Emma Sansom Monument

Emma Sansom was born into a large family on June 2, 1847 in Walton County, Georgia. Her parents were Micajah Sansom, a farmer, and Levina Vann Sansom, a niece of Cherokee leader James Vann. In 1852, the family moved west to Alabama, settling on a farm near Gadsden. Seven years later, her father died, leaving her mother to manage the family farm and look after her and her siblings. 

In late April 1863, U.S. Army Colonel Abel Streight embarked on a raid deep into the heart of the Confederacy. Beginning in Union-controlled central Tennessee with a force of about 2,000 mounted infantry, the federal commander planned to slash through northern Alabama before entering Georgia and severing the Western and Atlantic Railroad that connected Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta. If successful, he would cut off Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee from their supply line, forcing them to retreat into Georgia and giving the Union undisputed control of Tennessee. 

Sent to stop Streight was Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his cavalry brigade of several hundred men. Not long into Streight’s expedition, a contingent of Forrest’s force came into contact with the federal raiders. Streight’s men successfully fended off the rebel assault, but nevertheless Forrest had found them. For more than two weeks, Forrest and his cavalrymen relentlessly pursued Streight and his federal raiders. On several occasions, the Confederate general relied on information provided to him by local residents to stay hot on the trail of the Union troops. On May 2, Streight and his men crossed a bridge over Black Creek, a few miles outside of Gadsden, Alabama. To impede Forrest’s pursuit, the federal commander ordered his troops to burn the bridge, the only one for miles. Looking for another way to cross the river, Forrest sought help from the locals, eventually coming across the Sansom family farm. There, fifteen-year-old Emma Sansom informed the Confederate cavalry commander of a nearby ford. Despite her mother’s objections to her going off with strangers, Sansom rode with Forrest to the ford. Thanks to Sansom, Forrest and his cavalry brigade were able to cross the creek and gain ground on the federal raiders. The next day, near Cedar Bluff, the Confederates finally caught up with the Union force. Exhausted and tricked by Forrest into believing that he was outnumbered, Streight surrendered to the Confederate commander. As a result of Sansom’s actions, therefore, Forrest put an end to Streight’s raid, preserving Bragg’s supply line, saving the city of Rome, Georgia from destruction, and providing the Confederate cause with a morale boost.  

The following year, Sansom married Christopher B. Johnson, a farmer and Confederate soldier. In the late 1860s, the couple relocated to Upshur County, Texas, where they remained for the rest of their lives. A mother of seven, Sansom devoted most of her time to raising her children and managing her household. In 1887, her husband died. She never remarried. On August 9, 1900, Sansom died at the age of fifty-three. Her remains were buried in the county’s Little Mound Cemetery. 

On the Fourth of July 1907, the Gadsden chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) dedicated a monument in honor of Sansom. Installed on Broad Street in the city’s downtown area, the monument features a life-sized white marble statue of the teenage Confederate heroine. The statue portrays Sansom standing in period attire. Looking out into the distance with her right arm extended, she points with her right index finger, as if identifying the location of the ford for Forrest. The statue rests on a large stone pedestal inset with a white marble relief depicting Sansom riding with Forrest, guiding him to the ford. Ten thousand spectators from all over northern Alabama attended the monument’s unveiling, which followed an elaborate parade featuring decorated floats and hundreds of Confederate veterans. 

In June 2020, after the death of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer and subsequent mass protests across the country, two members of the Gadsden City Council, along with over a dozen of Sansom’s descendants, called for the removal of the monument. In their open letter, Sansom’s descendants observed that the UDC erected the monument at the height of the Jim Crow era. They also convincingly argued that the monument helps to perpetuate white supremacy, in addition to an element of the Lost Cause that claims that white southern women were unflinchingly loyal to the Confederate cause. Despite the best efforts of the councilmembers and Sansom’s descendants, the monument remains standing today

"Emma Sansom Monument Unveiled at Gadsden." The Birmingham Age-Herald, July 5, 1907 <https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85038485/1907-07-05/ed-1/seq-3/#date1=1907&index=1&rows=20&words=Emma+EMMA+Sansom+SANSOM&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=Alabama&date2=1907&proxtext=Emma+Sansom&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1>.

"Emma Sansom Statue." Encyclopedia of Alabama. Web. 18 May 2021 <http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/m-3404>.

Hayes, Dixon. "Two councils members want Emma Sansom statue moved away from downtown Gadsden." WBRC, June 9, 2020 <https://www.wbrc.com/2020/06/09/two-council-members-want-emma-sansom-statue-moved-away-downtown-gadsden/>.

Keith S. Hébert. "Emma Sansom (Johnson)." Encyclopedia of Alabama. 5 May 2021. Web. 18 May 2021 <http://encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1360>.

Khalil, Byron. "Descendants of Emma Sansom call for removal of statue in Gadsden." ABC3340, June 30, 2020 <https://abc3340.com/news/local/descendants-of-emma-sansom-family-call-for-removal-of-statue>.