Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1881-06-08
The Jefferson Davis Capture His
Account of 1t.

Mr.. Jefferson Davis new book on the
"Rise and Fall of the Confederate Gov.
ernment" gives the following account
of his own capture:
"After a short time I was hailed by a
voice which recognized as that of my
private secretary, who informed me that
the marauders had been hanging
around the camp, and that he and
others were on post around it, and were
expecting an assault as soon as the moon
went down. A silly story had got
abroad that it was treasure train. and
Guri sacrG flames had probably Instigated
these marauders. as it subsequently stim-
ulated Gen. j. II. Wilson to send out a
large force to capture the same train.
For the protection of my family
I Travelled with them two or
three days, when, believing that
they had passed out of the region of ma
rauders, determined to leave their en-
campment at uightfall TO execute nv
original purpose. My horse and those
of my party proper were saddled pre-
paratory to a start, when one of my
staff, who had ridden into neighboring
village, returned and told me that he
had heard that a marauding party in
tended to attack the camp that night
This decided me to wait long enough to
see whether there was any truth in the
rumor, which I supposed would be as
eertained in few hours My horse re-
mained saddled and my pistols in the hol-
sters, and lay down, fully dressed, to rest
Nothing occurred to rouse me until just
before dawn, when my coachman, a
free col0red man, who faithfully clung
to our fortunes, came and told me there
was firing over the branch, just behind
our encampment. stepped out of my
wifes tent and saw some horsemen,
whom | Immediately recognized as cav
airy, deploying around the encamp
ment. l turned back and told my wife
they were not the expected marauders,
but regular troopers. She implored me
TO leave her at once. / hesitated, from
unwillingness to do so, and lost few
precious moments before yielding to
her importantly. My horse and arms
were near the road on which | ex-
pected to leave, aud down which the
cavalry approached; it was, there
fore, impracticable to reach them. /
was compelled to start In the opposite
direction. As it was quite dark in the
tent picked up what was supposed to
be my raglan, waterproof light over
coat, without sleeves; it was sub secuent-
found to be my wife's, so very like my
own as to be mistaken for it; as started
my wife thoughtfully threw over my
head and shoulders a shawl. | had gone
perhaps fifteen or twenty yards when
trooper galloped up and ordered me to
halt and surrender, to which gave
defiant answer. and, dropping the shawl
and raglan from my shoulders. advanced
toward him He leveled his carbine
at me, but l expected if he fired he
would miss me, and my intention
was in that event. to put my hand
under his foot, tumble him off on the
other side, spring into his saddle and
attempt to escape. My wife, who had
been watching when she saw the soldier
aim his carbine at me, ran forward and
threw her arms around me. Success
depended on instantaneous action, and
recognizing that the opportunity had
been lost. turned back, and, the morn
ing being damp and chilly, passed on to
fire beyond the tent Our pursuers
had taken different roads, and ap-
preached our camp from opposite direc-
tions. They encountered each other
and commenced firing, both sup
posing they had met our armed
escort, and some casualties re-
suited from their conflict with an imag-
mary body of Confederate troops.
During the confusion, while attention
was concentrated upon myself, except
by those who were engaged in pillage,
one of my aids, Col. J. Taylor Wood,
with Lieut. Barnwell, walked off unob
served. His daring exploits on the sea
had made him on the part of the Federal
Government an object of special hostil-
ity, and rendered it quite proper that he
should avail himself of every possible
means of escape. Col Pritchard went
over to their battlefield, and l did not
see him for long time, surely more
than an hour after my capture. He sub
sequently claimed credit, in conversation
with me, for the forbearance shown by
his men in not shooting me when l re-
fused to surrender. "