A few more words from Jefferson Davis

I finished reading Four Years With Lee by Walter Taylor a couple of weeks ago. It was a quick read, mainly dealing with the strength of numbers known to both sides of the Army of Northern Virginia and that of the Army of the Potomac under its various leaders. The one striking thing about these numbers was just how outnumbered the Confederate Armies were, though they never seemed to make that a hindrance to success in the field. Their victories are all the more brilliant knowing how decidedly disadvantaged they were as far as men available. Well, the point of this post was to highlight a quote from Jefferson Davis. I finally received the last part of Volume 2 of Varina Howell Davis's Memoir of her husband.

This quote is from a conversation that Jefferson Davis had with his wife shortly before the fall of Richmond. This is Mrs. Davis's account of that time when she would soon depart from her husband and go toward Charlotte, North Carolina and safety as Mr. Davis would continue the fight for the South's independence. Mrs. Davis writes:

"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. Very averse to flight, and unwilling at all times to leave him, I argued the question with him and pleaded to be permitted to remain, until he said: "I have confidence in your capacity to take care of our babies, and understand your desire to assist and comfort me, but you can do this in but one way, and that is by going yourself and taking our children to a place of safety." 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."

What I had not realized was that the Confederate Government was trying to uphold the principles of the Constitution and that it was a radical and tyrannical government in Washington that they faced. There are many good books to read about how President Lincoln and his staff destroyed the Constitution in the North during the war. When one understands more what truly happened at that time, this quote from Jefferson Davis is very heartbreaking. For we have not seen real constitutional liberty in this country since that time and the rights of states to govern themselves is becoming more clear as each day passes while this Federal Government usurps more and more power that by the Rule of Law they do not have.