During the last nine months of the Civil War, virtually all of
the news reports and President Jefferson Davis's correspondence
confirmed the imminent demise of the Confederate States, the nation
Davis had striven to uphold since 1861. But despite defeat after
defeat on the battlefield, a recalcitrant Congress, naysayers in
the press, disastrous financial conditions, failures in foreign
policy and peace efforts, and plummeting national morale, Davis
remained in office and tried to maintain the government -- even
after the fall of Richmond -- until his capture by Union forces on
May 10, 1865.
The eleventh volume of The Papers of Jefferson Davis follows the
last tumultuous months of the Confederacy and illuminates Davis's
policies, feelings, ideas, and relationships, as well as the
viewpoints of hundreds of southerners -- critics and supporters --
who asked for favors, pointed out abuses, and offered advice on
myriad topics. Printed here for the first time are many speeches
and a number of new letters and telegrams. In the course of the
volume, Robert E. Lee officially becomes general in chief, Joseph
E. Johnston is given a final command, legislation is enacted to
place slaves in the army as soldiers, and peace negotiations are
opened at the highest levels. The closing pages chronicle Davis's
dramatic flight from Richmond, including emotional correspondence
with his wife as the two endeavor to find each other en route and
make plans for the future in the wreckage of their lives.
The holdings of seventy different manuscript repositories and
private collections in addition to numerous published sources
contribute to Volume 11, the fifth in the Civil War period.
General
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