Embattled Rebel: Jefferson Davis as Commander in Chief
20. Richmond Examiner and Stephens quoted in Cooper, Davis, 513.
21. Richmond Dispatch quoted in Ballard, Long Shadow, 20; Wiggins, Journals of Gorgas, 151, entry of Feb. 10, 1865; Jones, Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, 2:411, entry of Feb. 6, 1865.
22. Thomas Robson Hay, “Lucius B. Northrop: Commissary General of the Confederacy,” Civil War History 9 (1963): 19; Jeremy P. Felt, “Lucius B. Northrop and the Confederacy’s Subsistence Department,” Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 69 (1961), 190–92; Crist, PJD, 11:312n.
23. Howell Cobb to Davis, Jan. 20, 1865, Henry D. Clayton to Davis, Feb. 15, 1865, Crist, PJD, 11:343, 403.
24. Jones, Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, 2:413, entry of Feb. 8, 1865; Rowland, JDC, 6:491–503.
25. Robert E. Lee to Davis, Feb. 23, 1865, Crist, PJD, 11:421 and 422n.
26. Jones, Rebel War Clerk’s Diary, 2:343–44, entry of Dec. 1, 1864; Crist, PJD, 11:193–94. See also William C. Davis, Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour (New York: HarperCollins, 1991), 458; Woodworth, Davis and Lee, 254, 303.
27. E. B. Long, The Civil War Day by Day: An Almanac, 1861–1865 (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1971), 706.
28. Crist, PJD, 10:183n.
29. Benjamin F. Rollins to Davis, July 24, 1863, I. H. M. Barton to Davis, July 29, 1863, Leonidas N. Walthall to Davis, Aug. 11, 1863, ibid., 9:304, 312–13, 339–40.
30. Montgomery Weekly Mail, Sept. 2, 1863, Mobile Register, Nov. 26, 1863, in Robert F. Durden, The Gray and the Black: The Confederate Debate on Emancipation (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1972), 33, 44.
31. O.R., ser. 1, vol. 52, pt. 2:586–92.
32. Ibid., pt. 2:598–99.
33. Maj. Gen. William H. T. Walker to Davis, Jan. 12, 1864, Isham G. Harris to Davis, Jan. 16, 1864, Crist, PJD, 10:170, 177–78.
34. Davis to Gen. Walker, Jan. 23, 1864, Rowland, JDC, 6:159–60; Crist, PJD, 10:178–79n.
35. Rowland, JDC, 6:394–97.
36. Crabtree and Patton, “Journal of a Secesh Lady,” 639, entry of Nov. 20, 1864.
37. Richmond Examiner, Nov. 8, 1864, Charleston Mercury, Nov. 12, 1864, in Durden, The Gray and the Black, 108–9, 112–13.
38. “Farmer” to Davis, Jan. 7, 1865, Samuel Clayton to Davis, Jan. 10, 1865, Crist, PJD, 11:285–86, 301.
39. Davis to John Forsyth, Feb. 21, 1865, ibid., 11:412–13.
40. David Yulee to Davis, Oct. 27, 1864, ibid., 11:125–26; Cobb to James Seddon, Jan. 8, 1865, forwarded to Davis with an endorsing cover letter from Seddon, Jan. 21, 1865, ibid., 11:347.
41. Mississippi congressman quoted in Durden, The Gray and the Black, 140; Louis T. Wigfall quoted in E. Merton Coulter, The Confederate States of America, 1861–1865 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1950), 268.
42. Lee to Andrew Hunter, Jan. 11, 1865, Lee to Ethelbert Barksdale, Feb. 18, 1865, in Durden, The Gray and the Black, 206–9.
43. Durden, The Gray and the Black, 268–70; George C. Rable, The Confederate Republic: A Revolution Against Politics (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1994), 295–96.
44. Davis to Lee, Mar. 13, 1865, Davis to William Smith, Mar. 30, 1865, Rowland, JDC, 6:513, 523; Davis to Lee, Apr. 1, 1865, Crist, PJD, 11:492.
45. Craig A. Bauer, “The Last Effort: The Secret Mission of the Confederate Diplomat, Duncan F. Kenner,” Louisiana History 22 (1981): 71–75; Cooper, Davis, 514–15.
46. Frank Lawrence Owsley, King Cotton Diplomacy: Foreign Relations of the Confederate States of America (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1931), 550–61, quotation from p. 560.
47. Ballard, Long Shadow, 25.
48. Ibid., 22–23, 28; William C. Davis, An Honorable Defeat: The Last Days of the Confederate Government (New York: Harcourt, 2001), 27–48.
49. Rowland, JDC, 6:386–87.
50. Crist, PJD, 11:430.
51. Davis to Braxton Bragg, Apr. 1, 1865, ibid., 11:489–90.
52. Rowland, JDC, 6:529–31.
53. Crist, PJD, 11:532.
54. John Dooley, quoted in Ballard, Long Shadow, 112.
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INDEX
The page numbers in this index refer to the printed version of this book. To find the corresponding locations in the text of this digital version, please use the “search” function on your e-reader. Note that not all terms may be searchable.
Anderson, Robert, 21–22
Antietam, Battle of, 100–101, 104, 248
Appomattox, Lee’s surrender at, 241
Arkansas:
governor threatens secession from Confederacy, 107–8
defense of, 109–10, 145–46
Army of Northern Virginia, 115, 126, 180, 187
Lee named commander of, 86, 90
Seven Days’ Battles, 94
Battle of Chancellorsville, 127–29
Lee opposes weakening of, 130
Gettysburg casualties of, 143
defense of Petersburg, 191
Army of Tennessee:
plans to invade Kentucky, 101
dissension in, 115–17, 125–27, 148–49, 153–57, 251
routed at Missionary Ridge, 158
Hood becomes corps commander in, 180
/> command reshuffle after fall of Atlanta, 208, 210
virtually destroyed at Nashville, 216
debate about enlisting slave soldiers, 229–30
Atlanta:
defense of, 194–201
fall of, 204–6, 248
Beauregard, Pierre G. T., 47, 48, 143, 156, 159
on Davis, 6, 70
and Fort Sumter, 22, 25
First Manassas, 37–43
postbattle tensions with Davis, 43–46
proposed offensive in fall 1861, 49–50
transferred to Kentucky, 58, 60
Battle of Shiloh, 67–68
evacuates Corinth, 69
relieved of command, 70, 116
named commander at Charleston, 108
Davis refuses to appoint commander of Army of Tennessee, 156, 159
Battle of Drewry’s Bluff, 188–89
Davis rejects as Johnston’s replacement, 199
commander of Military Division of the West, 210
Davis’s hostility toward, 251–52
Beaver Dam Creek, Battle of, 91–92
Benjamin, Judah P.:
secretary of war, 35
quarrel with Beauregard, 44
and Roanoke Island, 62
named secretary of state, 64
meets with Northern envoys, 202
and peace moves in 1865, 222, 224
Kenner mission to Europe, 235–36
black soldiers proposed for Confederate army: see slaves as soldiers in Confederacy
black Union soldiers:
Davis approves execution or reenslavement of, 121, 170–72
Blair, Francis Preston, 221–22
Bragg, Braxton, 132, 136, 182, 197, 238
and Fort Pickens, 22, 24
transferred to Tennessee, 60
named commander of Western army, 70
invasion of Kentucky, 101–4, 248
criticism of, by subordinates, 115–17
Battle of Murfreesboro, 118
quarrels with subordinates, 125–27
Tullahoma and Chickamauga campaigns, 148–50
Battle of Chickamauga, 152
postbattle conflict with subordinates, 153–57
resigns command, 158–59
named chief of staff, 180, 183
recommends Johnston’s removal, 198
Davis’s relations with, 251
Bragg, Thomas, 61
Breckinridge, John C.:
at Missionary Ridge, 158
secretary of war, 226
favors peace negotiations, 238
Brewster, Henry, 193
Brown, Joseph:
wants Georgia troops kept in state, 34, 35
offers pikes for army, 68
opposes conscription, 72–73
urges invasion of North, 89–90
rebukes Davis’s role in Atlanta campaign, 194–95, 198
faith in Northern Copperheads, 207
Browne, William M., 178
Buchanan, James, 22, 61
Buckner, Simon Bolivar:
surrenders Fort Donelson, 61
part of anti-Bragg cabal, 154, 156
Buell, Don Carlos, 58, 60
at Shiloh, 67–68
and Corinth campaign, 69
advance on Chattanooga, 101
and Confederate invasion of Kentucky, 102, 104
replaced by Rosecrans, 106
Bull Run, Battles of: see Manassas
Burnside, Ambrose, 106
Butler, Benjamin, 120, 188–89
Calhoun, John C., 29
Campbell, John A., 222, 238
Canada, Confederate operations in, 176–77
Cedar Mountain, Battle of, 95, 97
Chancellorsville:
Davis ill during campaign, 7–9
Battle of, 127, 129, 130
Charleston Mercury:
critical of Davis, 48
hopes for Northern Democratic victory in 1864, 204
opposes enlistment of slaves as soldiers, 231–32
Cheatham, Benjamin F., 156
Chesnut, James:
aide to Beauregard, 38, 43, 46
on Joseph Johnston, 138
Chesnut, Mary Boykin, 38
on Davis at First Manassas, 43
on Davis-Johnston hostility, 138–39
on Lucius Northrop, 165
on Bragg’s appointment as chief of staff, 183
on Johnston’s Georgia campaign, 193
on fall of Atlanta, 205
Chickamauga, Battle of, 152–53, 180
Chickasaw Bluffs, Battle of, 110, 118, 122
Clay, Henry, 53
Cleburne, Patrick, 229–30
Cobb, Howell, 16, 216, 247
presses Davis to reinstate Johnston, 226
opposes enlistment of slaves, 234
conscription, Confederate enactment of, 70–71
opposition to, 72–73
Cooper, Samuel, 38, 41, 46
Corinth (Miss.):
Confederates evacuate, 68–69, 101
Battle of, 104
Daniel, John Moncure, 138
Davis, Jefferson:
historical reputation, 3–4, 250–52
personality of, 5–7, 113
defense of slavery, 5, 10, 28–30
illnesses of, 7–9, 15, 47, 130, 132
functions of, as commander in chief, 9–11, 19, 163
commander of Mississippi militia, 15–16
elected provisional president, 16, 247
threatens North with invasion, 18
strategic options constrained by shortages, 20–21, 48–49, 95, 248
and Fort Sumter, 21–25
expects long war, 26
invasion of border states, 28
strategy of dispersed defense, 30–37, 248
strategy of offensive-defensive, 38, 66–67, 84, 90–91, 95, 248
and campaign and battle of First Manassas, 37–43
postbattle differences with Beauregard, 44–46
quarrel with J. E. Johnston over rank, 46–48
and occupation of Kentucky, 53–56
names A. S. Johnston to command in West, 57
and loss of Fort Donelson, 61–62
blamed for defeats in 1862, 62–64
elected to full term as president, 64
and Battle of Shiloh, 68
relieves Beauregard, 69–70
supports conscription, 71–73
suspends habeas corpus and declares martial law, 73–74, 119, 174–75
and J. E. Johnston’s withdrawal from Centreville, 74–75
recalls Lee from South Carolina, 77
and Johnston’s defense of Richmond, 78–85
at Battle of Seven Pines, 85
names Lee as commander in Virginia, 86
and Seven Days’ Battles, 91–95
and invasion of Maryland, 97–101
and invasion of Kentucky, 102–4
need for concentration of forces, 106–7
command problems in Arkansas, 108–10
administrative micromanagement by, 110–13, 191
and dissension in Army of Tennessee, 115–16
names J. E. Johnston to command of Department of the West, 117
visits Department of the West, 118
alleges enemy atrocities, 119–20
denounces Emancipation Proclamation, 120
approves execution or reenslavement of black soldiers, 121, 170–72
and command problems in Army of Tennessee, 126–27, 148, 153–58
and Vicksburg campaign, 1
29–33
blames Johnston for loss of Vicksburg, 134–36, 138–39
defends Pemberton, 136–38
and Stephens peace mission in 1863, 140–42
and Battle of Gettysburg, 143
refuses Lee’s resignation, 145
names Kirby Smith to command Trans-Mississippi Department, 146, 148
sends Longstreet to reinforce
Bragg, 150
reluctantly names J. E. Johnston to command Army of Tennessee, 159–60
and Lucius Northrop, 165, 166, 250–51
opposes trade with enemy, 167
and Richmond bread riot, 168–69
and Abraham C. Myers, 169–70
on peace movement in North Carolina, 172–75
appoints agents to operate in Canada, 176
urges Johnston to take offensive, 177–78, 182–83
orders Johnston to send Hardee against Sherman’s Meridian campaign, 179
gives Hood corps command, 180
death of son Joseph, 184
active command role in defense of Richmond in 1864, 187–91
concern about Johnston’s Georgia campaign, 192–97
removal of Johnston, 198–99, 201, 252
cautions Hood, 200
and peace pressures in 1864, 202–04
blamed for Atlanta’s fall, 205
Southern trip in 1864, 206–7
command reshuffle in Army of Tennessee, 208, 210
determination to fight on, 212, 220, 225, 238–39, 241
and Hood’s invasion of Tennessee, 215–16, 249
names Lee general-in-chief, 218–19
and peace moves in 1865, 221–24
restores Johnston to command in 1865, 225–26
on deserters, 228
opposes proposals to enlist slaves as soldiers, 229–31
favors enlistment of slaves, 232, 234
and Kenner mission, 235–36
flight from Richmond, 239, 241
capture of, 244
and guerrilla warfare, 250
appraisal of, as commander in chief, 250–52
Davis, Joseph (brother), 29, 34
Davis, Joseph (son), 184
Davis, Varina, 15–16, 170
draft: see conscription
Drewry’s Bluff, Battle of, 189