"ON THE WRONG SIDE OF HISTORY'S JUDGMENT"

 JEFFERSON DAVIS ELECTED CONFEDERATE PRESIDENT

Montgomery, Alabama (JFK+50) On November 6, 1861, Jefferson Davis* was elected president of the Confederate States of America.  

Davis was to serve a six-year term according to the Confederate Constitution but that term would be cut short with the dissolution of the Confederate government on May 5, 1865.

JFK+50 NOTE

Jefferson Davis attempted escape after the fall of Richmond, the Confederate capital, but was captured in Georgia & held in prison for two years without trial.  After the Civil War, he became a hero to the "Lost Cause" movement.

Paul Escott writes... "Davis and the Confederacy were on the wrong side of history's judgment," but adds that "the Confederacy would never have survived to 1865 without Jefferson Davis."

*Jefferson F. Davis (1808-1889) was born in Fairview, Kentucky and spent most of his youth in Mississippi.  He graduated from West Point, served in the Mexican War & became a cotton planter & slaveholder. 

JFD was appointed to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat (Mississippi) & served as Franklin Pierce's Secretary of War.  He resigned his U.S. Senate seat in 1861.  

SOURCES

"Jefferson Davis as President of the Confederacy," by Paul Escott, Wake Forest News, February 12, 2009, www.news.wfu.edu/

"Jefferson Davis elected Confederate president," www.history.com/

Senator Jefferson Davis

(D-Mississippi)

Photo by Matthew Brady

1859

Library of Congress

"HE WAS A MAN SURE ENOUGH!"

JEFFERSON DAVIS DRESSED IN 'GENTLEMAN'S ROBE' AT TIME OF CAPTURE, SAYS UNION VET

Spencer, Ohio (JFK+50) On May 10, 1922, the 57th anniversary of the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis*, 79 year old Thomas Mile Hunter "recounted reminiscences" of that event sitting on his front porch here in Spencer, Ohio.

Mr. Hunter, a veteran of 73 Civil War battles, claims to be "one of two survivors of the 4th Michigan (Calvary) present at the capture."

Although there have been reports that President Davis was attired in women's clothing at the time of his capture, Mr. Hunter asserts otherwise.

He says...

"(Jefferson Davis) wore a gentleman's morning robe over his regular clothes.  On his head was an old striped bonnet.  He was a man sure enough." 

*Jefferson Finis Davis (1808-1889) was born in Fairview, Kentucky.  He graduated from the United States Military Academy & served in the Black Hawk War.  

JFD represented Mississippi in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1845-1846 & U.S. Senate, 1847-1851 & 1857-1861, & was Secretary of War, 1853-1857. 

JFK+50 NOTE

Jefferson Davis departed Richmond shortly after Lee's surrender going first to Greensboro, NC & then to Washington, GA where the Confederate government was officially dissolved.

Davis, along with his wife Varina, was captured by Union forces at Irwinville, Georgia on May 10, 1865.  

SOURCE

"Jefferson Davis In Man's Attire, When Caught, Captor Asserts," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., May 10, 1922, www.chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/ 

 

 

 Capture of Jefferson Davis

New York Daily News

May 15, 1865