Description:

Edward Townsend
Washington, D.C., December 19, 1889
Capture of Jefferson Davis: "Mr. Davis tried to escape…with a ladies waterproof coat… and a black shawl." Historic Townsend ALS Marking End of Civil War!
ALS
ALS, 4p, Washington D.C., dated December 19, 1889, written by Adjutant General Edward D. Townsend on the capture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis following the Civil War. Townsend, Acting Adjutant General of the Union Army from March 1862 to the end of the war, gives a detailed account of this controversial incident. The incredibly historic ALS describes Davis' attempt to disguise himself in his wife's clothing to evade capture by Union forces. The ALS measures 5" x 7.75". In fine condition with expected folds, some toning, scattered staining and ink blotches, boldly signed.

We can find only one other example of a letter written by Townsend describing the capture of Davis where he acknowledges Davis' disguise in women's clothing. That example sold for $5,760 in 2005 at Christie's. This lot would be an amazing pairing with lots 341 & 342.

In Full: "Dear Sir,

Yours of the 16th is received.

A full account of the capture of Jefferson Davis, together with the official reports by Gen'l J.M. Wilson and Cols. Pritchard, which vols. was published in the New York Herald, soon after the capture. Col. Pritchard's command of Michigan Cavalry was the one that actually made the capture, although other bodies belonging to Wilson's Cavalry Corps joined in the pursuit. Davis' camp was surrounded at night, and he was seen to issue from his tent with a ladies waterproof coat around him, and a black shawl over his head. The sentry who confronted him caused him to cast off these garments. Col. Pritchard's report says that by direction of his superior officers he afterward called upon Mrs. Davis, for the garments in which her husband was captured, and she delivered to him the articles above described. They were delivered to the Adjutant General for safekeeping by Col. Pritchard, under instructions from the Secretary of War. Mr. Davis in his memoirs explains the circumstance as follows:

That upon the alarm being given that his camp was surrounded, he went out of his tent, that in his haste he took up his wife's waterproof instead of his own, both being much alike, and threw it over his shoulders. His wife thoughtfully threw over his head her black shawl. We are left to the inference that this was simply a precaution against the chill air of the night. But I think it perfectly fair to suppose that Mr. Davis tried to escape in the disguise in which the soldiers captured him. His memoirs declares that as soon as he found his capture inevitable, he cast off the disguise and stood in the rebel uniform of an officer.

Yours obediently,
E.D. Townsend".

Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) was an American politician who served as the President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. Before the Civil War, he was a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and the Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. Davis was captured by Union forces in May 1865, marking a significant event in the closing chapter of the Civil War.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 5" x 7.75"
  • Medium: ALS

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