Jeff's Last Skedaddle/Off to the Last Ditch.
date: label: Date made
content: Spring 1865
name: label: depicted
content: Davis, Jefferson
label: depicted
content: Davis, Varina Anne Howell
label: lithographer
content: McLean, A.
label: artist
content: Welcker, T.
notes: label: Description
content: In the spring of 1865, the Union Army increased its efforts to capture the Confederate President Jefferson Davis after the surrender of Lee and assassination of Lincoln. Suspecting him to be complicit in Lincoln’s murder, the U.S. War Department issued a $100,000 reward for the capture of Davis and his aides. Without his capture or surrender, many in the Union War Department would not recognize the war as officially ended. After fleeing Richmond, Davis was caught by members of Michigan and Wisconsin cavalry units at his camp outside Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10, 1865. As Davis tried to flee from the Union soldiers, he had grabbed his wife Varina’s overcoat instead of his own, resulting in a widespread Northern rumor that Davis had attempted to escape disguised as a woman. Shortly after the incident images of Davis appeared in Northern publications, picturing him dressed in petticoats, a hoop skirt, and a bonnet. This cowardly depiction of Davis’ flight further demoralized the Southern cause and shattered its president’s aristocratic reputation.
label: Description
content: This print depicts Davis’ “Last Skedaddle,” Civil War sang for “retreat” or “flight.” The disguised Confederate wears a woman’s skirt and hat, and carries a knife and a pail. As he looks back in the direction of pursuing Federal cavalry, a tear rolls down his face. Davis has taken his outfit from his wife, Varina, who tries to impede the soldiers, saying, “Please Gentlemen, don’t disturb the Privacy of Ladies before they have time to dress.” A caption below the illustration uses anatomical innuendos and military puns to explain the scene: “How Jeff in his Extremity put his Navel Affairs and Ram-Parts under Petticoat Protection.”
label: Description
content: Alexander McLean was born in Scotland around 1823. After moving the United States, he worked in Philadelphia and Louisville before settling in St Louis, where he started his own printing firm in 1853. This business was renamed A. McLean & Co. in 1860 when his son, Alexander McLean Jr., joined the company. For this print, McLean used a drawing by a St. Louis artist, Ferdinand Welcker.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: World
topic: label: Subject
content: Political Caricatures
label: Subject
content: Horses
label: Subject
content: Uniforms, Military
label: referenced
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Domestic Life
label: See more items in
content: Clothing & Accessories
label: See more items in
content: American Civil War Prints
label: See more items in
content: Art
label: See more items in
content: Domestic Furnishings
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Harry T. Peters "America on Stone" Lithography Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: DL.60.3377
label: catalog number
content: 60.3377
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Lithograph
label: Object Type
content: Lithograph
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: image: 10 3/4 in x 17 in; 27.305 cm x 43.18 cm