Our One Common Country (50 page)

81.
Davis thought Blair spoke for Lincoln: Stephens,
CV,
vol. 2, p. 592; Jefferson Davis, “Jefferson Davis: The Peace Commission,” 4
Southern Historical Society Papers
(November 1877), pp. 208–14 (“Davis, ‘Peace Commission' ”), p. 210.

81.
not to be believed: Richmond Sentinel,
February 10, 1865, reprinted in
New York Times,
February 13, 1865.

84.
Napoleon would attack Virginia to build a navy: Blair to Lincoln, February 8, 1865, Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress;
Elizabeth Blair Lee,
p. 473.

84.
“Eu-rope,” as he pronounced it:
Russell, p. 250.

86.
“never to say aught against him”:
Crist, vol. 11, p. 322 n. 19. Seward had saved Varina's life by sending his sleigh to take her to a doctor in a medical emergency (Chadwick, p. 36).

86.
Jones spots Blair in a carriage: Jones, vol. 2, p. 386.

87.
nothing “escaped from the Executive closet”:
Stephens,
CV,
vol. 2, pp. 589–90.

87.
Blair kept the secret too:
Woodward, “Hampton Roads Conference,” pp. 253–54 n. 14.

87.
“utmost cordiality”: Richmond Dispatch,
January 13, 1865, reprinted in
New York Times,
January 16, 1865.

87.
Mrs. Stanard's:
Smith,
Blair Family,
vol. 2, pp. 304–05; Von Abele, p. 236;
Elizabeth Blair Lee,
p. 463.

87.
“wonderfully persuasive with the other sex”:
Mrs. Burton Harrison,
Recollections Grave and Gay
(New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911) (“Harrison”), pp. 159–60.

87.
a good Union woman:
Smith,
Francis Preston Blair,
p. 374.

87.
a style she could ill afford:
Elizabeth Blair Lee,
pp. 463 and 462 n. 3; Smith,
Francis Preston Blair,
p. 374.

87.
Lyons's encounter with Blair and Stephens: Rowland, vol. 8, pp. 211–12.

88.
Jackson's “long-sighted spectacles”:
Elizabeth Blair Lee, pp. 463 and 464 n. 2.

88.
The Enquirer
on Blair and legislators:
Richmond Enquirer,
January 14, 1865, reprinted in
New York Times,
January 17, 1865.

88.
Hunter on Blair's impact: Robert M. T. Hunter, “R. M. T. Hunter, The Peace Commission: A Reply,” 4
Southern Historical Society Papers
(December 1877) (“Hunter, ‘Reply' ”), p. 303.

88.
“weak in the knees”:
Kean, p. 188.

88.
“it made some soldiers angry”:
Jefferson Davis, “The Peace Conference of 1865,” 77
The Century Magazine
(November 1908) (“Davis, ‘Peace Conference' ”), p. 69.

88.
Grant sends Wallace to Mexico:
OR,
ser. 1, vol. 48, pt. 1, pp. 512–13.

88.
the Rebel general endorsed the idea “heartily”: New York Times
, May 7, 1865.

89.
Davis gave Blair a memorandum: Crist, vol. 11, p. 322 n. 21.

89.
Davis's memorandum: Davis presents it in
Rise and Fall
, vol. 2, pp. 615–16.

89.
Davis's conversation with Blair: Seventy years ago, in
Blair Family
, vol. 2, p. 318, Smith quoted a memorandum of this conversation, apparently prepared by Blair, also reproduced in Crist, vol. 11, p. 328. By 1979, the original had disappeared (Westwood,
Hampton Roads Conference,
p. 254 n. 21).

89.
Davis's letter: The letter is in Davis,
Rise and Fall,
vol. 2, at pp. 615–16, in
CW,
vol. 8, p. 275; in
OR,
ser. 1, vol. 46, pt. 2, p. 506; and in Nicolay and Hay, vol. 10, p. 107.

90.
Blair left in jubilation:
Id.;
see Blair to Greeley in Smith,
Blair Family,
vol. 2, p. 311.

90.
Blair's trip back to the
Don: New York Daily Tribune,
January 17, 1865.

90.
“dreams of the dotard”:
Quoted in Furgurson, p. 290.

90.
Singleton and Blair on the same boat: Randall and Current, p. 331.

90.
All of Richmond knew of [Singleton's] coming:
Jones, vol. 2, p. 387.

90.
Singleton's meetings in Richmond: Grimsley and Simpson, pp. 82–83; Randall and Current, pp. 330–31; Kirkland, p. 236 n. 57.

90.
“Conceive the worst”:
Crist, vol. 11, p. 329. For the bungled defense of South Carolina, see Grimsley and Simpson, pp. 43–48.

90.
“
Men feel peace in their bones
”
:
New York Tribune,
January 14, 1865.

90.
Fall of Fort Fisher: Foote, vol. 3, pp. 740–47, 754, 763, and 791.

90.
breathing through a quill:
Stephens,
CV,
vol. 2, pp. 619–21.

91.
“carnival of death”: New York Times,
January 20, 1865.

91.
On the same clear day:
Jones, vol. 2, p. 387.

91.
The army is a mob: Crist, vol. 11, pp. 332–33.

91.
Wealthy [Georgia] families: Id.,
p. 333.

91.
This, too, is injurious:
Jones vol 2, p. 400.

 

CHAPTER 12

92.
“a remarkably good humor”: New York Daily Tribune,
January 17, 1865.

92.
laid on the table and died: Congressional Globe,
January 16, 1865, p. 275.

92.
Lizzie's letter to Phil:
Elizabeth Blair Lee,
pp. 463–64.

93.
They “did not draw well together”:
Bigelow, p. 51.

93.
Lincoln's disclaimer: Smith,
Francis Preston Blair,
p. 366.

93.
Lincoln's intentions on Mexico: See Nicolay and Hay, vol. 10, pp. 107–08.

93.
“There has been war enough”:
Wilson, pp. 580 and 585.

93.
Lincoln must have told him he would consider it:
See Westwood, “Hampton Roads Conference,” pp. 246–47.

93.
Blair's report to Lincoln: Nicolay and Hay, vol. 10, pp. 103–07.

93.
Arrangements were made that night: OR,
ser. 1, vol. 46, pt. 2, p. 158.

93.
The Cabinet was assembled:
Welles Diary, vol. 2, pp. 226–27.

94.
the
Times
(which often spoke for Seward):
Randall and Current, p. 349; Stahr,
passim.

94.
The
Times
article: New York Times
, January 17, 1865.

94.
Addressed to Blair, to be shown to Davis:
CW
, vol. 8, pp. 275–76.

94.
“informally” was penciled in:
Lincoln Papers, Library of Congress, document 40574.

94.
Lincoln was inciting a Gray Revolution:
At least one historian has written that Lincoln may have interpreted Davis's willingness to bring “peace to two countries” as suggesting that two might become one, through a Mexican invasion or otherwise (Westwood, “Hampton Roads Conference,” p. 247).

95.
Blair's letter to Greeley: Horace Greeley Papers, New York Public Library. The letter is in Smith,
Blair Family,
p. 311.

95.
its Secretary of War left his post:
Kean, p. 189; Kirkland, pp. 217–18.

95.
Davis's endorsement of Lee as general in chief: Ballard, pp. 14–15.

95.
“I think I am the person to advise Mr. Davis”:
Pollard, p. 437.

96.
Stanton's report to the Cabinet: Welles Diary, vol. 2, pp. 228–30.

96.
“a pack of sneaks in Savannah”: Richmond Whig,
January 25, 1865, quoted in
New York Times,
January 28, 1865.

96.
Philadelphians who contributed to their relief:
Randall and Current, p. 324.

96.
Blair and Henry leave on the
Don: New York Times
, January 21, 1865.

96.
A trusted Southern officer would be waiting: OR,
vol. 46, pt. 2, p. 261.

96.
A leak on the
Don:
Elizabeth Blair Lee, p. 467.

96.
“afraid to trust me with a dinner”:
Burlingame, vol. 2, p. 753.

97.
“dark and malignant passions”: Richmond
Sentinel,
January 20, 1865, reprinted in
New York Daily Tribune,
January 24, 1865.

97.
“Davis and the Sanhedrim”: New York Times,
January 10, 1865.

97.
“portion of a European capital”: New York Times,
January 23, 1865.

97.
Hostetter's Celebrated Stomach Bitters: New York Times,
January 25, 1865.

97.
on the verge of a vote of no confidence:
Wilfred B. Yearns,
The Confederate Congress
(Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1960) (“Yearns
Confederate Congress
”), p. 231.

97.
“spare nothing”:
Sherman's Memoirs, vol. 2, pp. 184–85.

97.
Cobb's letter to Davis:
OR
, ser. 1, vol. 53, pp. 393–94; Crist, vol. 11, p. 343.

98.
General Brown's note to Davis:
Id.,
p. 342.

98.
Campbell's resignation:
Id.,
pp. 342–43.

98.
“not a man of small details”:
Jones, vol. 2, p. 401.

98.
“an opportunity to escape”:
Kean, p. 190.

98.
Campbell's resignation rejected: Campbell, “Open Letters,” p. 951.

98.
Grant was away when Blair passed through City Point: OR,
ser. 1, vol. 46, pt. 2, p. 134.

98.
The
William Allison
carrying Blair and prisoners:
New York Times,
January 26, 1865.

98.
Arrived on January 22: Crist, vol. 11, p. 323 n. 21.

98.
Blair lodged with Hatch:
Richmond Dispatch,
reprinted in
New York Times,
January 26, 1965.

98.
Blair dines with the Davises:
Richmond Dispatch,
reprinted in
New York Times,
January 28, 1865.

98.
Blair's conversation with Davis:
CW,
vol. 8, p. 276;
Congressional Globe,
February 10, 1865, p. 729; Nicolay and Hay, vol. 10, pp. 108–11 and 111 n. 1;
Rise and Fall,
pp. 616–17, Crist, vol. 11, p. 323 n. 21.

98.
Lincoln had not rejected it:
Nicolay and Hay say Lincoln never gave the Mexican idea “an instant's consideration,” but they do not substantiate their claim that Blair told Davis it was dead (
Id.,
p. 108). As will be seen, Davis later told his colleagues that Lincoln favored it, or at least had not rejected it, and Davis sent his envoys to him thinking it viable. It seems likely that when Blair put the idea to Lincoln, the latter did not rule it out, at least not out loud to Blair, hoping, perhaps, to keep the prospect of peace talks alive. There is no firsthand evidence that Blair told Davis that the Mexican plan was dead. Lincoln may have been noncommittal on it merely to let Blair down gently. See Westwood, “Hampton Roads Conference,” pp. 246–47.

99.
Prospect of Grant-Lee talks: Davis,
Rise and Fall,
vol. 2, pp. 616–17; Stephens,
CV,
vol. 2, p. 591.

99.
Blair was optimistic: See Blair to Greeley, January 27, 1865, Greeley Papers, New York Public Library.

99.
Blair sent Davis word that Lincoln would not allow Grant-Lee talks:
See Westwood, “Hampton Roads Conference,” p. 246; Davis,
Rise and Fall,
pp. 616–17.

99.
Vance's letter to Davis: Varina Davis, vol. 2, pp. 454–61.

99.
Blair went calling in a cold rain: Willcox, p. 601, regarding cold rain; Davis,
Rise and Fall,
pp. 618–19; Hunter, “Peace Commission,” p. 169.

99.
Blair's conversations with dissidents: Yearns, “Peace Movement,” pp. 13–14.

99.
“The mystic Blair”: The
Richmond Enquirer,
January 23, 1865, reprinted in
New York Times,
January 27, 1865.

99.
The
Whig
on peace talks: Richmond Whig,
January 23, 1865, reprinted in
New York Times,
January 27, 1865.

100.
Meade's letter to his wife: Meade, pp. 258–60.

100.
Stephens on Blair's return: Quoted in Schott, p. 440.

100.
objectionable and divisive:
Davis's letter is in Rowland, vol. 6, pp. 403–6. See also Crist, vol. 11, pp. 161–68.

100.
Campbell tells Kean that peace men will propose reunion: Kean, p. 191.

100.
Rives's conversation with Kean:
Id.,
pp. 192–93.

100.
The Rives family: See Donna M. Lucey,
Archie and Amelie: Love and Madness in the Gilded Age
(New York: Harmony Books, 2006), pp. 82–83; and Lyon G. Tyler,
Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography
, vol. 3 (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 1915).