Original Photographs Taken on the Battlefields during the Civil War of the United States — John Stuart Mill — John Shaqi
Original Photographs Taken on the Battlefields during the Civil War of the United States
John Stuart Mill · en
JEFFERSON DAVIS was at St. Paul's Church, in Richmond, at the usual hour
of Sunday morning worship when he received the message that Petersburg
was being evacuated and Lee's lines were irreparably broken. The sexton
walked up to Davis's pew and whispered a few words in the President's
ear. The members of the Cabinet received similar calls. From church to
church the note of warning was communicated. By two o'clock everybody in
Richmond knew that the city was to be abandoned. The Presidential party
with difficulty made its way through the excited crowd which thronged
and blocked the streets. Davis began his flight by boarding a train and
went as far as Danville where, on April 4, 1865, he began to establish a
new seat of government. The following day he issued a proclamation to
his people, only to again flee to Greensborough, North Carolina, where
he remained in a railroad car. On reaching Charlotte, he threw off the
semblance of authority and planned to reach Texas. The flight was
continued through South Carolina and into Macon, Georgia. In the
meantime, a reward of $100,000 was offered for the apprehension of
Davis. He was finally captured in a camp in the woods near Irwinsville,
Georgia, while trying to escape in a lady's waterproof coat, gathered at
the waist, with a shawl thrown over the head, and carrying a tin pail.
This remarkable photograph was taken while the Confederate President was
being carried as a prisoner in an ambulance through the streets of
Macon. He was conveyed to Fortress Monroe, for safe keeping, on May 22,
1865, and was finally allowed his freedom on bail and never brought to
trial. Brady entered Richmond with his cameras a few hours after the
departure of Davis and these negatives witness the ruins. The great
tobacco warehouses had been destroyed and the ironclad rams on the river
had been blown up. The city was being pillaged. The Union troops entered
as conquerors and immediately set to work with a will to extinguish the
flames which wrought great destruction and havoc.