The Fairfield herald. [volume] (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1849-1876, 1867-05-08
The Capture Of Mr., Davis Again The
Absurd Story of Female Apparel"

Inc capture OF Mr. Davis AGain--Ihe
Absurd Story of Female Apparel"
Revived.
The Washington correspondent Of the
New York UcraM gives the substance Of The
testimony before the House Committee on
Claims, Of Gcnorul } III. ilaon and e,h~.s,
relative to The capture of MIR. Davis. We
quote:
The Geneva, stick TO the old version that
.jcE. Davis was disguised partially III the
attire OF a female, niluding 10 the subject
in the following language: "Durng the
firing Of the skirm;sh just referred TO, the
nLutant of the Fourth Michigan, l.icncn-
ant }. II. Dickinson, after having looked TO
the security Of tho rebel camp, and sent
forward u number Of the men who Lad
struggled, was about 10 GO 10 the front him
self, when his attention was called by one
OF the Il en- 10 three persons in tomnic attire,
who had apparently just trti oiio Of lie
large tents near by, and were moving to-
wards the thick woods He started al once
towards them, and called out "ha.t." But
not hearing him, or not caring to obey,
continued o move off. Just then they were
confronted by three men, under direction of
Corporal Munger, coming from the opposite
direction. The corporal recognized ono OF
the pcrsons as Davis. advanced carbnc and
demanded his surrender. The three persons
halted, and by the actions of the two, who
afterwards turned out to he women, all
doubt as to the identity of the third person
was removed The individuals thus arrest
cd were found to he Miss Howell. Mrs. pa-
Wis and Jefferson Davis. AZ they walked
back to the tent from which they tried to
to escape Lieut.. Dickinson observed that
Davis high top boots were not covered by
his disguise, which fact. probably, led to his
hu 40 t1,n
friends Of Davis have strenuously denied
that he was disguised rs q woman, il may
not be improper to specify tho exact arli-
clcs Of womnn's apparel which he had upon
him when first seen by Lieutenant Dickin.
son and Corporal Munger. The former
states that he tswas ono of tho three persons
dressed in womnn's attire, and had q black
mantle wrapped about his head, through
the top of which could be seen locks of
halr" Captain G. w. Lawton, Of the
Fourth Michigan cavalry, states explicitly,
that Davis, in addition to his fun suit Of
Confederate grey, had on "a lady's wntor-
proof cloak. gathered Mt the waist, with a
shawl drawn over the head, and carrying
n tin pail" Colonel Pritchard says in his
offioial report, that he received from Mrs.
DAVIS, on board the steamer Clyde, off For
trsie NJ onroc, n waterproof cloak, or robe,
which was worn by Davis as disguise, md
which was Identified by the mon who saw il
on him nt the time Of the capture. lie So
cured the balance Of the disguise the next
day. IL consists Of shawl, which was
ilnnliicd in q similar manner by both Mrs.
Davis and tho men. From these circnm-
stances there soems 10 be no doubt whatever
that Davis sought to avoid capture by as
snming the dress Of woman, or that tho
Ladies Of the party cndoavored TO pass him
off upon his captors ns ono of Themselves.
The Richmond Tines remarks:
Every one knows that tho 'attiro Of q
female" in which it is persistcntly sworn
that Mr.. Davis WAS clad, consisted of an
IngliSh waterproof coat and n small gentle
mans shawl or muller which hc wore tre
oucmtly whilo in Richmond during attacks
of his neuralgia, n malady from which he
wus and is a great sufferer. Only the Sun
day before tho evacuation he wore this
Identical shawl, while attending Divine cor
vice at ST Paul's Church in this city. Tho
waterproof coats were common in both
armies, and may be socn on our strocts any
rainy day ut the present time.
.o---------
Alta late meeting of tho Royal 1nstitu-
tion in London, DR., Pattigrew delivered a
lecture on the principles Of support and
progression in the air, ms exempiiicd in the
wings of birds and insects. IIc pointed oul
The Importance Of the screw movement
both rs All instrument Of mcght in the fly
ing object, was shown to be necessary TO its
hold on the mir. DR.. Pettigrcw has evi
dicntly great faith in Tho ultimate success
of the attempt to devise nm apparatus whicl
shall not only maintain itself in the Dir, bu
move in n required direction and th'
gro nds Of this confidence arc such as ma,
we'll Justify the belief that tic feat is no
i,ppoSsiblo d