Description

Front: Samuel Rush Watkins, June 26, 1829, July 20, 1901, Student ~ Patriot ~ Farmer ~ Author, Private Co. H. (Aytch), Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment, Army of Tennessee, Confederate States of America, Enlisted: May 15, 1861, Paroled (as if found guilty): May 1, 1865

Back: As a lad of 21 Sam Watkins enlisted with 119 other men and boys into their local militia to defend their homes and country from invasion. He was present on every march made by the army of Tennessee. At the end he remained 1 of only 7 survivors of that company. Twenty years after his enlistment he authored his  account as a witness to history as:

Co. Aytch, Maury Grays First Tennessee Regiment or Side Show of the Big Show

“Have we fought in Vain? Have our efforts been appreciated, or have four years of our lives been wastd, while we were battling for constitutional government, the supremacy of our laws over centralization, and our rights, as guaranteed to us by the blood of our forefathers…”