Civil War soldiers bound by friendship

Union vet never forgot loyalty of executed Confederate soldier
Article Created: 08/03/2007 11:09:47 PM PDT

Corwin B. Van Pelt's grave marker at Bellevue Memorial Park in Ontario matter-of-factly notes his service with the 81st Ohio Infantry in the Civil War.
There's no hint of the role Van Pelt played in the final days and hours of a young Confederate soldier whose devotion to his cause is remembered in both legend and monuments.
Van Pelt, whose obituary in 1929 listed him as a retired woolen manufacturer, lived in Ontario the last eight years of his life. He was a past commander of the local post of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union Army veterans.
In late 1863, more than a half-century before coming west, Pvt. Van Pelt was a company clerk dealing with Confederate prisoners held at Pulaski in south-central Tennessee.
It was there that Van Pelt, then 18, struck up a friendship with one of the prisoners, 21-year-old Sam Davis. The Southerner had been captured a few days before carrying hidden documents destined for Confederate Gen. Braxton Bragg at Chattanooga.
Van Pelt, of Indiana, and Davis, of Tennessee - a couple of American kids thrust onto opposite sides of a bitter war - talked often during the few days Davis was in captivity.
"The bond of friendship between Davis and myself was strong," wrote Van Pelt in November 1897 in Confederate Veteran magazine.
"All references to Sam Davis revive sad memories. A lapse of 34 years has not effaced my recollections of that dear boy. We were about the same age: He a Confederate, I a Federal."
Davis, though captured in his Confederate uniform, was still treated as a spy and was condemned to death by a court martial.
Gen. Grenville M. Dodge, who after the war became chief engineer for the Union Pacific and helped complete the transcontinental railroad, offered Davis a pardon and his freedom if he would reveal who had directed him to carry the documents.
To this offer, Davis uttered a statement that made him a hero in the annals of the Confederacy for nearly a century and a half: "I will die a thousand deaths rather than betray my cause."
Van Pelt years later wrote that after the trial he and Davis "were both moved to tears, and remained silent for a time."
"We talked much of the similar circumstances under which we had left our homes," he recalled. "One of the most prominent traits in his character, aside from his patriotism, was an even tenor of gentleness. Had I been placed in his position, he would doubtless have proffered me the same sympathy I endeavored to extend to him."
As the day of execution drew near, Van Pelt visited Davis often.
"Not one person living is in closer touch with the memory of the last days of that boy than myself," he wrote. "I paid him daily and almost hourly visits between capture and execution. He always met me with a smile."
Van Pelt said he tried to convince Davis to save himself.
"I urged him during these visits to take the reprieve and save his life, but with a holy calm he would say: `I am true to my cause."'
On Nov. 27, 1863, Van Pelt accompanied Davis to the gallows and was forced to watch the execution.
Years later, Van Pelt met with Davis' family and visited his burial spot in Smyrna, Tenn.
In death, Sam Davis became a hero and martyr. His home in Smyrna is a historic site, and there are three memorials to him in Giles County, including a museum in Pulaski.
A statue of Davis stands on the grounds of the Tennessee Capitol in Nashville.
There's not really a lot known about Van Pelt after he left military service as a second lieutenant.
He apparently married three times. Census records show him living in Indiana in 1900, New York in 1910 and in Southern California during the 1920s.
Thanks go to Lola Lowe of the Cooper Museum in Upland and Dan Watson of Tennessee, who is researching the life of Sam Davis, for their help with this article.
Watson has also written a play, "The Trial of Sam Davis," to be performed in Pulaski in October.
Joe Blackstock writes on Inland Valley history every other Saturday. He can be reached at j_blackstock@dailybulletin.com, or by calling (909) 483-9382