Cruel
punishment was inflicted upon President Jefferson Davis during his
imprisonment: placed in irons, guards pacing in his cell and candlelight
twenty-four hours a day, no exercise, and food that was barely edible.
Even the London Times was shocked at the torture and wrote in defense
of “a man whom a little success would have transformed from a traitor to
a monarch.”
Bernhard Thuersam, Chairman
North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial Commission
"Unsurpassed Valor, Courage and Devotion to Liberty"
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial"
Jefferson Davis Never Convicted of Treason
“Finally,
on May 10, 1866, in the circuit court of the United States for the
District of Virginia, Jefferson Davis was indicted for treason. Davis
had been held at Fort Monroe on three charges:
conspiracy to assassinate
the President. 2., starvation and murder of Union prisoners. 3.
Treason.
Two
New York members of the bar, George Shea and Charles O’Conner, had
previously agreed to represent Davis without pay. There was a great
deal of pressure from prominent persons in the North for the defense of
Davis, not the least among them was Horace Greeley, editor of the New
York Tribune. Other lawyers volunteered to help bring about a speedy
trial.
There
were those in the government who would have been happier if the whole
problem had been avoided by an escape of Jefferson Davis to a foreign
country in the first place instead of capture.
There were those who
also suggested that Davis ask for a pardon to which he would never
consent. Since he felt he had never committed any crime, he would never
ask for a pardon.
Still
the Federal government procrastinated. Chief Justice [Salmon P.] Chase
tenaciously clung to the idea that there should be no trial for
treason.
”If
you bring the leaders to trial it will condemn the North, for by the
Constitution secession is not rebellion. Trials for treason in the
civil courts are not remedies adopted to the close of a great civil
war. Honor forbids a resort to them after combatants in open war have
recognized each other as soldiers and gentlemen engaged in legitimate
conflict . . . It would be shockingly indecorous for the ultimate victor
to in such conflict to send his vanquished opponent before the civil
magistrate to be tried as if he were a mere thief or rioter.
Lincoln
wanted Jefferson Davis to escape, and he was right. His capture was a
mistake; his trial will be a greater one. We cannot convict him of
treason. Secession is settled. Let it stay settled.”
When
the term of the court at Richmond was opened in May, 1867, George Shea
filed for a petition on behalf of Davis for a writ of habeas corpus, and
the writ was granted and served on the commanding officer at Fort
Monroe . . . In the company of his counsel Davis came into court on May
13, 1867.
Horace
Greeley, Cornelius Vanderbilt and other prominent Northern men posted
bond in the amount of $100,000, and Davis was set free.”
(Jefferson Davis, Herman S. Frey, Frey Enterprises, 1977, pp. 69-72)
