Sam Davis
| Sam Davis, “Boy Hero of the Confederacy”, was born in Smyrna, Tennessee on October 6, 1842. On November 27,1863, Sam barely 21 years old was captured and executed by the Yankees. Before he died, he uttered the famous words that would endear him to all true southerners and provide inspiration to those that followed: “If I had a thousand lives, I’d give them all rather than betray a friend.” DeWitt S. Jobe who, like Sam Davis, gave his life rather than betray a friend was not given the same publicity as Sam was. John Bridges’ book, Three Cousins from Mechanicsville, tells Jobe’s story including his relationship to Sam Davis. Sam grew up on his parents’ 860-acre farm in Smyrna, Tennessee. He left home in January of 1861 to attend college at the Western Military Institute in Nashville. Future Confederate generals Bushrod Johnson and Edmond Kirby Smith were teachers there. With war looming on the horizon, Sam Davis dropped out of school in April 1861. He enlisted in the Army of Tennessee in a company known as the Rutherford Rifles. After being involved in several bloody battles including the Battle of Shiloh and the Battle of Stones River, Sam was selected to be one of the first of a new group of Confederate scouts known as Coleman’s Scouts. Sam met with Henry B. Shaw a.k.a. E. Coleman in mid November of 1863. Shaw gave Sam important documents to deliver to General Braxton Bragg, commander of the Army of Tennessee. Unfortunately, two Union soldiers wearing Confederate uniforms captured Sam near Pulaski, Tennessee. After a short trial, Union General Granville Dodge sentenced Sam to death by hanging unless he revealed the source of his information and the identity of Coleman. Sam declined. Shortly thereafter, Sam Davis was seen swinging from a hangman’s noose. All those interested in the Sam Davis story are encouraged to visit his well preserved home and museum just outside the quaint southern town of Smyrna, Tennessee, just a short distance south of Nashville.  |