Samuel "Champ" Ferguson (November 29, 1821 – October 20, 1865)[1] was a notorious Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War.

The mountainous terrain and the lack of law enforcement during the war gave guerrillas and other irregular military groups significant freedom of action.

Families were often divided; one of Champ Ferguson's brothers fought as a member of the Union's 1st Kentucky Cavalry and was killed in action.

[9] Early in the war, Ferguson organized a guerrilla company and began attacking any civilians that he believed supported the Union.

Ferguson's men were seldom subject to military discipline and often violated the normal rules of war.

Stories circulated about Ferguson's alleged sadism, including tales that he occasionally decapitated his prisoners and rolled their heads down hillsides.

He was once arrested by the Confederate authorities and charged with murdering a government official and was imprisoned for two months in Wytheville, Virginia.

One of Ferguson's main adversaries on the Union side, David "Tinker Dave" Beatty, testified against him.

[2] A notorious incident was Ferguson and his guerrilla band's involvement in killing wounded Union men and prisoners after the Battle of Saltville.

[12][13] Ferguson was buried in a comb grave in the France Cemetery north of Sparta, White County, Tennessee.

After his execution, Ferguson's statements to the Nashville Dispatch were published; The New York Times classified his letter as a confession.