Jefferson Davis, American

by William J. Cooper

  Traveling through New York City, the Davises were back in Lennoxville and reunited with their children by the end of March. In the Canadian village, life continued as it had before their extensive trip, though Davis became more and more concerned about the welfare of his family. Varina remembered this as a time when she and her husband were “vexed by every anxiety that could torture us.” While wrestling with apprehension, Jefferson suffered a painful accident on June 25. According to Varina, as he was carrying his baby down a long flight of stairs in the hotel, he fell all the way down. The fall knocked him out and broke two of his ribs, though Winnie Anne was not hurt. Even though his painful injuries “dreadfully enfeebled” him, Davis made up his mind about his immediate future: he would go to England.23

  He reached that decision in part because his legal status became somewhat clearer, though not all doubt was removed. Charles O’Conor had become utterly exasperated with the government’s endemic uncertainties and delays. To Horace Greeley he fumed that “something [was] very contemptible in the way this case is treated by those who direct the prosecution.” O’Conor still smoldered about Seward, the person he blamed for keeping Davis’s case alive within the administration. Disgusted with “playing the tail to the kite,” O’Conor determined to find out what his opponents really intended. Although he understood the centrality of the impeachment crisis, he pushed for an answer, even going to Washington. But not until after the president’s acquittal by the Senate in May did O’Conor get definite information. Conversation with Evarts led to the cancellation of any court appearance before the trial date, October 19. Yet within the week O’Conor informed his client that the case had been postponed until November 23. More important, for the first time he expressed confidence that no trial would ever take place. Thus, Davis certainly had time for a European trip.24

  Jefferson and Varina thought about Europe for several reasons. One was Jefferson’s health. A slow recovery from the effects of his fall and a persistent cough caused his physician to insist on a change of location and climate. When husband and wife talked about the need to find a less expensive place to live, with good schools, they thought of Europe. Money assumed a central place in that discussion and was fundamental in their decision to go abroad. Davis told a niece that he had to find a way to support his family. Varina wrote that they had no means for their children’s future, save those “we have in God’s promise.” Understanding Jefferson’s problem, Joseph suggested that he make use of his greatest asset, his name. Joseph acknowledged that his brother had never previously capitalized on his name for financial benefit, but said Jefferson’s situation “produce[d] the necessity late in life of giving your mind and time to a subject uncongenial.…”25

  Jefferson had tried to heed that advice. Upon his arrival in Canada in the summer of 1867, he became involved with a copper-mining venture. Investing $2,000 of his scarce funds, he hoped to make at least a little money. His associates wanted his name, which they thought might help their enterprise in financial markets such as Montreal and New York. Still searching for investors a year later, they and other owners turned to selling the property and concluded England would be an excellent site to attract buyers. Davis would go as the agent of all the mine owners with authority to execute a sale. Not only might he recoup his own investment; the commission he could earn, if all went well, could reach above $25,000.26

  Although disposing of the mines was Davis’s chief business goal, he tried to diversify. He followed Joseph’s suggestion that he connect with a commission house in Liverpool, the great cotton port. The potential for a partnership with a successful British merchant did exist, but its materialization depended upon Davis’s assurance that he could guarantee shipments of cotton and tobacco. Before leaving Canada he contacted friends in an attempt to gain commitments that would consign such trade to him.27

  Davis did have reason to believe that he would find a warm reception in England. Congratulating him upon his release from imprisonment, a pro-Confederate member of Parliament who had been close to James M. Mason described to Davis what awaited him: “You would be warmly welcomed by many to whom your name has for years been a household word, who have eagerly watched the Southern struggle, and who would feel it a proud honor to be allowed to make your personal acquaintance—by none more heartily than ourselves.”28

  But with nothing certain, Davis prepared in July to cross the Atlantic for the first time, and to take his entire family. Varina certainly supported this endeavor. She had no love for Lennoxville, and she hoped the move would be therapeutic for her own and her family’s wounds. Sharing with Mary Ann Cobb how she hungered for an end to the bruising uncertainty that had characterized her life since the end of the war, she said she so envied her friend surrounded by children, grandchildren, a home, and a future. Varina closed this letter blessing God that all her dear friends were not like herself, “floating uprooted.” The family departed Lennoxville on July 23, and two days later sailed from Quebec on the Adriatic.29

  On August 4 at 11 p.m., the Adriatic docked in Liverpool. Crowding the wharves, friends and English sympathizers gave the voyagers a warm, enthusiastic greeting. After a few days at a hotel, they became guests of their friends, the Norman Walkers; Walker, a Virginian, had been appointed by Davis to a Confederate post in Bermuda. After the Confederacy’s defeat he moved to England, where he opened a successful shipping and cotton-buying business. Although invitations came to the Davises, they declined most. Varina said what they wanted was rest, and they went with the Walkers to their hosts’ summer place in northern Wales. Jefferson stayed only a few days, but while there he explored the area, visiting slate quarries, coal mines, and Caernarvon Castle, among other interesting sites.30

  Not until November did Davis set up a separate residence for himself and his family, at Leamington in Warwickshire. Varina remembered that it was the hunting season and her husband “attracted all who saw him.” She also wrote that the local people offered many kindnesses to the refugee family. During these months Davis regained strength and added a little weight. His wife recorded that he showed more energy.

  From Leamington, Davis made several short journeys. He went to London on business, and while there toured Westminster Abbey. He also traveled to Birmingham for an agricultural exposition; to Manchester, where he visited a cotton mill; and to Chester, where he attended services in the cathedral. His two sons were enrolled in school in nearby Waterloo. Earlier, in September, the Davises had quite a scare when young Billy came down with typhoid fever. Both parents rushed to Waterloo and were greatly relieved when the boy recovered.31

  The Davises stayed in Leamington until the turn of the year, when they moved to London. At the outset they resided with Dr. O. L. Blandy and his wife, who became fast friends. In March they set up housekeeping at 18 Upper Gloucester Place, Dorset Square. The main reason for the shift to the metropolis was Davis’s desire to be nearer his business contacts. He never wavered in his chief goal, to stabilize his financial footing. In addition, friends told him he should make every effort to meet and socialize with prominent people.32

  The Davises were certainly accepted by the English social and political elite. They received many invitations from the gentry and from titled men and women, including Alexander J. Beresford Hope, a pro-Confederate member of Parliament, the Earl of Shrewsbury, Lord Abinger, Lady Lothian, Lord Henry Percy, and the Duke of Northumberland. On one occasion the Lord Chamberlain made a pew available at the Chapel Royal. At times Davis responded positively. He lunched in London clubs and spent a few days at the Earl of Shrewsbury’s country house, where he reported to Varina, “Every thing is on a scale of great magnificence, but the people do not seem to feel their grandeur, so I am quite at ease.”33

  Despite Davis’s profession of ease amid such wealth and luxury, lack of resources made it impossible for him and his wife to participate fully in English upper-class life. Varina told Jefferson’s grandniece they “simply [could] not afford to associate on those intima
te terms with such rich people.” Those who knew the family observed the impact of their severely limited means. One noted that “Mrs. Davis never dines out because she can’t buy a suitable dress.” Varina informed a relative they saw St. Paul’s, the Tower of London, and Westminster Abbey, but did not go to the Botanical Gardens or the opera because of the expense. She admitted to Mary Ann Cobb that they had to be very careful with money or fatal consequences could result.34

  One friend brought special pleasure. Upon their landing at Liverpool, fellow expatriate Judah Benjamin expressed his delight. “I shall have the extreme gratification of pressing your hand again,” he wrote his old boss. After leaving Davis’s retreating caravan in 1865, Benjamin had fled to England via Florida. In his new country he had become a strikingly successful barrister, eventually, in 1870, being named Queen’s Counsel. Varina recorded that after the beginning of 1869 they saw him quite often.35

  In late December 1868 Jefferson and Varina decided to go to France. They wanted to see whether that country might provide a better home than England for their displaced family. They also desired to meet with other Confederates who had found safe haven in France. Their host was Ambrose Dudley Mann, the ex-Confederate diplomat who was utterly devoted to Davis, and who had an apartment in Paris and also a country place in Chantilly, just outside the city. They had a memorable reunion with John Slidell and his wife, who had decided to remain permanently in the country where he had represented the Confederacy. In Paris the Davises saw the sights and were expansively entertained. Emperor Napoleon III sent word that he and the empress would receive Jefferson and Varina. They refused. According to Varina, Jefferson believed that Napoleon had been insincere with the Confederacy; thus he could not meet the emperor on the civil and cordial terms expected in an audience.36

  In mid-January 1869 Varina returned to London, but Jefferson struck off for a few days in Switzerland. On February 7 he took the night train from Paris to Geneva, then journeyed on to Lausanne and a hotel on the banks of Lake Leman. A persistent cough prompted the trip. It was thought the dry mountain air of Switzerland would help, and Davis reported that it did. He enjoyed the anonymity of his hotel, where no one knew him. In a letter to his wife, he called on his powers of description: “My window looks out on a vine clad slope … on this side of the lake.… On the other side the mountains rise grand in heights wild in their irregular forms, and covered with snow which contrasts sharply with the green swards on this side, all the more strongly for the bright sun which shines upon both.” On February 10 he departed for Paris, and immediately on to London.37

  Just before leaving for Switzerland, Davis wrote a long letter to Varina in which he talked about Paris. He had found the drive through the Bois de Boulogne enjoyable, and the Louvre impressed him greatly. A trip to Père Lachaise Cemetery moved him. Although the names on the vaults “excite[d] historic memories and sad reflections,” the grave of Abelard and Héloïse especially captivated him, particularly the inscription, which announced that the two were reunited in the tomb, and the graceful columns supporting its dome. But while he described much that was positive about Paris, he had serious reservations about the city. He had come to agree with his wife’s preference for London. His opinion of Paris even as a place for education had worsened, not improved. “The tone cannot be delicate,” he declared, “when living objects and inanimate representations so glaringly offend against decency.” He questioned whether the undoubted intellectual attractions of the city could counterbalance what he called “demoralizing influences.” The emphasis on nudity and “amorous passions” undermined “the cultivation and preservation of modesty.” Still, if Varina wanted to send Polly to a school where she could perfect her French, he stood ready to wait for her. Of course, the Slidells and Mann would watch over her.38

  By the time Davis returned to London, his status as a defendant in the courts of the United States had changed dramatically. When his case came before the court in Richmond on November 30, 1868, considerable alterations had occurred on both the legal and the political front. President Johnson had survived his impeachment trial, though animosity between him and the congressional Republicans still ran deep. On July 4 he issued another amnesty proclamation. Even though he had been urged, even by his attorney general, to make it all-inclusive, he excluded anyone under indictment for treason—namely, Jefferson Davis. Several reasons prompted the exclusion, particularly proponents in the cabinet including Seward and a general fear that pardoning Davis might provoke another congressional assault on the president.39

  Thus, Davis still faced a charge of treason. At court in Richmond, Chief Justice Chase finally joined Judge Underwood on the bench. In the meantime, the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution had been ratified by the states and had gone into effect on July 28. Its third section stipulated that no person could hold office who had sworn an oath to uphold the Constitution and subsequently had participated in the rebellion. To Chase this provision offered a way around the morass of a Davis trial because there could be no double jeopardy. In conversation with George Shea, Chase made clear his viewpoint.

  Chase’s opinion dictated the strategy of Davis’s defense. Davis’s lawyers readily admitted that in 1845 he had taken an oath to support the Constitution. Then they submitted a motion asking that the indictment be quashed on the grounds that the Fourteenth Amendment had already inflicted punishment on their client. The government’s attorneys contested the point. The chief counsel, Richard Dana, countered that the Constitution was not criminal law. Instead, it created an organic political system. As a result, the section in question did not set forth a penalty; it simply stated qualifications for holding office in the system.

  On December 5 the court handed down a divided ruling. Chase stated that he and Underwood could not agree. He accepted the argument tendered by the defense; Underwood rejected it. Counsel for the defense requested that the fact of disagreement be certified to the Supreme Court. Chase so ordered. As the indictment remained in force, the federal attorney wanted a trial date set. Chief Justice Chase said the date could be announced after the completion of the upcoming Supreme Court term.

  William Evarts, who had become U.S. attorney general in July 1868, decided the government would push no further. Given Chase’s public declaration on the issue, he did not want to go before the nation’s highest judicial tribunal where the chief justice might convince a majority of the court to throw out the indictment and inflict a stinging defeat on the government. According to Charles O’Conor, such fears were justified. He told Davis that Chase had urged him not to concede any “disputable point,” and had confided to Davis’s attorney that a judicial decision for Davis “would furnish a magnificent chapter in our history.…” Evarts informed O’Conor he would enter a nolle prosequi if the defense would agree to end the matter and not demand a hearing before the Supreme Court. O’Conor acceded. On Christmas Day, President Johnson issued a proclamation that guaranteed total amnesty to all participants in the rebellion, even including Jefferson Davis. Finally, on February 26, 1869, Attorney General Evarts informed Davis’s counsel that directions had been given to nol-pros all indictments for treason. There were no pending charges against Davis. For the first time in almost four years, he no longer faced the threat of federal prosecution.40

  Meanwhile, in London, Davis was no closer to making a profitable business deal than he had been when he disembarked in Liverpool seven months earlier. His hopes of becoming involved in the cotton and tobacco trade with the southern states never got off the ground. He had no success in his attempts to sell the Canadian mines. He was finally advised to concentrate on finding purchasers in Canada. Although his contacts with the English elite did lead to numerous social invitations, they generated no concrete business arrangements.

  Davis did have to face the lingering English distrust of Mississippi because of the state’s bond default back in the 1840s, though it is impossible to measure the influence of that feeling. During the war Union propaganda mas
terminded by Robert J. Walker had hammered Davis as a defaulter, a charge that still reverberated. He was eager to counter the accusation, but Judah Benjamin advised against his doing so. Benjamin declared the effort bound to fail because the English public would not countenance the detailed political and constitutional arguments Davis would make.41

  With no breakthrough forthcoming, Davis had to cope with trying circumstances. Early on, he told Varina that only dim prospects existed for selling the Canadian property. He summarized his entire experience in a letter to his wife late in the summer of 1869. Reporting on a potential deal, he “found the matter still hanging … but was requested to wait until evening when I should see what I should see.” All he ever saw was nothing.42

  Davis’s business disappointments added to the struggle in his family life. Both he and his wife desired to provide a superior education for their children, especially in language instruction, but they worried about being able to afford what they wanted. Though they had the two youngest at home, they kept Jeff Jr. at Waterloo, and in the spring they sent Polly to Monastère de l’Assomption in Auteuil, France. Her father missed her, yet said her “cheerful brave resolution” to take advantage of her opportunities consoled him. In April, Davis’s fragile health broke under a severe onslaught of facial neuralgia. A British physician, who had known Davis in prewar Washington, saw him at this time and described “a man broken down in mind, body, and estate.…” He needed his wife’s comfort. Away from Leamington, Davis talked about “the gloom of this dismal London day” and his sadness at being far from her. Left alone in Paris, he confessed her absence made their rooms seem desolate.43