Pursuit:

The Chase, Capture, Persecution & Surprising Release of Jefferson Davis

Clint Johnson

• Publisher: Citadel
• Year: 2009
• Print ISBN:
  9780806528908
• eBook ISBN:
  9780806531816
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: American Civil War History
• Index: History

"A Spellbinding Tale Of The Last Days Of The Confederacy." --David J. Eicher, author of The Longest Night

In the only book to tell the definitive story of Confederate President Jefferson Davis's chase, capture, imprisonment, and release, journalist and Civil War writer Clint Johnson paints a riveting portrait of one of American history's most complex and enduring figures.


"Riveting And Revealing." --Marc Leepson, author of Desperate Engagement

In the vulnerable weeks following the end of the war and Abraham Lincoln's assassination, some in President Andrew Johnson's administration burned to exact revenge against Jefferson Davis. Amid charges of conspiracy to murder Lincoln and treason against the Union, Secretary of War Edwin Stanton ordered cavalry after Davis. After a chase through North and South Carolina and Georgia, Davis was captured. The former United States senator and Mexican War hero was imprisoned for two years in Fortress Monroe, Virginia, where he was subjected to torture and humiliation--yet he was never brought to trial.


"Engaging. . .Vivid, Fresh, And Entertaining." --Chris Hartley, author of Stuart's Tarheels

With a keen eye for period detail, as well as a Southerner's insight, Johnson sheds new light on Davis's time on the run, his treatment while imprisoned, his surprising release from custody, and his later travels, in this fascinating account of a defining episode of the Civil War.


"Compelling. . .an indispensable volume for any Civil War library." --Daniel W. Barefoot, author of Let Us Die Like Brave Men


"One Of The Most Fascinating And Overlooked Dramas In Civil War History." --Rod Gragg, author of Covered With Glory

Table of contents

• Cover
• ALSO BY CLINT JOHNSON
• Title Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1. “Nothing Short of Dementation”
• 2. “The Direful Tidings”
• 3. “My Husband Will Never Cry for Quarter”
• 4. “Not Abandon to the Enemy One Foot of Soil”
• 5. “Let Them Up Easy”
• 6. “A Miss Is as Good as a Mile”
• 7. “Disastrous for Our People”
• 8. “We Are Falling to Pieces”
• 9. “Success Depended on Instantaneous Action”
• 10. “He Hastily Put On One of Mrs. Davis’s Dresses”
• 11. “Place Manacles and Fetters upon the Hands and Feet of Jefferson Davis”
• 12. “He Is Buried Alive”
• 13. “The Government Is Unable to Deal with the Subject”
• Acknowledgments
• Source Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• Copyright