02/25/2023
One of the roughly 5,000 United States Colored Troops present at Appomattox Court House on the morning of April 9, 1865, was Private Nelson Charles of Company G, 8th U.S. Colored Infantry. Born enslaved in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Nelson is believed to have made his escape to freedom in 1861 via the Great Dismal Swamp and the Underground Railroad. According to his military service records, he was drafted into the 8th U.S. Colored Infantry in Utica, New York in September 1863 at the age of 21. After surviving the small but bloody Battle of Olustee, Florida in February 1864, in which his regiment suffered nearly 300 casualties, Private Charles fought at Appomattox Court House, doing his part to help trap Robert E. Lee's army. He mustered out of service in November 1865 in Texas.
After the war, Nelson Charles changed his name to Nelson Charles Davis, apparently after his father. In the late 1860's, Davis made his way to Auburn, New York and met former Abolitionist leader, Underground Railroad conductor, and U.S. Army nurse and spy Harriet Tubman, who ran a boarding house there. Though 22 years different in age, Nelson and Harriet fell in love and were married in March 1869. In 1874, the couple adopted a daughter whom they named Gertie Davis. This was Harriet's second marriage; she had been separated from her first husband, Jon Tubman, when she made her escape from slavery in 1849.
Harriet and Nelson continued to live in Auburn, running a small farm and brick making business, skills he had also plied while an enslaved man. Sadly, Nelson Davis died of Tuberculosis in October 1888 at the age of only 44. Harriet applied for a Federal widow's pension and in 1895 she was granted the sum of $8 per month for the remainder of her life. Harriet Tubman died of pneumonia in 1911 and was buried with military honors next to her 2nd husband Nelson Charles Davis at Fort Hill Cemetery in Auburn, New York.
Special thanks to Maree Rogers of the 9th and 10th (Horse) Cavalry Association for bringing this fascinating story to the attention of park staff. Additional resources consulted for this post include the U.S. Compiled Service Records and an April 2009 article by the Virginian-Pilot newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia.
Text: C.B.
Image: Harriet Tubman, her 2nd husband Nelson Charles Davis, and their adopted daughter Gertie, circa 1887 (NMAAHC)
