Boy Hero of the Confederacy

The Yankee general offered him his freedom if he would identify the traitor. "I would die a thousand deaths before I would betray a friend," he responded. Refusing his last chance to save his own life, the 21-year old was sentenced to hang.

Sam Davis was born in 1842 in Rutherford County, Tennessee. As a boy, he attended a military academy. When the Civil War broke out, Davis enlisted in the 1st Tennessee Infantry. His regiment joined the western Virginia campaign commanded by Robert E. Lee and fought at the battles of Shiloh, Perryville, and Stones River.

In early 1863, Davis became a "Coleman's Scout". Often wearing Confederate uniforms and traveling with official military passes, the Coleman Scouts worked behind enemy lines. They disrupted Yankee communications and collected information on Union troop movements. The U.S. Army considered them spies.

Davis was captured near Chattanooga, Tennessee by Federal troops. He was found carrying papers that contained critical information on Union troops. In his possession, he had newspapers and personal items he was transporting to General Bragg. These items could have only have come from a traitor within Union ranks.

Yankee General Dodge needed a name. Under great pressure, Davis refused. He was charged with espionage and carrying classified mail. General Dodge ordered a court martial. Davis admitted to being a courier of the mails, but he pled not guilty to the first charge. He was found guilty on both charges and hanged. The execution of Sam Davis rallied the South. He became known as the boy hero of the Confederacy.









- - - - - - - - - -
© Don Johnston Incorporated
For use with Protocol in Accommodations for Reading (PAR) by DeCoste & Wilson
donjohnston.com/par