DAVIS, Jefferson. Three autograph letters signed ("Jefferson Davis") to Jonathan Taylor Wood, Beauvoir, Mississippi, 23 May 1878, 7 December 1880, and 17 May 1882. Together 10 pages, small 4to, 1 envelope , fine. DAVIS RECALLS THE LAST DAYS OF THE CONFEDERACY, HIS ESCAPE FROM RICHMOND AND HIS CAPTURE An intriguing group of letters written by Jefferson Davis while he was at work on his book The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government published in 1881. Writing to Colonel Wood, former Confederate Naval and Cavalry officer, Jefferson Davis attempts to refresh his memory, acquire details, and discuss conflicts with his work. On May 23rd, 1878, Davis requests that Wood clarify several points regarding the crossing of the Savannah River. Noting that Wood wrote some of the dispatches he sent to General Breckinridge, Davis asks six questions including: "When we crossed the Savannah River with a single Co as escort was it understood that we were to go on with that as a protecting force, or that the rest of the Calvary [ sic ] would immediately follow...When at the house where we got breakfast, and heard that the enemy were threatening Washington, Georgia, do you remember my sending a courier back with a note to the officer commanding the advance, directing him to hasten forward...Was it not disappointment at the failure of the troops to come forward that caused the reduction of my escort with a view to going unobserved instead of moving with purpose & ability to fight." (The crossing of the Savannah River occurred on May 3, six days before the Confederate President was captured by Union cavalry.) On December 7, 1880, Davis requests a sketch of Wood's naval operations and a photograph that could be used in his book: "I am not satisfied with the tintype because it does not look like the dashing young officer who captured gunboats from launches, and I want you as you were." Davis closes the letter with laments on the situation of his family: "The past to us is filled with sad memories, the present with the carping cares of poverty." On May 17, 1882, after his book was published, Davis writes Wood concerning a disagreement with a Captain Davidson: "It is never pleasant to be accused of injustice nor to have any demand presented through a third person." Davis insists that Davidson has no cause for complaint and "that his remedy was in the preparation of a paper to be published by the Hist. Soc. giving a full account of of his service, as others had done...as I requested all to do." The dispute involved Davis's account of the preparation of torpedoes, to which he replies: "I should no doubt have mentioned Capt. Davidson by name in connection with his application of electricity to the explosion of torpedoes as I regard his services very favorably...If...he had called my attention to the omission instead of arraigning me for what is criminal in an Executive unjustly depriving him of the credit which was due, I should have been more disposed to make any possible reparation." Davis asks Wood's opinion on the matter and concludes, "Though little disposed to controversy, when I see how Davidson executes his threat I shall better know how to open a battery of ridicule upon his pretensions to abort the whole torpedo service." Davis's book met with substantial criticism: "it was a terrible book...Stating his position as fact, he thereafter built his arguments to their 'proof' by using such 'facts' as givens, and not as mere opinions" (Burke, Jefferson Davis , p. 676). Together three items . (3)
DAVIS, Jefferson. Three autograph letters signed ("Jefferson Davis") to Jonathan Taylor Wood, Beauvoir, Mississippi, 23 May 1878, 7 December 1880, and 17 May 1882. Together 10 pages, small 4to, 1 envelope , fine. DAVIS RECALLS THE LAST DAYS OF THE CONFEDERACY, HIS ESCAPE FROM RICHMOND AND HIS CAPTURE An intriguing group of letters written by Jefferson Davis while he was at work on his book The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government published in 1881. Writing to Colonel Wood, former Confederate Naval and Cavalry officer, Jefferson Davis attempts to refresh his memory, acquire details, and discuss conflicts with his work. On May 23rd, 1878, Davis requests that Wood clarify several points regarding the crossing of the Savannah River. Noting that Wood wrote some of the dispatches he sent to General Breckinridge, Davis asks six questions including: "When we crossed the Savannah River with a single Co as escort was it understood that we were to go on with that as a protecting force, or that the rest of the Calvary [ sic ] would immediately follow...When at the house where we got breakfast, and heard that the enemy were threatening Washington, Georgia, do you remember my sending a courier back with a note to the officer commanding the advance, directing him to hasten forward...Was it not disappointment at the failure of the troops to come forward that caused the reduction of my escort with a view to going unobserved instead of moving with purpose & ability to fight." (The crossing of the Savannah River occurred on May 3, six days before the Confederate President was captured by Union cavalry.) On December 7, 1880, Davis requests a sketch of Wood's naval operations and a photograph that could be used in his book: "I am not satisfied with the tintype because it does not look like the dashing young officer who captured gunboats from launches, and I want you as you were." Davis closes the letter with laments on the situation of his family: "The past to us is filled with sad memories, the present with the carping cares of poverty." On May 17, 1882, after his book was published, Davis writes Wood concerning a disagreement with a Captain Davidson: "It is never pleasant to be accused of injustice nor to have any demand presented through a third person." Davis insists that Davidson has no cause for complaint and "that his remedy was in the preparation of a paper to be published by the Hist. Soc. giving a full account of of his service, as others had done...as I requested all to do." The dispute involved Davis's account of the preparation of torpedoes, to which he replies: "I should no doubt have mentioned Capt. Davidson by name in connection with his application of electricity to the explosion of torpedoes as I regard his services very favorably...If...he had called my attention to the omission instead of arraigning me for what is criminal in an Executive unjustly depriving him of the credit which was due, I should have been more disposed to make any possible reparation." Davis asks Wood's opinion on the matter and concludes, "Though little disposed to controversy, when I see how Davidson executes his threat I shall better know how to open a battery of ridicule upon his pretensions to abort the whole torpedo service." Davis's book met with substantial criticism: "it was a terrible book...Stating his position as fact, he thereafter built his arguments to their 'proof' by using such 'facts' as givens, and not as mere opinions" (Burke, Jefferson Davis , p. 676). Together three items . (3)
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