Emma Sansom (June 2, 1847 – August 9, 1900) was an

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

teenager and farm worker noted for her actions during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

(1861-1865), during which she assisted the defensive campaign of the mounted cavalry in the

Confederate Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) during the American Civil War (1861–1865), fi ...

's then Brigadier General

Nathan Bedford Forrest Nathan Bedford Forrest (July 13, 1821October 29, 1877) was an List of slave traders of the United States, American slave trader, active in the lower Mississippi River valley, who served as a General officers in the Confederate States Army, Con ...

(1821-1877), during the

Streight's Raid Streight's Raid (19 April – 3 May 1863) took place in northern Alabama during the American Civil War (1861-1865). It was led by Union Army Col. Abel D. Streight (1828-1892) and opposed by the Confederate States Army of Brig. Gen. Nathan Bed ...

by Union Army cavalry under command of Col.

Abel Streight Abel Delos Streight (June 17, 1828 – May 27, 1892) was a peacetime lumber merchant and publisher, and was commissioned a United States Army / Union Army colonel in the American Civil War (1861-1865). His command precipitated a notable caval ...

in April-May 1863. Activists 157 years later in the 2020 racial protests, including descendants of Sansom herself, called for the removal of a statue previously erected commemorating her in

Gadsden, Alabama Gadsden is the county seat of Etowah County in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is located on the Coosa River about northeast of Birmingham and southwest of Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is the primary city of the Gadsden Metropolitan Statist ...

Early life

Sansom was born on June 2, 1847, further east near

Social Circle, Georgia Social Circle is a city in southern Walton County, Georgia, Walton County, extending into Newton County, Georgia, Newton County, in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, 45 miles east of Atlanta, Georgia, Atlanta. History It is unc ...

, to Micajah and Levina Vann Sansom, a niece of

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

tribe native leader

James Vann James Vann (c. 1762–64 – February 19, 1809) was a Cherokee leader, one of the triumvirate with Major Ridge and Charles R. Hicks, who led the Upper Towns of East Tennessee and North Georgia as part of the ᎤᏪᏘ ᏣᎳᎩ ᎠᏰᎵ (Uwe ...

. Around 1852, she and her family moved west to a farm just outside

. Her father died in 1858, by which time there were twelve children in her family.

Streight's raid

In April 1863,

Confederate States Army The Confederate States Army (CSA), also called the Confederate army or the Southern army, was the Military forces of the Confederate States, military land force of the Confederate States of America (commonly referred to as the Confederacy) duri ...

Brig. Gen.

was ordered into northern

to pursue Union Army /

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

cavalry units under Colonel

(1828-1892), who had orders to cut off the Confederate railroad near

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. It is located along the Tennessee River and borders Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the south. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, it is Tennessee ...

. On May 2, 1863, Streight arrived just outside Gadsden and prepared to cross nearby Black Creek. Because the creek was swollen and running high due to recent rains, Streight realized that if he destroyed the bridge he could get a few hours' respite from the pursuit of Forrest's Southerners. Seeing the nearby Sansom farmhouse, he rode upon it and demanded some smoldering burning coals from their fireplace / stove which he could use to burn the Black Creek bridge. When Forrest's men arrived later at the site, they found the burned out bridge and came under fire from Streight's men on the opposite bank. General Forrest rode to the Sansom house a few hours later and asked whether there was another bridge further up or down across the creek. Emma Sansom, then only 16 years old, told him that the nearest bridge was in Gadsden, two miles away. Forrest then asked if there was a place where he could ford in a shallow spot to get across the creek. Emma told him that if one of his men would help saddle her horse, she would show him a place that she had seen cows cross the creek, and that he might be able to cross there. He replied that there was no time to saddle a horse and asked her to swing and get up on his horse behind him. As they started to leave, Emma's mother objected, but relented when the general assured her that he would bring the girl back safely. Emma then directed Forrest to the spot where she saw cattle wading across where he too could cross the river. Some accounts of the skirmish indicate that the two also came under fire from nearby Union soldiers, who subsequently ceased fire when they realized that they had been firing on a teenage girl. After taking Emma back to her home, Forrest continued his pursuit of Col. Streight, whom he was later able to capture and surrender his invading and larger cavalry detachment near Cedar Bluff the following day. Sansom's actions are noteworthy in that openly aiding Confederate forces could have subjected her and her family to prosecution (or even death) from the Union Army if they continued to be victorious and occupy the area as the war continued.

Later life

Sansom married Christopher B. Johnson on October 29, 1864, 17 months after the incident with General Forrest, and moved further west to

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

in late 1876 or early 1877. She died August 9, 1900 at the age of 53 in

Upshur County, Texas Upshur County is a county located in the eastern part of the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 40,892. The county seat is Gilmer. The county is named for Abel P. Upshur, who was U.S. Secretary of State during P ...

, and is buried in Little Mound Cemetery there.

Honors

Forty-four years later after the celebrated Civil War incident and seven years after her death in Texas, a monument was constructed in 1907 in Gadsden at the western end of the Broad Street bridge across the

Coosa River The Coosa River is a tributary of the Alabama River in the U.S. states of Alabama and Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The river is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, ac ...

in honor of her actions. When the residents of nearby Alabama City, Alabama (later annexed into Gadsden) built a high school for their town in 1929, they named it in her honor. With the consolidation of the three Gadsden city high schools at the end of the 2006 school year, the General Forrest Middle School was closed and the

Emma Sansom High School Emma Sansom High School (opened 1929 – closed 2006) was a high school located in Gadsden, Alabama. It was named for a young girl ( Emma Sansom) who was credited with helping General Nathan Bedford Forrest to cross Black Creek in Gadsden, Ala ...

became reorganized / renamed Emma Sansom Middle School.

Controversy

In 2020, the statue became a place of conflict between

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

protestors and counter-protestors during the wave of racial justice protests triggered by the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

Minneapolis Police Department The Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) is the primary law enforcement agency in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It is also the largest police department in Minnesota. Formed in 1867, it is the second-oldest police department in Minnesota ...

officers. The Gadsden city council had debated moving the statue to a nearby cemetery where Confederate soldiers were buried, but voted against it. Preston Rhea, a descendant of Sansom, wrote a letter signed by thirteen other descendants in support of removing the monument. The

Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...

has identified this statue as one of hundreds of statues constructed by the

Lost Cause The Lost Cause of the Confederacy, known simply as the Lost Cause, is an American pseudohistorical and historical negationist myth that argues the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was just, heroic, and not cente ...

movement to support

white supremacy White supremacy is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White supremacy has roots in the now-discredited doctrine ...

during the

Jim Crow era The Jim Crow laws were U.S. state, state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced Racial segregation in the United States, racial segregation, "Jim Crow (character), Ji ...

References

Sources

Alabama Department of Archives and History

Emma Sansom article, Encyclopedia of Alabama
* Wyeth, John Allan
Life of Lieutenant-General Nathan Bedford Forrest
New York and London: Harper and Brothers, 1908. . Retrieved December 2, 2015.

External links

Monroe F. Cockrell research notes, W.S. Hoole Special Collections Library, The University of Alabama.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sansom, Emma 1847 births 1900 deaths People from Gadsden, Alabama 1863 in Alabama Women in the American Civil War People of Alabama in the American Civil War The Lightning Mule Brigade Nathan Bedford Forrest People from Walton County, Georgia Confederate States of America monuments and memorials in Alabama Confederate States of America monuments and memorials