The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1921-10-10

vile he was ordered by Genera
Breckenridge, secretary of war, II
take charge of the removal and trans
portation of the specie Of the Con
Ifederate government. General Breck
inridge said then that the create,
part of this was gold and that the
total amount was between $500,0OC
and $600,000-he did not know the
exact amount. At the Savannah river
President Davis himself says he ord
cred that enough silver coin be taker
from the treasury train to make 8
partial payment to the soldiers OF
his escort. About one hundred and
eight or ten thousand dollars was
paid out in this way. NJ. H. Clark,
acting treasurer, estimated that the
amount on the train when it left
Richmond was s567,O32; of which
$230,O00 belonged to Virginia banks.
What finally became of the remand
er Of the treasure after the payment
of silver to the soldiery is yelled in
mystery, but the hands of the Con-
federate officials were clean when
they turned it over to the Federal
authorities.
"The destruction of official docu-
ments, the issuance of discharges to
many soldiers, the disposition Of the
great seal, the, payment Of part Of
the funds in the treasury to the SOL
diers, all go to prove that the Con-
federate government was dissolved
in Abbeville. These, considered
as a whole, are most logically ex-
planned on the hypothesis that the
government had ceased to function.
zone most significant development
after the party left Abbeville shortly
after midnight and before it reached
Washington deserves special empha-
sis. It was the departure of Secre-
tary Benjamin. Practical, cold-blood-
ed in his views. long before the Con-
federacy fell he probably had pre-
science Of its fate. It is likely that
he was the mysterious Mr.. X, des-
cribed by John Estees Cook, in his
great war novel 'Mohun,' as fore
telling III the summer of 1864 almost
the exact date Of the doom of the
Confederacy Mr. Benjamin occupied
a singular position in the Confeder-
ate government. He was member of
the, Confederate cabinet from first
to last, serving successfully as At
torney General, Secretary Of War and
Secretary of State. Schouler, the
terms him the brains of
the Confederacy,' for in sheer intel
lectual power he loomed above all
other Confederate statesmen. Pierce
Butler, his biographer, cites evidence
to show that President Davis leaned
heavily on Benjamin and transferred
to his shoulders some Of the response
b!lities of the chief executive. In the
last phase of the Confederacy, Presi-
dent Davis, by Office a civilian but by
by mental processes
and by individuality a soldier, con-
cerned himself largely with the con-.
duct of military. affairs, while Ben
jamin to some extent took his place
in directing the civil affairs of the
government.
Secretary Benjamin was the only
member Of the cabinet who sided with
President, Davis against the anegoti-
alton Of peace at the joint council of
war and cabinet meeting at Green's
bore, yet under his veneer of opti-
nism he was pessimist as to the fu-
;ure and long had been, out of pity
'r sympathy seeking to cheer and
sustain his chief.
"Did Benjamin reach the decision
It Abbeville >that the Confederate
government had to be abandoned
here? |
"Pierce Butler says:
Benjamin evidently considered
he cause hopelessly ruined, for he
old DIR. L. Hoge that he would, if
ne worst came, use every means to
scape, having resolved never to be
AIKEN alive. When the news of Gen.
:. E. Johnston's surrender arrived
nd Mr.. Davis had announced his
to try to make his