"Co. Aytch": Maury Grays, First Tennessee Regiment - Softcover

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Sam. R. Watkins (born Samuel Rush Watkins; June 26, 1839 – July 20, 1901) was an American writer and humorist. He fought through the entire Civil War and saw action in many major battles.

Today, he is best known for this enduring memoir, “Co. Aytch” (1882), which recounts his life as a soldier.

In 1881, with a “house full of young ‘rebels’ clustering about my elbows,” Watkins began to chronicle his experiences in the First Tennessee Regiment.

In May 1861, 21 year-old Sam Watkins of Maury County, Tennessee, rushed to join the army when his state left the Union. He became part of Company H (or Co. “Aytch,” as he called it), 1st Tennessee Infantry Regiment, and would fight from Shiloh to Nashville.

He was one of only seven men who remained in the company when it was surrendered to U.S. Major-General William Tecumseh Sherman in North Carolina, April 1865.

Watkins is often featured and quoted in Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary titled The Civil War, and also in the film, Civil War: The Untold Story.

When he died at 62, Watkins was buried in Maury County, Tennessee, with full military honors.