No Quarter Given: The Brutal Tale of "Champ" Ferguson's Confederate Guerillas
Historians have wondered what caused Samuel "Champ" Ferguson to despise the Union army and their sympathizers to the point where he inflicted savage and inhumane atrocities on those he captured
Background
Samuel “Champ” Ferguson was a notorious Confederate guerilla during the American Civil War with a fierce hatred for Union soldiers and sympathizers. He was known to kill unarmed civilians and brutally murder old men in their beds. The viciousness of his attacks surpassed even the most violent serial killers of today.
Often, he targeted men he merely suspected might do wrong against him. Although he was later charged with 53 murders, Ferguson admitted to killing at least 100 men.
He never denied the charges; instead, he claimed the killings were justified. He became one of only three Confederates executed for their crimes during the Civil War.
Early Years
Champ Ferguson was born on November 29, 1821, in Albany, Clinton County, Kentucky, near the Tennesse border. The area, known as the Kentucky Highlands, is a peaceful rural setting for farmers and their families. Most residents were farmers, with only a few owning slaves.
He earned the nickname “Champ” because his grandfather often called him “Champion” as a baby. As the oldest of ten siblings, he grew up on the family farm, doing chores and attending school.
Move to Tennesse
During the 1850s, Ferguson and his wife and children moved to Calfkiller River Valley in White County, Tennessee. He became a farmer and slave owner, intent on living a peaceful life.
Folklore suggests Ferguson moved to Tennessee after Unionists drove him out of Kentucky by publicly humiliating his wife and daughter—a story he would later deny.
Yet, it’s this incident that’s often used to condone the violence that would overshadow the remainder of Ferguson’s life.
Prior to the start of the Civil War, Ferguson was known throughout the upper Cumberland Mountains as a “gambling, rowdyish, drinking, fighting, quarrelsome man.” (Herald, 2022). He spent his life working as a hunter, horse trader, and farmer and soon knew every nook and cranny of the region.
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