The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1883-01-13
70 TIE Editor Of the obe-pemocrat.

70 TIE Editor Of the Globe-Democut;
st. Louis, January 2, 1883.
The letter of johannes Facto.
tum," in your paper of January 1,
1889, contains n complete refuta
ton ofthe slanderous gossip, forty
eight years old, which he had been
misled into reporting in his pre-
yious letter to you of December
., 1882, about Mr.. Jefferson Davis.
The attention of Mr.. Davis having
been called to that gossip, he
thought proper to send to an old
personal friend u private letter,
from which the writer of this com
munication takes the liberty, with
out consultation with him, to give
some extracts, as furnishing the
most authentic disproof of the in
cidents to which the letters of
"Johannes Factotumn relate in
the early life of the Chief of the
late Southern Confederacy.
Mr.. Davis says of the letter of
December 2, 1882, that "every in
cident II relates is totally destitute
of the least foundation in TRUTH
That letter placed him at Prairie
du Chen in 1884, and he continues I:
was then serving in the First
Dragons, United States Army,
west of Arkansas. The letter de-
scribes me as engaged in playing
q game of draw poker-a game
which, so far as know, did not
then exist, and of which | have
never learned even the first rules.
No officers of the names given be-
longed to the First Infantry when
| served in it, and | never knew
the John Lorraine it describes.
There was no officer of the name
of Harrison who ever served with
me at Prairie du Chien, and | had
no such difficulties as those the
letter details with any one. While
| was on duty at Dubuque my or
ders required me frequently to go
to Galena. The son of the hotel
keeper, Reading Bennet, was well
known to me, and If he were living
would promptly brand the state
ment of the letter, so far as he
and | are concerned, as false
hood. The truth is, | never drank
nor gambled, and any one who
ever served with me would prob.
ably say that in my youth | was
overwilling to fight.
"The story Of the elopement
with General Taylor's daughter is
as unfounded as the rest. / was
one of the two officers selected
from the First Infantry for promo
ton in the new regiment of dra-
goons organized in March, 1888,
which separated me from Colonel
Taylor's regiment. In 1885 | went
to Kentucky, where Miss Taylor
was with her fathers sister, near
Louisville, and there married her,
in the presence of General Tay-
lor's brother, sister, his son-in-law
anil daughter QDr. and Mrs. Wood
with many other members of the
Taylor family. / served under
General formerly Colonel Zach
airy Taylor in the siege of Monte
rey, and was one of his commits
sioners to arrange for its capitula-
ton. This fact sufficiently ex-
plodes the scene described as oc-
curing at Buena VISTA"
This statement of Mr.. Davis
does effectually dispose of the oft
repeated tale of General Taylor's
ill.feeling toward him and their
reconciliation on the battlefield of
Buena Vista; that brilliant victory
toward which the then Colonel
Jefferson Davis SO ably and gal
lantly contributed, was gained sew
eral months after the capitulation
of Monterey, and what is thus lost
to the "romance of history will
be a gain to the accuracy of a bi,
ography which will always be of
interest to all students of the
true history Of the great American |