Smyrna in Rutherford County, Tennessee — The American South (East South Central)

Sam Davis Home

Confederate Martyr

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 25, 2013

1. Sam Davis Home Marker

Inscription. This is the Sam Davis Home, one of Tennessee’s most significant Confederate memorial properties. Samuel (“Sam”) Davis, born here in 1842, enlisted in the Rutherford Rifles (Co. I, 1st Tennessee Infantry) in 1861 and fought in western Virginia. After his enlistment expired, he returned home and joined Capt. Henry B. Shaw’s Coleman’s Scouts, Confederate cavalrymen who gathered information on Union troop movements. Federal authorities considered them spies. In November 1863, as Davis carried documents and newspapers to Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg, he was captured near Pulaski. Union Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, the future chief engineer of the Union Pacific Railroad, interrogated Davis and offered him freedom if Davis would divulge the name of the person who had supplied him with confidential reports from the Union camp in Pulaski. Davis refused, and Dodge ordered a quick military trial, which sentenced Davis to death. He was executed in Pulaski on November 27, 1863.

Davis and his reported statement (reminiscent of Revolutionary War hero Nathan Hale), “If I had a thousand lives to live, I would have them

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all rather than betray a friend” quickly became legendary. In 1909, the State of Tennessee dedicated a monument to the “boy hero of the Confederacy” on the state capitol grounds. In the 1920s, local residents acquired his family home and 168 acres of the farm as a memorial. In addition to the main house, the historic farm offers the opportunity to view Davis’s gravesite and several outbuilding, including slave quarters, a kitchen, and a smokehouse. A museum interprets Davis’s live and the war in Rutherford County.

“The coming ages will place his character forward as a typical Confederate soldier and as an American.” — Bromfield L. Ridley, 1906

“When I was about 13 or 14, my father’s family arranged for me to go to the Nashville Military Academy, where I became acquainted with Sam Davis. He was of the most honest, steadfast, and bravest boys I’ve ever known.” — Joseph A. Rucker, Jan 1, 1868

(captions)
Sam and John Davis — Courtesy Sam Davis Memorial Association
1909 state capitol unveiling — Courtesy Sam Davis Memorial Association
Gen. Braxton Bragg Courtesy Library of Congress
Gen.

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 25, 2013

2. Sam Davis Home Marker

Grenville M. Dodge Courtesy Library of Congress

Erected by Tennessee Civil War Trails.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the Tennessee Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical month for this entry is November 1863.

Location. 35° 59.131′ N, 86° 30.065′ W. Marker is in Smyrna, Tennessee, in Rutherford County. It is on Sam Davis Road 0.3 miles west of Brookhaven Trail, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 1399 Sam Davis Road, Smyrna TN 37167, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Middle Tennessee

and in Greater Nashville.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Upper South.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: A different

1842 The Confederate Hero 1863 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 25, 2013

3. 1842 The Confederate Hero 1863

Inscription on the entrance wall

marker also named Sam Davis Home (approx. ¼ mile away); Outbuildings (approx. 0.3 miles away); Slave Cabins (approx. 0.3 miles away); Sam Davis Gravesite (approx. 0.3 miles away); The Sam Davis Boyhood Home (approx. 0.4 miles away); Wheeler's Raid around Rosecrans (approx. 0.8 miles away); Old Jefferson (approx. 0.8 miles away); Dewitt Smith Jobe (approx. 0.9 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Smyrna.

Also see . . . Sam Davis Home and Museum. (Submitted on October 7, 2013.)

Home of Sam Davis image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Don Morfe, July 25, 2013

4. Home of Sam Davis

Inscription on the entrance wall

Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on October 6, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. This page has been viewed 962 times since then and 40 times this year. Last updated on April 21, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on October 6, 2013, by Don Morfe of Baltimore, Maryland. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.