[121]
Feeling that the cause was lost, and not wishing useless bloodshed, I said to him: “Captain, your men are fighting each other over yonder.”
He answered very positively: “You have an armed escort.”
I replied: “You have our whole camp; I know your men are fighting each other.
We have nobody on that side of the slough.”
He then rode off. Colonel Lubbock had a conversation nearly identical with Colonel Pritchard, who was not polite, I believe.
You can learn from Colonel Lubbock about it.
Not long afterwards, seeing Mr. Davis in altercation with an officer-Colonel Pritchard--I went up. Mr. Davis was denunciatory in his remarks.
The account given by Wilson is fabulous, except so far as Mr. Davis' remark is concerned, that “their conduct was not that of gentlemen, but ruffians.”
Pritchard did not make the reply attributed to him; I could swear to that.
My recollection is that he said in substance, and in an offensive manner, “that he (Davis) was a prisoner and could afford to talk so,” and walked away.
Colonel Hamden's manner was conciliatory, if he was the other officer, If I am not mistaken, the first offence was his addressing Mr. Davis as “Jeff,” or some such rude familiarity.
But this you can verify.
I tried just afterwards to reconcile Mr. Davis to the situation.
On the route to Macon, three days afterwards, Mrs. Davis complained to me with great bitterness that her trunks had been ransacked, the contents taken out, and tumbled back with the leaves sticking to them.
I had not seen Mr. Davis' capture.
I was with him until we were parted at Fortress Monroe.
Personally, I was treated with as much respect as I cared for. The officers were rather gushing than otherwise, and talked freely.
Some were coarse men, and talked of everything; but I never heard of Mr. Davis' alleged disguise until I saw it in a New York Herald, the day I got to Fort Delaware.
I was astonished and denouned it as a falsehood.
The next day I was placed in solitary confinement, and remained there.
I do not believe it possible that these ten days could have been passed with our captors without an allusion to it, if it had not been an after-thought or something to be kept from us.
...
Very sincerely yours, Wm. Preston Johnston.
