The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1869-01-09

thousand dollars, 1t had been proposed some
days before, In Congress, to distribute Al
largesses to the disseminated soldiers bu
Mr.. Davis had insisted upon reserving it fol
exigencies, and it was now secured in hi.
baggage. He did forget his sword. That
costly present from scme of his admirers
in England, had been sent to the Richmond
Armory for some repairs; it was abandoned
to the FIRE there. The last seen of this relic
of the Southern Confederacy was a twisted
and gnarled stem OF STEEL on private exhibi.
ton in a lager-beer saloon in Richmond
garnished with a certificate that it was
what remained of JEFF Davis sword, and
that the curiosity might be purchased fol-
two hundred dollars. Whether the retailer
of lager has yet disposed of his treasure we
do not know.
Mr.. Davis was accompanied at the first
stage of his fight by his family some of his
personal staff, and three members of his
Cabinet: Gen. Breckenridge, Secretary of
War; Mr.. BENJAMIN, Secretary of State,
and Mr.. Reagan, Postmaster. General. The
party journeyed without accident OR adven-
ture to Danville, sitting mostly in moody
silence, as the train shrieked through the
night that few miles further was being
torn by explosions, through whose ftful
chasms of light Lees army marched as into
impenetrable darkness. Arrived at Danville
Mr.. Davis issued a proclamation; out of
place there, inaccessible to the army, and
which would have been much more ftly
made before he had abandoned the post of
danger in Richmond But the exaltation Of
spirits he obtained after having passed the
boundary of danger, and got on the side of
supposed personal safety, did not long sur
vive In few days afterward came the
news of Lees surrender; and the President
and his party again sadly turned their faces
to the South; Gen. Breckenridge being
despatched to Gen. Johnston's lines only to
bring back to the party on their route the
sorrowful news of his surrender, and to in
crease the dismay of their flight.
Mr.. Davis as the first to rally from this
dismay. When he and his companions had
left Richmond it was in the belief that Lee
could avoid surrender but few days longer,
and with the intention, as we have already
said, of making their way to the Florida
coast and embarking there for a foreign
land. In the meditations of his journey,
however, through North Carolina, the fdgi-
tive President appears to have conceived the
alternative Of venturing to the Southwest,
within reach of the forces of Taylor and
Forrest, in the hope of reviving the fortunes
of the Confederacy within a limited terri
u.
Breckenridge, as they travelled together, af-
ter the news of Johnston's surrender, but
received only an evasive reply; the latter
not sharing his hopes, hut unwilling to NOR
tify them by candid de claration of opinion.
Mr. Davis was remarkable for a sanguine
but it was that which we OBJ
serve in weak characters, hoping against
hope" fckle, haring, extravagant, rather
than that practical energy which renews it
self on disaster and conquers fortune. The
vision he had cOnjured up Of limited Con-
around the mouths of the Missis-
sippi might have looked plausible upon pa
per, but it was fatally defective In omittlng
the moral condition of the south. Phe un-
happy President had not yet perceived that
he had lost the faculty of inspiration, that
the Southern people were IN despair, and
that, wherever be might 60. he would fnd
their cOuntenances averted, their hopes
abandoned, and their thoughts already com
mitted to submission But he was tn realize
very shortly how morally deserted and prac-
tically helpless he was. His first discovery
of it was at AbbevIlle, South Carolina,
where occurred one of the most pathetic
scenes in history, over which the tender
ness and charity of some Of the actors have
been disposed to draw the curtain, commit
ting it's sorrOws to secrecy.
Mr. Davis reached AbbeVille on the first
of May. So far he had been accompanied
bv the fragments of five brigades, amount
ing In number to less than one thousand
men, and reorganized into tvTe battaiions, al
the front and In rear of the long train which
signalled his flight and foolishly obstructed
his effort at escape. There were already
painful evidences of the Generalization of
the escort, and the story told almost at
every mile, by straggiers from JohnstOn's
command, was not calculated to inspire
them. At Abbeville Mr.. Davis resolved
upon council of war. 1t was composed of
the five brigade commanders, and Gen.
Braxton Bragg (foE the year past the "mili-
tary adviser" OF the President) was ad-
mitted to this last scene of the deliberations
of the Lost Cause.
In the council Mr. Davis spoke with more
than his accustomed facility and earnest
ness, inspired by hope, but without volu-
bility or extravaganza. He made a state
meut of SURPRISING plausibility. The South,
he declared, was suffering from a panic; it
yet had resources to continue the war; it
was for those who remained with arms in
their hands to give an example to re-animate
others; such an act of devotion, besides be-
ing the most sublime thing in history, might
yet save the country, and erect again its de-
clining resolution. " 1t Is but necessary,
he said, that the brave men yet with me
should renew their determination to con-
tinue the war; they will be nucleus for
rapid endorsements, and will raise the
signal of reanimation for the whole coun-
try" No one of the council answered him
at length; the replies of the commanders
were almost sunk to whispers; the scene
was becoming painful; and it was at last
agreed that each in his turn should an
nOunce his decision. Each answered slowly,
in the negative; the only words
added were though they considered the war
hopeless, they would not disband their men
until they had guarded the President to a
place of saftey.
NO." exclaimed Mr.. Davis, passionately.
" will listen to no proposition for my
safety appeal to you for the cause of the
country" Again he urged the commanders
to accept his views.
awe were silent" saws General Basil