The Diary Of The Confederacy

Southern lady Mary Boykin Chesnut started her diary February 18^th 1861.

Mary Boykin Miller was born March 31^st 1823 on the family plantation near Stateburg, South Carolina, the daughter of Stephen Decatur and Mary [Boykin] Miller.  At twelve she began school in Charleston at the French School for Young Ladies ran by Madame Talvande.  Mary’s father moved the family to Mississippi where he bought three cotton plantations, but Mary stayed at school in Charleston.  She met her future husband James Chesnut Jr when she was 13, and they married in 1840.  In 1858 Mary’s husband was elected to the United State Senate from South Carolina, and was serving until the Civil War started.

Once the war started Mary’s husband became an aide to Confederate President Jefferson C Davis and a Brigadier General.  Mary took an active part in building the political networks important to her husband’s career.  She began writing her Civil War diary on February 18^th 1861.  In it she describes meeting many of the Confederacy’s high society such as Louis T Wigfall, Jefferson Davis and his wife Varina, and Confederate General John Bell Hood.  It also included the many places she lived during the war such as Montgomery, Alabama and Richmond, Virginia.  Mary was in Charleston, South Carolina to witnesses the firing on Fort Sumter.  The diary ended June 26^th 1865.

Following the war the Chesnuts lost pretty much everthing.  Mary’s husband died in 1866.  She began working to revise her diary in the 1880’s.  Mary struggled through her last years with little income.  She died at her home in Camden, South Carolina in 1886 and is buried next to her husband in Knights Hill Cemetery.

Mary’s diary was published for the first time in 1905.

The Last House Of The Confederacy

The Burt - Stark Mansion in Abbeville, South Carolina was the site on May 2nd 1865 of the last Confederate Council of War meeting.


The original owner of the Burt - Stark Mansion was David Lesley. He hired an English landscaper to design the property. When Lesley died in 1855, the property was purchased by a Presbyterian minister, Thomas A Hoyt. Hoyt sold it to Andrew Simonds a banker from Charleston, South Carolina, who in turn sold the home to Armistead Burt. Jefferson Davis’ wife Varina had met Burt when her husband was first in the United States Congress in 1845. At the beginning of the Civil War the first reading of the South Carolinia secession papers happened in the Burt - Stark Mansion. When Richmond, Virginia became un-safe Varina Davis and her children were invited by Burt to his home on April 17th 1865. After Richmond fell Jefferson Davis went to the house.

In the early evening of May 2nd 1865 Jefferson Davis held his final war council in the Burt - Stark Mansion. Among those who were in attendance were the Secretary of War John C Breckinridge and Braxton Bragg. Davis argued to continue fighting using the Confederate forces located west of the Mississippi River, but he was only one in favor. After some seething Davis excepted the decision, effectively bring an end to the Confederate States of America.

The First And Only

At his home in Mississippi on February 10th 1861, Jefferson Davis received word that he had been chosen the President of the Confederate States of America.

Jefferson Davis found out that he had been selected the President of the Confederate States of America on February 10th 1861. He was at his plantation, “Brierfield” with his wife Varina pruning roses when the news came. It was not the job Davis wanted, but he accepted it. Davis’ wife Varina would write that his face became pale when reading the telegram, and after a few minutes, Davis said, “I have no confidence in my ability to meet its requirement. I think I could perform the function of a general." Davis could see there would be a lot of trouble in setting up a new nation, he said "Upon my weary heart was showered smiles, plaudits, and flowers, but beyond them I saw troubles innumerable. We are without machinery, without means, and threatened by powerful opposition but I do not despond and will not shrink from the task before me." Davis left his home the next day for the capital of the Confederacy in Montgomery, Alabama.

The Last Days Of A President

Jefferson Davis’ last day as the President of the Confederacy was May 10th 1865.


With General Ulysses S Grant in place to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond Virginia, Jefferson Davis headed for Danville Virginia April 3rd 1865. Along with his Confederate Cabinet Davis issued his last proclamation as the Confederate President then got on the Richmond and Danville Railroad and went south to Greensboro North Carolina. He received Robert E Lee’s letter declaring his surrender April 12th 1865. Davis met with his Cabinet on May 5th 1865 for the last time in Washington Georgia and adjourned the Confederacy’s activities.

Davis was captured in Irwinville Georgia on May 10th 1865. As he was trying to escape he tossed on his wife Varina Davis’ overcoat over his shoulders, leading to the stories and cartoons of him trying to hide in women’s clothes. Members of the 1st Wisconsin and 4th Michigan Cavalry took him prisoner. On May 19th 1865 he was placed in prison at Fort Monroe Virginia, where he would held on charges of treason for two years. He would be released on a bail of $100,000 which was posted by people north and south, including Cornelius Vanderbilt and Horace Greeley. The prosecution of Davis’ case was dropped February 1869.

Some other reading on this subject on the web
The Capture of Jefferson Davis

He Fell From A Porch

Joseph Evan Davis the son of Confederate President Jefferson Davis died April 30th 1864.

Joseph Evan Davis was born April 18th 1859 in Washington, DC, the son of Jefferson and Varina Davis, while his father was serving in the United States Senate from Mississippi. Joseph was named after his Uncle and a Great-grandfather, over the protests of his mother. “Little Joe” was a bright, very well behaved boy and the favorite of his father.

On April 30th 1864 at age four he fell from the east portico of the Confederate White House in Richmond, Virginia. Accounts of the fall say it took place between 5 and 7 pm, while his parents were out. Joe was found by a servant lying on the pavement below the porch, a fall of about fifteen feet. He lived until just about the time his parent arrived back home. Jefferson Davis spent the night pacing and refused to see anyone.

Joe’s funeral was held on May 1st 1864 at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Richmond Virginia. He is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The children of Richmond raised $40 in May 1866 to purchased a monument for Joe’s grave. There are no known photos of the child.

The First And Only

Jefferson Davis took the oath of office February 18th 1861 and became the first and only President of the Confederacy.

Jefferson Davis was in his garden when news came that he had been elected President of the Confederate States of America. His wife Varina Davis thought the telegram, most have brought the news of a death in the family from her husband’s reaction. Davis left the next day for Confederate capital in Montgomery, Alabama were the inauguration ceremony was held February 18th 1861. As the first and only president of the Confederacy he grappled with trying to run a war and create a government for the new nation.