MAY 5, 1865:
“Any man who is in favor of further prosecution
of this war is a fit subject for a lunatic asylum” --- General Nathan Bedford
Forrest C.S.A.
I
As
the former Confederate armies begin to disperse, in middle Tennessee General
Nathan Bedford Forrest C.S.A. is still raiding Union depots for food and
supplies. He hasn’t authorized an offensive action in nearly three weeks, but
that does not mean that there hasn’t been shooting and killing.
Forrest
has been biding his time. Lee’s surrender impacted him little, and Johnston’s
scarcely more (though he was technically Johnston’s subordinate). The death of
President Lincoln disturbed him mainly because he thought it dishonorable and
because it made individual Yankees harder to fight. He has nothing to say about
Jefferson Davis, who, even while he implores others to stand and fight,
continues fleeing the enemy.
Richard
Taylor’s surrender on May 4th is another matter. Without Taylor’s
forces nearby, Forrest’s command is utterly isolated, and subject to complete
destruction.
The
ironwood Forrest has begun to contemplate surrender.
At
least that is what he implies when the refugee Confederate Governors of
Mississippi and Tennessee enter his lines today, and encourage him to resume
offensive actions against the Federals. Forrest retorts, “Any man who is in favor of further prosecution of this war is a fit
subject for a lunatic asylum,” and sends them on their way.
Further
south, the Confederate District of the Gulf, controlling today’s “Redneck
Riviera” an area between Pensacola and New Orleans, commanded by Major General
Dabney Herndon Maury, surrendered to Union forces.
II
The
last Confederate Cabinet meeting is held at night in the midst of a driving icy
rainstorm in Washington, Georgia. The
“Cabinet Room” is a wooden boxcar on a siding, and cold drops work their way
through the roof beams and spatter on the heads of the men hunkered down in a
circle on the floor.
Davis
implores the men sitting on the dirty and wet floor of a leaky freight car to
carry on the fight for Confederate independence.
One
by one they shake their heads. In turn, John C. Breckinridge, the Secretary of
War, Judah P. Benjamin, the Secretary of State, and Stephen Mallory, the
Secretary of the Navy, rise, shake hands with Davis, and depart. The only
Cabinet member who remains is John H. Reagan, the Confederate Treasurer. The
rest of the men are Generals. Altogether, they command less than 2,500 troops.
Davis
makes an impassioned speech, again asking them to carry on the fight. Even at
this late date, he believes that the Confederacy can be reconstituted in the
Trans-Mississippi.
Davis
asks each man to draft an opinion letter, summarizing what each individually
believes regarding the present position of the Confederacy. For a while there
is the scratching of pens, and then Davis receives a small handful of
envelopes. As he reads each, his face falls. Unanimously, the belief is that
the situation is beyond salvaging. Each makes the same suggestion, that the
Government, nonfunctional, be dissolved.
To
their unified opinion Davis assents, though he personally vows to work toward
the re-establishment of Confederate authority as soon as is practicable.
And
with this exchange, the Confederate States of America ceases to be.*
*Lost
Cause romantics and Neo-Confederates insist that the C.S.A. still exists sui juris since a bill to formally dissolve the government
was never voted on by the Confederate Congress, the only body Constitutionally
empowered to unmake the nation; according to this argument, the Congressional
term of 1864 is only in indefinite adjournment, and the action of the rump Cabinet
in Washington, Georgia on the night of May 5, 1865 was an illegal arrogation of
power to the Executive, and void. Others argue that since the rump Cabinet was
never approved by the Senate it had no legal authority. Still another point
favored by such revisionists is that the actual Cabinet lacked a proper quorum
--- only Reagan was present with Davis. Davis’ non-acquiescence or forced
acquiescence is also cited as legal grounds for the continuance of the
Confederacy. According to this strand of logic, the Emperor of China is still
on the Dragon Throne, Napoleon’s descendants are the Imperial Family of France,
Mussolini’s government is still legally empowered to operate in Italy, and
Michael Romanov is the Tsar of All The Russias.
III
The
first train robbery in U.S. history occurs at North Bend, Ohio, when a train
belonging to the Ohio & Mississippi Railroad is relieved at gunpoint of
passengers’ valuables and several safes full of U.S. bonds. The perpetrators
are never caught, though the James brothers, Jesse and Frank, former members of
Quantrill’s Raiders are prime suspects.
As the Civil War ends the era of the Wild West begins.
IV
Adam
Clayton Powell, Sr., black activist, pastor and educator, is born in Franklin
County, Virginia.
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