Today from prison at Fort Monroe, Virginia, former Confederate President Jefferson Davis writes General Nelson A. Miles, the prison commandant. He requests permission to write his wife, obtain fresh clothes and reading materials, and receive a visit from the prison chaplain. He also inquires if his guard detail might be downsized. Davis’ treatment is a…
Another chapter closes on the Civil War this day with the capture of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Fleeing southward, Davis is overtaken by Union cavalrymen in south Georgia near the community of Irwinville. His capture takes place without incident. While significant, the event is somewhat anticlimactic. A traitor to his true country while having…
Jefferson Davis and his entourage, seeking to evade capture by federal forces, are fleeing southward. Today they arrive at Wilkes County, Georgia. Accompanying Davis is Confederate soldier Benjamin Chandler and his slave, Silas, a trained carpenter. Earlier in the war Silas had been the body servant of Sergeant Andrew M. Chandler. When Chandler was injured…