Northeasterners much like their Puritan cum Abolitionist forebears simply can’t help it
Hey at least they are not yet advocating for or funding maniacs who tried to implement murdering southern women (and raping them first)and children by impaling them with pikes and halberds like they did John Brown or Nat Turner ....the former well known for Kansas and attempts in Virginia and the latter for butchering a dozen grade school kids and a white infant who they roasted after killing to make their point...along with savagely murdering scores more families including women and children led by a man who admitted his master had been a “kind master”
As for Davis I’m ambivalent
He was a war hero and statesman prior to the war which he was reluctantly drawn into
His failure to fire Braxton Bragg after his Kentucky failures due to failing to follow through on advantages (with Kirby Smith)which became his hallmark was a massive mistake which cost the south dearly by Braggs reticence and failure to follow up several times on victories and opportunities
Davis was a much better politician and military leader of direct action level troop consignments than as a political leader managing several Armies of Corps and a small Navy.
He was a man of noble and fair character and had shown promise in Mexico and bravery in marrying his superior Zachary Taylor’s beloved daughter despite Taylor’s objections. Davis resigned his commission when he married Sarah anyway. She sadly died after only three months in Vicksburg area...a bit south near the modern day airport ...of malaria leaving him despondent for years
Davis treatment of his slaves like that of his brother was benevolent but even Woke historians will admit his benevolence did always produce the best outcomes however well intended. Therein lies the quirks of the peculiar institution even when applied with a silk yoke
He did however entrust the management of Brierfield to James Pemberton who served him loyal and well till Pemberton s death. Afterwards he use his Brother’s black plantation manger from Hurricane plantation nearby. The Davis family had serious issues with their house staff particularly in Richmond where the local gentry who looked down on Deep South ruffian gentry anyhow viewed this as a result of the Davis family’s liberal treatment of their house servants
They also found Varina Davis his second wife of welsh extraction and natchez albeit from a northern daddy......to be too outspoken and swarthy and ridiculed her as squaw behind her back.....she became a New Yorker and writer after his death which says something to me...she was referred to as a southern carpetbagger....like Longstreet.
There is a line to connect between his management style of both slaves and his armies ...neither produced great results unless authority was delegated properly whether a black cotton production manger or the likes of more capable field commanders
His lack of foresight to use Forrest or Cleburne at larger capacity belies that lack of acumen for better results
*Forrest should have made good his threat on Bragg he made after Chickamaugua
** one could argue Bragg failed at Shiloh though I blame Beauregard who famously refused the night attack when the Federals were reeling
***why did Granny on the Beverly Hillbilles always laud Braxton Bragg.....shows the writers were poorly informed on proper CSA heroes
Thank you very much—I know enough to follow, and to actually grasp about half of you finer points well and to know how to follow up on the rest, if only I could find the time.
I assume, perhaps wrongly, that this sentence is missing a not—though perhaps the “however well intended” is actually throwing me for a loop:
Davis treatment of his slaves like that of his brother was benevolent but even Woke historians will admit his benevolence did always produce the best outcomes however well intended. Therein lies the quirks of the peculiar institution even when applied with a silk yoke.
(It is a very interesting sentence giving insight into his domestic character, of which I knew almost nothing-—I know the most about his direction of generals, although that knowledge is mediocre)
Is there a particular work you would recommend on the domestic side of Davis. My high school teacher ( I grew up in Oregon) noted his last name and the reasons for it, and at some point I became aware of his being educated by Dominicans for part of his education—but I think I used to know more.
I’ve only read/listened to one very long work on any aspect of the war, which was about two-thirds for entertainment—Shaara’s four volume work beginning on the western front that largely follows Sherman’s path through the war and those of others who followed similar paths. That allowed me to understand some of your comments in some detail, particularly about Bragg.
(FWIW I had a great-great-great-great Uncle [possibly one or two generations further back but I think that is about right] born in 1861 in SW Missouri by the name of Jefferson Davis Scott)
Thanks very much for your time.