Beschreibung:

MARSHALL, Humphrey. Autograph manuscript, a diary account of a Confederate Congressman during the last year of the war including the flight from Richmond, 2 April to 22 September 1865. 57 pages, 12mo, in ink and pencil, leather bound, damage to back cover . "HAD NO SORT OF WARNING FROM ANY GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL THAT ANYTHING WAS GOING WRONG": MARSHALL REPORTS THE FALL OF RICHMOND AND THE ESCAPE OF JEFFERSON DAVIS An exciting first-hand account of the last days of the Confederacy reported by a Confederate Congressman who joined President Jefferson Davis in the flight from Richmond. Marshall's account reveals the hurried departure of Confederate officials anxious to avoid capture by Federal authorities and provides a behind-the-scenes look at the fall of the Confederacy, as the fleeing congressman meets with several important southern politicians and generals. On April 2, 1865, the Confederate lines around Petersburg were finally broken by an aggressive Union attack. Realizing that the capital could no longer be defended, Robert E. Lee sent word to Davis that Richmond must be evacuated. On that day, Marshall reports: "At 7 P.M. left Richmond in Danville train. Notice so short that I am poorly provided -- had no idea of the necessity at 12 n today & had no sort of warning from any Government official that any thing was going wrong." On the following day in Danville, Marshall describes an insightful meeting with Davis: "Called on President Davis to night...saw [Judah] Benjamin, [Stephen] Mallory, [John] Reagan, Davis and [George] Trenholm all there. President's spirits appear fair. He does not consider the fall of R. 'an unmingled evil,' but shows no disposition to be communicative." On the 4th, as Marshall's train approached Greensboro, N.C., reports of enemy troops forced caution and they "turned the cars with the Treasury back." Upon arrival, Marshall saw Brigadier General John Williams "(in arrest)" and met with another gentleman who "was just from Joe Johnstons camp. Says J. has just 13,500 effective infantry." He also describes a meeting with General Beauregard who was "prudent of expulsion, but not without hope." After meeting with Confederate Engineer Jeremy Gilmer on the 5th, Marshall made his way to Charlotte on the 6th and then Charleston on the 7th which he calls "a god forsaken place." After leaving Charleston, he met with General Nathan Evans "who seemed to me to be bordering on delirious tremors from hard drink." [In 1863, Evans was tried and acquitted on charges of drunkenness, but was later removed from command by Beauregard]. Marshall reports that the people in South Carolina are "exhausted of resources" and "broken in spirit." On April 14th, Marshall observed the movement of Confederate soldiers west who "appear travel worn." On the 23rd, in Augusta, he reports that he met with Robert Toombs who "is extravagant and seems unsettled in his views" and on the 25th he met with Confederate officer Henry Hilliard who stated "that he has no faith in the success of free principles under Jeff Davis's management, and hopes for better things under a sensible reconstruction." On April 30, Marshall came upon Mrs. Davis, her children and others who reported that "they do not know the movements of Jeff Davis, but Hathaway hints to me he is already travelling swiftly to the Miss. river and every effort is & will be made to throw dust in eyes of public as to his real movements." After fleeing Atlanta on May 4 as Federal troops entered the town, Marshall and his family crossed Alabama and Mississippi, passed through various bayous, and, on June 27th, in Texas, he reports hearing a rumor that "Johnson has been killed by Sherman." On August 9, Marshall notes that a Union General has told him "that I will not be disturbed unless he receives a special order to arrest me" and, on the 14th, he records an effort to take an oath of amnesty. At the end of 1865, Marshall was on the move again, returning to Louisville, KY., where he contin