Sunday, April 23, 2006
April 23: This Day in History - "Panic has seized the country" proclaims Jeff Davis
In flight from Union Armies, on April 23, 1865, Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote a letter for his wife Varina Howell Davis who was in Georgia. There, he proclaimed the dire straits of the Confederacy which was militarily extirpated:
The dispersion of Lee's army and the surrender of the remnant which remained with him destroyed the hopes I entertained when we parted. Had that army held together I am now confident we could have successfully executed the plan which I sketched to you and would have been to-day on the high road to independence. Even after that disaster if the men who "straggled" say thirty or forty thousand in number, had come back with their arms and with a disposition to fight we might have repaired the damage; but all was sadly the reverse of that. They threw away theirs and were uncontrollably resolved to go home. The small guards along the road have sometimes been unable to prevent the pillage of trains and depots.
Panic has seized the country. J. E. Johnston and Beauregard were hopeless as to recruiting their forces from the dispersed men of Lee's army and equally so as to their ability to check Sherman with the forces they had. Their only idea was to retreat of the power to do so they were doubtful and subsequent desertions from their troops have materially diminished their strength and I learn still more weakend their confidence.
The loss of arms has been so great that should the spirit of the people rise to the occasion it would not be at this time possible adequately to supply them with the weapons of War.
....
I think my judgement is undisturbed by any pride of opinion or of place, I have prayed to our heavenly Father to give me wisdom and fortitude equal to the demands of the position in which Providence has placed me. I have sacrificed so much for the cause of the Confederacy that I can measure my ability to make any further sacrifice required, and am assured there is but one to which I am not equal, my Wife and my Children. How are they to be saved from degradation or want is now my care. During the suspension of hostilities you may have the best opportunity to go to Missi. and thence either to sail from Mobile for a foreign port or to cross the river and proceed to Texas, as the one or the other may be more practicable. The little sterling you have will be a very scanty store and under other circumstances would not be counted, but if our land can be sold that will secure you from absolute want. For myself it may be that our Enemy will prefer to banish me, it may be that a devoted band of Cavalry will cling to me and that I can force my way across the Missi. and if nothing can be done there which it will be proper to do, then I can go to Mexico and have the world from which to choose a location. Dear Wife this is not the fate to which I invited when the future was rose-colored to us both; but I know you will bear it even better than myself and that /of us two/ I alone will ever look back reproachfully on my past career.
....
Farewell my Dear; there may be better things in store for us than are now in view, but my love is all I have to offer and that has the value of a thing long possessed and sure not to be lost. Once more, and with God's favor for a short time only, farewell --
YOUR HUSBAND
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This is a nice blog.
The American Civil War is very interesting. I am English, but I do have sympathies with the Confederate side.
The American Civil War is very interesting. I am English, but I do have sympathies with the Confederate side.
Thanks for the feedback.
The British could have very well have intervened on behalf of the Confederacy, but providence ordained otherwise. Wouldn't history be different with the United States divided in two? But would have, could have, should have-- it is always interesting to speculate about...
There was an alternative history novel by Robert Conroy called 1862: A Novel. The juncture for the road taken Outraged when the U.S. Navy seizes three Confederates aboard an English sailing ship (which really did happen). Britain retaliates by entering the fray in support of the Rebels–and suddenly it’s a whole new war.
(In our timeline, eleven thousand regular troops were sent to Canada by the UK, the British fleet was put on a war footing, and a sharp note was dispatched to the United States, demanding surrender of the prisoners and a prompt apology.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345482379/
The British could have very well have intervened on behalf of the Confederacy, but providence ordained otherwise. Wouldn't history be different with the United States divided in two? But would have, could have, should have-- it is always interesting to speculate about...
There was an alternative history novel by Robert Conroy called 1862: A Novel. The juncture for the road taken Outraged when the U.S. Navy seizes three Confederates aboard an English sailing ship (which really did happen). Britain retaliates by entering the fray in support of the Rebels–and suddenly it’s a whole new war.
(In our timeline, eleven thousand regular troops were sent to Canada by the UK, the British fleet was put on a war footing, and a sharp note was dispatched to the United States, demanding surrender of the prisoners and a prompt apology.)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345482379/
I am not sure I favour interventionist foregin policy, but it would have been nice if the Confederacy had survived.
I cannot say that I blame you. I too support a non-interventionist foreign policy, as a general rule, notwithstanding the actions of our present-day U.S. government with its penchant for meddling in the four corners of the world. Europe stood to gain by a divided and weakened United States understandably, but the gains from war and British intervention are few. The largest beneficiary would have been an independent Confederacy obviously.
Likewise, I think the U.S. in its infancy was a little naive to get into the War of 1812, whatever greviences it had about British impressment of our sailors.
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Likewise, I think the U.S. in its infancy was a little naive to get into the War of 1812, whatever greviences it had about British impressment of our sailors.
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