Richard Wilson Saye

In 1860 he was a 34 year old house carpenter in Athens, GA. He enlisted there on 1 March 1862 as a Private in the Troup Artillery.

He was "struck with ball" but not seriously hurt in action at Sharpsburg on 17 September 1862.

He was later famous for his bravery at Fredericksburg on 13 December 1862 (or Chancellorsville, VA on 3 May 1863), in a feat retold on several occasions over the years:

Dick Saye [was] the bravest of the brave, that he had on one occasion had a bomb shell to fall in the ditches with the fuse burning. Dick Saye saw the danger and jumped at the shell, picked it up and threw it over the breast works, the shell bursting as soon as it struck the ground. The shell would have killed every one in the ditch if it had not been for the bravery of Dick Saye.

By 1870 and to at least 1880 he was again a carpenter in Athens. In 1900 he was a carpenter in Fulton County, GA, still working at 74 years of age.

His service from his Compiled Service Records,1 online from fold3. His slight wound from a list of casualties published in the Athens Southern Banner of 8 October 1862 - from a letter from Captain Carlton to Carlton's parents; thanks to Laura Elliott for transcribing that. This version of the story of his throwing the live shell was told by Hemphill at a reunion of the battery at Athens on 20 July 1892. Personal details from family genealogists and the US Census of 1860-1900. His gravesite is on Findagrave.

He married Elizabeth Caroline Jaye (1831-1865) in 1849 and they had 4 children. He married again, Sarah C. Edwards (1844-1930) in October 1867 and they had 4 more.

10/15/1824; Madison County, GA

10/20/1903; Athens, GA; burial in Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, GA