C.W. Roden
Formerly: SouthernFriedOtaku
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2019
- Location
- South Carolina, USA, Earth
A rather amusing story from an article I wrote on my blog site Southern Fried Common Sense & Stuff about the local history of the Flight of President Jefferson Davis through York and Union Counties (SC) between April 26-30, 1865 that I thought y'all might enjoy:
On Wednesday, April 26th, Davis left Charlotte, immediately after a particularly gloomy cabinet meeting that discussed Johnson's surrender to Sherman. After riding all afternoon on Wednesday, April 26, the column crossed into York County, South Carolina and approached the Catawba River, where they were greeted around 4 P.M. by Colonel Andrew Baxter Springs, owner of the Springfield Plantation in Fort Mill.
The Confederate President was also greeted by a group of Southern ladies with bouquets of spring flowers. Springs, a colonel in the Confederate Army who'd helped recruit and supply troops, offered his home to President Davis and the Confederate cabinet.
Secretary of the Treasury and Charleston businessman George Trenholm and his wife, Helen, both of whom opted to spend the night nearby at the home of Colonel William Elliott White further down the road.
According to the Springs family archives, that evening, with all of the Union forces pursuing them and a price on their heads, President Davis and his fugitive cabinet members played a game of marbles with Spring's two young sons, Eli, 13, and Johnny, 12 in the parlor. Eli was paired with Davis and Postmaster General John H. Reagan, while Johnny was paired with Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin and Secretary of War John C. Breckenridge. The teams got down on the knees, laughing and relaxing.
Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote of the evening, "It was an hour of refreshing, well-contested game of marbles. Breckinridge, the best marble player since (John) Marshall, with his usually good luck, came off victorious. He is the best grown-up player in the Confederacy, if not the world."
It was said that, for their part, the two Springs boys were amazed that these four powerful men knew all the rules about marbles.
To read the full article click here: https://southernfriedcommonsense.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-flight-of-president-jefferson-davis.html
On Wednesday, April 26th, Davis left Charlotte, immediately after a particularly gloomy cabinet meeting that discussed Johnson's surrender to Sherman. After riding all afternoon on Wednesday, April 26, the column crossed into York County, South Carolina and approached the Catawba River, where they were greeted around 4 P.M. by Colonel Andrew Baxter Springs, owner of the Springfield Plantation in Fort Mill.
The Confederate President was also greeted by a group of Southern ladies with bouquets of spring flowers. Springs, a colonel in the Confederate Army who'd helped recruit and supply troops, offered his home to President Davis and the Confederate cabinet.
Secretary of the Treasury and Charleston businessman George Trenholm and his wife, Helen, both of whom opted to spend the night nearby at the home of Colonel William Elliott White further down the road.
According to the Springs family archives, that evening, with all of the Union forces pursuing them and a price on their heads, President Davis and his fugitive cabinet members played a game of marbles with Spring's two young sons, Eli, 13, and Johnny, 12 in the parlor. Eli was paired with Davis and Postmaster General John H. Reagan, while Johnny was paired with Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin and Secretary of War John C. Breckenridge. The teams got down on the knees, laughing and relaxing.
Secretary of the Navy Stephen Mallory wrote of the evening, "It was an hour of refreshing, well-contested game of marbles. Breckinridge, the best marble player since (John) Marshall, with his usually good luck, came off victorious. He is the best grown-up player in the Confederacy, if not the world."
It was said that, for their part, the two Springs boys were amazed that these four powerful men knew all the rules about marbles.
To read the full article click here: https://southernfriedcommonsense.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-flight-of-president-jefferson-davis.html
Bringing the