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McKlSSICK'S , OF HlSTOl % - EVi* ; * < Marshaling of Facts Cc Meeting of Value to Evidence Colle Long Hel We are reproducing below the complete address of the Hon. J. Rion McKissick of Greenville, made Thursday October 6 upon the occaftion of the unvejling of the marker erected by tne Uivic uiud to commemorate the last meeting of the Confederate Cabinet. While it may seem to some that the article is too lengthy for a small newspaper to handle, it is published in the belief that it will prove of interest to a majority of The Press and Banner's ;.\ readers. Should anyone want addiftjooal copies of the paper containing U. i the address they may be had by applying at this office. The address follows: -' ' ' "Fifty-six years have passed since the Confederate States of America "A \ ceaoed to exist, yet there are still ?'"?v ' . , > numerous more or less debatable questions concerning its brief but glorious History. Among tnem are these:.Who was responsible for the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg? Were certain Confederate generals reduced to ranks by General Robert io ^ E. Lee just a few days before the : . surrender at Appomatto^? Was there j \ a Federal spy in the White House of the Confederacy? Who got the specie i " carried into Georgia by the Confederate treasury train? Where was the << last meeting of the Confederate Cabinet held? ^ "The final query enlists our atf; tetitlou today. v "Pbe cities have contended for the' honor of having been the scene of the' i last session of the Confederate Cab:- j \ net. They are Danville, Va., Greensboro, N. C., Charlotte, N. C., Abbeville, S. C., and Washington, Ga. "It seems indisputable that in the closing days of the ill-starred na;; tion the Confederate Cabinet met in DoosiUe, Greensboro and Charlotte *and at an unlocated point near the boundary line of North and South Carolina. The only questions remaining to be conisdered are: "First: Was there a meeting of the Lv Confederate Cabinet at Abbeville on May 2, 1865? "Second: If so, was it the last meeting of the Cabinet?" ^ "In order that the concluding chapter in the life of the Confederate government may be thoroughly rmderstoodj it is essential to trac? \rieffy its course from the fall of * Richmond, the capital of the Confed-j eracy. On April 2, President Jefferson Davis while attending morning services at St. Paul's church received a message from Gen. Robert E. Lee, notifying him that Richmond woiild have to be evacuated at once. That night President Davis left Richmond for Danville, accompanied by four of the six members of his cabinet: t.. H..' Juttah P. Benjamin, secretary of *t*te; Stephen R. Mallpry, secretary pf the Navy; John H. Reagan, postmaster-general; George Davis, attorney-general. The secretary of War, John C. Breckinridge, joined his ' colleagues later at Danville. During his eojourn at Danville, President Davis issued his last proclamation to the people of the Confederate States, ending with these words: 'Let us, then, not despond, my countrymen, but, relying on God, meet the foe with fresh defiance and with uncon, quered and unconquerable hearts." After the surrender of the army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox on April 9, the Confederate government was removed to Greensboro, North Carolina, where President Davis, after .consultation with his cabinet and and with Generals Joseph E. John; ston and Beauregard, authorized General Johnston, commanding the Confederate army in North Carolina, to negotiate with General Sherman, commander 01 tne union iorces tnere, for the suspension of hostilities. Believing that Johnston would soon retreat southward, President Davis then removed the Confederate government to Charlotte arriving there on April 18. The most valuable archives of the government were transported in a wagon train. While there, President Davis was notified by General Johnston that the FederalyGov? ernment had rejected the basis of agreement for the cessation of the . ' . Et V, V* " y W'l/y * ' . . ' v ii v V'/.j ;; ADDRESS. ktC INTEREST ' ? >ncerning Last Cabinet Abbeville Citizens, cted Bears Out Id Claim. \ war entered into by himself and Genjeral Sherman and that, therefore, ;the armistice prevailing since April ' 18 would be terminated in forty-eight hours. Consequently, on April 26, ' ^ n-f PKor. I rres aent uavio iuuc v* lotte, attended by all members of his 'cabinet, except Attorney General Davis who had gone to' see his family and Secretary of the Treasury Trenholm, who, because of illness, resigned his portfolio shortly after the party ^quitted Charlotte, Postmaster-General Reagan having been appointed acting Secretary of the Treasury in place of Mr. Trenholm. The (President was escorted by his perjsonal staff and the cavalry who had jbeen concentrated at Charlotte. The i route of the journey was by way of Yorkville, Union and Cokesbury to Abbeville. "Their cause was lost, but the people along the road traveled by the President of the Confederacy did not fail to do hinv reverence. One of the members of the cabinet accompanying him, Secretary Mallory, noted that 'wherever Mr. Davis went, he | found the people of the towns and hamlets at . their doors, or outside j their gates, ready to greet him and I offer flowers and strawberries;' It was the only delicacy they had to give them; they had little in their larders. As Gen. Lee said, 'the only unfailing friend the Confederacy ever had was cornfield peas.' The same undiminished and undaunted loyafty of the Palmetto State to the Confederate President was expressed in another manner by the action of General Wade ! Hampton. When he feared that 'JofihIston's army would be surrendered, 'he wished to withdraw the cavalry | and report to President Davis and i tnc latter ^ave inui penmsdiuiiy uuc jit was too late?the cavalry had alI ready been included in the terms of jthe surrender. Among the very last ! documents of the Confederate govjernment :'s a telegram to the Secretary of War from General Hampton, j in which he declared that he felt that i he vfas not personally bound by Johnj stones surrender. He intended to collect what stragglers he coijAd and I offer his services to Mr. Davis at the risk of being proclaimed an outlaw I and a public enemy. He had no opportunity to do it, however, The ' altitude of the superb South Carolina cavalier was warmly appreciated by President Davis, especially s'nce it contrasted sharply with the position of other eminent Confederate military leaders at that time. "Mrs. Dav:*s and her family had arrived in Abbeville in advance of her husband, but did not remain there until he came. Burton Harrison, private secretary to President Davis, had the Davis family in charge, end in his Harrative he says: | " 'At Abbeville Mrs. Davis and her family were the guests of the Presi! dent's esteemed friends, Colonel and Mrs. Burt, and there, too, were the "daughters of Mr. Trenholm at the house of their brother. Abbeville was ja beautiful place on high ground i and the people lived in great content, their houses embowered in vines and roses, with many other flowers everywhere. We had now entered the ^Sunny South." "President Davis himself said: . '"At Abbeville she (Mrs. Davis) ' \jas the guest of our esteemed friends Colonel and Mrs. Burt. She had heard !of threats made by the enemy that jany house which gave shelter to myself or family should be burned; she was unwilling to expose our friends, the Burts, to such possible loss to them and gave them that rea| son for declining their invitation to remain in their house. Colonel Burt magnanimously said there was no better use to which his home could ( be put than to be burned for giving i shelter to my family.' j "So Mrs. Davis went on across .the Savannah, hoping eventually to reach the coast. "When the President and his paf: ty got to Cokesbury they were informed that a force of the enemy .seeking to capture them was only ten miles away, but they remained there for the night. It is said that while there Mr. Davis stayed at tl home of friends and that a: ter he and his companions had ei joyed a supper of strawberries an cream he noticed a small boy in tl house. Inquiring the little lad's nanv he was told that it was Jefferso Davis Moore, and then the Confede: ate President did a characterise thing, for he gave the youngster gold dollar out of the scanty funds li had with him. The party left Coke bury at 6:30 the next morning, e: pecting momentarily an encount< with the enemy and prepared 1 fight, but Abbeville was attaiiie safeJy without seeing a loe. f rom a . that could be learned at Abbevill however, it was evident that the en< ray's cavalry was making dil'gent e: fort to capture Mr. Davis and h party. "The most striking description c the reception accorded President Dj vis and his companions irt Abbevill is from an interesting and valuabl monograph on the last meeting c the Confederate cabinet publishe in 'The Southern Magazine' in 189 and written by the late Walter I Miller of the Abbeville bar. His ai tide is a distinct contribution to th meager literature on this subject an thfe strongest statement I have see in support of Abbeville's claim. I ai indebted to it not only for its mai shalled statement of fact and trad tion, but also for its suggestive lin of reasoning. It would have escape my attention but for the thoughtfu ness of Mrs. Greene and the courti sy of Mr. Chief Justice Gary. "Mr. Miller said: 'And now, by on of those strange coincidences an singular freaks of fortune, Abbevill to which had been assigned so prom nent a place at the beginning of th Secession movement, is destined t come to the front again, and to wi1 ness the closing scenes in the grea j drama of the Confederacy. It is t jhave another memorable, histori J day. And what a contrast there i I between it and the splendid mas i meeting of 1860 (to declare for s< I cession.) Then the people were brigl jwith hope, confident of succesi proud, resolute and defiant. Ther j wa^ a splendid gathering of the yet manry, tfhivalry and beauty of uppe I Carolina. The grandest orators in tfi State were p-es?nt and made ?th 'welkin ring with their eloquent ori tions. Handsome marshals, splendic |ly mounted, commanded wie proce: sion, which kept step to the music c fife and drum. Shouts and huzza could be heard on every side. Bi (now how changed the scene! No vaj concourse of people; no splendi orators to welcome to the hearts an .homes of the people the official hea of "the Confederacy; no gay cav? jlicrs dashing to and fro; no strain ,nf martial music to cheer the cour 1'tenanCe and inspire the heart; n ."minute men" with gay rosettes an banners flying. And yet I say this i 'no spirit of censure, for I am a Car< llinian, and I am proud of my Stat jand people. In their innermost hearl the people of Carolina and the Sout (were as loyal, faithful and true . f the close as thev were at the beeir 'nin^ of the struggle. No, the cor j trast between these two historic daj ! was due to other causes. War ha ilaid its desolating hand upon ot | State and people. It had taken to th I front the flower of our young me I and had left behind, almost alon< J women and children and infirm o] men. Many of our brave young me had fallen on the field of battle, otl era had dropped by the wayside froi [sheer exhaustion and want on th weary march, and others still ha sickened and died in hospital or i prison. j '"On a charming morning in tl i spring of 1865, Mr. Davis and h I cabinet, attended by an escort and i command of troups, entered Abb jville. As they psased up Washingtc j street and turned the Marshall co , ner, a dozen or more men were stan< ing on the sidewalk and one of the waved his hat and offered thr< cheers for the Confederacy. Mr. Di vis politely acknowledged the salui by gracefully lifting his hat in r turn. Mr. Davis and a portion of h cabinet were entertained at the hon of the Hon. Armistead Burt, whi other members of the cabinet sto; * -?ii n_i m n ???:, 'pea Wiin VjOI. 1> O. renin, wn\j icsn ed just across the street. Both < these houses were elegant residen es, surrounded by spacious and beai tiful flower yards. . . Mr. Burt, wl was Mr. Davis' host, while he was i Abbeville, was a distinguished Ian yer and practiced his profession hei for over sixty years. He died in 188: He was for many years a member < le Congress and was at one time Speak f- er pro tempore of the House of Rep l- resentatives. At the beginning of th id war he was appointed and served a ie a Commissioner from South Carolini e, to the state of: Mississippi to indue* n that commonwealth to cast her lo r- with the Confederacy. He was a per ic sonal friend of Mr. Davis and car a ried on a correspondence with him.' "ft ic X W 11 v Tw VttV AiA^O blil^UW WW HI b- mire what was the state of mind o c- the Confederate President, his cabi ;r net and his military escort when thej ;o reached Abbeville. d "Of his four official advisers in th( H cabinet, three already had reache< er the unalterable conclusion that i s" was useless to make any further ef fort to continue the war and that al is that the President and the other of ficers of the government should seel >f to do was to make thefr way to safe i- ty. e "In his narrative of the war, Gen le eral Joseph E. Johnston says tha >f when he met President Davis and hii d cabinet at Greensboro, Secretaries 9 Mallory, Reagan and Breckinridgi thought that negotiations to end th< r- war should be begun at once. Secre e tary Benjamin took the opposit< d view at that conference. Secretary n Mallory has recorded himself ai n holding then that all designs an< r- plans for continuing the war wer< i- wrong. President Davis himself sai< e that at Greensboro 'I yielded to th< d judgment of my constitutional advis 1- ers (the members of the cabinet,] ?- cfe whom only one held my views, and so he consented to permit Gen e eral Johnston to hold a conferenc< d with General Sherman to negotiati e for peace. / i- "That one of his official advisers U e whom the President would natural o ly turn for counsel as to mUitary af t- fairs wa3 the Secretary of War, Gen ;t John C. Breckinridge, a splendi( o soldier. On April 23 he had giver c President Davis a, written ppinion ir is which he declared: \ 13 " 'I think we can no longer con tend with a reasonable hope of sue >t cess. It seems to me the time has ar s, rived when, in a large and clear viev >e of the situation, prompt steps shoult >- be taken to put a stop to the war. ! !r respectfully advise, having maintain ie ed with faithful and intrepid purpose e the cause of the Confederate Statei i- while the means of organized resist 1- ance remained, that you return to th< 3- states and the people the trust whicl you are no longer able to defend & Should these or similar views accor< 't with your own, I think the bette: st judgment will be that you can hav< d no higher title to the gratitude o: d your countrymen and the respect o: d mankind than will spring from th< i- wisdom to see the path of duty a is this time, apd the courage to follov ?- it, regardless alike of praise o: o, blame,' d "TO Sum up, before President Da a vis reached Abbeville, three of th< >- four constitutional advisers accom e panying him unquestionably oppose< 'S any further attempt to carry on thi h war. Did the other member of th< it cabinet, Secretary Benjamin, thei i- perceive that further resistance wa: i- useless? The main evidence on tha rs point is that of Mrs. Davis, to b< d quoted later on, and it is to the ef ir feet that Benjamin, the lone cabine ie member* who at Greensboro advqeat n ed the continuance of hostilities, de e, cided at Abbeville that the last hopi Id of the Confederacy vanished. n "What was tne stare 01 mina o ? - , i President Davis himself before h m reached Abbeville? His private sec ie retary, Burton Harrison, said tha id Mr. Davis's ^cheerfulness continuei n at Charlotte and that he said ther 'I cannot feel like a beaten man. ie Mr. Davis many years afterwar j8 wrote: 'I would not leave Confeder a ate soil so long as there were an; e. Confederate soldiers, asserting ou m cause.' Secretary Mallory wrote: 'N r- other course now seemed open to Mi Davis but to leave the country, a m he had announced his willingness t ;e do, and his immediate advisers urgei a. him to do so with the utmost prompt te ness. Troops began to come int e- Charlotte, however, escaping, fror is Johnston's surrender. There wa ie much talk among them of crossini le J the Mississippi ana continuing tu p. war. Portions of Hampton's, Duke's i- Dibrell's and Ferguson's commands o >f the cavalry were hourly coming in c- They seemed determined to get acros a- the river and fight it out and wher 10 ever they encountered Mr Davis the; at cheered and sought to encourage him v- It was evident that he was greatl; re affected by the constancy and spiri 3. of these men and that he became in >f different to his own safety, thinkinj only of gathering together a body of t >- troops to make head against the foe b e and so arouse the people to arms. His a s friends, however, saw the urgent e?- v a pediency of getting farther South as t b soon as possible.' _ o t "So President Davis himself came a - to Abbeville inspired by the soldiers - with the hope that the war could b still be waged. f' "Something occurred at Abbeville ti f which must have destroyed any rea - sonable hope he may have until then ii f entertained for the continuation of v the conflict. . c > "What was it? ti i "Let us consider first the full tes- v t timony of one of the brigadiers com- tj . manding the secort of the President, e 1 the valiant Basil W. Duke of Ken- > - tucky. He wrote in 1886: v c " 'At Abbeville, South Carolina, t - Mr. Davis held a conference with^he a officers in command of the troops s . composing his escort which he him- tl t self characterized as a council of vt 3 war, and which I may be justified, e 3 therefore, in so designating. It was s perhaps, the last Confederate coun-^v ; cil of war, held east of the Mi^siss- V ippi River, certainly the last in which p ? Mr. Davis participated. We had L j gone into camp iii the, vicinity of p j the little town, and although becom- u I ing quite anxious to understand what 'r, i was going to be done, we were expect- y I ing no immediate solution of the f } roblem. We were all convinced that vi the best we could hope to do was to a m j , * j., , ct Mr. Davis safely out of the coup- e > try, and then obtain such terms as t had been given General Johnston's p ; army, or failing in that, to make the u j best of our way to the Trans- Mis- J sissippi. The five brigade com- t manders (S. W. Fersruson. Georee C. I h Dibrell, J. C. Vaughn, Basil W. Duke, f and W. C. P. Breckinridge) each re- r 'ceived an order notifying him to at- s j tend at the private residence in Ab- a ^ beville, wherie Mr. Davis had made ^ his headquarters about 4 o'clock ii| j. the afternoon. We were shown into ^ a room where we .found Mr. Davis and Generals Breckinridge and Bragg tl No one else was present. I had nev- j er seen Mr. Davis look better or s 7 show to better advantage. He seemed t * in excellent spirits and humor; and ^ * the union of dignity, graceful affa- r bility and decision, which made his t 3 manner usually so striking, was very + 3 max*ked in his reception of us. After v some conversation of a general na- u 2 ture, he said: 'It is time that we p 1 adopt some definite plan upon which f ' the further prosecution of our strug- ^ * gle shall be conducted. I have sum- c r moned you for consultation. I feel e 2 that I ought to do nothing now with- ^ f out the advice of my military chiefs.' ^ He smiled rather archly as he used r 2 this expression and we could not help ^ ' thinking that such a team addressed n 7 to a handful of brigadiers command- ^ r ing altogether barely three thousand n men, by one who had so recently been the master of legions was a ^ 2 pleasantry, yet he said it in a way ^ that made it a compliment. 1 "After we had each given, at his ^ request, a statement of the equipment v and condition \>f our respective com- e 1 McKISSICK Speech Galley Three. . n ^ mands, Mr. Davis proceeded to de- v clare his conviction that the cause* n ? . -1u was not lost any more than hope of ^ American liberty wa3 gone amid the ^ sorest trials and most disheartening 0 . reverses of the Revolutionary struggle; but. that energy, courage and > B ^ constancy might yet save all. 'Even,' v ^ he said, 'if the troops now with me be all that I can for the present rely j, on, three thousand brave men are: V enough for a nucleus around which j( ^ the whole people will rally when the s panic which now afflicts them has f , passed away.' He then asked that we p ^ should make suggestions in regard to c the future conduct of the war. ^ P " 'We looked to each other in amaze- g r i ment and with a feeling akin to trep- t 0 idat'on, for we hardly knew how we should give expression to views dia- v s metrically opposed to those he had d 0 uttered. Our respect for Mr. Davis t ^ approached veneration and notwith- g .1 A -i-i J: 4. f.u . standing tne toiai masem, wc xcn, a 0 and were obliged to announce to the p n program he had indicated that res- 2 s pect was rather increased than dig minished by what he had said. 0 e " 'I do not remember who spoke t first, but we all expressed the same ] f op'nion. We told him frankly that r i. the events of the last few days had d s removed from our minds all idea or - hope that a prolongation of the con- c /! test was possible. The people were e i.'not panic-stricken, but broken down < y and worn out. We said that an at- I t tempt to continue the war, after all v - means of supportlrg warfare were _ j gene, would be a cruel injustice to / he people of the South: We would >e compelled to live on a country lready impoverished, and would in* ite its further devastation. We urged hat we would be doing a wrong to ur men if we persuaded them to uch a course; for if they persisted [i a conflict so hopeless they would e treated as brigands, and would urfeit all chance of returning to heir homes. ^ " 'He asked why then we were sfcfll i the field. We answered that t we /ere desirous. 01 arrordmg him an. pportunity of escaping the degredaon of capture and perhaps a fate rhich would be direr to the peolpe han even to himself, in still more mbittering the feeling between the forth and South. We said that we rould ask our men to follow us anil his safety was assured, and would isk our men to follow us until his afety was assured, and would risk hem in battle for that purpose, but rould not fire another shot in an ffort to continue hostilities. "He declared, abruptly, that he rould listen to no suggestion "Which.. egarded only his own safety. He apealed eloquently to every sentiment nd reminiscence that might be sup>osed to move Southern soldiers, and / irged us to accept his views. We renamed silent, for our conVictfohft /ere unshaken; we felt responsible or the future welfare of the men < /ho had so heroically followed us;\ nd the painful point had been reachd when to speak again in ojftwsHion o all that he i^rged would have aproached altercation. For some rtuti- v tes not a word -was spoken. Then Ir. Davis arose and ejaculated biterly that all was indeed lost. He had ecome very pallid, and he walked so eebly as he proceeded to leave the oom that General Breckinridge- v , tepped hastily up and offered his rm. , " 'I have undertaken to narrate very ' Mrifly what occurred in a conference rhich lastedrfor two or three hours. " 'Generals Breckinridge and Bragg ook no part in the discussion. After lr. uavis retired, Dotn, nowever, asured us of their hearty approval of he position we had taken. They had . 'orborne to say anything, because lot immediately in command of the roops, and not supposed, therefore, 0 know their sentiments so well as re did. But they promised to urge pon Mr. Davis the necessity and ropriety of endeavoring without urther delay to get out of the counry, and not permit other and serious omplications to be produced by his apture and imprisonment, and. peraps execution. "It was determined that we should esume our march that night for Washington, Ga., one or two daysr aarch distant, and orders were issued iy General Breckinridge to move at lidnight.' " 'It was reported by the Macon 'elegrapb, reprinted in the Wirinsoro Tri-Weekly News of June 1, 865, that: 'When Mr. Davis arrived 1 Abbeville.he discovered that there ras universal disaffection among his scort and they were determined to lake no resistance in the event they rere attacked, no matter how great r small the attacking force -mightie. But little or no effort was made o induce them to follow the fortunes f their chosen and once revered eader. They all chose to remain beiind except six noble Kentuckians vho manfully remained by him.' "Keferring to t^e situation at ad>eville, Secretary of the Navy Malory said: 'The escort was here colacted or so much of it as was left ,nd upon conversing with its oficers, Mr. Dav s was candidly apprised by some of them that they ould not depend upon the"'r men ighting, that they regarded the struggle as over. He became satisfied that he escort was almost useless.' "On May 3, when he was at Abbeille or had just left there, Presilent Davis wrote Mrs. Davis: 'I have he bitterest disappointment in re- v ard to the feelmgs of our troops md wouldn't have any one-1 love de>endent upon their resistance against ? 1 ? J in cquai iuicc. "Essentially a soldier himself, the verwhelming change of attitude on he part of both the troops accom)anying him and their commnaders nu$t have profundly affected Preeient Davis. "About this time, too, he heard :onstant rumors that, contrary to his xpectation, Johnston had surrenderid his army to Sherman. .President Davis had expected that Johnston rould retreat and form a junction \ (CONTINUED ON PAGE 3')