by Bp Jerry L Hayes
Here, I begin a short synopsis of Captain Black Hawk Hayes of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry, Company C, USA. I will tell this concise version of his story in a straightforward manner without giving many details that most would consider necessary. Also, the sources referenced for this history will be given at the very end of this writing. Most of what you will read here is well documented in the annals of Henderson and Decatur counties (as well as our nation’s) history. Where I do rely on oral history, I consider that oral tradition to be reliable and corrective to conflicting accounts one may read in other sources. I make this claim in that I am his great grandson and the accounts were told in my hearing by my grandfather (Addie Powhatan Hayes)– Black Hawk’s son. Oral history often becomes polluted in the retelling down through the generations, but my accounts are but one generation removed from the events and, therefore less likely to have been altered.
Origins
Black Hawk Hays was born Asa Nelson Hays in Roane County, Tennessee (August 4, 1818) to Samuel Ellett (Elliott) Hays and Martha Davis Hays who were married in Roane County on March 4,1807. Their children were: Martha Jane (Patsy), James, Joseph, Cynthia, Samuel, Elizabeth, Asa Nelson, Elisha, and Eliza Jane. According to family oral history and military records Samuel Elliott Hays served in the Tennessee militia and was killed in the fighting with the Creek Indians (Asa would later fight this furious tribe in Alabama and Florida.). After the death of Samuel, Martha (with several other families, including her brother Asa Nelson Davis) moved the family to West Tennessee sometime in the 1820’s.
The Name “Black Hawk” and the Black Hawk Indian War
Soon after relocating to West Tennessee Asa accompanied an older brother into Missouri to assist in settling his sister and her husband there. At some point, while in Missouri, the Sauk Indians raided from Iowa Territory down into that state. Family oral history records that Asa was captured and taken into the Iowa Territory, and spent several years with that band of Indians as a slave. The Sauk had previously been driven out of their home in western Illinois. In 1832, under the leadership of a great war chief named Black Hawk, the Sauk mounted a campaign to regain their home in Illinois (Apr 6, 1832 – Aug 27, 1832); Asa was brought into Illinois with the attacking Sauk.
During the campaign there was an athletic competition within the Indian camp. It seems that the Indians prized themselves on hand to hand combat and wrestling was a chief component. By this time Asa was 14 years old and stood 6 foot and 6 inches tall. The hardness of his life among the Sauk had built his frame out to that of a man. Chief Black Hawk encouraged him to enter the contest with a promise that if he won against their champion wrestler he would be granted his freedom. Asa agreed. The match was held and Asa did in fact defeat the Sauk. Being true to his word Chief Black Hawk granted Asa his freedom. It is reported that as he was leaving the Indian encampment, the wrestler he defeated ambushed him along the trail and shot him through with an arrow. Asa was wounded several times during his life, this seems to have been the first occasion. However, the wound not being death threatening, he made his way to the nearest Illinois militia and reported to its commanding officer who happened to be the man who would become America's 16th president, Abraham Lincoln.
After relating his story to Lincoln, according to oral history, it was Abraham Lincoln who gave him the name of Black Hawk. It was Lincoln who presented to the young Asa, forever afterward to be known as Black Hawk, his first razor; stating, “Anyone who can fight a Sauk warrior hand to hand and win is grown enough to start shaving.” (In my youth I personally saw and handled this very straight razor. After my grandparents passed, items like this got into the hands of family members that did not cherish them and they became lost to time.)
The Seminole Indian War
The year 1836 finds Asa (Black Hawk) Hays back in Henderson County, Tennessee; and on June 18 of that year, in Madison County, he enlists in the Seminole Indian War. The soldiers from this enlistment were called the Madison County Grays. They were under the command of Captain McMahon. After meeting up with other companies of Tennesseans the soldiers moved into Alabama and settled a Creek Indian uprising there, then on to Florida where they engaged with the Seminoles who were mainly Creek Indians that had escaped the Indian removal act of President Andrew Jackson (1830). Both in Alabama and here, Black Hawk would be engaging in combat against the tribe of Indians that had, years earlier, killed his father.
Space does not permit a detailed account of this campaign. We will however mention the battle near Lake Panasoffkee that ensued after the Seminoles were finally cornered (November 17, 1836). The soldiers from Tennessee, having their patients worn thin through chasing the Indians across the swampy lands of Florida, once they finally had them in their sites, could not retain their enthusiasm and ran ahead of the main column and engaged the main body of Indians without proper support. Hand-to-hand fighting ensued and in the melee Black Hawk was shot but eventually managed to kill the Indian that had shot him. The on-site medical attention consisted of a silk handkerchief treated with medication drawn through the wound from his front to his back were the ball had passed clear through his body. When the wounded were finally evacuated to New Orleans and received proper medical attention, and after a time of convalescence, Black Hawk was discharged with an honorable discharge and returned to his home in Henderson County where he was received as a war hero. He was eighteen years of age.
Domestic Life
Asa Black Hawk Hays married Abagail Shipman in 1837 or 8, who bore him seven children: Martha Charlotte (Lottie), Isaac Martin Columbus, Samuel Leon, Alsie Jane, Nancy Paralee, Sarah Elizabeth, and Eliza Ann. There was an eighth child named William that lived with Asa and Abagail who bore the Hays name but is not believed to have been Abigail’s son. (William would fight with his father in the Civil War and die in Andersonville Prison.) After Abagail’s death (November 17, 1876) Black Hawk would marry the second time to Martha Ann Vernon Martin who bore him three other children: James Potan, Addie Powhatan (my grandfather), and Beda Iola. There were other women who bore Black Hawk children whom he acknowledged and supported: a Miss Thomas by whom he sired Asa N Thomas (who later changed his name to Asa N. Hays) and William Hayes (mentioned above) who lived with his father and Abagail; Martha Shoemaker, by whom he sired Mattie Pearl (Mattie’s mother died soon after her birth and she came to live with her father and Abagail. Mattie continued to live with her father even after his marriage to Martha Vernon Martin.); Rachael Davis, by whom he sired George, Thomas, Clint, and James (these four sons took their mother’s name of Davis.) Family oral history has it that Black Hawk fathered a total of 66 children in Henderson, Decatur and Perry Counties and that in the fall of each year he would load wagons full of food staples and winter clothing and distribute the supples to the several homes.
By 1840 Asa and Abagial have two children. About 1850 the family moves east of the Tennessee River into Perry County where Black Hawk received two tracks of land of 80 acres each, as payment for his service in the Seminole War in Florida. By 1860 the family had moved back to Henderson County where Black Hawk increased his land holding considerably. He and Abagial now have seven children together, but there were nine children in the Hays household. After the War, Black Hawk welcomed nephews and nieces into his home as his own children.
The Civil War Years
When war broke out between the states over states rights with the issue of slavery being at its core (April 12, 1861), President Abraham Lincoln sent Harve Roach to visit his friend from the Black Hawk Indian War and solicit his help in holding West Tennessee for the Union. The state of Tennessee had seceded from the Union earlier that year (June 8, 1861). One Sunday afternoon in September of 1861 Mr. Roach appeared at the house of Black Hawk Hays.
Black Hawk, invested his total energy and influence into the mission and escorted Harve Roach throughout the counties of eastern West Tennessee enlisting the support of the people from this area for the Union’s cause. This proved to be a dangerous undertaking in the course of which Mr. Roach was shot in the back. After he spent some time in the Scotts Hill area recovering from his wound, Black Hawk escorted him out of Tennessee to safety in Union occupied territory.
Confederate soldiers came to the Lexington Court House to remove the Union flag. In the course of events a crowd gathered on the SW corner of the court square. Black Hawk and some friends were in a mercantile (some say a saloon) that was across the street from the Court House. When they saw what was taking place they rushed to surround the Union flag. With drawn knives they protect the flag of their nation. The flag was not removed that day.
Asa Black Hawk Hays was by far the most influencing force in Henderson and surrounding counties for the preservation of the Union. It is recorded that he personally took over 150 local citizens to Paducah Kentucky to enlist in the union army because there was no enlisting post in Henderson County. While that may have been true in the early months of the war, by August 28, 1862 Mid-West Tennessee had become so pro-Union that enlisting stations were in Lexington and Jackson (Henderson and Madison Counties). The lion’s share of the 7th Tennessee Cavalry (especially Company C) mustered into service at these two locations.
Black Hawk enlisted August 28, 1862 in Lexington, as did many of his family and friends. There seems to have been a second mustering in Jackson on September 5, 1862. When the 7th Tennessee Cavalry was formed Black Hawk Hays became Captain Black Hawk Hays of company C. Company C’s mission seems to have been protecting the railroads from the Confederates so that union troops and supplies could move unhindered. This proved to be a major challenge with the Confederate General, Bedford Forest, operating throughout West Tennessee. The main mission of General Forest’s West Tennessee Raid was to disrupt Union troop and supply movement by destroying the railroads. Certainly this brought Captain Black Hawk Hays’ company C in contact with Forest on more than one occasion.
Battles
The 7th Tennessee's Company C was particularly involved in the battles of Lexington, Trenton, Parker's Cross Roads, and Union City. In the battle of Lexington the union forces were overmatched by the Confederates (Union 670 men vs Confederate 2,500 men). As a consequence, many Union soldiers were captured as well as armaments. Captain Black Hawk’s Company C was given a position to hold that was overran by the enemy. Due to his courage and leadership he saved his company from being captured. After the Battle of Lexington Captain Hays was court-martialed for not holding his position, even though it would have meant certain capture of himself and his men. The court-marshal found his actions wholly proper and he remained in charge of his company. At Union City during March of 1864 the 7th Tennessee was commanded by Col. Hawkins to surrender. Many of his officers were in tears. Captain Black Hawk Hays refused to obey the command stating that if they could hold out for just a few hours he was sure help was on the way. He relented when he was threatened with execution. Upon being ordered at gun point to surrender he broke his sword and threw it into a well rather than surrender it to the enemy.
After the war a hearing was conducted in Washington concerning this surrender. Hindsight being what it is, it was determined that the surrender at Union City was wholly unnecessary. Captain Hays was right.
The men of the 7th Tennessee USA were marched to Andersonville Prison in Georgia.There were reports of the officers removing their coats and other insignia of rank in order to not be separated from their men. This may not be true, but would be totally understandable since many companies were like Company C: Captain Black Hawk had in his company a brother, sons, nephews and cousins many; all of whom he felt personally responsible.
Andersonville Prison was a nightmare of a place. By this time the Union had stopped the prisoner exchange program and the Confederate prisons became over crowed, but Andersonville most of all. This place was the most notorious POW camp holding Union Army soldiers. The prison’s population peaked at 32,899 inmates and had an overall mortality rate of 40 percent (when counting those who died later as a result of their experiences at this place). The commandant of this prison (Henry Wriz) was the only person from the Civil War to be charged with war crimes. Captain Hays’ son, William, as well as many men of Company C, died at Andersonville.
Post War Activities
After the war when Captain Black Hawk returned to civilian life he continued to exert positive influence throughout the counties of eastern West Tennessee. He became a leading advocate for aid to the widows of the war: both Union and Confederate. A newspaper from Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Banner, reported on a speech he gave in Lexington (Henderson County) advocating for the rights of ex-Confederate soldier’s to vote in any election. Thus, he added his voice of healing to the efforts of the reuniting of the nation. That the media of such a distance from Henderson County recorded this event is a witness to this man's respect and influence. On the grounds of the municipal building at Parsons Tennessee (Decatur County) there stands, to this day, a plaque with a quotation from Captain Asa Nelson (Black Hawk) Hays immortalizing his philosophy concerning the war and of life itself.
The story is well known of a mission undertaken by Captain Black Hawk Hays at the behest of President Ulysses S Grant to the Sauk/Fox Indian Nation (sometime between March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877). This assignment would have taken Captain Black Hawk to the Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. There is no doubt that he was chosen for this expedition because of his time spent with that particular Indian Nation and the respect he had earned while with them. The Sauk/Fox were Algonquin Indians and the sons born to Captain Black Hawk and Martha Vernon Martin Hays were given Algonquin names (Potan and Powhatan). This would have been after his commission to those Indians. This, in my opinion, would be the only reason for the Algonquin names for his sons at this date when no such names appear in his first set of children by Abagail Shipman. Potan and Powhatan must have been Sauk/Fox men with whom Captain Black Hawk Hays was very fond.
A Casualty Of War After All
Here, I will pick up the narrative from the first paragraph of this article.
Captain Black Hawk was in the town of Darden (Henderson County) to transact some business. While there he ran into Henry Elliott with whom he got into a fight as a result of Captain Black Hawk’s position in the late war. As would be supposed, this war between the states had divided friends and family. Henry Elliott cursed Captain Black Hawk by saying "Damn the blue coat and the man who wears it”. With that being said a fist fight broke out of which Captain Blackhawk got the best of Mr. Elliott. As Mr. Elliott left the scene of the fight he called back over his shoulder, "You have to cross my land to get home and I will kill you”.
True to his threat Elliott set an ambush at the spring of water, that was on his property, by the roadway. As Captain Black Hawk approached, Elliott shoot him in the chest with a shotgun. Captain Hays was knocked from his horse, but was not killed. Henry Elliott was not heard of again. Oral history has it that he went into hiding but was betrayed by a girl friend who was a Maness and had close connection with the Hays family. This history states that Henry Elliott was captured by the Hays men and hung. (Here, I will give my source for this narrative: As a child, and even as young man, I would sit on the front porch of a local Darden barber named Samuel Elliott [the grandson of Henry Elliott] and listen to Samuel and my father, Carlie Hayes, [the grandson of Captain Black Hawk Hays] tell this story over and over again. Over the years of my life I have looked back on these hair-cutting sessions with fond memories. It spoke to me of how people can, and should, heal. Asa Nelson [Black Hawk] Hays did die from this shotgun blast a few months later. So, here, on Samuel Elliott’s front porch the grandson of the murdered and the grandson of the murderer were caring on commerce, but more than that, they were friends.)
Obituary Of A Legend
Obituary from Henderson County Newspaper - April 16, 1887
“WEST TENNESSEE WHIG BLACK HAWK DEAD”
“Captain Asa N Hays, who is better known by the name of Black Hawk Hays, is dead. He died recently in Decatur County where he had resided for a number of years. He was for a long time a citizen of this county and acquired the name of Black Hawk Hays by reasons of his bravery in the Indian wars. In a battle with them he was shot through and through by an Indian brave, recovered from his wounds and was ever afterwards called Black Hawk in honor of his bravery and courage in fighting that war like tribe of fiery savages. He was also a Federal Captain in the late war, and at the date of his death he was drawing a pension granted to him by a grateful country on account of wounds received in the Indian wars. Captain Hays was in many respects a remarkable man. He was brave and generous and full of energy, and had he possess the advantage of an education, he doubtless would have reached with some of the most illustrious men of his day. But now his warfare is over and the old soldier sleeps his last sleep.”
Sources
- *Headstone in Bear Creek Cemetery, Decatur TN
- 1850 Census
- 1860 Census
- Civil War Pension
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