The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-10-15
YANKEE TRIBUTE TO SAM DAVIS
By WILL W. NELSON

Decatur, October 14.-(Special )-The
 celebration of the anniversary of the
 birth of Sam Davis the Confederate
 Boy Hero" who was born October 6, 1S43, recalls to a limited circle Of peo" pie in North Alabama tribute paid to this noble young Confederate sol dier by union veteran who visited north Alabama not long ago; a tribute which because of it's sincerity and or igin deserves to be more widely known. During the civil war a captain in the
 Fifth Illinois regiment, U. 5. A., dld service in north Alabama and at vari- ous times was stationed at Decatur and at Athens in Alabama and at Lynn ville and Pulaski In Tennessee He was severely wounded in an engage nent with General Roddy's cavalry at Moulton, Lawrence county, Alab bama, on March 23, 1864, and was sent 10 the hospital and convalescents camp at Pu- laski, Tenn. This veteran of the Grand Army of the Republic was named T. D. McGillicuddy, and lived In CleVe land Ohio. Two years ago, having
 grown old and suffering from old wounds, he felt a desire to revisit these scenes made familiar to him in war times and to taste again the delights of the genial southern climate and nos pitality of which he retained mos;
 pleasant recollections.
 While provost marshal at Lynnyille,
 Tenn. he lived in the house of the Shields family and. learning that they had moved to Columbfa, Tenn, ne sought them out and spent the winter of 1909 and 1910 with them in that charming little southern city.
 Captain McGillicuddy was an ardent . ia
 erner, Sam Davis, and while at Colum-
 bia, Tenn, paid public tribute to Sam
 Davis gallantry, and subscribed some
 money to the Sam Davis monument.
 The captain was an eye witness to sam
 Davis execution. and said ofthat event:
 Tn some way Sam Davis and his party of scouts ran Into the seventh Kansas and were captured. Davis was tried as
 a spy and condemned to death by hang ing. Thomas w. Gaines, lieutenant col onel of my regiment, the Fifth illinois, was president or the trial commission students of the history of the ciyil war gre familiar with the history and the trial and of the offers of General Dodge made to Davis to spare his life 1T ne would betray his friend and now these offers were spurned.
 '.The day of execution came. on No- vember 23, 1863, my command was called on to guard and witness the exc cution I remember, as if it was but yesterday, how Sam Davis looked as he went by on the wagon. lie waved his hand to some friend, and his man ner was as calm as if he had been go- ing about the ordinary duties Of life. Not once did he show the slightest traces of fear, and it was evident he had firmly made up his mind to die
 An aide de camp rode up and sub
 mitted a proposition from General
 Dodge, offering Davis his freedom II
 he would betray his friend. Davis Ge-
 o1ined firmly and went to his final eho with perfect composure. He snowed
 no excitement. offered no resistance.
 He went to his death with an air Of one who was submitting to the inevita- be. During all the bloody war Wit
 messed no other such remarkable eX- hibition of courage,
 My command was drawn up In inc
 front of a hollow square. as was the GUS tom when a prisoner was to be hung. We were less than 50 paces from the scaffold, and I could see and note every movement of the prisoner. He was | hero to the last
 Knightly Conduct of a Fallen Foe This liberal minded Union veteran gave other evidences of his liking for the people among whom he fought and bled and fraternzed by turns. While visiting l in the south he wrote for the Clarksvills, Tenn, Tobacco Leaf an interesting story | of the way in which he served a youth l ful Confederate soldier after the fall of Clarksvile, Tenn. His wounds were or l such a nature that the army surgeon con- sldered his case hopeless unless he could | be carried home to receive the special | care of his relatives. The task was diff l ficult, but Captain McGilicuddy succeed l ed in securing permission to carry the youthful Confederate to his home, and
 actually cid so. learning later that lis | pains were rewarded by the youths ie- I covery. Such tenderness for stricken | foe would have graced the romantic coun- sels of chivalry in it's prime. Some Girl Soldiers
 1 While on that last visit to the scenes of his soldier life among the people of 1 Tennessee and of north Alabama, the aged veteran related a remarkable ad- venture which took place while he was 1 in the convalescent camp at Puia ski
 Tenn During my stay in the camp I there" he said. ia detachment of in- valids from an Ohio command reported | for admission. and among which was
 diminutive, bedraggled and haggared specimen of humanity, claiming to be a soldier with necessary credentials. The | commander remarked that the crade and
 the grave must have been drawn On 1 for soldiers when this specimen was en- listed. Some time after that the com mandant was approached by a woman asking how soon a detachment would be
 leaving the camp for the front as sine wished to .rejoin her command. the One Hundred and Twentieth Ohio. On being rgidly question she referred to the era die and the grave episode on her ad- mission to the camp. and related graph ically history of Her experience with
 two other girls who were students at | college. Theee sir}s. had caught the spirit
 of the times and felt it their duty to serve
 their country. on. the field of battle. The