 20, 1863, the young Davis was apprehended by Union forces while traveling on Lamb's Ferry Road, near Minor Hill, Tennessee. He was found to be carrying personal letters for Confederate soldiers, several northern newspapers, gifts for General Bragg and information on Union forces and dispositions. Some of the information Davis carried could only have come from the desk of General Grenville Dodge, who was headquartered in Pulaski, Tennessee.
Housed temporarily in the Pulaski jail, Davis refused to answer questions from General Dodge's provost marshal Captain W. F. Armstrong. He was then sent directly to Dodge who offered to let him go free if he would reveal the name of his informant or identify who E. C. Coleman was. Unwilling to betray Captain Shaw, who ironically was already incarcerated in the same Pulaski jail, Davis politely refused to reveal any information.
General Dodge then issued orders that the prisoner be tried by a military commission on the charges of spying and carrying mail and communications on United States forces to Confederate forces. On November 26, the commission found Sam Davis guilty on both charges and ordered that he be hanged.
The Death of Sam Davis
The death sentence for the 21 year old Davis appalled the majority of those who heard the news. Several Pulaski citizens appealed to General Dodge for leniency for the likeable young man and Union soldiers visited Davis begging him to save his own life. Dodge even planted a soldier as a prisoner but Sam refused to divulge any incriminating information.
At 10:00 on the morning of November 27, 1863, Sam Davis was shackled, seated on top of a coffin in the back of a wagon and transported toward the gallows through Pulaski past thousands of soldiers and civilians who lined the streets. After reaching the gallows he was visited by Captain Chickasaw, a Union scout who helped capture him, who promised that he would be freed and escorted to Confederate lines if he would only reveal his sources.
What his exact response was varies depending on the source but, according to Whitley, Davis replied, "No, I cannot. I would rather die a thousand deaths than betray a friend or be false to my duty." Then, stepping up to the trap, he faced Captain Armstrong and said "I am ready."
Sam Davis - Confederate Hero
Sam Davis, the young Confederate soldier turned spy, was highly respected by his friends, family and fellow soldiers. His bravery and his refusal to betray his sources, even when offered freedom from death at such a young age, won him the respect of his enemies too.
In December, 1863, his body was turned over to John Kennedy, a Davis family friend, transported back to Smyrna, Tennessee, and buried behind the family home which now serves as a museum. A statue of Sam Davis was unveiled in front of the Tennessee State Capitol grounds in June, 1909 to honor the boy hero of the Confederacy for his bravery and resolve.
Sources:
- Whitley, Edythe Johns Rucker. Sam Davis, Hero of the Confederacy. Blue and Gray Press: Nashville. 1971.
- "Short History of the First Tennessee Infantry (Maney's) 1861-1865." First-Tennessee.Co.UK.com (Retrieved February 12, 2011).
Ronald G Falconberry - Ron Falconberry is an IT professional and freelance writer who enjoys researching and writing articles on Bible topics, history, and ...
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