Born on November 10, 1846 in Lavaca County, Texas, David O. Dodd was an apart of the Arkansas youth during the American Civil War. He was executed on January 8, 1864 at the age of 17 for spying in the war. He was traveling Little Rock to deliver letters to some of his father’s business associates and then was to return to his family that were located in Camden, Arkansas. He entered Federally-owned area and was questioned because he did not have a pass. He was found carrying a notebook that had locations of the federal troops in the area. Dodd was then arrested and put on trial. He was found guilty for spying and was sentenced to death. He was then hung January 8, 1864 in Little Rock, Arkansas. Dodd was born in Lavaca County, Texas on November …show more content…
Many poems, movies, and plays have been made after his story. Including The Long, Long Thoughts of Youth by Marie Erwin Ward and Boy Hero: The Story of David O. Dodd by Dr. Nancy Hendricks.There are more monuments to David O. Dodd in Arkansas than to any other of its war heroes, including Gen. Douglas MacArthur. A monument marks the spot of Dodd's hanging, now in the corner of the parking lot of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock's School of Law. Dodd's grave is marked by an eight-foot marble monument, engraved "Here lies the remains of David O. Dodd. Born in Lavaca County, Texas, Nov. 10, 1846, died Jan. 8, 1864." Nearby is a marble scroll with the words "Boy Martyr of the Confederacy." David O. Dodd Elementary School in southwest Little Rock is located on land that was once a part of Washington Dodd's farm. A stone marker on school grounds, believed to be the place where he was captured, was erected by the David O. Dodd Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, and is dedicated to "Arkansas' Boy Hero of the War Between the States." There was also a fundraiser to put a stain glassed window in his honor in Richmond, now it is located at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. He was awarded many different awards, one of them being the Southern Cross of Honor. This award was only given to 22 individuals. David O. Dodd and his story has left it’s mark on the state and the American Civil War and will never be forgotten as time goes