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Confederate President Jefferson Davis writes to his wife, Varina, of the desperate situating facing the Confederates.
"Panic has seized the country," he wrote to his wife in Georgia. Davis was in Charlotte, North Carolina, on his flight away from Yankee troops. It was three weeks since Davis had fled the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, as Union troops were overrunning the trenches nearby. Davis and his government headed west to Danville, Virginia, in hopes of reestablishing offices there. When General Robert E. Lee was forced to surrender his army at Appomattox Court House on April 9, Davis and his officials traveled south in hopes of connecting with the last major Confederate army, the force of General Joseph Johnston. Johnston, then in North Carolina, was himself in dire straits, as General William T. Sherman's massive force was bearing down.
Davis continued to his wife, "The issue is one which it is very painful for me to meet. On one hand is the long night of oppression which will follow the return of our people to the 'Union'; on the other, the suffering of the women and children, and carnage among the few brave patriots who would still oppose the invader." The Davis' were reunited a few days later as the president continued to flee and continue the fight. Two weeks later, Union troops finally captured the Confederate president in northern Georgia.
Terry
__________________ "In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one." Abraham Lincoln - August 18, 1864 Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment
As a West Point graduate and war veteran, Jefferson Davis always seemed, contradictory, to exhibit a confidence that the war was never lost.
One wonders if the leadership of the Confederacy knew the war was lost, long before Appomattox, but couldn't bear to see the end of slavery, in any negotiation for reunion.
One wonders if the leadership of the Confederacy knew the war was lost, long before Appomattox, but couldn't bear to see the end of slavery, in any negotiation for reunion.
I'd guess that they knew the war was lost and the end of slavery was something they couldn't avoid -- but they'd crowed about fighting until the last man for so long that they couldn't back down (the honor thing).
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Lee nearly did fight to the last living Confederate
On the retreat to Appomattox, one Confederate general said any continued fighting was murder. If Lee hadn't surrendered at Appomattox, it would have been a slaughterhouse, with continued fighting.
Just months before Appomattox, Lee was bitterly complaining about desertions in his army.
The Confederate privates that deserted after the fall of Atlanta, knew the war was lost and over. Lee didn't grasped that fact.
After pulling out of Richmond, Confederate ammunition resupply was gone. The Army of Northern Virginia was an army in name only.
The Confederate privates that deserted after the fall of Atlanta, knew the war was lost and over. Lee didn't grasped that fact.
I think Lee knew it was over. As a soldier, he had to wait for his leaders to give him the word. For that, I give Lee a demerit. He had the respect and ear of influential Confederate leaders -- he ought to have used it to help end the war sooner. (INCOMING!!)
Ole
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
Posted by Ole
As a soldier, he had to wait for his leaders to give him the word.
I always sort of placed the blame for the length of the war on ol' Jeff Davis, myself. My gosh. Was he the only one who didn't see the writing on the wall? Was he that short-sighted and/or stubborn, intractable? When everybody was dug in at Petersburg at the end of '64 he still refused to give in, which, if he would have blown the whistle, would have prevented more deaths on both sides. I mean, not giving up is admirable to a point, but there comes a point when it becomes futile and just plain self-destructive to keep hanging on. As commander in chief he could've said the word and it all could have been over and done with in 1864. I wonder if he still, at that late date, thought the Confederacy would prevail, or if he just didn't want to face the music.
Terry
__________________ "In this great struggle, this form of Government and every form of human right is endangered if our enemies succeed. There is more involved in this contest than is realized by every one." Abraham Lincoln - August 18, 1864 Speech to the 164th Ohio Regiment
I always sort of placed the blame for the length of the war on ol' Jeff Davis, myself. My gosh. Was he the only one who didn't see the writing on the wall? Was he that short-sighted and/or stubborn, intractable? When everybody was dug in at Petersburg at the end of '64 he still refused to give in, which, if he would have blown the whistle, would have prevented more deaths on both sides. I mean, not giving up is admirable to a point, but there comes a point when it becomes futile and just plain self-destructive to keep hanging on. As commander in chief he could've said the word and it all could have been over and done with in 1864. I wonder if he still, at that late date, thought the Confederacy would prevail, or if he just didn't want to face the music.
Terry
Terry,
Lee understood the end was coming unless something spectacular happened; he had already indicated to Davis and the government that he would be unable to hold Richmond once the Spring offensive started (before Five Forks, anyway, and probably had done so back in January). Being Lee, he did it politely and indirectly, but Davis really has no excuse for not knowing how dire the situation was.
But Lee as Commanding General of the Confederacy should not be giving ultimatums to his C-in-C or his government; he should not be negotiating a surrender of his field force; he should not be spreading doom-and-gloom to all he meets. His responsibility is to present a solid front against the enemy, to strengthen his government's bargaining position, and gain every moment of time he can.
IMHO, Lee was doing this in the Winter of 1864-65. He may have hoped that Grant would not move until May, but he knew how long the odds were as he mapped Sherman's progress through the Carolinas in February and March. Five Forks only hastened the day Richmond must be given up.
Also IMHO, Davis was a man who epitomized why there was a Civil War in the first place: his idea of a compromise was that he had to win first on his own goals, then he'd compromise on minor matters. This is what I see in the 1865 peace mission: he sent them off with instructions that guaranteed failure unless the Union was ready to collapse.
That gives us few choices, such as:
1) Davis had no realistic idea of the situation of the Union and the Confederacy in the Winter of 1864-65 and did not understand Abraham Lincoln or the American people;
2) Davis was a gambler running a bluff, figuring he'd get his best terms by being unmovable and defiant;
3) Davis refused to countenance personal failure and cared more about that than the fate of Confederate citizens;
4) Davis was living in a fairyland, believing Lee and Johnston would somehow destroy/throw back Grant, Sherman, and the rest in the 1865 campaigns.
That gives us few choices, such as:
1) Davis had no realistic idea of the situation of the Union and the Confederacy in the Winter of 1864-65 and did not understand Abraham Lincoln or the American people;
2) Davis was a gambler running a bluff, figuring he'd get his best terms by being unmovable and defiant;
3) Davis refused to countenance personal failure and cared more about that than the fate of Confederate citizens;
4) Davis was living in a fairyland, believing Lee and Johnston would somehow destroy/throw back Grant, Sherman, and the rest in the 1865 campaigns.
Excellent post, Tim. I'll vote for #3.
__________________ I never knew a man who wished to be himself a slave. Consider if you know any good thing that no man desires for himself. A. Lincoln
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23 April 1865 : "Panic has seized the country," writes Davis 
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