THE GRAND REVIEW OF UNION TROOPS IN WASHINGTON AT THE CLOSE OF THE WAR.
deliberately procrastinated as he did, when the fact of his presence in that vicinity was so public, and in the face of the effort that would certainly be made by the Federal forces to secure his person, I can only believe that he had resolved not to escape. . . .
Note—Jefferson Davis was captured on the loth of May near Irwinsville, Georgia, hy a detachment of the 4th Michigan Cavalry (belonging to General R. H. G. Minty’s division of General James II. Wilson’s cavalry corps), under Lieutenant-Colonel Benjamin D. Pritchard. Wilson possessed imowledgeof Davis’s movements and had ordered Minty’s troops to picket the line of the Ockmulgee. Pritchard left Macon, Georgia, on the 7tli, and was moving southalongthe west bank of the Ocmulgee when he crossed the route on which Mr. Davis and his party were moving with about twenty-four hours’ start of their pursuers. A detachment of the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry (belonging to General John T. Croxton’s division), under Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Harnden, was following Mr. Davis in the direct road to Irwinsville, and Pritchard, making a swift march on anotherroad, came upon the fugitives in their camp, and arrested Mr. Davis just as the advance of Hamden’s command reached the scene.
Among those who surrendered at the time, besides Mr. Davis’s family and the guard, were Mr. Reagan and Colonels Lubbock, Johnston, and Harrison. General Breckinridge and Colonel Wood escaped, and made their way to Florida, whence they sailed to Cuba in an open boat. Mr. Judah P. Benjamin had already left the party, and made his escape through Florida to the sea-coast, thence to the Bahamas in an open boat.
On the 29th of May, 1865, President Johnson Issued a proclamation of amnesty to all persons (with some notable exceptions) who had participated in the rebellion, and who should make oath to support the Constitution and the Union, and the proclamations and laws relating to emancipation. Among the exceptions, besides certain civil and diplomatic officers and agents, and others, were the officers of the Confederate service above the rank of colonel in the army and that of lieutenant in the navy, and those who had been educated at the United States Military and Naval Academies.
Amnesty was further extended by proclamations, on September 7th, 1867, and December 25tli, 1868. In the first the milit ary exceptions made in the amnesty of May 29th, 1865, were reduced to ex-Confederate officers above the rank of brigadier-general in the army, and of captain in the navy, andin the second all exceptions were removed, and the pardon was unconditional and without the formality of any oath.
Mr. Davis was imprisoned at Fort Monroe immediately after his arrest, and was indicted on the charge of treason, by a Grand Jury in the United States Court for the District of Virginia at Norfolk, May 13th, 1866. On May 13th, 1867, he was released on a bail-bond of $100,000 signed by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Gerrit Smith, and Horace Greeley, and in December, 1868, a nolle prosequi was entered in the case.
Escort and commander had been picked as men who could he relied on in any emergency, and there is no doubt in my mind that, if Mr. Davis had really attempted to get away or reach the trans-Mississippi, this escort would have exhausted every expedient their experience could have suggested, and, if necessary, fought to the death to accomplish his purpose. I have never believed, however, that Mr. Davis really meant or desired to escape after he became convinced that all was lost. I think that, wearied by the importunity with which the request was urged, he seemingly consented, intending to put himself in the way of being captured. I am convinced that he quitted the main body of the troops that they might have an opportunity to surrender before it was too late for surrender upon terms, and that he was resolved that the small escort sent with him should encounter no risk in his behalf. I can account for his conduct upon no other hypothesis. He well knew—and he was urgently advised—that his only chance of escape was in rapid and continuous movement. He and his party were admirablymounted, and could easily have outridden the pursuit of any party they were not strong enough to fight. Therefore, when he
shaken ; we felt responsible for the future welfare of the men who had so heroically followed us; and the painful point had been reached, when to speak again in opposition to all that he urged would have approached altercation. For some minutes not a word was spoken. Then Mr. Davis rose and ejaculated bitterly that all was indeed lost. He had become very pallid, and he walked so feebly as he proceeded to leave the room that General Breckinridge stepped hastily up and offered his arm.
I have undertaken to narrate very briefly what occurred in a conference which lasted for two or three hours. I believe that I have accurately given the substance of what was said; and that where I have put what was said by Mr. Davis in quotation marks, 1 have correctly reproduced it, or very nearly so. . . .
Mr. Davis, having apparently yielded to the advice pressed upon him, that he should endeavor to escape, started off with a select party of twenty, commanded by Captain Given Campbell, of Kentucky, one of the most gallant and intelligent officers in the service. I knew nearly all of these twenty personally. Among them were Lieutenants Lee Hathaway and Winder Monroe of my brigade.
and constancy might yet save all. “Even,” he said, “if the troops now with me be all that I can for the present rely on, three thousand brave men are enough for a nucleus around which the whole people W'ill rally when the panic which now afflicts them has passed away.” He then asked that we should make suggestions in regard to the future conduct of the war.
We looked at each other in amazement and with a feeling a little akin to trepidation, for we hardly knew how we should give expression to views diametrically opposed to those he had uttered. Our respect for Mr. Davis approached veneration, and notwithstanding the total dissent we felt, and were obliged to announce, to the programme he had indicated, that respect was rather increased than diminished by what he had said.
I do not remember who spoke first, but we all expressed the same opinion.
We told him frankly that the events of the last few days had removed from our minds all idea or hope that a prolongation of the contest was possible. The people were not panic-stricken, but broken down and worn out.
We said that an attempt to continue the war, after all means of supporting warfare were gone, would be a cruel injustice to the people of the South. We would be compelled to live on a country already impoverished, and would invite its further devastation. We urged that we would be doing a wrong to our men if we persuaded them to such a course ; for if they persisted in a conflict so hopeless they would be treated as brigands, and would forfeit all chance of returning to their homes.
He asked why then we were still in the field. We answered that we were desirous of affording him an opportunity of escaping the degradation of capture, and perhaps a fate which would be direr to the people than even to himself, in still more embittering the feeling between the North and South. We said that we would ask our men to follow us until his safety was assured, and would risk them in battle for that purpose, but would not fire another shot in an effort to continue hostilities.
He declared, abruptly, that he would listen to no suggestion which regarded only his own safety. He appealed eloquently to every sentiment and reminiscence that might be supposed to move a Southern soldier, and urged us to accept his views. We remained silent, for our convictions were un-
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