Josh The Lighthouse Guy
Major
- Joined
- Apr 30, 2012
- Location
- Jupiter, FL
Flight Into Oblivion by A. J. Hanna (Alfred Jackson Hanna)
Originally published 1938.
Reprinted in 1999 by LSU Press with a Foreword by William C. Davis, presumably stemming from his research for An Honorable Defeat: The Last Days of the Confederate Government (2001) and also leading to his 2010 biography of John C. Breckenridge.
Probably an underappreciated Civil War book. It traces the journey of President Jefferson Davis, his cabinet members, and the gold from the Confederate treasury in 1865. They flee the impending fall of Richmond, Virginia through the Carolinas and Georgia. Some drop off to await their fates at home, some are captured while fleeing, and some escape via Florida, or nearly do so.
The first half of the book covers the collective movements. (And the gold seems pretty well accounted for.) The latter half covers individual escape attempts via Florida. The most detailed journey is that of John C. Breckenridge thanks to first-hand accounts written by Breckenridge and one of his compatriots, John Taylor Wood (grandson of Zachary Taylor). A final chapter recounts the postwar fate of everyone who ever served in the Confederate cabinet, whether they were still part of it at the start of the flight from Richmond or not.
The book has a number of useful maps. There are also many illustrations - mostly produced for the original edition of this book but some taken from Wood's memoir in Century magazine.
There is an Index and Endnotes, although the citations are a bit lacking. Sometimes the latter is a bit vague and some passages are cited to the author's personal correspondence or papers held by private individuals that (hopefully) have long since come into the possession of archives. However, this book seems to have been some excellent groundbreaking research when it was first published. Hopefully Hanna's research correspondence is amongst his collection in the archives at Rollins College, Florida where he taught for many years.
For a book related to the American Civil War that is now 80 years old, this one holds up remarkably well. The narrative is pretty much from the Confederate perspective; we get little detail about those in pursuit. However, it seems to be fairly written, focusing on the facts and experiences. A few tidbits here and there The writing is pretty good, although occasionally feels a little tangential.
The Foreword added to the 1999 edition isn't really which claims that the work "scarcely needs updating." I did find at least three errors. When Judah Benjamin camps on Gasparilla Island, the author goes on a tangent about Jose Gaspar, namesake of the island...who nowadays is thought to be a myth. There is also a misspelling carried over from a primary source (John Taylor Wood mistakenly refers to the Juniper Narrows instead of Jupiter Narrows). Hanna credits the design of Gamble Plantation (where Judah Benjamin stayed in Florida; now a state park) as inspired by Major Robert Gamble's training at West Point. However, Cullum's register doesn't list any graduates with the last name Gamble (at least up to 1883). I suppose he could have left before graduating, which would be harder to confirm. Gamble achieved the rank of Major in the Second Seminole War commanding volunteers.
I hope some additional source might have turned up in the last 80 years to give more details of the other three Florida escape attempts besides Breckenridge-Wood (Thomas A. Harris, Judah Benjamin, and George Davis) which I think make up the most interesting part of the narrative. If there are any modern works about this subject - aside from biographies of Davis, Breckenridge, and Benjamin and the aforementioned Honorable Defeat by W. C. Davis - I'd be curious to know.
It's a good read and I recommend it.
Originally published 1938.
Reprinted in 1999 by LSU Press with a Foreword by William C. Davis, presumably stemming from his research for An Honorable Defeat: The Last Days of the Confederate Government (2001) and also leading to his 2010 biography of John C. Breckenridge.
Probably an underappreciated Civil War book. It traces the journey of President Jefferson Davis, his cabinet members, and the gold from the Confederate treasury in 1865. They flee the impending fall of Richmond, Virginia through the Carolinas and Georgia. Some drop off to await their fates at home, some are captured while fleeing, and some escape via Florida, or nearly do so.
The first half of the book covers the collective movements. (And the gold seems pretty well accounted for.) The latter half covers individual escape attempts via Florida. The most detailed journey is that of John C. Breckenridge thanks to first-hand accounts written by Breckenridge and one of his compatriots, John Taylor Wood (grandson of Zachary Taylor). A final chapter recounts the postwar fate of everyone who ever served in the Confederate cabinet, whether they were still part of it at the start of the flight from Richmond or not.
The book has a number of useful maps. There are also many illustrations - mostly produced for the original edition of this book but some taken from Wood's memoir in Century magazine.
There is an Index and Endnotes, although the citations are a bit lacking. Sometimes the latter is a bit vague and some passages are cited to the author's personal correspondence or papers held by private individuals that (hopefully) have long since come into the possession of archives. However, this book seems to have been some excellent groundbreaking research when it was first published. Hopefully Hanna's research correspondence is amongst his collection in the archives at Rollins College, Florida where he taught for many years.
For a book related to the American Civil War that is now 80 years old, this one holds up remarkably well. The narrative is pretty much from the Confederate perspective; we get little detail about those in pursuit. However, it seems to be fairly written, focusing on the facts and experiences. A few tidbits here and there The writing is pretty good, although occasionally feels a little tangential.
The Foreword added to the 1999 edition isn't really which claims that the work "scarcely needs updating." I did find at least three errors. When Judah Benjamin camps on Gasparilla Island, the author goes on a tangent about Jose Gaspar, namesake of the island...who nowadays is thought to be a myth. There is also a misspelling carried over from a primary source (John Taylor Wood mistakenly refers to the Juniper Narrows instead of Jupiter Narrows). Hanna credits the design of Gamble Plantation (where Judah Benjamin stayed in Florida; now a state park) as inspired by Major Robert Gamble's training at West Point. However, Cullum's register doesn't list any graduates with the last name Gamble (at least up to 1883). I suppose he could have left before graduating, which would be harder to confirm. Gamble achieved the rank of Major in the Second Seminole War commanding volunteers.
I hope some additional source might have turned up in the last 80 years to give more details of the other three Florida escape attempts besides Breckenridge-Wood (Thomas A. Harris, Judah Benjamin, and George Davis) which I think make up the most interesting part of the narrative. If there are any modern works about this subject - aside from biographies of Davis, Breckenridge, and Benjamin and the aforementioned Honorable Defeat by W. C. Davis - I'd be curious to know.
It's a good read and I recommend it.
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