The Executions of Privates Charles and Davis
Were These the Two Deserters Mentioned By Lieutenant
Woods of the Virginia State Line?
One day, while I was looking over the roster of the 39th, I chanced upon the
names of two soldiers in Company I who were “killed by the rebels January 1st, 1863, in
Tazewell County, Virginia.” I then found the following story: In The Virginia State
Rangers and State Line, Randall Osborne quotes a letter written by 1st Lieutenant Micajah
Woods, adjutant of the State Line, to his father:
Wednesday morning a general court-marshall was convened of which I am a
member with eight others, among whom were Col. Clarkson, Lt. Col. Beckley, Lt.
Col. Jackson, Maj. Carrington, & Capt. August. The business to be performed
was extremely important & necessary. Cases of insubordination & desertion had
accumulated an alarming extent that immediate & decided action was absolutely
required & severe punishment were imperatively demanded. Such duties are
particularly unpleasant to me at all times & under all circumstances & were
rendered so in this instance as the regulation of War compelled me as the junior
officer in commission of the court to deliver my opinion & deliver & vote upon
each case before & first of all others. The first two men brought before us for trial
were accused of desertion from our ranks, & joining the enemy & the charges
were proved, & by verdict of the court they were condemned to death by shooting
. . . Yesterday [January 1st, 1863] the whole army was drawn up to witness the
execution of the two deserters, on the side of a square . . . Lt. Col. Beckley had
charge of the execution which was performed in full view of all, the guard standing
on the fourth side of the square (Osborne and Weaver 103-4).
Lieutenant Woods states that the above events occurred at Glade Spring, Tazewell
County, Virginia. The names of the two deserters were not disclosed in the above
account.
The Kentucky Adjutant General’s Report indicates that two men from Company I
of the 39th Kentucky Mounted Infantry were “captured and killed January 1st, 1863”:
Private George W. Charles and Private Adam Davis. The official records from the
National Archives collection indicate that they were both captured in the action at
Wireman’s Shoals on December 4th by troops under the command of Colonel Clarkson of
the Virginia State Line. The records also reveal that Pvt. George W. Charles was killed by
the Rebels on New Year’s Day 1863 in Tazewell County, Virginia.
A letter contained in the same collection gave a description of Private Charles: He
was born in Tazewell County, Virginia; he was 31 years old; he stood 5 feet 11 inches tall;
he had black eyes, a fair complexion, and light hair; by occupation he was a farmer.
Private Davis was also described in a similar letter (see below) as being 26 years old; born
in Tazewell County, Virginia; he was five feet eight inches tall; he was blue-eyed and
fair-skinned with dark hair; and he was a farmer by occupation.
There is no George W. Charles or Adam Davis listed among the members of the
Virginia State Line or the 10th Kentucky Cavalry. There is no record that either of these
men ever served the Confederacy. However, there is at least one Charles and a number of
Davises on the rosters of both those companies. Since both men were residents of the Tazewell area before the war, I feel that it is reasonable to assume that these two men were recognized among the prisoners taken at Wireman's Shoals by some of their former neighbors serving with Ferguson's cavalry.
I believe that there is a strong possibility that Privates Charles and Davis were the
two deserters court-martialed and shot in front of the Virginia State Line on that very cold
and snowy New Year’s Day.
Robert M. Baker
From Heather Rowe:
Robert:
Please accept my apologies for taking so long to respond. The information enclosed is from the pension record of Adam Davis.
1) "Adam Davis, the deceased soldier, was taken prisoner at Prestonsburg (?), Floyd Co., Kentucky, by the rebels and that said Adam Davis was in line of duty with his command and was taken prisoner [along] with other prisonors to Saltville,
Virginia, and shot the first day of January 1863 while a prisoner as reported." Witness Simeon L. Payne of Paynesville, McDowell County, WV, on 3rd Jan. 1872."
2) " . . . Adam Davis, a deceased soldier of his company, was with him in line of his duty on a march at Prestonsburg, Kentucky, Floyd Co., when Adam Davis was taken prisoner by the rebels on about the 4th day of December 1862 and taken to
Saltville, VA, and killed while a prisoner by the rebels on the first day of January 1863. That said Adam Davis was a private of Co. I 39th Regt. Ky. Vols. Inft." Witness William Hagerman of Paynesville, McDowell Co., WV, on 3 Jan. 1872."
3) "Wm. Hagerman & S. L. Payne, 1st & 2nd Lieuts., testify that the soldier was captured with others while leaving Prestonsburg, Ky, Dec. 4, 1862, while with them in line of duty on the march to meet gunboats, that the rebels came up in their rear and captured the soldier with several others of their regt. That
other prisoners returned and stated that they were taken with the soldier to Saltville, Va, and that the soldier was shot and killed by order rebel Genl. John B. Floyd on the 1st day of January 1863. H. A. W. Stephens testifies that he was a soldier in the C. S. A., stationed in Saltville and he was detailed to guard the soldier and that said soldier was shot by order of Gen.
John B. Floyd, January 1, 1863, in presence of affiant."
4) "Andrew W. Stephens, testified, Dec. 21, 1871, --- That he was a soldier in the late 'Confederate States Army,' stationed at Saltville, and was detailed to guard Adam Davis and other prisoners; said Adam Davis was shot by order of a Court-martial, under orders of the Rebel General John B. Floyd, at Saltville, Jan. 1, 1863; affiant was present when said Davis was shot and
killed."
"The joint affidavit A) of Simon L. Payne and Wm. L. Hagerman, Sept. 16, 1872, was apparently not signed by the affiants, as will be perceived by comparison with the two distinct affidavits (B & C) of said parties, respectiviley, of Jan. 3, 1872, probably signed by them; but both may be forgeries."
"Geo. W. Payne and Amanda Payne, in affidavit, Jan. 8, 1872, testified: That said G. W. Payne, as Justice of the Peace, Dec. 17. 1854, married Adam Davis and Claricy Charles, at house of said Arminda Payne, on Dry Fork of Sandy in Tazewell Co., Va."
"Transcript of record, signed by the clerk of the County Court of Tazewell Co., Va., Nov. 18, 1872, shows that Adam Davis was married to Clarissa Charles, Dec. 17, 1854, by Birk Lockhart, Esq."
"There is no evidence other than that in A, B and C, relative to the circumstances of the capture of the soldier."
"Being of the opinion that the testimony of Hagerman and S. L. Payne is scarcely sufficient to show capture in line of duty, even if its suspicious character should be shown to have been caused by the recklessness of the Attorney; and that the discrepancies in the marriage evidence should also be explained: I deem it improper to admit the claim as it stands, though in all
probability it might be shown to be meritorious; ?(can't read word) with your sanction, order a special investigation in the vicinage of claimant and witnesses with the view of corroborating or disproving the evidence on file and also ascertaining why he was shot. To the Hon. Secretary of the Interior, Very Respy, I am your servant, (signed) Jos. Lockey [Lackey?] Acting Commisioner." This was an actual hand written letter.
After Adam was killed, his wife Clarissa remarried Curtis Coleman from the 39th, Co D. Curtis petitioned to get pensions for the two children that Clarissa and Adam had together (David and Sytha). They remarried November 19, 1863. Clarissa and Curtis made the claim to collect pension for the children in Wyoming Co., WV. They were married in Louisa, Lawrence County, KY, according to Curtis' pension records. In the "Declaration for Widow's Pension" for Curtis Coleman, it states "that she was married under the name of Clara Davis to said soldier in Louisa, Ky., on the "x" day of November 1862, by "x". This makes me wonder what was actually going on. Clarissa should have known
her marriage date to Curtis when she filed for pension. Perhaps Curtis was lying in Adam Davis' records about being married in 1863 so it wouldn't look too odd that just 10 months after Adam died, Clarissa got re-married.
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