"THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT."

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 209, 2 September 1881, Page 1

"THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CONFEDERATE GOVERNMENT."

Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate faiatea, has published a book with the above title. "We quote the following : — THE LAST : DAtB OF THE STRUGGLE. After the surrender of General Lee's army Mr Davis had no thought that the war waa over. On this point he says: I had telegraphed to. General Johnston from Danville the report that Lee had surrendered, and on arriving at Greensboro conditionally requested him to meet me there, where General Beauregard at the time had his headquarters, my object being to confer with both of them ir> regard ' to our present condition and future operations. Though I was fully sensible of the gravity of our position, Beiijusly affected as it was by the evacuation of the capital, the surrender ot the Army of Northern Virginia, and the consequent discouragement which these events would produce, I did not think we should despair. We stiil had effective armies in the field, and a vast extent of rich and productive terri tory both east and west of the Mississippi, whuse citizens had evinced no dispo^i-* tion; to surrender. Ample supplies had :been collected in the railroad depbts and rnucb. stilj remained to be placed at our disposal when needed by the army in North Carolina. The members of my Cabinet were already advised as to the object of the meeting, and when the subject was introduced to the generals in that form, General Johnston was very reserved and seemed far teas than sanguine. His first significant expression was that of a desire to open correspondence with General Sherman, to see if he would agree to a suspension of hostilities, the object being topermit the civil authorities to enter into the needful arrangements to terminate the existing war. Confident that the United States Government would not accept a proposition ior such negotiations, I distinctly expressed my conviction on that point, and presented as an objection to such an effort that, so far as it should excite delusive hopes and expectations, its failure would have a demoralising effect bojth on the troops and the people. Neither of them had shown any disposition to surrender, or had any reasqri to suppose that their Government coatemplatied. abandoning the trust. The opinion! I entertained in regard to President Johnson and his venomous Secretary of War, btanton, did not permit me to expect; that they would be less vindictive after a surrender of our army h£d been proposed than when it was regarded as a formidable body defiantly holding its position in the field. "Whatever hope others entertained that tjie exis-ing war was about to be peacefully terminated, was sodn dispelled by the rejection' of the basis of agreement on fchejslsrt of the Government of the United Stateß, and a notice from General Sherman of termination ot the armistice in forty-eight hours after noon of the 24th of Aprils 1865. General Johnston communicated to me the substance of the above information received by him from General ShermaD, and asked for instructions. 1 have -neither his telegram of my reply, but can give . it substantially from memory. It was that he should retire with Ms cavalry and as many infantry as could be mounted upon draught horse?, and- some light artillery, the rest of the infantry to be disbanded and a' place of rendezvous appointed. It waß unnecessary to Bay anything of the route,, as that had been previously ngreed on, and supplies placed on it for bis retreating army. This order was disobeyed, and he sought another interview with Sherman, to renew hia attempt to reach an agreement for a termination of hostilities. THE OAPTUBE OF DAVIS. The account of the fleeing President's capture is best told in his own words, as follows : — For the protection of my family I travelled with them two or threo days, when, believing that they had passed out of the region of marauders, i determined to leave their encampment at nightfall, to execute my original purpose. My horse and those of my party proper were saddled; preparatory to a start, when one of my ritait, who had ridden into the neighboring village, returned and told me that be had heard that a marauding party intended to attack the oamp that

night. This decided me to wait long enough to see whether their was any truth in the rumor, which; I j supposed would be ascertained in a few hours. My horse remained saddled and my pistols in the holsters, and t lay down, fully dressed, to rest. Nothing occurred to rouse me until just before dawn, when my coachman, a free colored man, who faithfully clung to our fortunes, came and told me there was firing over the branch just, behind our encampment. I stepped out of my wife's tent and saw some horsemen, whom I immediately recognised as cavalry, deploying around the encampment. I turned back and told my wife these were not the expected marauders, but regular troopers. She implored me to leave her at once. I hesitated from unwillingness to do so, and lost a few precious moments before yielding to her importunity. My horse and arms were near the road on which I expected to leave and down which the cavalry approached ; it was therefore impracticable to reach them. I was compelled' - ? to .start in the opposite direction. As? it, was quite dark in the tent, I picked up what was supposed to be my "raglan," a waterproof, light overcoat, without sleeves ; it was subsequently,' founA) to be: [my wife's,! so very like my own -as to be mistaken for it ; as I started, '^my wife thoughtfully threw over my head and shoulders a shawl. I had gone'perbaps fifteen or twenty yards when a trooper galloped up and ordered me to halt and surrender, to which I gave a defiant auswer, and, dropping the shawl and raglan from my shoulders, advanced toward him. He levelled his carbine at me, but I expected if he fired he would miss me, and my intention was in that event to put my hand under his foot, tumble him off on the other side, spring into the saddle and attempt to escape. My wife who had been watching, when she saw the soldier aim his carbine at me, ran forward and threw her arms around me. Success depended .on instantaneous action, and, recognising that the opportunity had been lost, I turned back, and the morning being damp and chilly, passed on to a fire beyond the tent. Our pursuers Had taken different roads and approached our camp froni opposite directions;: they encountered each other and commenced firing, both supposing they had met our armed consort, and some casualties resulted from their conflict with an imaginary body of Confederate troops.