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…
United States forces occupy Fort Monroe in Virginia, with plans to transform the nearby town of Hampton into a base for quartering troops and former slaves who have escaped behind Union lines and to freedom under President Lincoln’s contraband policy. Upon reading this morning’s newspaper, Confederate Gen. John B. Magruder learns of Union intentions. Unwilling…