Background
Watkins was born on June 26, 1839 near Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee, to a wealthy, slave-owning family.
Watkins was born on June 26, 1839 near Columbia, Maury County, Tennessee, to a wealthy, slave-owning family.
He is best known for his memoir of life as a soldier in the Confederate army, called Company Aytch or A Side Show of the Big Show (1882). He received his formal education at Jackson College in Columbia.
He originally enlisted in the “Bigby Greys” of the Third Tennessee Infantry in Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, but transferred shortly thereafter to the First Tennessee Infantry Regiment, Company “H” (the “Maury Greys”) in the spring of 1861.
Watkins faithfully served throughout the duration of the War, participating in the battles of Cheat Mountain, Shiloh, Corinth, Perryville, Murfreesboro (Stones River), Shelbyville, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, Adairsville, Kennesaw Mountain (Cheatham Hill), New Hope Church, Zion Church, Kingston, Cassville, Atlanta, Jonesboro, Franklin, and Nashville. Of the 120 men who enlisted in Company “H” in 1861, Sam Watkins was one of only seven alive when General Joseph East. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee surrendered to General William Tecumseh Sherman in North Carolina April, 1865.
Of the 3,200 men (1,250 when the regiment was first raised, plus a further 1,950 recruited or conscripted between then and then end of the war) who fought in the First Tennessee, only 65 were left to be paroled on that day. Samuel"s brother, David Watkins, served in the First Tennessee Cavalry, commanded by (among others) Colonel J. H. Lewis.
Soon after the war ended, Watkins began writing his memoir, entitled "Company
Aytch" or "A Side Show of the Big Show". His memoir is recognized around the world and is sometimes used for teaching purposes. This helps students learn what life was like during the Civil War.
lieutenant was originally serialized in the Columbia, Tennessee Herald newspaper.
“Company Aytch” was published in a first edition of 2,000 in book form in 1882. “Company Aytch” is heralded by many historians as one of the best war memoirs written by a common soldier of the field
Sam’s writing style is quite engaging and skillfully captures the pride, misery, glory, and horror experienced by the common foot soldier. Occasionally he yielded to exaggeration to make a point.
One example to describe how cold the regiment"s first winter in mountainous West Virginia was his claim to have discovered a guard detail of the 3rd Arkansas regiment frozen to death at their posts as if they were still on guard detail.
Watkins is often featured and quoted in Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary titled The Civil War. (See specific quotes from Watkins in Wikiquotes) Watkins died on July 20, 1901 at the age of 62 in his home in the Ashwood Community. The song "Kennesaw Lincolnshire" by Don Oja-Dunaway, tells a heart-breaking vignette of the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain on the morning of June 27, 1864, from the perspective of Sam Watkins, with part of the lyrics directly paraphrasing his description from the book "Company Aytch" (see the section entitled "Dead Angle, on the Kennesaw Lincolnshire").