The Washington bee. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1884-1922, 1895-11-09
DAVIS Al FORTRESS MONROE
Gen. Miles and Editor Henry w.,.
Have It Out. 30

tect came up, and I heard the s.a ~
from the lips Of Gen. Miles. A1 1.oiS
careful to respect the confidence :" avs
table, hesitate to commit recors 'Ae
what was said on this occasiou u
paper. but in justice to Gen. Mil, " !.
seems proper to do so.
The dinner was given by jon, u
Mackay, the bonanza king and nra,'
dent of the Postal Telegram CaS'
Company, at his rooms on Fifth
nue., and the persons present hsstss-
the host were Gen. Miles, Henry W..
terson, Col. Ochiltree, Capt. Mans :.
the army, Clarence Mackay and W.
self. We had been seated only So
minutes when Watterson was ssl..,
about his authority for the story tb..
at the Hampton Roads peace CONF.
ence Mr.. Lincoln had said n W.,
President Stephens, one of the Confas
crate commissioners. in effect: VII.
down a restored union and Won NO,
have whatever other terms you plassa,
Watterson gave his authority. and bor
ing occasion to mention JEFF erson Davi,
said of him, among other things. NJ
Davis did not have the confidence ana
affection of the Southern people bu,
when they put him in irons we realizA3
that he was to be made the martyr q,
the cause, the scapegoat of the Con.
federacy, and then we were in hono,
bound to stand by him to a man Tier.
are two ex-Confederates at this tabIa
besides myself, and they will bear ma
out in this statement"
But, Mr.. Watterson," said Cen
Miles," I must take exception to What
you say. Mr.. Davis was not put in
irons for being a Confederate or for
being President of the Confederaey. 7
am the man who executed that order
and know what am talking about"
"Oh, well" replied Watterson. u did
not mean to bring up that question
When ] said irons I spoke fguratively.~
But since the question has come
up" resumed Gen. Miles. 'Iet ne have
my say. 1 want you as an ex-Colfed-
crate to know the facts"
There was some further sparring. bur
Gen. Miles finally managed to tell his
story. There was no disposition" he
said, ito make Mr.. Davis suffer for the
sins of his people, and there was no
question of martyrdom in the case Let
me recall the circumstances. Mr. Davis
was not a soldier. He made no claim
to have surrendered. On the contrary.
he said. defiantly, that he had never
surrendered and never would, and as a
matter of fact. he never did. He was
a fugitive from justice. with a price
upon his head, and was caught while
trying to escape from our cavalry. The
War Department had declared him an
outlaw and offered a reward of $loD0Q0
for his apprehension. He was charged,
not with participation In the rebellion,
either as civilian or as a soldier, but
justly or unjustly, with being an ae-
complete in the assassination of Pres.
dent Lincoln and of Secretary Seward"
'Nonsense!" said Watterson; "he was
nothing of the kind. You know that,
General"
II know nothing about 1t one way or
the other. i was a soldier. and as such
had no business to question the official
declaration of my superiors What |
did know was that the authorities al
Washington, for good or sufficient
reasons to them. had declared Jefferson
Davis an outlaw. and an accomplice in
assassination, and had put price on
his head AS such an officer or soldier
apprehending him would have been
justified in putting him in irons as soon
as he was captured. But this was not
done. He came to Fortress Monroe
with free hands and feet and remained
so until orders were received to shacke
him. Those orders came TO me as
commandant of the post, and tney
were obeyed as a matter of course. Out
with all possible consideration for the
prisoner. The irons were small-mer7
toys in appearance-but they were
irons all the same. Mr.. Davis reslsted
in accordance with his settled anu
avowed policy of making the worst Of
every incident of his incarceration, anu
resisting, it was necessary to use force
but no more force than was aVs0luteF
necessary was used. That is the Whoe
story. No soldier could object TO tns
way in which the order was executsa'
or, if ne does, he does not kno" 'is
first duty of a soldier"
The point made by Gen. Miles as !"
the charges under which DAVIS "aS
held and imprisoned was new 70 IH'
three Southern men present. Contlhu
ing as to the treatment Of DAVIS WIFE
IN prison. Gen. Miles said: mo man ~
accused was ever so we'll treated d
though every effort was made 10 cISdv'
a different impression. and on WhioN
Davis did his best to stimulate. fsI
sonally, 1 felt deeply the responslolH"
of my charge; it was not one that d..
soldier would seek nor one thal a"!
true soldier could evade. l reahIs1
that if Davis escaped by any chaNe-
there would be an ineffaceable stan
on his custodians. I realized also 'H",
e he were shot. as he certainly VIZ
have been if he attempted to escap',
nothing would convince his frlenuS o.
the Southern people generally Una. -, =,
had not been foully dealt with. ~
same consideration applied 70 e''-.
detail of his treatment and diet o5o
vas reason to believe that he was re@''
to take his own life. He showed q
position to starve himself TO dea
gave the surgeon the strictest ciios3 p
| +o tenpt his appetite with any loOd
the market. and personally exaI ANN,
ard approved his dietary No uA .hor
was forbidden to the table MOI t1r
ne was to be pampered or coddIed L. as IS
| that ne should be humanely a ,a,,d
Justly treated. knowing that si-g IN
anything 1ppen to his health "ili'r him
crstod-- those in authority over nm ~
ard the Government itself would ~ -
held strictly accountable. anu nc hut