Private Samuel Young Sawyer was born on January 7th, 1837 at Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas.

He married Amelia Curry at Key West, Monroe County, Florida on September 8th, 1857.

He was mustered into Confederate service on March 5th, 1862 when was enlisted as a Private in Captain Smith’s Company (Key West Avengers), 7th Regiment Florida Infantry by Major R. B. Thomas at Tampa, Florida for a period of 3 years or the war.

He was promoted to 3rd Sergeant from the ranks on August 8th, 1862 (likely as a result of the vacancies resulting from the numerous non-commissioned officer transfers to the C.S. Navy on August 5th).

He was reported present on all rolls until November 3rd, 1862 when he was reported sick in the hospital at Knoxville, Tennessee.

He died at Mossy Creek Hospital, Jefferson County, Tennessee on January 18th, 1863; there are conflicting reports of “disease” and “drinking too much water after a long march” as the cause.

Samuel Sawyer