Washington telegraph., 1865-07-26
NO. 21.

at last able to present our readers with
true account Of the circumstances attend
ing the capture Of President Davis; which
relieves i If all mystery Il i taken
from long circunstantial account Of his
flight FROM Richmond until finally cap
turrd, and appca-s ia the New York
Herald
President Dayi. might Lave escaped
He was with the Brerkiaridge rary.
separass4rtrom Lis family, making lii
/. way t5etfTe coast
VII lst tits humiliating to think that
his capture resulted from The disorderlv
conduct of Southern men, we are glad 10
find that there was nothing in the cir
cumstances, inconsistent with that digni-
! IL which Mr. Davis has sustained throHrf,
Y life
The account in the Herald closes thus:
AT last III got the information that
\ his own wife and family were in danger
\ from the assaults of military narauders.
v Mrs. Davis, with her three children, and
accompanied ty her sister, Miss Howell.
had q wagon train Of her own, about 20
or 30 miles from her husbands party.
She was very anxious to 20 her own way
and be no embarrr ssment to him. She
felt equal 70 the task Of protecting her
self Fl m reckless Confederates. aud fill
sure Of avoiding Te erals But, n
sooner did he ascertain til l. she was i,
danger, that two gangs had concoctod a
scheme 10 seize all her trunks, under TIL,
impression that she carried the rebel gold,
than be resolved, at all hazards. to 90 to
her rescue 1t was fond husbands, n
fond fathers infatuation. n, remon-
STRANGE availed He set ont and rode Is
miles to me=t the object Of his love and
solicituda- lie met them. and the first
to rebuke hin for his excess Of fondness
was the anxious wife aud mother, A
tent or two was already pitched, and he.
weary TO exhaustion, went 10 sleep. in
\ tending to retrace his STEPS before morn
ing Had re not gone to assure himself
Of his wife's safety, and had he not been
excessively fatigued while there. Colonel
Pritchard would be without tie honor Of
capturing him, for nothing WIS easier
than his escape, a breckenridge and
| Wood and the writer of this know, and
by meeting no interruption themselves
have proved Their Immunity might
have been his
But Davis ran lis risks and took the
chances, fully CONSCIOUS of imminen.
danger, yet powerles7. from physical
WEAKNESS, to do all H. designed doing
against the danger. When the r1usl.try
| firing was heard in the morning, at dim
gray dawn it was supposed 10 be be-
tween The rebel marauders and Mrs Da-
Wis few camp defenders. Under this
impression, he hurriedly put on bis bno.s
and prepared to 20 ou.. for the purpose
Of interposing, saying:
They will At least as yet respect me "
As he got to the tent door thus hastily
equipped, and with this good intention
Of preventing an effusion Of blood by an
appeal in the name of a fading. but not
wholly ia ed authority, he saw few
cavalry ride up the road and deploy in
| front
"Ha tie federals." Vas hi exelama-
ton
Then you are captured" cried Mrs
Davis with emotion
In a moment she caught an idra-a
woman sand as quickly as women in
an emergency execute their designs. ii
was done De slept in wrapper-a
loose one. 1t was Yet around him. This
she fastened ere hr was aware of it, and
then bidding, him adi-u, urged him to 20
to the spring. a s.iort distance of, wherr
his horses and arms were Strange az
it may seem. there was not even a pisto.
in the tent Davis felt that the only
course was to reach his horse and arms,
ami compiled As he was leaving the
door, followed By servant with water
bucket, Miss Howell fuzg shalol orer
his head There was no time to re.nor.
it without exposure and embarrassment,
and a. he had not far to go. he ran the
Chance, exactly az it was devised Tor him
In these two articles consisted the wo-
mans attire, Of which SO much nonsense
has been spoken and written; and, under
these circumstances, and init is way, was
Jefferson Davis going forth to perfect his
{ escape. No bonnet no gown, no petit
coats, no crinolne, nc. nothing Of all
, these. And what there was happened to
be excusable under ordinary c:ireumstan-
ees, and perfectly natural, as things
, were.
But it was TOO LATE for any effort TO
, reach his horses, and the confederate
president was at last prisoner in the
hands of the United States.
What attended his capture Won have
heard in all forms, and what followed i,
too but many things remain to be told
| AMI corrected touching that and other
, events germane to il. These. with yons
permission. shall take another opporiu
! nifty Of relating
- : Richmond paper estimates that
the war has cost the South five thousand
! eight hundred millions Of dollars. name
: ly: Twenty hundred millions by
loss Of slave property; nine hundred
millions by the ravages of war; nin.
hundred millions by the loss of starl,
\ crops; five hnnlred millions by prnpert,
: sunk i'll the Confederate debt, and on,
\ thons md millions BY what the Soutl
! mrst hereafter pay as her proportion o