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Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Chapter 4: (search)
ongress preparing to leave Washington on account of the secession of the states which they represented. This threat received little attention from those most concerned. Indeed, it was thought that it might not be an undesirable mode of testing the question of the right of a state to withdraw from the Union. No attempt, however, was made to arrest any of the retiring members; after a delay of a few days in necessary preparations, I left Washington for Mississippi, passing through southwestern Virginia, east Tennessee, a small part of Georgia, and north Alabama. A deep interest in the events which had recently occurred was exhibited by the people of these states, and much anxiety was indicated as to the future. Many years of agitation had made them familiar with the idea of separation. Nearly two generations had risen to manhood since it had begun to be discussed as a possible alternative. Few, very few, of the Southern people had ever regarded it as a desirable event, or other
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Chapter 2: (search)
d confidence belonging to the close friendship which had existed between us for many years. Consequent to a remark made by me, he asked to what duty I would assign him, and, when answered, to serve in the West, he expressed his pleasure at service in that section, but inquired how he was to raise his command, and for the first time learned that he been nominated and confirmed as a general in the army of the Confederacy. The third, General Robert E. Lee, had been commissioned by the state of Virginia as major general and commander of her army. When that army was transferred, after the accession of Virginia to the Confederate States, he was nominated to be brigadier general in the Confederate army, but was left for obvious reasons in command of the forces in Virginia. After the seat of government was removed from Montgomery to Richmond, the course of events on the Southern Atlantic coast induced me to direct General Lee to repair thither. Before leaving he said that, while he wa
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Chapter 5: (search)
on of the very people who furnished the guides to the enemy. It was treachery confounding the counsels of the brave. Thus occurred the disaster of Rich Mountain and Laurel Hill. General Robert Garnett was a native of Virginia and a graduate of the United States Military Academy. He served in Mexico, on the staff of General Z. Taylor, and was conspicuous for gallantry and good conduct, especially in the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista. Recognizing his allegiance as due to the state of Virginia, from which he was appointed a cadet, and thence won his various promotions in the army, he resigned his commission when the state withdrew from the Union, and earnestly and usefully served as aide-de-camp to General R. E. Lee, the commander in chief of the army of Virginia, until she acceded to the Confederacy. When Western Virginia was invaded he offered his services to go to her defense, and relying confidently on the sentiment, so strong in his own heart, of devotion to the stat
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Chapter 9: (search)
espond to a call by the President for troops to invade a particular state, it was in April, 1861, deemed a high crime to so use them: reference is here made to the published answers of the governors of states which had not seceded to the requisition made upon them for troops to be employed against the states which had seceded. Governor Letcher of Virginia replied to the requisition of the United States Secretary of War as follows: I am requested to detach from the militia of the State of Virginia the quota designated in a table which you append, to serve as infantry or riflemen, for the period of three months, unless sooner discharged. In reply to this communication, I have only to say that the militia of Virginia will not be furnished to the powers at Washington for any such use or purpose as they have in view. Your object is to subjugate the Southern States, and a requisition made upon me for such an object—an object, in my judgment, not within the purview of the Constitu
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Chapter 10: (search)
s was as great as could have been reasonably expected, and after the small but brilliant affair on Scary Creek, he prepared to give battle to the enemy then advancing up the Kanawha Valley under General Cox; the defeat of our forces at Laurel Hill, which has been already noticed, uncovered his right flank and endangered his rear, which was open to approach by several roads; he therefore fell back to Lewisburg. Brigadier General John B. Floyd had in the meantime raised a brigade in southwestern Virginia, and advanced to the support of General Wise. Unfortunately, there was a want of concert between these two officers, which prevented their entire cooperation. General Floyd engaged the enemy in several brilliant skirmishes, when he found that his right was threatened by a force which was approaching on that flank, with the apparent purpose of crossing the Gauley River at the Carnifex Ferry so as to strike his line of communication with Lewisburg. He crossed the river with his brig
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Chapter 11: (search)
e officers having brigades and divisions. . . . I will not dwell on the lost opportunity afforded along the line of northern Virginia, but must call your attention to the present condition of affairs and probable action of the enemy, if not driven f, no additional forces would be required for some time in this district. I deem it of very great importance that northwestern Virginia be occupied by Confederate troops this winter. At present, it is to be presumed that the enemy are not expecting To avoid this, if necessary, the General has only to fall back toward the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad. When northwestern Virginia is occupied in force, the Kanawha Valley, unless it be the lower part of it, must be evacuated by the Federal forssfully to resist a detachment of his. Accepting as a necessity the withdrawal of the main portion of our army from northern Virginia to meet the invasion from the seaboard, it was regretted that earlier and more effective means were not employed fo
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Chapter 12: (search)
n New Orleans, and attention was turned to the manufacture of field and siege artillery at Nashville. A small foundry at Rome, Georgia, was induced to undertake the casting of the three-inch iron rifle, but the progress was very slow. The state of Virginia possessed a number of old four-pounder iron guns which were reamed out to get a good bore, and rifled with three groves, after the manner of Parrott. The army at Harpers Ferry and that at Manassas were supplied with old batteries of six-pounder guns and twelve-pounder howitzers. A few Parrott guns, purchased by the state of Virginia, were with General Magruder at Big Bethel. For the ammunition and equipment required for the infantry and artillery, a good laboratory and workshop had been established at Richmond. The arsenals were making preparations for furnishing ammunition and knapsacks; generally, however, what little was done in this regard was for local purposes. Such was the general condition of ordnance and ordnance
Jefferson Davis, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Appendix F (search)
support? We have had agitation, changing in its form, and gathering intensity, for the last forty years. It was first for political power, and directed against new States; now it has assumed a social form, is all-prevailing, and has reached the point of revolution and civil war. For it was only last fall that an overt act was committed by men who were sustained by arms and money, raised by extensive combination among the non-slaveholding States, to carry treasonable war against the State of Virginia, because now, as before the Revolution, and ever since, she held the African in bondage. This is part of the history and marks the necessity of the times. It warns us to stop and reflect, to go back to the original standard, to measure our acts by the obligation of our fathers, by the pledges they made one to the other, to see whether we are conforming to our plighted faith, and to ask seriously, solemnly, looking each other inquiringly in the face, what we should do to save our coun