The Dawson journal., 1883-04-19
Mr.. Davis Capture.
The Story as Tod by the Soldiers
s SO Who Actually didI

KASPRR kNoBEI, the first man to lay
hand ol jefferson Davis when the latter
MAS fugitive after the downfall Of the
Confederate Government now lives in
Philadelphia. At the time Of the capture
Mr.. Knobel was private in the Fourth
Michigan Cavalry. His narrative, which
was contributed to the Weekly Times, is
assas fvfows:
On the evening Of the 7th of May, 1865,
the Fourth Michigan Cav ry Regiment to
which | belonged, was ordered to start
G Immediately without knowing whittier or
why. We rode on the whole night oaly
making ashcrt pause to take lunch We
didlikeYise the following day, but had in
the evening to take refuge frcn a thunder
storm in some woods, where we sought to
shield ourselves in the best possibesman
& e. ner against the inclemcy of the weather.
The next morning, somewhere between
nine and ten o'clock we met a vehicle with
only three Wheels driven by colorad
man. C0lcnei Prtchari bsde him hall
and answer our questions Ie tod Us he
f1adfallen in with &troop Of yankees"
it became evident he did not know the diff
ference between Union and Confederate
Il wagon, probably t. prevent him fronre-
vealing their flight too quickly, for as he
said, it was sure thing that they we1c
trying to escape.
Such was the story Of the negro, and
now the reason for oar beng engaged in
this exciting chase flashed upon us-that
we were hunting for no less noble prey
than the beaten leader cf the Confederacy
on whose head the Government had set a
large prize. On. commander, as matter
70 OF course took. note of this Statement and
ascertained the exact place where the meet
ing had taken place. Then we were or
dered to hold ourselves in readiaess.
harder work than we had vet done was
impending. Those who hal confidence in
themselves and their horses for further
ride of forty or fifty mics were told to an
nouce Fhagmselyes One hundred and
twenty-eight men did 50, among the rest
and we started. Twelve O'Clock at night
between the 9th and 10Th of May we arriv-
ed st Irwinsvjlle, Irwin county, Ga,
where Davis, according to all probability,
was to be found.
TIE CAMP DISCOVERED.
III HLi1llcIiiS t11SS We were ordered 10
distribute ourselves in groups of thirteen
in all directions and to 0e on the lookout
for all suspicious persons in the place The
group to which | belonged, after having.
ridden on for nearly a mile, discovered 4
campfire in a southwestern direction,
which was near extinction--a very suspi-
cious circumstance-tha made our hearts
beat quickerswith joyous anticipation 1t
being, however yet dark we could do no
thing else for the present than impatiently
wait for the dawn Of day. The easten sky
hadsscarcely reddened before we advanced
as noiselessiy as possible and almost stnn-
bed over two tents, whose inmates evil
IDENTIFY were get slumbering and who thus
could be easily surprised | was foremost
in entering one of these tents, and, sure
enough, found the fugitive and his family
lying there in profound sleep.
Jefferson Davis rested.in a gray costume
on the left side of the tent. As soon as he
was awake, and had comprehended the
situation, he tried evidently for.thepur-
pose of concealment, to cover himself y h
something-I can not at this time tell ev.
actly what, but of resistance he offered
none at ALL | then hurried to the othe
- tent, where | found a part of the staff oi
"A, the Confederate leader. Here also, perfect
quietude reigned, easily explainabc by tn,
exertions and excitement incident to the
flight They were Surprised t. the .Ntcn
that | tore away saddle from under III,
head of one of the sleeping officers, an,
tn y all surrendered anconditionally, wish
+o4far Al, Il,
FIRED UPON BY FRIENDS.
Not until the capture O Davis and hi
associates had been thus accomplished wa
the signal shot that had been agreed uool
the previous day fred, which soon brough
Colonel Pritchard and bis companions t,
the scene OF action. This shot, however
was TO our great asyooisAment, at ono
responded to hy heavy fire from tn
neghboring woods which fire we Of cous
answered. BY this skirnsh we bad on
young man killed, his heart being pierce;
bya bullet, ard one wounded Our ae
tonishment increased greatly when w
took one of she assailants prisoner an,
discovered that he belonged, like ourselves
to the Union army. They formed, in fact
part Of the First Wisconsin Cavalry re2i
ment, and had, like ourselves, arrived tn
evening before in the neighb) )rhood o
Irwinsyille witheut knowing or having III
slightest idea Of the presence of Davis, still
less of our own. The victims of this fata
encounter were buried with military hon
ors We had breakfast, tous, as a mat
ter of course, a very Joyous one, in whcl
jefferson Davis and our other prisoner
participated, and then we rode back +
headquarters.
THE COMMON ST RY UNTRUE
Such is the true history Of the capture Q
Jefferson Davis, and as every one can see
it differs materially from the commonl
accepted story, not alone in respect to tn
feminine apparel and the bowie knife, bu
nlsn in rnnnrG To ~, rl,nrt n,,nn,.,..o %. l..