Legends and Lore of the Mississippi Golden Gulf Coast by Edmond Boudreaux Jr

Author:Edmond Boudreaux Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The History Press
Published: 2013-10-09T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

JEFFERSON DAVIS

A Vision of His Early Life

On a windy March day in 1888, a lone figure made his way through the moss-laden oaks of Beauvoir. This representative of the New Orleans Times-Picayune newspaper had come to Mississippi’s Golden Gulf Coast in hopes of an interview with Jefferson Davis. After being received into the home, he waited in a room he described as having a pine-knot fire in the hearth and a very large china bowl filled with a large number of “delicious pink azaleas.” He noted that the room was filled with souvenirs of the Davis family’s foreign travels and with honors Mr. Davis had received from his own country.

As Jefferson Davis entered the room, the reporter noted that he had “the same slight, soldierly figure and refined face, crowned with silvery gray hair.” He noted that he looked stronger and in better health than he had in past years. In Davis’s hand was a section of newspaper that contained a letter by one Mr. Gath. It appears that Mr. Gath had written an account of how as a young man serving in the U.S. Army, Lieutenant Jefferson Davis lost his eye. Lieutenant Davis’s first assignment after graduating from West Point was with the First Infantry. He was assigned to the Northwest Territories between 1828 and 1833. While in the Northwest Territories, he was placed in charge of the construction of Fort Winnebago, near present-day Portage, Wisconsin.

Mr. Gath’s story was a “you are not going to believe what so-and-so told me” kind of story. It appears that one Colonel Smith claimed he heard the story from an old army officer by the name of A.J. Center. Lieutenant Davis and Center were playing billiards. Unknown to them, a “wild westerner,” working for the government with his own team of ox, had broken his yoke. He made a request to Major David E. Twiggs, the post commander, for a replacement. Major Twiggs referred him to Lieutenant Davis. Mr. Gath’s story indicates that the “wild westerner” supposedly made his request several times while Lieutenant Davis played billiards and appeared to ignore him. The “wild westerner” felt Lieutenant Davis was insulting him by ignoring him, so he punched Lieutenant Davis above his left eye. Due to the blow, an inflammation developed in his left eye, and “it became useless.”

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