Okla-homey
5/10/2007, 05:56 AM
May 10, 1865: Jefferson Davis arrested by US forces
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/14982/2006225690582541802_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006225690582541802)
142 years ago today, Jefferson Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of General James H. Wilson's cavalry.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/15164/2006269309345238430_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006269309345238430)
Tiny Irwinville is close to Fitzgerald GA which is large enough to be on the map
On April 2, 1865, with the Confederate defeat at Petersburg, Virginia imminent, General Robert E. Lee informed President Davis that he could no longer protect Richmond and advised the Confederate government to evacuate its capital.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/15297/2006201403966534405_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006201403966534405)
Jeff Davis.
Davis and his cabinet fled to Danville, Virginia, and with Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9, the group fled deeper into the South. Lee's surrender of his Army of Northern Virginia effectively ended the Civil War, and during the next few weeks the remaining Confederate armies surrendered one by one.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/14937/2006265630386553477_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006265630386553477)
Davis, along with Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson is immortalized on the largest bas relief sculpture in the world on Stone Mountain GA.
Davis was devastated by the fall of the Confederacy. Refusing to admit defeat, he hoped to flee to a sympathetic foreign nation such as Britain or France, and was weighing the merits of forming a government-in-exile when he was arrested by a detachment of the 4th Michigan Cavalry.
A certain amount of controversy surrounds his capture, as Davis was wearing his wife's black shawl when the Union troops cornered him. The Northern press ridiculed him as a coward, alleging that he had disguised himself as a woman in an ill-fated attempt to escape. However, Davis, and especially his wife, Varina, maintained that he was ill and that Varina had lent him her shawl to keep his health up during their difficult journey.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/15164/2006275487442723284_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006275487442723284)
Explore the capture site of the president of the Confederacy, a State Memorial Historic Park. Tour the thirteen-acre wooded park, the Civil War museum, and three memorials.338 Jeff Park Davis Road (off Hwy 32 East, 9 miles from Fitzgerald), (229)831-2335
Imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe, Virginia, Davis was indicted for treason, but was never tried. Some Southern apologists to this day maintain Davis was not tried because the federal government feared that Davis would be able prove to a jury that the Southern secession movement of 1860 to 1861 was legal.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/13965/2006253710941032517_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006253710941032517)
Davis imprisoned in a gun casemate converted into a prison cell at Ft Monroe VA. Just north of Norfolk VA on the Chesapeake overlooking Hampton Roads.
Varina worked determinedly to secure his freedom, and in May 1867 Jefferson Davis was released on bail, with the help of several wealthy Northerners who posted his bond. He was never tried, but unlike the "marble man" Robert E. Lee, Davis was never post-humously pardoned either.
After a number of unsuccessful business ventures, he retired to Beauvoir, his home near Biloxi, Mississippi, and began writing his two-volume memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881). Beauvoir was trashed by Katrina but is now being rebuilt. Davis died in 1889 and was buried at New Orleans.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/16273/2006244279291272107_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006244279291272107)
Beauvoir before Katrina
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/17341/2006276952735324800_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006276952735324800)
Beauvoir post-Katrina
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/17333/2006266805824836899_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006266805824836899)
Beauvoir under repair
By the time of Davis' death time, the nostalgic "Lost Cause" movement was in full swing and Southerners, many of whom were adults during the war and whom despised Davis as president, turned out in huge numbers for the memorial ceremonies. Thus, it's probably fair to characterize this phenomenon as a form of "passive aggressive" behavior. In any case, it's fair to say his fellow Southerners honored and revered Davis more in death than he ever was honored or revered in life.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/14957/2006203185543599516_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006203185543599516)
The funeral procession for Jefferson Davis winds through the French Quarter in New Orleans on December 11, 1889. An estimated 200,000 people lined the streets. Davis died early on December 6, and over 70,000 people viewed his remains at New Orleans City Hall. The body was laid to rest in a vault in Metairie Cemetery, then was taken to Richmond in 1893 and reinterred at Hollywood Cemetery.
Four years later, his body was moved to its permanent resting spot in Richmond, Virginia.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/17257/2002471240226921085_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002471240226921085)
The Davis gravesite at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond VA.
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/13239/2002497294580907752_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002497294580907752)
http://aycu23.webshots.com/image/14982/2006225690582541802_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006225690582541802)
142 years ago today, Jefferson Davis, president of the fallen Confederate government, is captured with his wife and entourage near Irwinville, Georgia, by a detachment of General James H. Wilson's cavalry.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/15164/2006269309345238430_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006269309345238430)
Tiny Irwinville is close to Fitzgerald GA which is large enough to be on the map
On April 2, 1865, with the Confederate defeat at Petersburg, Virginia imminent, General Robert E. Lee informed President Davis that he could no longer protect Richmond and advised the Confederate government to evacuate its capital.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/15297/2006201403966534405_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006201403966534405)
Jeff Davis.
Davis and his cabinet fled to Danville, Virginia, and with Robert E. Lee's surrender on April 9, the group fled deeper into the South. Lee's surrender of his Army of Northern Virginia effectively ended the Civil War, and during the next few weeks the remaining Confederate armies surrendered one by one.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/14937/2006265630386553477_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006265630386553477)
Davis, along with Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson is immortalized on the largest bas relief sculpture in the world on Stone Mountain GA.
Davis was devastated by the fall of the Confederacy. Refusing to admit defeat, he hoped to flee to a sympathetic foreign nation such as Britain or France, and was weighing the merits of forming a government-in-exile when he was arrested by a detachment of the 4th Michigan Cavalry.
A certain amount of controversy surrounds his capture, as Davis was wearing his wife's black shawl when the Union troops cornered him. The Northern press ridiculed him as a coward, alleging that he had disguised himself as a woman in an ill-fated attempt to escape. However, Davis, and especially his wife, Varina, maintained that he was ill and that Varina had lent him her shawl to keep his health up during their difficult journey.
http://aycu05.webshots.com/image/15164/2006275487442723284_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006275487442723284)
Explore the capture site of the president of the Confederacy, a State Memorial Historic Park. Tour the thirteen-acre wooded park, the Civil War museum, and three memorials.338 Jeff Park Davis Road (off Hwy 32 East, 9 miles from Fitzgerald), (229)831-2335
Imprisoned for two years at Fort Monroe, Virginia, Davis was indicted for treason, but was never tried. Some Southern apologists to this day maintain Davis was not tried because the federal government feared that Davis would be able prove to a jury that the Southern secession movement of 1860 to 1861 was legal.
http://aycu06.webshots.com/image/13965/2006253710941032517_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006253710941032517)
Davis imprisoned in a gun casemate converted into a prison cell at Ft Monroe VA. Just north of Norfolk VA on the Chesapeake overlooking Hampton Roads.
Varina worked determinedly to secure his freedom, and in May 1867 Jefferson Davis was released on bail, with the help of several wealthy Northerners who posted his bond. He was never tried, but unlike the "marble man" Robert E. Lee, Davis was never post-humously pardoned either.
After a number of unsuccessful business ventures, he retired to Beauvoir, his home near Biloxi, Mississippi, and began writing his two-volume memoir The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881). Beauvoir was trashed by Katrina but is now being rebuilt. Davis died in 1889 and was buried at New Orleans.
http://aycu34.webshots.com/image/16273/2006244279291272107_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006244279291272107)
Beauvoir before Katrina
http://aycu22.webshots.com/image/17341/2006276952735324800_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006276952735324800)
Beauvoir post-Katrina
http://aycu14.webshots.com/image/17333/2006266805824836899_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006266805824836899)
Beauvoir under repair
By the time of Davis' death time, the nostalgic "Lost Cause" movement was in full swing and Southerners, many of whom were adults during the war and whom despised Davis as president, turned out in huge numbers for the memorial ceremonies. Thus, it's probably fair to characterize this phenomenon as a form of "passive aggressive" behavior. In any case, it's fair to say his fellow Southerners honored and revered Davis more in death than he ever was honored or revered in life.
http://aycu38.webshots.com/image/14957/2006203185543599516_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2006203185543599516)
The funeral procession for Jefferson Davis winds through the French Quarter in New Orleans on December 11, 1889. An estimated 200,000 people lined the streets. Davis died early on December 6, and over 70,000 people viewed his remains at New Orleans City Hall. The body was laid to rest in a vault in Metairie Cemetery, then was taken to Richmond in 1893 and reinterred at Hollywood Cemetery.
Four years later, his body was moved to its permanent resting spot in Richmond, Virginia.
http://aycu18.webshots.com/image/17257/2002471240226921085_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002471240226921085)
The Davis gravesite at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond VA.
http://aycu40.webshots.com/image/13239/2002497294580907752_rs.jpg (http://allyoucanupload.webshots.com/v/2002497294580907752)