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106 the period, there can be no doubt as to General Sherman's inclinations in the matter, "if Jobnston had made a point of it;" but General Johnston made no such point. He knew, no doubt, that any proposition to abandon the country would have been promptly rejected by President Davis, and no Confederate General would have made so offensive a suggestion to him.

A week or two later, when it was proposed by one or more of his friends, that he should endeavor to reach Havana or some other West Indian port—not for the purpose of escape, but as the best and safest route to "the Trans-Mississippi"—he refused, on the ground that it would require him to leave the country, although it were only for a few days. Some allowance ought perhaps to be made for General Wilson's offences against truth in this particular, on the score of his inability to comprehend the high sense of official honor by which Mr. Davis was actuated. Men's ethical standards are very diverse.

General Wilson shows as little regard for common sense, or consistency, as for truth and candor. Thus, we find him saying that "Davis, instead of observing the armistice, was making his way toward the South with an escort." And again: "I still felt certain, from what I could learn, that Davis and his Cabinet would endeavor to escape to the west side of the Mississippi river, notwithstanding the armistice and capitulation." The armistice was one thing, and the capitulation another. The capitulation of General Johnston did not take place until after the armistice had been repudiated by the United States Government and the forty-eight hours allowed for notice of its disapproval had expired. President Davis became a party to the armistice by giving it his consent and approval, but had nothing to do with the capitulation. So far was he from failing to observe the former, that he remained in Charlotte, quiescent, not only until he was informed of its rejection at Washington, but until the forty-eight hours were completed, when he mounted his horse and rode off, having scrupulously observed it to the letter and the minute. This was on the 26th of April. On the same day took place, near Durham's Station, the capitulation of "the troops under General Johnston's command," which certainly did not include the President of the Confederate States, who was not "under General Johnston's command," and who had no part whatever in the transaction.