Was Jeff Davis 'Delusional'?

[JMadonna]

In Feb 1865, after the failure of the Hampton Roads conference, Jefferson Davis rallied his congress into a rededication to the war by giving a highly slanted report of the conference. Three days later he followed it up with probably his best oration at the African Church in Richmond predicting victory before the 'next summer solstice'.

VP Alexander Stephens termed the president’s performance “brilliant,” even though he considered Davis’s predictions of victory “the emanation of a demented brain".

Putting aside Stephens political opposition to Davis and granted he was not a medical doctor ... Stephens' observation of Davis, at this time, was not an isolated opinion.

Could it be possible that the reason the war continued that Spring was because Jefferson Davis was delusional??

[Jim Garrett]

Jerry, I think you are correct. I don't believe Jefferson Davis couldn't believe his country was doomed. Even while abandoning the city, he was putting the inconceivable notion forward that evacuation of the government was a good thing. They would not be tied down to defending a city.

[L Verge]

I tend to agree also. Jefferson Davis was not only a politician, he had been a successful military man. By the end of 1864, he had to realize that the Confederacy was in grave danger. Would standing by his principles and preaching optimism be worth the toll in human lives?

I found one thing interesting last month when Dr. Bradley Gottfried spoke at Surratt House on Gettysburg Revisited. Someone asked about the age-old thought that Gettysburg was the high water mark for the Confederacy. Dr. Gottfried replied that he thought Antietam was the high water mark a year earlier. From that point, things went downhill. Could the next sixteen months of losses and deprivation have affected Davis mentally? Take a decent and God-fearing man and put him through such stress, and one never knows what the mind will do. Lincoln certainly showed the stress in his face; Davis manifested it in his desperate actions and words, perhaps.

[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.

---

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

[Jim Garrett]

I think also that President Davis refused to let his country down. He had very willingly given up all of his future for "the cause" and he could not let "the cause" down..........and he never did. His stature in the post war South was every bit as elevated as Lincoln's was in the north.

[Anita]

(09-14-2013 06:56 PM)Jim Garrett Wrote:  I think also that President Davis refused to let his country down. He had very willingly given up all of his future for "the cause" and he could not let "the cause" down..........and he never did. His stature in the post war South was every bit as elevated as Lincoln's was in the north.

Yes Jim, that's my sense too.

[SSlater]

"Delusional - from drugs?
I have no problem with all that has been said on this thread. I would like you to look deeper into "Davis was SICK - he was out of it". We have already been told that his wife took over some of his duties. I have read, in a book on Benjamin, that he said that he ran the government. in those last days. Instructional letters emanating from the President's Office were worded The President directs me to .... or The President directs you to.... and Davis never saw any of those letters. One in particular that interests me, was Benjamin's letter to Jacob Thompson, concerning the Confederate Treasury in Canada - " You are to send "all that money to my personal account in Liverpool". I can't imagine Davis saying that.
Since Davis was ill in some way (Nerves, most likely), he must have been drugged to incompetency, he was loony. Could it be that Davis did not write those speeches, that seemed so eloquent?
I'm suggesting that Davis was being used, by trusted people, who were setting up personal retirement packages. Has anyone ever read "Niagara on the Lake"? It's an article about the distribution of Confederate funds, to a select few. Davis eventually went there after his release from prison. See what you think. I have also read that Thompson "supported" Davis up until his death.
I found most of this to be unbelievable, so I didn't keep notes, but I will dig out the sources and share them. This appears to be a case of having details and not know the whole story. Maybe this is the beginning of "the rest of the story". I can't do it alone. We all need to chip in.

[L Verge]

As many of you know, I have stated quite a few times that Judah Benjamin needs much more investigation. I used to advise people who were claiming that Stanton was behind it all to turn around and look at the Southern Cabinet members instead.

Where do we find Niagara on the Lake?

I believe I remember seeing recently that Walter Stahr's next book will focus on Benjamin. He apparently has done a good job on Seward, so let's hope for the same with the enigmatic Benjamin.

[HerbS]

Maybe Davis was delusional and an ego-maniac.Anita,Tremendous article on Varina Davis.Has anyone written a book comparing the similarities and differences between Varina Davis and Mary Lincoln?

[L Verge]

Yes, Herb. I read a very good one years ago titled Crowns of Thorns and Glory, but I cannot remember the author.

P.S. I do not see Jefferson Davis as an ego-maniac. There's too much in his youth and dealings with his brother to have produced such a personality, IMO.

[JMadonna]

(09-15-2013 10:08 AM)L Verge Wrote:  As many of you know, I have stated quite a few times that Judah Benjamin needs much more investigation.

I don't think so. Davis never let any detail escape him. Not even with Robert E. Lee.

Benjamin has 2 strikes against him; 1. He was Jewish, which socially put him 1 step ahead of a negro freedman. Even today, the South isn't exactly abundant with temples. 2, He was Davis' most trusted adviser who never betrayed any secrets. If one wishes to absolve Davis of any failure it's very easy to blame the quiet Benjamin.

Benjamin feared he'd never get a fair trial in the US and was determined to never come back 'even if he had to go to the middle of China'. I can't blame him, I'd probably feel the same way.

[L Verge]

Jerry,

I think we need to reevaluate the Jewish population of the South during the Civil War era. I have not done a great deal of study on them, but from what I have read, there was a significant amount of them and many were prosperous and well up in society. Also, I think we need to carry the research of Tidwell, Hall, and Gaddy even further when it comes to the role of Benjamin in plots against Lincoln. I think the man was very effective and very dedicated to the Southern cause.

[Jim Garrett]

I believe that there was a fairly sizable Jewish population in New Orleans and Charleston. One of the leading citizens of Norfolk in the antebellum days was Moses Myers, and Norfolk's Jewish population was in general, held in good standing if not high regard. Bejamin seems to have been a very crafty politician in both the Federal and Confederate governments. Benjamin lived in the Decatur house before leaving Washington to go South.

[JMadonna]

(09-15-2013 04:43 PM)L Verge Wrote:  Jerry,

I think we need to reevaluate the Jewish population of the South during the Civil War era. I have not done a great deal of study on them, but from what I have read, there was a significant amount of them and many were prosperous and well up in society. Also, I think we need to carry the research of Tidwell, Hall, and Gaddy even further when it comes to the role of Benjamin in plots against Lincoln. I think the man was very effective and very dedicated to the Southern cause.

I agree that he was very effective and dedicated. I'll even agree that he head-manned the kidnapping scheme. But I don't believe he ok'd the assassination or Harney plot without Davis' authorization. There is simply no evidence of him ever working behind Davis' back.

As far as the Jewish population all I know is there is no place in Northeast Georgia to get a decent bagel. Up north there's a deli in every other shopping center.

[Anita]

Laurie and Herb, Crowns of Thorns and Glory is by Gerry Van der Heuvel. This is from Amazon....
This extremely readable dual biography is as gripping as any novel. Recounting the parallel lives of the only two women in American history to have served concurrently as "First Lady,".

I also don't see Davis as an ego-maniac. He was a compromise candidate and didn't want the Presidency but had hoped for a military command. I read somewhere that he cried when he resigned from the Senate.