Jefferson Davis, President
of the Confederate States of
America.
Varina Davis
The Passage of Confederate President Jefferson
Davis through Laurens County
April of 1865 saw the end of the bloodiest and most divisive four years in American History. Confederate President Jefferson Davis and his cabinet fled Richmond one week before General Lee's surrender at Appomattox. Davis's plan called for an escape to Texas where the remaining Confederate forces would combine to fight a guerilla type war against the North.
Jefferson Davis arrived on May 4th in Washington, Ga. where the Confederate Cabinet held its last session. Davis and his family headed in two different directions. The main party paused at Warthen and went south to Sandersville around noon on the 6th of May. Acting Confederate Treasury Secretary John Reagan transacted the last business of the Confederacy in Sandersville. Davis moved on toward the Oconee River in the area east of Ball's Ferry, with the intentions of camping there for the night. Shortly after their arrival at Ball's Ferry on the Irwinton to Wrightsville Road, President Davis and his escorts learned of a plan to attack the wagon train of Mrs. Davis which was pressing southward on a converging path.
John Regan, Postmaster General of
the Confederate States of America.
Fearing for his family's safety, Davis pressed south along the river road. Whenever possible they had to travel off the edge of the road in order to hide their trail and prevent visual observation. After several hours of difficult travel through thick pine woods Davis and his party arrived just before dawn in the Mt. Pleasant and Frog Level communities, near the Laurens County home of E.J. Blackshear. To their sheer delight Mrs. Davis, the children, and the rest of the party arrived at the Blackshear home earlier that evening. After a short reunion, the Davis family had breakfast and then made their plans to resume their journey. By then, they knew that Union forces would not be far behind.
The Union Army had already begun to search for Jefferson Davis. The best cavalry regiment was selected to proceed east toward Dublin where they would cross the Oconee River and hopefully pick up the trail of Davis's wagon train. Davis's train of light wagons and ambulances crossed at the Dublin ferry early on the morning of the seventh of May. From there they proceeded into the center of town. As was the case of his previous traveling habits, Jefferson Davis traveled separately from the train. He crossed below the Dublin Ferry mounted on a fine bay horse. Davis then proceeded to the southeastern edge of town. Davis never came into town but remained in the area now bounded on the north by Madison Street, east by Decatur Street, south by the railroad, and west by South Franklin Street.
The wagon train pulled into Dublin late Sunday morning. In those days, Dublin was a small village which had practically died out during the war. A Confederate officer dismounted and approached the store of Freeman H. Rowe. Freeman Rowe, a native of Connecticut, operated his mercantile store on the southwest corner of the courthouse square in the spot where the Hicks Building now stands. Rowe, who had been in Dublin nearly twenty years, advised the officer of the terrain and roads in the county. He advised the party to proceed south down the Jacksonville Road, which is today known as the Glenwood Road. While the party was stopped, the Davis's carriage driver, John Davis, noticed a young black girl, Della Conway, approaching him. After the eventual capture of Jefferson Davis, John Davis would return to Laurens County where he would find and marry Della Conway. They would live in Laurens County for forty years before moving to Dodge County where they lived the rest of their lives. Mr. Rowe extended an invitation to Davis to dine at his house at the southwest corner of Rowe Street and Academy Avenue. Owing to the necessity of pressing on, the officer graciously declined the invitation, but he did accept freshly cooked food from the Rowe kitchen.
A detail was sent down to the President to advise him of the direction of travel. They joined Davis a few miles south of town and proceeded down toward Turkey Creek. The wagon train first started down the Jacksonville Road (Georgia Highway 19) but shortly moved over to the Telfair Road (U.S. Highway 441). According to the maps of the Union Army Corps of Engineers, the Confederates continued on the Telfair Road to a point about where Cedar Grove Crossing is located (U.S. Highway 441 and Georgia Highway 46). From that point, they turned in a more southwesterly direction toward Abbeville on the Ocmulgee River. Shortly after crossing Alligator Creek, Davis and his wagon trains camped for the night in lower Laurens County.
Col. Henry Harden, U.S.A.
As Jefferson Davis was leaving the campsite at the Blackshear Plantation, Col. Harnden and the Wisconsin Cavalry were preparing to leave their campsite in Twiggs County. The cavalry pushed down the Old Macon Road until they came to it’s intersection with the Hawkinsville Road. The crossroads was then and is now known as Thomas Cross Roads. The Hawkinsville Road, also known as the Blackshear Trail or Blackshear's Ferry Road, followed an old Uchee Indian trail from Augusta to southern Alabama. As the Federals were approaching the crossroads, they learned that a contingent of several hundred paroled Confederate cavalry soldiers from General Johnston's army had just passed through there on their way home. This information seemed to be a little alarming to Col. Harnden because the men were mounted and as a precautionary measure he sent Lieutenant Orson P. Clinton and twenty men southwest to Laurens Hill on the Hawkinsville Road to reconnoiter that area. During the war, Laurens Hill had been the location of a Confederate commissary of arms and supplies.
Lt. Harnden turned left on the Hawkinsville Road and proceeded to the ferry where he arrived at 5:00 o'clock in the evening of May 7th. It was just north of the ferry where Davis had camped the night before. Lt. Clinton and his patrol arrived at the ferry about eleven o'clock. About midnight a Negro man walked into camp. He told Col. Harnden that Davis and his family passed through the town that day and went south down the River Road. The number of wagons counted was only six. He confirmed their identity by stating that he heard the lady addressed as Mrs. Davis and the man addressed as President Davis. He also confirmed that another party went down the opposite side of the river. This party could have been a patrol or could have been Confederate General and former Vice Pres. of the U.S., John C. Breckinridge, who was following Jefferson Davis. Gen. Breckinridge barely escaped capture in Laurens Co. and hid out in Telfair Co. for a few days. He later escaped to England. The man also confirmed that the President did not cross at the ferry, but took a flat boat across the ferry three miles or so down the river. This would put his crossing in the area of the Dublin Ferry. The man finally told the cavalry that Jefferson Davis did not come into the town but remained on the outskirts.
John C. Breckinridge, Vice President
United States of America, General
Confederate States Army
While the two Union regiments were violently bringing the search for Davis to an end, the actual capture of Jefferson Davis was peaceful. At the instant the firing on the north side of the creek began, the Michigan Cavalry charged through the Davis's campsite. Davis gave himself up when he felt his wife was being threatened. The Confederates were arrested and taken to Macon. From Macon, Jefferson Davis was sent to Fortress Monroe Prison in Virginia.
While the southern half of Middle Georgia escaped the ravages of battle, it was the site of the last major event of Civil War. The most critical event in the capture occurred in Dublin, where the Wisconsin Cavalry first learned of Davis's route. If Col. Harnden had been here a day earlier, then the capture would have been made in Laurens County. If he been delayed by a couple of days, the capture may have never occurred.
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