Samuel A'Court Ashe
Encyclopedia
Samuel A'Court Ashe was a Confederate
infantry
captain in the American Civil War
and celebrated editor, historian, and North Carolina
legislator. Prior to his death in 1938, he was the last surviving commissioned officer
of the Confederate States Army. Samuel's father, William Shepperd Ashe
(1814–1862), served in the North Carolina state senate and United States
Congressman
. The United Confederate Veterans
conferred the title of Brigadier General
upon Samuel A. Ashe in 1936 in New Orleans, Louisiana
. Ashe is also noted for his booklet on the war titled A Southern View of the Invasion of the Southern States and War of 1861-65.
Born in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
in 1840, Ashe grew up near Wilmington
and spent much of his life in Raleigh
. He attended the United States Naval Academy
at Annapolis
, where he met future naval historian and life-long friend Alfred Thayer Mahan
. When the war erupted, Ashe enlisted in the Confederate Army and served for its duration, rising to the rank of captain. Among his duty assignments was serving at Fort Caswell
, on the eastern end of Oak Island
.
After the war, Samuel married Hannah Emerson Willard in 1871 and had nine children (one of whom was William Willard Ashe, the noted botanist
and associate of the United States Forest Service
). Samuel studied law
in Wilmington, later establishing a law practice there. Active in the Democratic Party
, Ashe worked for several government departments and ultimately served in the North Carolina House of Representatives. As a legislator
, Ashe revised North Carolina tax
laws concerning the resolution of state debt
s.
Ashe became editor
of the Raleigh Daily News, and subsequently purchased the Raleigh Daily Observer, merging the two to become editor of both publications. A prolific writer, he wrote many materials between the period of 1908 and 1935 on the subjects of North Carolina history, the Civil War, and the post-war South
. Perhaps Captain Ashe's most renown publication is his booklet on the war published in 1935 and titled A Southern View of the Invasion of the Southern States and War of 1861-65, in which he addressed the subject of the constitutionality
of the South's secession
from the United States and other similar topics pertaining to the Confederacy, Abraham Lincoln
, and the war.
The contents of A Southern View... are as follows: (1) The Slave Trade; (2) Steps Leading to War; (3) Nullification, North and South; (4) The States Made the Union; (5) The Right of Secession; (6) Virginia's Ratification of the Constitution; (7) Motion of Thursday, the 26th of June, 1788; (8) Ratification by New York and Rhode Island; (9) Secession, Insurrection of the Negroes, and Northern Incendiarism; (10) The Modern Case of John Brown; (11) Why South Carolina Seceded; (12) Secession of the Cotton States; (13) President Lincoln's Inaugural; (14) Lincoln and the Constitution; (15) Lincoln, The Lawyer; (16) Lincoln, The Usurper; (17) Abraham Lincoln, The Citizen; (18) Lincoln as a Strategist; (19) Conditions Just After the War; (20) The War Between the Northern States and the Southern States; (21) The Patriotic Address of Jefferson Davis; (22) Postscript A Letter to a Boston Newspaper.
Ashe's monument
denotes that he was "a patriot
, soldier
, historian
, legislator, editor, and Christian
citizen."
Confederate States Army
The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...
infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
captain in the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
and celebrated editor, historian, and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
legislator. Prior to his death in 1938, he was the last surviving commissioned officer
Officer (armed forces)
An officer is a member of an armed force or uniformed service who holds a position of authority. Commissioned officers derive authority directly from a sovereign power and, as such, hold a commission charging them with the duties and responsibilities of a specific office or position...
of the Confederate States Army. Samuel's father, William Shepperd Ashe
William Shepperd Ashe
William Shepperd Ashe was a Democratic U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1849 and 1855.-Biography:...
(1814–1862), served in the North Carolina state senate and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Congressman
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. The United Confederate Veterans
United Confederate Veterans
The United Confederate Veterans, also known as the UCV, was a veteran's organization for former Confederate soldiers of the American Civil War, and was equivalent to the Grand Army of the Republic which was the organization for Union veterans....
conferred the title of Brigadier General
Brigadier general (United States)
A brigadier general in the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps, is a one-star general officer, with the pay grade of O-7. Brigadier general ranks above a colonel and below major general. Brigadier general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the other uniformed...
upon Samuel A. Ashe in 1936 in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is a major United States port and the largest city and metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana. The New Orleans metropolitan area has a population of 1,235,650 as of 2009, the 46th largest in the USA. The New Orleans – Metairie – Bogalusa combined statistical area has a population...
. Ashe is also noted for his booklet on the war titled A Southern View of the Invasion of the Southern States and War of 1861-65.
Born in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina
Wrightsville Beach is a town in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. Wrightsville Beach is just east of Wilmington and is part of the Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,593 at the 2000 census...
in 1840, Ashe grew up near Wilmington
Wilmington, North Carolina
Wilmington is a port city in and is the county seat of New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. The population is 106,476 according to the 2010 Census, making it the eighth most populous city in the state of North Carolina...
and spent much of his life in Raleigh
Raleigh, North Carolina
Raleigh is the capital and the second largest city in the state of North Carolina as well as the seat of Wake County. Raleigh is known as the "City of Oaks" for its many oak trees. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city's 2010 population was 403,892, over an area of , making Raleigh...
. He attended the United States Naval Academy
United States Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in Annapolis, Maryland, United States...
at Annapolis
Annapolis, Maryland
Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...
, where he met future naval historian and life-long friend Alfred Thayer Mahan
Alfred Thayer Mahan
Alfred Thayer Mahan was a United States Navy flag officer, geostrategist, and historian, who has been called "the most important American strategist of the nineteenth century." His concept of "sea power" was based on the idea that countries with greater naval power will have greater worldwide...
. When the war erupted, Ashe enlisted in the Confederate Army and served for its duration, rising to the rank of captain. Among his duty assignments was serving at Fort Caswell
North Carolina Baptist Assembly
The North Carolina Baptist Assembly is a Christian retreat owned and operated by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, the state's largest denomination. The grounds of the retreat, on the eastern end of Oak Island, is the former site of Fort Caswell, a military base that was occupied by...
, on the eastern end of Oak Island
Oak Island, North Carolina
Oak Island, North Carolina is a seaside town located mostly on the barrier island of Oak Island , in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States. A small part of the town extends onto the mainland north of the island's bridge. The population was 6,571 at the 2000 census...
.
After the war, Samuel married Hannah Emerson Willard in 1871 and had nine children (one of whom was William Willard Ashe, the noted botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
and associate of the United States Forest Service
United States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
). Samuel studied law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
in Wilmington, later establishing a law practice there. Active in the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
, Ashe worked for several government departments and ultimately served in the North Carolina House of Representatives. As a legislator
Legislator
A legislator is a person who writes and passes laws, especially someone who is a member of a legislature. Legislators are usually politicians and are often elected by the people...
, Ashe revised North Carolina tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
laws concerning the resolution of state debt
Debt
A debt is an obligation owed by one party to a second party, the creditor; usually this refers to assets granted by the creditor to the debtor, but the term can also be used metaphorically to cover moral obligations and other interactions not based on economic value.A debt is created when a...
s.
Ashe became editor
Copy editing
Copy editing is the work that an editor does to improve the formatting, style, and accuracy of text. Unlike general editing, copy editing might not involve changing the substance of the text. Copy refers to written or typewritten text for typesetting, printing, or publication...
of the Raleigh Daily News, and subsequently purchased the Raleigh Daily Observer, merging the two to become editor of both publications. A prolific writer, he wrote many materials between the period of 1908 and 1935 on the subjects of North Carolina history, the Civil War, and the post-war South
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
. Perhaps Captain Ashe's most renown publication is his booklet on the war published in 1935 and titled A Southern View of the Invasion of the Southern States and War of 1861-65, in which he addressed the subject of the constitutionality
Constitutionality
Constitutionality is the condition of acting in accordance with an applicable constitution. Acts that are not in accordance with the rules laid down in the constitution are deemed to be ultra vires.-See also:*ultra vires*Company law*Constitutional law...
of the South's secession
Secession
Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...
from the United States and other similar topics pertaining to the Confederacy, Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
, and the war.
The contents of A Southern View... are as follows: (1) The Slave Trade; (2) Steps Leading to War; (3) Nullification, North and South; (4) The States Made the Union; (5) The Right of Secession; (6) Virginia's Ratification of the Constitution; (7) Motion of Thursday, the 26th of June, 1788; (8) Ratification by New York and Rhode Island; (9) Secession, Insurrection of the Negroes, and Northern Incendiarism; (10) The Modern Case of John Brown; (11) Why South Carolina Seceded; (12) Secession of the Cotton States; (13) President Lincoln's Inaugural; (14) Lincoln and the Constitution; (15) Lincoln, The Lawyer; (16) Lincoln, The Usurper; (17) Abraham Lincoln, The Citizen; (18) Lincoln as a Strategist; (19) Conditions Just After the War; (20) The War Between the Northern States and the Southern States; (21) The Patriotic Address of Jefferson Davis; (22) Postscript A Letter to a Boston Newspaper.
Ashe's monument
Monument
A monument is a type of structure either explicitly created to commemorate a person or important event or which has become important to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, or simply as an example of historic architecture...
denotes that he was "a patriot
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
, soldier
Soldier
A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...
, historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, legislator, editor, and Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
citizen."