The Papers of Jefferson Davis

1856–1860

Jefferson Davis

• Editore: LSU Press
• Anno: 1989
• ISBN:
  9780807158777
• Argomento: History
• Categoria: American Civil War History

Volume 6 of The Papers of Jefferson Davis, spanning the five crucial years before 1861, chronicles Davis' last year as secretary of war and his return to the Senate, capstone of his long career of public service to the United States. Volume 6 includes 116 letters printed in full with annotation, a calendar of over 6, 000 items, and summaries of 53 recently discovered documents dating from 1845 through 1855, as well as illustrations and maps prepared especially for the volume.Davis' correspondence and his final report to Franklin Pierce mirror the concerns of his last months as head of the War Department—turmoil in Kansas, protection of western settlements, construction of the Washington Aqueduct, the Capitol extension and new dome, surveys for the Pacific Railroad, Indian relations, the camel experiment, army reorganization, and advances in weaponry.All these issues followed Davis to the Senate in March, 1857, but other questions soon claimed equal attention. As debates on abolition, state rights, fugitive slaves, and slavery in the territories became more frequent and more divisive, Davis found himself a major spokesman for his region. He was caught up in the momentous events testing the nation during James Buchanan's administration: "bleeding Kansas, " Preston Brook's attack on Charles Sumner, John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, the 1860 Democratic conventions, the election of a Republican president, and the secession of South Carolina. He debated at length with Stephen A. Douglas and others over "squatter sovereignty" and offered his own resolutions on the relations of states as the basis for the Democratic platform in 1860.Personal correspondence gives revealing word pictures of Varina Davis and the children, the family's sojourn in New England during the Summer of 1858, disastrous flooding at Brierfield in 1859, and Davis' persistent, debilitating illnesses.Volume 6 covers fateful years for the nation and for Jefferson Davis, a man moving toward a destiny that he is both creating and hoping to avoid.

INDEX

Abbreviations edn and dsn refer to editorial note and descriptive note, respectively.

Abbot, Henry L.: Miss. R. survey, 249n

Pacific RR survey, 84-85, 202n

L from, cited, 95n

mentioned, 514

Abbott, Eli (sketch, 2:108), 679

Abbott, Jaque, 679

Abbott, M. P., 618

Abeel, James S., 466

Abercrombie, John J., 63

Abercrombie, Ralph: L from, 582

Aberdeen Sunny South, 525

Abert, Charles: L to, 525

L from, 525

Abert, James W., 483

Abert, John J. (sketch, 5:21): ann. rep., 82, 510

Davis reprimands, 451, 472, 538

reps, by, 38n, 427, 659

Ls from, 384, 392, 393, 403, 412, 413, 414, 426, 428, 429, 432-51 passim, 454, 456, 457, 458, 461-74 passim, 477, 479, 482, 483, 490, 499, 500, 502, 506, 510, 514, 521, 524, 525, 528, 529, 531, 532, 536, 538, 539, 677-78

mentioned, 538. See also Topographical Engineers

Abert, William S., 677, 678

abolitionism: criticized, 60-61, 294n, 442, 446, 565, 618, 668, 671, (Davis), 141, 206, 215-16, 228, 273, 277, 308, 458, 562, 587, 619-21, 630, 631, 639, 640, 646

in Kan., 156nn, 159, 480

in N.M., 526

F. Pierce and, 155n, 384, 549

and press, 164-65, 523, 537, 621

mentioned, 602, 671, 673

Abram (slave), 136

Absecon, N.J., harbor, 463

Accessory Transit Co., 100-101

Active, 390

Adams, Charles F., 93n

Adams, Charles R., 613

Adams, George, 608

Adams, John (president), 70, 304

Adams, John M. (sketch, 202), 201, 583

Adams, Samuel, 587

Adams, Simeon R. (sketch, 2:213), 213n

Adams, Sophia E., 658

Adams, Stephen (sketch, 2:298): Davis and, 20, 430

describes Davis, 21n

L to, 20

Ls from, 430, 453

mentioned, 110n

“Address to the National Democracy,” 289-93, 654

Adjutant General’s Office: ann. rep., 511

approps. and ests., 463, 499

asst. AG, 474

employees, 432

expenditures (1850-55), 466

officers’ assignments, 19, 426

printing, 436, 479. See also Cooper, Samuel

Africa (described, 258n), 258

African Squadron: and slave trade, 187n, 613, 662

mentioned, 50n, 653

Aiken, William: L to, 535

L from, 381

Alabama: Dems., 299-300, 306, 332, 337, 351n

League of United Southerners, 339

militia arms, 504

nat. foundry, 561

patronage, 415, 543

RRs, 602

secession, 370, 671

Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 367

Albuquerque military road, 575, 651

Alcatraz, 438-39,470, 530

Alden, Richard C, 481

Alexander, Barton S., 484, 534

Alexander, Charles T., 642

Alexander, Edmund B.: pet. from, 644-45

L from, 642

mentioned, 500

Alexander, Thomas B.: Davis recom., 605

Alexander, Thomas L., 605

Alexandria, La., 442

Alexandria, Va.: Davis invited to, 665

Allan, Huggh, 583

Allegheny Arsenal, 506

Allen, Hagar (slave), 246, 249

Allen, Julia Ann. See Julianne

Allen, Philip, 570

Alligator, Fla., Advertiser, 380

Allison, John: L to, 476

Allison, Samuel P.: L to, 504

Allstadt, John H., 619

Alpuente,-, 417

Alsop & Co., 100

Alvord, Benjamin, 399, 553

Amelia Island, Fla., 457

Amelung, H. A.: L from, 435

American Alliance party, 26n

American Antiquarian Society, 592

American Association for the Advancement of Science, 678

American Medical Association, 532

American party. See Know-Nothings

American Revolution: Davis on, 216-17, 302

mentioned, 390, 403, 577

American State Papers, 577, 648

Ames, E.: L from, 421

Amistad, 589, 664

Analostan Island, 561

Anderson, Charles F., 635

Anderson, Edward C: L from, 390

Anderson, Hugh J. : L from, 505

Anderson, J. Patton: Ls to, 398, 531

Ls from, 399, 492, 531

Anderson, Richard H., 410, 574

Anderson, Robert (sketch, 1:252): on USMA comn., 361n, 665

L to, 664-65

Anderson, Thomas S. (nephew-in-law) (sketch, 5:134), 667

Anderson, William: Ls from, 426, 525

Andover Academy, 585

Andrew, John A., 620

Andrews, George T, 512

Andrews, Timothy P. (sketch, 1:441), 502

Angelini, Tito (sketch, 257), 257

Angel Island, Calif., 530

Annapolis harbor, 531

Anthony, Henry B., 640

Antiquities of Wisconsin, 503

Apache, 111, 477, 527

Apalachicola, 428

Appleton, Daniel, 557

Appleton, John: L from, 592

mentioned, 202n

Appleton, William (sketch, 269), 268

Appleton & Co.: L from, 557

Appomattox River improvement, 537

Archaeology of the United States, 503

Archer, Junius L. : L from, 480

Archer, Richard T. (sketch, 133): criticizes F. Pierce, 131-32

Davis on, 132

Ls from, 402

mentioned, 680 Arctic, 5n

Arizona Territory, 589

Arkansas: Choctaw land, 580

Davis buys land in, 549

Dems., 509

free blacks, 651

land speculation, 611, 612

Seminole emigration to, 23n, 383

mentioned, 152, 633

Arkansas River, 30-37, 444-45, 470

Arlington, Henry, 481

Armed Liberty, 1

armories: approps., 600-601

armory comn., 566

Davis on, 74-75, 465, 575, 621

expenses, 384, 527

inspection tour, 489

pay of employees, 466

production, 527, 626

supts., 532, 626-28, 641-42

work stoppage, 40, 497. See also Harpers Ferry Armory; Ordnance Department; Springfield Armory; Washington Armory

Armstrong, Adelaide T. (ident., 49), 48

Armstrong, Francis C, 582

Armstrong, Lewis, 669

Armstrong, William M. (sketch, 50): Davis and, 652, 653

and navy retiring bd., 48-49

Ls from, 48-49, 475, 555, 610

army: appts., 438, 537, 557, 560, 565, 567, 639, 678

approps. (FY57), 40, 42n, 383, 474, 495, 497, (FY58), 499-500, 525, (FY59), 567, 574, (FY60), 598, 600-601, 605, (FY61), 647, 649, 654-56, 661, (deficiency), 72, 441

bands, 593

bvts., 111-12, 440, 493, 565

camel experiment, 26-27, 86-88, 385-89

ceremonies, 530

chaplains, 444, 478, 593, 625

contingency expenses, 435-36,442, 501

court-martial bds., 380, 442, 522

courts-martial, 401-402, 453, 481-82, 482-83, 488, 533, 537, 659

Davis and, 64,91,567,579,593, 627, 630, 644, 669

desertions, 15-16, 62-63, 68, 442, 488, 501, 566, 628, 673

disbursing agents, 600, 645, 655

discharges, 391, 402, 454, 477-78,489, 511, 517, 538

distribution, 63, 68, 488, 490, 491, 560, 565

drill manual, 654, 656

and emigrants, 65-69, 460, 489

enlistments, 15-16, 62, 71-72, 481, 489, 566, 628

as escorts, 410-11, 470, 484, 504, 540

expenses (1850-55), 466

farm culture, 518

in Fla., 21-23, 45, 65, 379-84, 410, 489, 495, 507

foreigners in, 403, 449, 488, 494

four-year rule, 19, 29, 426-27

frontier posts, 65-69, 23...