"If I had a thousand lives I would lose them all before I would betray
my friends or the confidence of my informer" were the last words spoken by Sam Davis, a young Confederate
soldier. Born near Smyrna, Tennessee, on Oct. 6, 1842, he was a student in the literary department of the Old University
of Nashville when the Civil War began. His record in the army include Gen. Braxton Bragg sending him, as a scout
into territories occupied by the Union Army.
Sam was returning to his company on Nov. 19, 1863, when he was captured in Giles County by
a company of Kansas cavalry. In his saddle and in one of his boots were maps and descriptions of the military fortifications
at Nashville along with lists of the number and location of Federal troops in Middle Tennessee. The information
was placed before Major Gen. Dodge of the Union Army who tried to persuade the brave youth to reveal his source
of information. To all such requests, Sam turned a deaf ear. His high sense of honor would not permit him to prove
false to the friend from whom he had gotten the information. A court-martial sentenced him " to be hanged
by the neck until dead" and the decree was carried out on Nov. 27, 1863. While standing on the scaffold with
the rope dangling before his eyes, a last futile appeal was made by Maj. Gen. Dodge. With firmness and without
faltering Sam declined the offer of life and turning to the provost marshal said, "I am ready."
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