Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1894-02-08
Saint Maru's Beacon
THE coNFEDERAcY's MISTAKE.
Inner History u the Hampton Roads Confer
ence.

Inner History 81 the HAMPTON Roads Confer
ence.
No man in Atlanta has at his command
a greater fund Of incidents than Judge
Samuel b. Hoyt, who is BOW seriously i'll
at Suwsnee Springs, Fla. The Judge was
born ia BIount county, In 1923, and com
ing 20 Atlanta before the woods were
cleared away for the coming city, has
grown up with il and carries in his memo
~ The full details of mos; remarkable
era Of city building While reclining on
his sick bed b, day Judge HoYt spoke Of 8
conversation be had with the late jefferson
Davis In the conversation Mr. Davis IA
menied the fate which deprived the Con-
federaie States OF recognition by European
powers.
''TO the last mon enf,n said Mr. Davis,
~ was confident that this recognition would
come to us. The landing Of the French in
Mexico was IN our interest II We could
have consolidated our forces down in Tex
as under Kirby Smith the alliance would
have become effective" "And yet" SAID
Judge Hoyt, "this was all dreaming il
was like following a rainbow. How diff
ferent all might have been if the less bril-.
liant but more practical mind Of Alexan-
der H. Stephans had dominated the coun-
ellis Of the nation. "Almost with tears In
bis eyes Mr.. Stephens once told me- said
Judge Hoyt, "of the inner history Of the
Hampton Roads conference. When the
intimaiion came To u.s. said Mr.. Stephens,
that the Fetlerals desired a conference, it
was known that Mr.. Davis was opposed to
it. The majority Of the Confederate Sen
ate took its cue from the President, and,
therefore the subject could not be directly
preached then. AS consequence, we
were forced % strategy. II was proposed
that Gen Lee should appear before the
Senate in executive session and under the
cloak Of secrecy 10 be removed only for the
personal information OF the President He
should give an exact statemeat Of TIE real
position of the two armies. With great
reluctance Gen. Lee consents 10 answer
questions, the result being to show that
the Confederate army had been reduced TO
mere she'll, with neither defenses, refuge
nor supplies 10 fall back upon. With this
plain statement the Senate consented 10 the
appointment Of peace commissioners, but
when a resolution was offered and passed
that these commissioners should be under
instructions passed by Mr. Davis, all hope
in my heart, failed. Only the conviction
that would lose no chance TO bring about
peace induced me to withhold my resigna-
ton
"Afier describing the meeting with Presi-
dent Lincoln and associates" continued
Judge Hoyt, "Mr. Stephens went on TO
say: Finally, all preliminaries over, Pres
ident Lincoln said so anxious am for
peace that will offer terms which am
sure will surprise you all. On this sheet
of paper will write bat one word, while
will leave TO your own judgment every
other condition and requirement Writ
ing. Mr. Lincoln passed the sheet over to
me, and found written upon 1t the one
word, Union 'Alkother terms conclud-
cd Mr.. Lincoln may be Of your own die
taiion.' My heart sank within me- said
Mr.. Stephens. Here, on simply accepting
the Union, we could dictate our own terms
of peace, preserve our State autonomies,
maintain our fortunes, gain recompense for
our slave property, and all the consequen-
ccs following defeat could have been avert.
cd but our instructions from Mr.. Davis,
the corner stoae OF which was the recogni-
ton of the Confederate States, forbade the
acceptance of this most magnanimous and
generous offer. When / so informed Mr..
Lincoln he sank back in his chair with a
look Of utter disappointment We all felt
the gravity of the situation, and it was
recognized that one of the great mistakes
of history was being enacted. With an
army whose defeat was already acknowl
edged by Gen. Lee, President Davi- insist
cd upon annihilatien."
"These facts" continued Judge Hoyt, ''it
was agreed should be kept secret until the
death Of the principals. That time having
arrived, there is no longer reason why they
should no, be made known st. Louis
Globe DeB.Ocrdt.