The Quest for a Lost Race

by Thomas Edward Pickett

Davis. Mr. Burton N. Harrison, in his graphic "Century" narrative of the Capture of Jefferson Davis, records the last "War" speech of the Southern President. It was addressed to a column of cavalry, under the command of General Duke, at Charlotte, N. C., the soldiers waving their flags and hurrahing for "Jefferson Davis." The speech was brief. He thanked them for their cordial greeting; complimented the gallantry and efficiency of the Kentucky cavalrymen; and expressed his determination not to despair of the Confederacy, but to remain with the last organized band, "upholding the flag." This was all. He said later to his faithful Secretary, "I can not feel like a beaten man."

In a private letter written by Secretary Harrison to his mother about this time (unpublished), he says: "Thaddeus Stevens recently sent us an offer to become one of Mr. Davis' counsel if it were agreeable to us to have him serve." Mr. Harrison's letters to his family are admirably written and full of interest.

It was the trained sagacity of an English statesman which in the midst of universal doubt and misconception enabled him to comprehend at a glance the difficulties encountered by Jefferson Davis in bringing order out of the wild chaos of secession in the Southern States. "He has created a Nation"—said Mr. Gladstone. Doubtless, posterity, in full possession of the facts, will be disposed to let the judgment stand. These facts have never been more ably and accurately stated than in the eulogy by Colonel William C. P. Breckinridge upon that able and daring pilot in this great extremity of the South. The eulogist was competent to speak; he was early in the field; he was close to the inner councils of the war; he saw and shared the struggle in every phase; and at the close, he calmly accepted the results. His clear and rapid summary will carry historic weight:

"When the world once understands how it was possible for the government, inaugurated at Montgomery, without a battalion of soldiers, or a ship of war, without arms or munitions of war, without provisions and military stores; a government not possessing within its borders a single factory at which a single weapon of war, or a single part of a weapon of war, could be manufactured, without credit or funds; a nation with her ports soon blockaded so as to be deprived of access to the markets of the world; a republic composed nominally of thirteen separate States, of which Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri were practically under the control of its enemy—how such a nation could maintain such a war for a period of four years against the United States of America, and bring into the field an army more numerous than its entire adult white population, feed it, clothe it, transport it, arm it, take care of it and keep it in such condition that it won unprecedented victories, has been an unsolved mystery. When it is added that during those years personal freedom was maintained, order preserved, courts kept open and no rights usurped, thinkers will conclude that he who was the head and life, the spirit and chief must have been a very great man."

The London Times, in its obituary notice, said: "As he was the first to perceive the true nature of the struggle, so was he the last to admit that the battle was lost. He fought a losing battle with unquestionable ability and unflinching courage. His achievements will secure him an honorable place in his country's history."

In the last public address of Jefferson Davis, delivered in the capitol of Mississippi to the Legislature in joint convention, he said: "The people of the Confederate States did more in proportion to their numbers and men than was ever achieved by any people in the world's history. Fate decreed that they should be unsuccessful in the effort to maintain their claim to resume the grants to the Federal Government. Our people have accepted the decree; it, therefore, behooves them, as they may, to promote the general welfare of the Union; to show to the world that hereafter, as heretofore, the patriotism of our people is not measured by the lines of latitude and longitude, but is as broad as the obligations they have assumed and embraces the whole of our ocean-bound domain. Let them leave to their children and children's children the grand example of never swerving from the path of duty, and preferring to return good for evil rather than to cherish the unmanly feeling of revenge."

Davison.

Davy, or Davey.

Dawe.

Dawkins, or Dakin.