Hanging Site of Sam Davis - Pulaski, TN - U.S. Civil War Sites on Waymarking.com

County of museum: Giles County
Location of museum: Sam Davis Ave. & Highland St., Pulaski
Phone: 931-424-4044

The museum was built right next to the sport where the gallows was built and the hanging (Murder to some) took place.

"Located in a National Historic District, the museum stands on the spot where the "Boy Hero of the Confederacy" was executed on November 27, 1863. Captured behind enemy lines with damaging information in his possession, Davis faced death by hanging rather than betray his source. The museum contains Civil War memorabilia as well as leg irons worn by young Sam Davis. Viewing may be arranged through the Giles County Historical Society. " ~ Giles County Tourism

"His reply - "I would rather give my life a thousand times than betray the confidence of a friend" - was a brave response but it sealed his fate. One hundred years later the State of Tennessee erected on the spot a marble museum resembling a Greek mausoleum in memory of the young Confederate who loved honor more than life.

"18. 130 South Sam Davis Avenue. Sam Davis Memorial. 1963. One story, ashlar cut stone structure in shape of Greek tomb, copper roof, erected by State of Tennessee in 1963 on spot of Davis 1 execution. (NC)" ~ NRHP Nomination Form

"Moving behind enemy lines and risking capture, Davis returned home to Smyrna in early November 1863. After a brief visit with his family, he left to rejoin the Scouts. On November 19, 1863, while scouting near Pulaski, Davis accepted a letter written to the Provost Marshal of the Army of Tennessee and several newspapers from Captain Shaw to be delivered to army headquarters. The next day, Federal soldiers captured Davis in Giles County, charged him with spying and carrying mails to persons in arms against the United States, and brought him before General Dodge. Davis pleaded not guilty to charge of spying, but entered a guilty plea to the second charge. The court-martial appointed to try Davis found him guilty on both counts and sentenced him to be hanged.

"One week after his capture the sentence was carried out. Standing before the noose, he was offered his freedom if he would reveal the name of the person who gave him the papers. His answer, “I would rather die a thousand deaths than betray a friend or be false to duty,” became a touchstone of the mythology of the “Lost Cause” in the postwar South. Monuments to his bravery were erected on the grounds of the State Capitol and on the square in Pulaski. Later, in the 1920s, his family home in Smyrna became a historic house museum and a shrine to Davis, who is buried there in the family cemetery. Pulaski also has a small museum in his honor, dedicated in the 1960s, which stands near the spot of his hanging in the town’s Sam Davis Avenue historic district." ~ Tennessee Encyclopedia