The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1891-08-13
SHACKLING JEFFERSON DAVIS.
The Officer who Did 1t Describes How IL
Was Done.

The following letter was received by
an employee Of the Times from his
father, and is of such interest that we
give it to the public:
ROANOKE, S. D., July 4.
My DEAR Son: There has been much
said and written about Jefferson Davis
in relation to putting fetters on him at
Fortress Monroe, Va. Some state
ments are in part true and others are
false, and some say he never was
shackled.
On the morning of May %, 1863, L
as dcts;led as officer Of the day, and
after guard mount Ireported to Gen.
Nelson Miles for special orders in re-
gard tc the three State prisoners, JEFF
ferson Davis, G.. G. Clay, and John
Mitchell, who were confined in separate
gun-rooms or classmates, the emoras-
ures of which were closed with heavy
iron bars looking out on the moat or
ditch, which is about sixty feet wide.
The first room or casemate had but
one door and two large windows facing
the inside of the fort. The gunroom
had two doors leading in from the
casemate. These were closed by heavy
iron grated doors and locked with pad
locks, nnd at each door in the gum
room with the prisoner were two SEN
tinels with loaded muskets, and in the
casemate were two more sentinels and
officers Of the guard, all of which
were under lock and key, the officer of
the day having charge Of the keys.
The guard was relieved every two
hours, and that could only be done in
the presence of the officer of the day.
The windows of the casemate were
also grated with iron bars. The pris-
oners occupied every other gunroom,
and the guards not on duty the inter-
vening ones.
There was special guard mounted
of eighty men for those three prisoners,
and the commandant Of the fort could
not give any orders of any kind to that
special guard; in fact, he could not
come within its lines. There were four
sentinels on the parapet overhead, four
on the glacis beyond the ditch, and
six in the fort in front of the casemates.
The above statement is just as l found
things the day that Davis was shackled.
l reported to Gen. Miles as the new
officer. Of the day, The General said
he had special orders for me as to JEFF
Davis. Having heard it runored that
morning that Davis was to be put in
irons I said TO the Ganera1. ssI tli1sk
7 can guess sswhat it is, General" "Well,
what is it, Captain p" "To put irons on
Davis. He said THAT is it." said {:
"When do. you wish it done?" He
SAID "The irons are not ready" Then
I said: "Had we not better put them
on toward EVENING"" He said eyes,"
and 7 could send ny orderly to the
blacksmith's and have him meet me at
that time with the leg irons, and at
the same time he (Gen. Niles showed
me part of letter he had from Secre-
tary Stanton, in which he said that If
he thought the safety of Davis required
it, be could put irons on Davis, or
words to that effect. The matter was
left optional with Gen. Miles as to
whether Davis should be put in irons
or not.
Just before the sundown relief sent
my orderly out for the blacksmith to
meet me with the leg irons at casemate.
Soon after I went down I found the
smith and bis helper there. then un-
locked the door and told the guard to
a"fet them pass that is, smith and he'll
per.
AS I entered the gunroom Davis was
sitting on the end of his cot or hospital
bed reading his Episcopal Prayer Book,
and as he looked up, I said: "Mr.
Davis, 7 have an unpleasant duty to
execute" At the same moment seeing
the blacksmith with the irons, he saidI:
you 90 not intend to put fetters on
me?" I said "Those are my ORDERS"
He said /: "Those are orders for a
slave and no man with a soul in him
would obey such orders" I then
sud "Those are my orders" Mr..
Davis said: II shall never submit to
such an indignity." He then asked
if Gen. Miles had given that order.
Ny answer was in the affirmative. He
said he would like to see Gen. Miles. I
replied that the General had just left
the fort. Davis then asked that the
execution of the order be postponed,
and I should telegraph to the Presi-
dent in his name, said: "A1r. Davis,
you are an old soldier and know what
orders are. It is needless TO say that
an officer is bound to execute an order
given him. Davis said it was obvious
that there could be no necessity for
such an order to make his imprison-
ment secure. I said: "My duty is to
execute this order, and it is folly for
you to resist" Davis's answer was
that he was soldier, and he knew
how to die, and, pointing to senti-
mel, said: "Let your men shoot me at
once"
a few moments after that he placed
his foot on q stool; his quiet manner
led me to think he would not resist. I
then said: Smith, do your work"
AS the blacksmith stopped to place
the clasp of the shackle around his
ankle Davis struck him a violent blow
that threw him on the floor. he re-
an,-oraA nr,d OF nnaa ,a,nGo fn- d, ..:c.