Jefferson Davis was opposed to secession
park manager tells Richmond roundtable

Jefferson Davis tried to stop secession, Ron Sydnor, manager of the Commonwealth’s Jefferson Davis Memorial Park, has declared.

As a U.S. congressman, senator and secretary of war, the eventual president of the Confederacy “knew what the U.S. Army was capable of, because he had built it,” Sydnor pointed out in remarks recently at the Madison County Civil War Roundtable.

Davis, Sydnor explained, was a man of intellect and vision who was interested in a myriad of projects, and, as secretary of war under President Franklin Pierce, did much to strengthen and improve the security of the United States.

“He improved national defenses (particularly rivers and harbors), made advances in weaponry and sent the first-ever military commission to observe European armies in the Crimean War,” he continued. Those changes strengthened the army and began its journey to being the military power it is today.

“As president of the Confederacy, Davis realized what a formidable opponent the Southern forces would be facing in the U.S. Army. Plus, he knew the advantages the North had in production of military materials.”

Sydnor, in his September remarks, focused on Davis, the man, rather than his service as leader of the Confederacy. As a U.S. congressman, his vision was of things that would strengthen America. He noted that the Christian County (now Todd County) native recommended the purchase of Cuba, construction of the Panama Canal, establishing a railroad route from the Atlantic to the Pacific, building a diplomatic relationship with China and Japan and developing an Army medical corps.

Although a slaveholder for his Mississippi plantation, Davis did things differently from most cotton growers. Sydnor said the Kentucky native had a slave overseer, allowed his workers to operate their own system of self-government and were provided the opportunity to become literate. When he was in Washington, Davis let his black overseer supervise agricultural production of the plantation.

One little-known occurrence during Davis’ time as Confederate president was a situation that happened in the capital city of Richmond, Va., Sydnor related. Davis’ wife, Varina, was driving the family carriage through town when she heard a child screaming. She followed the sound and discovered a black man beating his son. Alarmed by the wounds suffered from such beatings, Varina rescued the youngster and placed him in the buggy. She and her husband later adopted the child and reared him with the rest of their children.

Davis reluctantly accepted the presidency of the Confederacy, Sydnor said. Instead, he preferred to serve as an army general.

“He was notified of his selection as president while working with his wife in a flower garden,” Sydnor added. “He agreed to serve as directed, but was not pleased by his selection.”

Varina, perhaps, summed up his acceptance best.

“Reading that telegram, he looked so grieved that I feared some evil had befallen our family.”