Rensselaer Republican, Volume 25, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 April 1893 — CHOSEN TO EXECUTE DAVIS. [ARTICLE]

CHOSEN TO EXECUTE DAVIS.

How tb* Confederate Leader Narrowly Escaped Death After — — - Ills: Captnre. 7 ;■ St. Louis Globe Democrat. Every year for the first time some startling event of the stirring scenes cetween ’6l and ’65 is told which afterward becomes a part of the history of thut momentous period. The story of the capture of Jeff Davis-basbeenprinted often, and with facts varying so greatly that the Northern or Southern reader can not help but find some account to suit him. It is hardly probable that it will ever be known whether or not he was in feminine attire when captured, but this is of minor importance in comparison with the fact, now for the first time published, that when the Southern Confederacy was imprisoned in the United States transport Clyde, prior to being transferred to Fortress Monroe, he was tried by a mock court-martial, sentenced to be shot, and only the appearance of his little daughter prevented the appointed executioner from pulling the trigger that would undoubtedly have sent a bullet through his heart. The determinstion to avenge the assassination of Lincoln by summarily ending the career of Davis w&s the result of a regular but unofficial trial by a number of the officers on board the United States steamer Pontoosuc, then acting as guard to the transport Clyde. The man who was selected to carry out the plan was Ensign James j. Kane, now chaplain at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and well known throughout the country as the oldest chaplain in point of servicb in the navy. Ensign Kane has served in the navy since 1861. He was a capital shot, the hero of many adventures, and like many others, at that time believed the Scriptural injunction for the forgiveness of enemies did not extend far enough to save the life of Davis.

The movements of the party that captured. Davis, from the time the capture was made until the prize was safely landed at Fortress Monroe, was shrouded in mystery. It was feared that the Union soldiers would kill him at any opportunity, and Col. Pritchard, of the 4th Michigan, and eighty men, were kept on guard aboard the steamer Emilie, and afterward on the Clyde, to which the party was transferred in Hampton Roads. Among the prisoners besides Jeff Davis, were his wife and sister and three children; Alexander 11. Stephens, Mr. Reagan, Postmaster-General of the Confederacy; Clement C. Clay and wife, Gen. Wheeler and staff; Maj. Morand, Capt. Moody, Lieut. Hathaway and several privates. The party arrived opposite Fortress Monroe on May 16, and orders to land were not received until May 23. In the meantime the feeling against Davis reached fever heat. There were demands that he be shot from thouands of loyal people of the North, and threats of death on the lips of soldiers still in the South, who believed Davis should be hanged to avenge the death of Lincoln.

Much of the talk of the officers on the Pontoosuc was naturally about the closing scenes of the war and the prinoner whom the ship was there to guard. The chance that Davis might escape the death punishment was looked upon as a possible disgrace to the honor of the republic that could only be averted by summary action. This was the finding by the improvised court-martial, consisting of a group of officers off duty, and Ensign Kane was appointed to kill Davis at the first chance. The opportunity came on May 23. The Pontoosuc and Clyde were then lying within 300 yards if each other. Ensign Kane and a number of his brother-officers met in his room. The scene that followed is described in his own words. - 1 “Jeff Davis,” he said, “was sitting in a steamer chair on the deck of the Clyde. It was a clear day and I could see him as plainly as if he had been but 100 feet away. I loaded an Enfield rifle T had picked up on the battlefield of Ft. Fisher, and resting the muzzle in an air port, aimed it the heart of Davis. I feel confident I could have sent a bullet to the target, but some influence prevented me from pulling the trigger. “ ‘I can’t do it,’ I said to my comrades, but they urged me to fire and told me I would be justified in doing so. ‘lt would be murder,’ I said, and one of them answered, ‘Think of the death of Lincoln.’ that ( I took aim again and even touched the trigger, but a psychological force, I now think was of divine origin, prevented me from doing the act which would have ruined me forever after. I still hesitated, however, and was still aiming when the little daughter of Davis came on deck with a lady, perhaps her mother, and ran into her father’s arms. It was then impossible to shoot without endangering the life of. the little girl and I laid up the gun. A short time afterward, and before the child had left the arms of its father, the vessels drifted apart, making it impossible for any of the other officers to do the killing. “I have been thankful ever since that I was restrained from doing what would have been an extremely rash act, and I have never until now related the incident except with a requirement of secrecy." 4- Chaplain Kane has been stationed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard for nearly a year. lie received his commis-

sfcm as Chaplain in 1868, although daring the war he acted as minister when there wasn’t, fighting to do. *- One of tiis closest friends throughout the war was Admiral Porter, who planned with him to blow up the Confederate flagship Alexandria, commanded by Admiral Semmes, of Alabama fame. Admiral Porter’s instructions were given to Chaplain Kane in March, 1865, when the Alexandria lay in the James river, and Admiral Porter believed that if she could be destroyed the smoldering, embers of the Confederacy would be extinguished and the war would be at an end. Chaplain Kane, with two trusted assistants, was commissioned to do the work which the Union ironclads hardly dared to attempt. He reconnoitered the position of the Alexandria and the other vessels in the fleet, and prepared a plan by which on a dark night he was to float down the river in a small boat and anchor within a short distance of the Alexandria with a grappling, above the ship. He was to be provided with a cork jacket and expected to be able to get under the ship’s bow without being noticed and fasten a torpedo containing 100 pounds of bigh explosives to the chain cable. It was then planned for the chaplain to be hauled pack by a rope which he was to carry with him to 200 yards away from the Alexandria, when he was to pull the lock string and explode the torpedo. The arrangements were so carefully made that the Chaplain still thinks he would havq been successful had the enemy not blown up their own ships in order to prevent their capture. Reference to this heroic intention was made by Captain William G. Temple, now Admiral Temple, in a latter to Secretary of the Navy Robeson. “On one occasion, upon Chaplain Kane’s own application,” said he, “Admiral Porter authorized me to organize an expedition for the destruction of the ironclads in the James river, and he actually reconnoitered their position several times by himself at very considerable personal risk. When his preparation* were just about completed the Confederates destroyed their ironclads, which deprived him of the opportunity for distinction which a successful attempt would have secured him.” At another time Admiral Temple, in .writing of Chaplain Kane, said that he “found him at all times, for religious or desperate enterprises, equally ready to preach the Gospel or lead a forlorn hope on the enemy’s breastworks.”