Samuel A'Court Ashe

Samuel A'Court Ashe (1840 - 1938) was a Confederate infantry captain in the War Between the States and celebrated editor, historian, and North Carolina legislator. Prior to his death, he was the last surviving commissioned officer of the Confederate States Army. Born in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, Ashe grew up near Wilmington and spent much of his life in Raleigh. When the war erupted, he enlisted in the Confederate Army and served for its duration, rising to the rank of Captain. Among...See more

Samuel A'Court Ashe (1840 - 1938) was a Confederate infantry captain in the War Between the States and celebrated editor, historian, and North Carolina legislator. Prior to his death, he was the last surviving commissioned officer of the Confederate States Army. Born in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, Ashe grew up near Wilmington and spent much of his life in Raleigh. When the war erupted, he 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, Ashe married Hannah Emerson Willard in 1871 and had nine children. He 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 debts. 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 War Between the States, and the post-war South. His best-known publication is entitled 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. See less