Day - 7 Confederate
Heritage Month Minute
By: Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.
Sam Davis---Nathan Hale of the Confederacy.
"If I had a thousand lives, I would give them all
here before I would betray a friend.-----Sam Davis."
Like the American soldier who is doing
his duty, today, in Iraq and around the world, so did the legendary Sam
Davis. Sam Davis, born on 1845 in Smyrna, Tennessee, is called the boy
Hero of the Confederacy. He served as a private in the 1st Tennessee
Infantry under Captain Coleman. Coleman's scouts gathered information
about Union Forces moving from middle Tennessee toward Chattanooga.
Davis was captured by Union troops in Middle
Tennessee. He was wearing his Confederate uniform but was arrested as a
spy for carrying a secret message. He would not reveal the name of who had
given him the information. For this reason, he was arrested as a spy, and
sentenced to die by hanging unless he was willing to give the name of his
contact. It is written that he answered by saying, "I would rather die a
thousand deaths than betray a friend.
Sam Davis, not even 19 years of age, was hanged
by Union forces in Pulaski, Tennessee on November 27, 1863. It is said
that the officer in charge of the execution had trouble in carrying out
his orders as Davis was calm. It is written that Davis said, "Officer, I
did my duty. Now you do yours."
Davis' story is said to parallel that of Nathan
Hale during the American Revolution. His boyhood home is said to be
preserved in Smyrna, Tennessee as well as the spot marked where he was
hanged. He is an American Hero whose story should be remembered during
Confederate History Month.
By: Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.,
Chairman,
Confederate History and Heritage Month Committee
Georgia Division Sons of Confederate Veterans.
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