Was Jeff Davis 'Delusional'?

[Anita]

I agree with Laurie that under extreme stress "one never knows what the mind will do." Stress parallels between the Lincolns and the Davises below.

This is from an article "The Life of Varina Howell Davis: First Lady of the Confederacy"
by Kimberly J. Largent

Jefferson began to feel the immense pressures of his position... during the presidential years it was Jefferson who was frequently ill and coined a sickly president. He became thin, pale and haggard-looking as each year passed. Frequently, he cancelled meetings with officials due to undisclosed illnesses. The press went so far as to report at times that he was near death. During his illnesses, Varina took charge of canceling and rescheduling appointments and served as a liaison between him and his cabinet members until he was well enough to resume his post.

“I left my children quite well, playing in my room, and had just uncovered my basket in [Jefferson’s] office when a servant came in for me. The most beautiful and brightest of my children, Joseph Emory, had in play climbed over the connecting angle of the banister and fallen to the brick pavement below. He died a few minutes after we reached his side. This child was Mr Davis’s hope and greatest joy in life.” It was during this time Varina’s wardrobe became severe; she chose only black or white and refrained from wearing colors.

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I believe Davis knew the war was lost but do to stress he just couldn't deal with it.

As the war raged on in 1864, Varina was more accepting of the Confederacy’s defeat than her husband who simply refused to yield. She began selling off her valuables such as silk, lace, gloves, books, china, and silver. She also began to prepare her family for flight. When Jefferson was finally ready to acknowledge a possible defeat, she wrote, “Darkness seemed now to close swiftly over the Confederacy, and about a week before the evacuation of Richmond, Mr Davis came to me and gently, but decidedly, announced the necessity for our departure. He said for the future his headquarters must be in the field, and that our presence would only embarrass and grieve, instead of comforting him. ...'He was very much affected and said, ‘If I live you can come to me when the struggle is ended, but I do not expect to survive the destruction of constitutional liberty.’”
http://tinyurl.com/mvjcx8s