The Rise (and fall?) of the Confederate Government

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The Rise (and fall?) of the Confederate States of America
- The history of the War Between the States

Chapter One – The secession and period leading up to presidency

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[CENTER][SIZE="2"]Jefferson Finis Davis[/size][/CENTER]

My antagonistic views of secession obviously didn’t bear through in the State of Mississippi. Though I believed back then, and still do, strongly, in the principles of States’ rights, and in the principles set forth by our forefathers, great men such as Thomas Jefferson, I did not believe that seceding from the Union would be a liable countermeasure to the sectarian party’s victory in the presidential elections of the previous year.

As such, when the news reached me on the ninth day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, that my adopted state of origin, the beloved State of Mississippi had in convention assembled to declare and ordain and that it had declared and ordained that the Constitution of the United States of America was thereby repealed, and that the Union that was subsisting between Mississippi and the other States under the name of the United States of America was thereby dissolved, I found myself in a most peculiar position.

Being a representative of named State in the Senate, representing what was now an independent, sovereign nation, I promptly had to write my letter of resignation. On the 21st of the month, I held my farewell address to the Senate, bidding peace and friendship with the other senators, before I departed for Jackson, the Capitol of my country. Upon arrival in Jackson, I met with governor Pettus to offer my service for the State.

To my surprise, I was commissioned the rank of Major-General and put in command of all the state troops. If I may be forthright, which I suppose I should, in this biography of mine, I can not see why the governor chose me for the job. My military experience, if I may say so myself, was at the time very limited. My only real experience was for a short duration of time in the Indian Territories, and I had hardly seen any combat, much less experienced any.

Even more peculiar was the fact that the governor, the honorable John J. Pettus was at the time a political adversary of mine, himself being an ardent secessionist. Therefore I cannot cite political ties to my appointment as commander-in-chief of the state militia.

In my new commission, which I held for only a brief period of time, due to unforeseen events taking place in Montgomery, Alabama, I found myself striving to accomplish all the necessities of my new post, not having much to work with, to be frank. There were much to be done, customs houses along the Mississippi River had to be manned, the federal arsenals secured, and the fortified positions of Nantchez and Vicksburg had to be prepared for the possibilities of Northern intervention.

There was much talk at the time about the other States of the South joining with South Carolina and Mississippi to form a new federation, a confederacy of independent States. As it turned out, one State after another seceded from the demising Union. I was told by a good friend of mine that the governor of Alabama, the most honorable Andrew B. Moore, had called upon the governors of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana to send delegates to a convention to be held in Montgomery on the 4th of February.

It was on that day, on the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, the Confederate States of America came to existence. In the true spirit set forth by our forefathers, the provisional congress agreed upon the Constitution of the United States of America as the foundation for the new constitution. Of course, all articles which had previously been misinterpreted by abolitionists and sectarian Republicans of the North, had to be clarified and corrected. I believe the work the provisional congress accomplished with the provisional constitution was a true masterpiece, representing liberty, rights and freedom to the people of the South.

In those cold days of February, more surprising news reached me. The honorable Alexander H. Stephens, congressman from Georgia, also a fervent opponent to secession, informed me that he had been nominated and indeed elected to be Vice-President of the provisional government. I congratulated him, and told him sincerely that I believed the task he had ahead of him would be a difficult on indeed, yet I assured him that I was sure he was fully capable of committing himself to that most difficult job. It was then that he informed me of the most shocking occurrences. As it turned out, the convention in Montgomery had nominated me for presidency, and that they had unanimously elected me to that office.

[RIGHT]Jefferson F. Davis
Franklin, Ky, 1876
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[Lasse]

Nice start - keep it coming! [setteling down with a mug of the anticipating a good story]

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Chapter Two – Escalation of the Fort Sumter Crisis

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[SIZE="2"][CENTER]Gov. Francis W. Pickens[/CENTER][/size]

[RIGHT]Headquarters,
Charleston, February 13, 1861.[/RIGHT]

To Hon. Howell Cobb,
President of the Provisional Congress.

In taking charge of the "questions and difficulties" which relate to Fort Sumter, it will be necessary for the Congress to apprehend tightly their present position.

The force of circumstances devolved upon this State an obligation to provide the measures necessary for its defense. It has been obliged to act under the guidance of its own councils, but has never forgotten the interests of its sister States in every measure which it was about to provide for its own safety. And I beg to assure you that in all which it may at any time do, a regard for the welfare and wishes of its sister States in the new confederation will exercise a marked influence upon the conduct of this State.

The "questions and difficulties" of Fort Sumter can scarcely be fully appreciated unless by those who have been familiar with its progress from the commencement of its history to the present moment. If it shall appear otherwise, it has nevertheless been the constant, anxious desire of this State to obtain the possession of a fort, which, held by the United States, affected its dignity and safety, without a collision which would involve the loss of life. To secure this end, every form of negotiation which could be adopted in consistency with the dignity of the State, or had the promise or seeming of success has been honestly attempted. To all of these attempts there has been but one result; a refusal in all cases, positive and unqualified, varied only as to the reasons which were set forth for its justification, has followed each demand. And now the conviction is present to the State, derived from the most calm and deliberate consideration of the whole matter, that in this persistent refusal of the President of the United States is involved a denial of the rightful independence of the State of South Carolina.

The "questions and difficulties," therefore, of Fort Sumter, comprehend now, as you will perceive, considerations which are political as well as military. And it would scarcely be considered that an undue estimate was made of the former if they were said to be as important as the latter. The establishment of them, moreover, is of the utmost consequence to every State which has united with this State in the bends of a now confederation.

The denial, therefore, of the right of the State to have possession of the fort was in fact a denial of its independence, Nor has there been even a colorable pretext for a consistency of that possession by the United States with the independence of the State, since the President authorized the distinct avowal that it was held as a military post. The sole use of it as a military post is in the control, called by the President the protection, it gives to the United States of the harbor of Charleston. The assertion, then, as you will perceive, of the rightful independence of the State carries necessarily with it the right to reduce Fort Sumter into its own possession, held as it is by a hostile power for an unfriendly purpose. It is a hostile power when it asserts a right to exercise dominion over the State, which that State refuses to recognize as consistent with its own dignity and safety; and its purpose can not be otherwise than unfriendly, when it can only be to enable the United States to commit to its military subordinates a power to refuse "to permit any vessel to pass within range of the guns" which are within its walls.

I have the honor to be, with great respect, your obedient servant,

F. W. PICKENS,
Governor of South Carolina.

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Next: Battle of Fort Sumter