Deathbed of the Confederacy

It was here in the Burt-Stark Mansion, also known as the Armistead Burt House, Abbeville, South Carolina, that President Jefferson Davis met with his cabinet for the last Council of  War for the Confederate States of America, May 2, 1865.

Just three weeks earlier, on April 9, 1865 General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to General William T. Sherman at Appomattox Courthouse. Many people regard Lee's surrender as the end of the War Between the States, but actually only a portion of the Confederate Army surrendered at that time.

On April 26, 1869, Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston followed Lee by surrendering his Army of Tennessee, also to General Sherman, near Greensboro, North Carolina. One of my great uncles, John Tomas Conn, was among those who surrendered with Johnston.

However, when the last Confederate Council of War met, there were still other very determined Confederate armies fighting in the field, including the Alabama, Mississippi and East Louisiana Department, the Trans-Mississippi (Texas) Department, and others. President Davis wanted to continue the struggle for Southern Independence. However, despite the righteousness of the Confederate cause, the Council persuaded Davis that to continue fighting against such overwhelming odds was futile and that the government should be.

Just two days later, May 4, 1865, Confederate Lt. Gen. Richard Taylor, son of former U.S. president Zachary Taylor, surrendered the Confederate Department of Alabama, Mississippi, and East Louisiana, with some 12,000 troops.

The last land fight of the War occurred May 12--13 May at Palmito Ranch, Texas, where 350 Confederates of the Trans-Mississippi Department were victorious over 800 invading Federals. Afterwards, upon learning that Richmond had fallen that General Robert E. Lee had surrendered, the Trans-Mississippi Confederates gave up their fight for Independence Most of the soldiers simply went home, but some 2000 of them fled into Mexico, alone or in scattered groups.

Last of the Confederate Generals to surrender was Brigadier General Stand Waite of Oklahoma. Stand Waite was also a Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Fighting until the bitter end, General Waite finally surrendered his battalion of Creek, Seminole, Cherokee, and Osage Indians on June 23. 1865.

There was never a formal surrender by the Confederate States of America. No peace treaty or armistice was ever signed, and it could be argued that the Confederate States of America is still an occupied nation.

A week after that fateful last Council of War in Abbeville, President Davis and a large entourage traveling with him, was captured in Irwinsville, Georgia, by the Fourth Michigan Calvary during the early morning hours of May 10, 1865.

The Burt-Stark Mansion was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1992 because of its importance as the last meeting place of the leadership of the Confederate nation.

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Incidentally, Abbeville, South Carolina lays claim to being both the birthplace and the deathbed of the Confederacy. I'll tell more of Abbeville as the birthplace in a future post.

Confederate Monument at the Cherokee Capitol

This monument, placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, stands directly in front of the Cherokee National Capitol building in Talahquah, Oklahoma. It is especially significant since this was Indian Territory at the time of the War Between the States.

The monument is a reminder that the Cherokee Nation was an ally to the Confederate States of America during their bid for independence from a Union which had forsaken the original principles of its founding fathers such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Although the war was waged several decades before Oklahoma became a state, the independent-minded Cherokees felt a much stronger affinity with the Confederate ideals of libertarianism and states rights than they did to the all-powerful federal government being advocated by Abraham Lincoln. Like the Confederates, the Cherokees held dear the principles of limited government and decentralized power guaranteed by the United States Constitution, but ignored by the United States governmental leaders.

It amazes me that less than four decades after the gruesome injustice dealt the Indians in the infamous Trail of Tears, many hundreds of them would volunteer to fight - and many would die - for the Confederacy.

In truth, most Cherokees wanted little or nothing to do with the "white man's war." They would rather just be left alone. However, when the time came to choose, most Cherokees sided with the Confederates. The Cherokee Nation fielded several units of Confederate soldiers. One of those soldiers, Chief Stand Waite, rose to the rank of Brigadier General in the Confederate army.

General Waite was faithful to the "Lost Cause" to the bitter end. He became the last Confederate General to surrender to the Union on June 23, 1865. This was more than two months after Confederate Commander Robert E. Lee effectively ended the war by laying down his own sword to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Virginia, April 5, 1865.

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Article and Photo by J. Stephen Conn