What Was The Role of David Herold

[John Fazio]

(09-17-2013 03:02 PM)Gene C Wrote:  John,

Here is a qucik reference to the accident

http://jeffersondavis.rice.edu/JosephEvanDavis.aspx
http://trrcobb.blogspot.com/2011/01/two-...davis.html

I've read of the condolences too, not sure where, but I'll look when I get home.

Gene:

Many thanks for the references. My suspicions appear to be confirmed, namely that Davis sent condolences to Lincoln when Willie died, but that Lincoln did not, apparently, send condolences to Davis when Joseph died. I long ago learned of the importance of the little things in life. Something like condolences may appear to be a pro forma banality to some, but the truth is that relationships are made and broken every day based on such things as this. Survival is such a precarious thing with us that we take offense easily, where protocol is concerned, and forgive with difficulty, sometimes not at all. If my suspicions are accurate, as I believe them to be, it must have been a very hurtful thing to Davis to receive nothing from Lincoln when he, Davis, suffered what was probably one of the two greatest losses of his life (the other being the loss of his first wife at the age of, I believe, 21), especially in light of the fact that he had responded to Lincoln's loss of Willie with a humane gesture. Such a lapse on Lincoln's part may well have played a role in Davis's attitude toward him, in general, but especially after the Wistar and Dahlgren-Kilpatrick Raids on Richmond and the orders, accepted by Davis and just about everyone else in the South as genuine, to capture or kill Davis and his Cabinet. In my judgment, something as tiny as a message of condolences from Lincoln to Davis, upon his great loss, may well have changed the course of history. Would you be disposed to eliminate with extreme prejudice someone who had taken the time to express his grief over your loss?

John