American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1864-02-03
JEFF. Davis Body servant.


as to have occupied many hours of the at
tention both of Gen. Halleck and of the
Secretary of War. Afterall, the most in
terestDg of his statements is that touch
ing the. weakness of Lees army, when
Meade made his late advance movement.
1t seems Lee had but $4,000 men to con-
front at that time to the whole army of
the Potomac The following additional
items, however, will interest our readers:
The cupola roof of the Presiden Is huu e
leaks badly, he says, so that during he re-
cent rain storm all the tubs froll-tAe Ae kitch-
en- had to be taken up to save the ceiling
of the lower floors. Mrs. Davis, who oft
en- says that if they had known how it was
going, they never would have left Wash
ington with her consent, was calling Mas
sa Davis attention to the.st,te of the roof,
and asked him to send to the Quartermas-
ter's Depa 'tment and have it repaired
Massa Davis, who has grown very petulant
and irritable of late, replied: IL reckon
we will be out of this before another rain
storm. Don't fuss yourself and me about
these trifes"
He says that Jefferson Davis, in private
conversation, is unreserved in urging the
abandonment of Virginia, as line of de-
fense no longer tenable That he has
heard Mr.. Davis, in conversation with con-
fidential members of the so-called Gov
ernment, decl ned frequently that Virginia
had been used for all it was worth, that it
had proved shield of immense value. in
Tending off the devastations of war from
the rice and cotton States, which were the
heart and body polite ofthe new govern
ment. Steps have been already taken on
various pretexts of their labor being need
ed on the public works to send all the val
ne able-bodied negroes and breeding ne
gro women from Richmond along the rail
road to Iynchburg, and also south into
Georgia, which Mr.. Davis declares TO be
the next base of operations. But General
Lee, whom Jim declares as looking very
old, with his hair now snow-white, is per-
emptorily opposed to the abandonment of
Virginia, and declares that Virginia sold
iers will lay down their arms, if their
State be given up to the Yankee despot-
ism
The talk is not about going to Colum-
bia, South Carolina, but to some city in
Georgia. Jim heard gentlemen ask Mr..
Davis at the table, where Alexander
Stephens was, who has not attended Cong
ress this session, and whois said not to
have visited Mr.. Davis house or office for
over year. Davis replied, that he had
heard that Stephens had gone to Europe,
but had not thought it worth while TO in
quire what had become Of him.
Jim accompanied Davis in his recent
tour around the Conlederacy, and describes
the following scene as having occurred on
The summit of Lookout Mountain. Look
ing down one bright day from the lofty
eminence commanding clear view into
four States, and a very distant view intoa
fifth, Davis saw the Yankees beneath his
feet, across the valley working i Ike beav
ers on their fDrtiticadon5 81 have Ihen,
now, said he, sin just the trap / set ton
them To which Lieut.. Gen. Peuber-
ton, who was sitting on horseback beside
him, replied, "Mr. Davis, you are Com
mander-in-C { hief, and you are hc.e. You
think the enemy aIe in a trap. ana can be
captured byvigOrous assault. Ihave been
blamed for not having ordered general
attack on the enemy when they were draw
ing around their lines of decentralization
at Vicksburg. Do you now order an at
tack upon those troops down there below
us, and | will set you my life that not one
Cd d-m man of the attacking column
ever come back ac o $ that valley, ex-
cept as a prisoner"
When Davis was passing through North
Carolina, he only stopped at Wilmington
to consult with Gen. Whiting. While
there he was pressed by numerous dele
cation of Confederate ofice-holders to stop
in Raleigh for consultation with Governor
Vance. This he angrily declined 1t APP
peais that the health Of Mr.. Davis is rap
idly breaking down under his neuralgy
attacks, in SO much that he can no longer
use his only good eye by candle light
He continues his old habit after dinner of
stretching himself on the carpet before the
fire in a room otherwise Enlightened and
it is fast becoming dangerous for any one
to approach him.
Always of violent and fretful temper,
he is becoming greatly aggravated by his
misfortunes, and Jim describes him on one
occasion as finging about the chairs and
furniture when so disturbed About four
weeks ago pistol exploded in his room
when he was loading it, and the whole fam
lily rushed up feeling confident that, as
they had long decided, he had committed
suicide
Jim says that Mrs. Davis, in converse
tion with female friends, frequently talks
of the Confederacy as hopeless, and is loud
in regrets for the lost pleasures of Wash
ington.
There is no forage except in the Missis-
sippi Department, and the allowance for
Mr. Davis two horses is two quarts of corn
each per day, on which, says Jim, they
are growing thin. Not long ago Mr.. Da-
Wis received present of twenty turkeys,
the food for which now comes from the
corn rations Of tho quadrupeds, making
them still thinner. A turkey, says Jira,
lasts the family three days-roasted or boil
ed the first day, cold the next, and hashed
the third.
Mr.. Davis receives no company-has no
wine in his cellar, but has several kegs of