The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1895-05-23

| q
,XNMeNSlS >NM \ ed the downfall
| y eSNEST s,sssgsG Of the Confedera-
M!E&.SySSSNSsN$>< cy just 80 years
t$\A: %ySDNSsSsSSS<>> ago. April 8,
| %M&TWS$<S&SsS*~> 1865, Lee surren-
| >NN&| dered at Apo
| NM mattox, virtually
>S> ending the war
fare in the field; the 14th Of the same
month President Lincoln fell under the
bullet Of all assassin in sympathy with,
If not in league with, the south. On the
26th the assassin, hunted to earth, was
shot by Boston Corbett, and Oh May 10
Jefferson Davis, the executive Of the
Confederacy, while fleeing to the south
west in the hope Of rallying new strength
to the lost cause, was arrested by Will
sons cavalry raiders.
Bulletined according to their signifi-
canoe in comparison with past history,
the month s events should read: "a Mil
itary Protector Disarmedn' "a King
Murdered!" "His Slayer Slain!'' and
''The Rival Pretender In Chains!" The
climax when it came was none the less
surprising because it.seemed to be nee
essary to complete the cycle.
The means adopted by himself and
friends in the last extremity were cer-
tainly desperate. Three days after Rich
mond and Petersburg fell Davis issued
proclamation at Danville stating that
Virginia would not be abandoned The
city was placed in state Of defense,
with Admiral Raphael Semmes in COM
mand The garrison consisted of naval
brigade and two battalions of infantry.
Lees surrender, four days after the
proclamation, changed everything, and
Davis, with his cabinet and the famous
treasure of $275,000, moved to Green's
boro, N. G.
A week later the party proceeded to
Charlotte, in the same state, and there
on April "a Mr. Davis approved of Gen
eral Johnston's convention with Sher-
man. Meanwhile the Army of South
western Virginia, numbering about s, 900
men, including some Of the boldest rid
ers of the bands Of Morgan, Basil Duke
and Vaughn, had been on the march
from the west to join Lee Or Johnston
in the east. These men had discussed the
chances Of a general surrender Of the
chief armies and had voted to hold out,
even to the waging of a guerrilla warfare
They encountered Stoneman's Union
| cavalry riders On the borders of North
| Carolina, but neither party was anxious
to fight, and the Confederates reached
Charlotte the day before Davis and his
cabinet arrived. The government party
marched in under the escort Of two bri-
gades of western cavalry, Dibrell's Ten
nesseeans and Colonel Breckenridge s
Kentuckians. Ferguson's brigade al
ready occupied Charlotte, so with Duke
and Vaughn and the escort there were
five brigades of mounted men to act as
bodyguard for the fugitive chieftain.
On that same day word reached Char
lotte that the Johnston Sherman cartel
had been disapproved at Washington.
That convention provided for general
amnesty. AS soon as this was confirmed
by Johnston, and he announced his pur-
pose to surrender upon the best terms he
could get at Washington, Davis resolved
to march with all the troops who would
follow across the mountains or below the
pass into Alabama, where, as he sup
posed, Forrest and Dick Taylor were in
the field, at the head of respectable ar
miles, The entire cabinet and members of
the executive staff were to accompany
the Expedition, and four brigades of cav
airy, those Of Duke, Ferguson, Dibrell
and Colonel Breckenridge, to act as body
guard. General John G.. Breckenridge,
the secretary Of war, acted as command
er Of the forces. The march was resumed
toward Abbeville. Flankers rode to the
right and left, and it was discovered
that a body Of Union cavalry, Stone
man, raiders from Knoxville, kept even
pace with the Confederate column on a
route dis ant about Is miles west. Da-
Wis, Breckenridge and others rode among
the men and talked freely Of the plans
of the expedition.
The drift Of the talk originating at
headquarters was that every effort would
= be made to keep the late executive of
the Confederacy out of the hands Of the
, United States authorities. No one dis
puted it as wild or unreasonable, though
the extreme hazards were weighed on
OIL oAOOo. OAIO y E. Dell
. jamin, the secretary Of state and conf
Dental adviser Of Davis, disappeared,
leaving all air Of mystery over the whole
, proceedings. The probability of severe
punishment for all who should be caught
was admitted openly. The brigadiers,
representing the army feeling, believed
that the only thing to do was to convey
Davis out Of the country and then sue
, for terms for themselves and the follow
ers in the last forlorn hope, or failing
5 in that surround him with wall of sa-
} bers until he should cross the Mississippi
to the independent Confederacy beyond.
That vast and prolific region, devoted tc
southern ideas and principles, had bare.
~ received a scar in the war; Its troops
were fresh, it's supplies abundant.
Davis called his brigadiers together al
Abbeville. After some general converse.
. ton he said: "It is time that we adopt
Z some definite plan nnOn which tho f11r