The Education of the Confederate Cabinet

   Sixteen men served in the Confederate cabinet, the closest advisors to President Jefferson Davis. Some, like Judah P. Benjamin, John H. Reagan, and Stephen Mallory, served for the duration of the war. Others, like John C. Breckinridge and William M. Browne, served for just a few weeks. What background and experience did these men bring to the job?

      There were four men who served as Secretary of State: Robert Toombs (February 25, 1861- July 25, 1861); Robert M. T. Hunter (July 25, 1861-February 18, 1862); William M. Browne (February 18, 1862-March 18, 1862); and Judah P. Benjamin (March 18, 1862-1865). Toombs was born in Georgia in 1810. He was a graduate of Franklin College in Georgia; Union College, New York; and University of Virginia (law). He served in the Georgia House of Representatives (1845-1853); U.S. House (1845-1853); and the U.S. Senate (1853-1861). Toombs resigned to accept a commission as a Confederate brigadier general. Robert M. T. Hunter followed Toombs as Secretary of State. Hunter was born in Virginia in 1809. He studied at the University of Virginia, then read law under Judge Henry St. George Tucker. Hunter served in the Virginia House of Representatives (1834-185=37); the U.S. House (1837-1843 and 1845 -1847), including as Speaker (1845-1847); and the U.S. Senate (1847-1861). When he was elected to the Confederate senate, he resigned from his cabinet position, serving in the Confederate senate until May 10, 1865. William M. Browne was born in 1823 in Ireland and served as acting Secretary of State upon the resignation of Hunter. His early education is unknown, but he was a newspaper publisher in Georgia prior to the war. Browne was appointed Assistant Secretary of State, and when Hunter resigned, served for about a month ad interim. Following his brief time as Secretary of State, Browne was appointed a cavalry colonel and aide-de-camp to Davis, and then in 1864 as Commandant of Conscription for the state of Georgia. Browne was replaced by Judah P. Benjamin. One biographer considered him a “Jack-of-all-Trades.” Benjamin held many jobs in the Confederate cabinet, including Attorney General and Secretary of War. He served longest as Secretary of State. He was born on Saint Croix  in 1811 to Jewish parents and grew up in Wilmington and Charleston. He studied at local schools, then spent three years at Yale University before heading to New Orleans, where he studied law. Benjamin served in the Louisiana House (1842-1852) and in the U.S. Senate (1853-1861). Benjamin escaped through Florida to the Bahamas and then to France. He never returned to the United States.[1]

   There was one man who served as Secretary of the Navy: Stephen Mallory. Born in 1812 or 1813 on the island of Trinidad at the Port of Spain, Mallory grew up in Key West and attended school in Mobile and Pennsylvania before returning to Key West to work in customs and to study law. Mallory served in the U.S. Senate (1851-1861) and for a time, was chairman of the committee on naval affairs.[2]

   There was also only one man who served as Postmaster-General: John H. Reagan, who was born in Tennessee in 1818. He attended local schools, then what is now Maryville College. By 1839, he was in Texas, where he studied law. Reagan served in the Texas House of Representatives (1847-1849), and the U.S. House (1857-1861). After the war, he served two additional terms in the US House.[3]

   Five different men served as Attorney-General: Judah P. Benjamin (1861); Wade Keyes (1861); Thomas Bragg (1861-1862); Thomas H. Watts (1862-1863); Wade Keys (1863-1864); and George Davis (1864-1865). Following Judah P. Benjamin’s five-month stent, Wade Keyes stepped into the position. Keyes was born in Alabama and attended LaGrange College and the University of Virginia. He studied law, moved to Florida, and wrote on legal topics, then moved to Montgomery. In Alabama, Keyes was elected Chancellor of the Southern Division of the Court of Chancery. He also taught law, eventually founding what became the law department at the University of Alabama. Benjamin was appointed assistant attorney general, the position he held for the duration of the war, serving as Attorney General ad interim on several occasions. He returned to Alabama and the practice of law after the war. Thomas Bragg replaced Keyes in November 1861. Bragg was born in North Carolina in 1810 and studied at the Norwich Military Academy before studying law under Judge John Hall. Bragg served one term in the North Carolina House of Commons (1842-1843); as Governor of North Carolina (1855-1859); and as a U.S. Senator (1859-1861). He returned to North Carolina following his resignation and worked to support the Confederacy. Following the war, Bragg was one of the lawyers who prosecuted Governor William W. Holden. Bragg was replaced by Thomas H. Watts. Born in Alabama in 1819, he attended Airy Mount Academy and then the University of Virginia, where he obtained a law degree. He apparently held no elected office until the secession convention in Alabama in 1861. Watts ran for governor, but was defeated and instead, organized and became colonel of the 17^th Alabama Infantry. He served as Attorney General from March 18, 1862, until October 1, 1863, when he was elected governor of Alabama. He returned to the practice of law after the war. Keyes again served for a brief time until George Davis was appointed to fill the position. Davis was born in North Carolina in 1820 and graduated from the University of North Carolina with “highest honors.” He then practiced law in North Carolina. His first political appointment came as a member of the Peace Convention in Washington, D.C., in February 1861. Davis then served in the Provisional Confederate Congress, then as a Confederate Senator. Jefferson Davis appointed him to the Attorney General position. George Davis held that position until he resigned on April 24, 1865, becoming the first cabinet member to leave the administration at the end of the war.[4]

   There were also five men who served as Secretary of War. LeRoy P. Walker was the first. Born in Alabama in 1817, Walker attended the University of Alabama and the University of Virginia. Walker then practiced law, and was elected to the Alabama House of Representatives (1843-1850?, 1853), serving a couple of terms as speaker of the house. He also was president of the Alabama Democratic Convention, and judge of the Fourth Judicial Circuit. His sojourn as Secretary of War only lasted about seven months. Following his resignation, he served a short time as a brigadier general, then resigned, and in 1864, was commissioned a colonel and placed on military court duty. After the war, he served as president of the Alabama Constitutional Convention. Judah P. Benjamin followed Walker, serving from September 1861 to March 1862, when he was replaced by George W. Randolph. Born at Monticello in Virginia in 1818, Randolph was the grandson of Thomas Jefferson. He attended a private school in Massachusetts, then served in the US Navy, then attended the University of Virginia, obtaining a law degree. He set up practice in Richmond. His political experience was in the Virginia Secession convention in 1861. He was then appointed a major and commanded the Richmond Howitzers, and was later colonel of the 2^nd Virginia Artillery. He was promoted to brigadier general in February 1862, and then appointed Secretary of War in March 1862, serving until November 1862 when he resigned. Randolph later served as a Confederate Senator. James Seddon, also from Virginia, served next. He was born in Virginia and attended law school at the University of Virginia. He represented his district in the US House (1845-1847, 1849-1851). Seddon also served in the Washington Peace Conference, in the Virginia Secession Convention, and in the Provisional Confederate Congress. Following the war, he was arrested and imprisoned. He returned to Virginia and practiced law. The last Secretary of War was John C. Breckinridge. Born in Kentucky, Breckinridge was a graduate of Centre College, a lawyer, and a Mexican War veteran. He served in the Kentucky House (1849-1850), the US House (1851-1855), as Vice President of the United States (1857-1861), and as US Senator (1861). Breckinridge was commissioned a brigadier general in 1861, and April 1862, as a major general. He commanded troops through numerous battles and campaigns. He served as the last Secretary of War. He escaped to Canada, but later returned to the United States.[5]

   There were three men who served as Secretary of the Treasury. First was Christopher Memminger.  Born in 1803, in the Dutchy of Wurttemberg, he studied law at South Carolina College. He served in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1836-1852, 1855-1860?), and was a member of the South Carolina secession convention, then a delegate to the convention in Montgomery where he helped draft the Provisional Confederate Constitution. He was then appointed Secretary of the Treasury. Following his resignation, he lived in North Carolina, then returned to Charleston, serving again in the South Carolina House. George Trenholm followed Memminger. Trenholm was born in South Carolina in 1807, and by the age of fifteen, was working as a clerk in a cotton brokerage. By 1853, he was head of the company, then director of the bank of South Carolina. He served in the South Carolina House (1852-1856). During the first part of the war, he became a major blockade-running entrepreneur. Trenholm served as Confederate Secretary of War July 18, 1864, to April 27, 1865, and was the second cabinet member to resign. Following the war, he was again in the South Carolina house (1874-1876). For a brief amount of the time, Postmaster-General John H. Reagan served as Secretary of Treasury as the Davis party fled south.[6]  

   As a whole, the men who served in the Confederate cabinet were highly educated with considerable political experience. All but three – Browne, Trenholm, and Mallory – were college graduates. Several had more than one degree. Watts, Keys, Seddon, Davis, and Browne had no prior political experience before the war. However, Seddon and Davis served in the Confederate House or Senate prior to their service in the cabinet. Breckinridge was the most politically experienced member of the cabinet secretaries, serving in the Kentucky House, US House, as Vice President, and as a US Senator. Bragg had served in the North Carolina General Assembly, as Governor of North Carolina, and as a US Senator. (Maybe at some point, we’ll compare Lincoln’s cabinet.) 

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[1] Patrick, Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet, 78-9; 90-91; 101-2; 155-56.

[2] Patrick, Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet, 247.

[3] Patrick, Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet, 276-78.

[4] Patrick, Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet, 299-302; 303; 311-312, 314; Peterson, Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries, 49, 52.

[5] Peterson, Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries, 131-38; Patrick, Jefferson Davis and his Cabinet, 20-127, 135-148,149-55.

[6] Peterson, Confederate Cabinet Departments and Secretaries, 76, 79-83.

Purging the Army of Northern Virginia

   A couple of weeks ago, while filming a short interview with Chris Mackowski of Emerging Civil War (we were at the American Battlefield Trust's Teacher's Institute), I made a comment about the purging of officers from the Army of Northern Virginia after Robert E. Lee was assigned command in June 1862. I had never really counted until today, but fifteen men who were brigade or division commanders during the Seven Days battles were not with the Army of Northern Virginia when it surrendered at Appomattox Court House in April 1865 (this excludes those who died or were killed in action). Did Lee have these officers transferred on purpose? A good question.

Here are the fifteen and what became of them:

John B. Magruder - sent to Trans-Mississippi Department after the Seven Days.

William H. C. Whiting - reassigned to the Military District of Wilmington. Died as a prisoner of war in New York on March 10, 1865.

Richard Taylor - transferred to the Trans-Mississippi Department July 1862.

Bradley Johnson - with the Army of Northern Virginia until 1864, when consolidation removed him from command. Finished the war as commander at Salisbury Prison.

D. H. Hill - shuffled back to North Carolina in February 1863. Commanded a corps in the Army of Tennessee during the Chickamauga-Chattanooga Campaign. Had further run-ins with high command, but finished the war commanding a corps at Bentonville.

Boswell Ripley - bounced around between South Carolina and the Army of Northern Virginia. Commanded a division in the Army of Tennessee during the battle of Bentonville.

Robert Toombs - resigned March 4, 1863, after not getting the promotion he thought he deserved. Later served in the Georgia militia.

Howell Cobb - in November 1862, transferred in November 1862 to the District of Middle Florida. Later in the Georgia Militia.

Stephen D. Lee - November-December of 1862 transferred to Department of Mississippi and East Louisiana. In mid-1864 was a corps commander in the Army of Tennessee.

Roger Pryor - brigade was broken apart in the spring of 1863 and Pryor resigned.

William S. Featherston - transferred to Vicksburg in early 1863, and later commanded a brigade in the Army of Tennessee

Ambrose R. Wright - wounded in 1864, and transferred to Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.

John G. Walker - transferred to the Trans-Mississippi department after the Maryland campaign.

Benjamin Hunger - relieved of field duty July 12, 1862, and spent most of the war as an inspector of artillery in the Trans-Mississippi department.

Theophilus Holmes - transferred to Trans-Mississippi department July 30, 1862.

Did Lee have some of these men transferred to get them out of his hair? All four most senior major generals in the army when Lee took command were soon elsewhere. While Margruder did an outstanding job fooling McClellan at Yorktown, there were numerous complaints leveled at him following the Seven Days battles, mostly for being drunk. He was very quickly assigned to the Trans-Mississippi Department, but on returning to Richmond to answer the rumors against him, he leveled charges against Lt. Col. R.H. Chilton of Robert E. Lee's staff. That surely did not help his cause.

William Whiting's feud was with Jefferson Davis They had butted heads in late 1861, declining command of a Mississippi brigade. Whiting was gone on sick leave, and when he returned, found his division under the command of John B. Hood.

Benjamin Huger feuded with Joseph E. Johnston over the Seven Pines battle. Johnston claimed that Huger was not ready to attack when ordered. Huger wanted charges preferred. Richard Taylor wrote that "Magruder is charged with incompetency and loss of head, and much blame attached to both his and Huger's slowness." (Davis, The Confederate General, vol. 3, 129)

Lee might have been trying to get rid of Theophilus Holmes prior to the Seven Days battles. There is a letter from Lee to the Secretary of War, dated June 19, 1862, stating that Lee "recommended General Huger's orders to be issued from the Adjutant and Inspector General's Office." (OR 1, vol. 11, pt. 3, 609.)

Lee, of course, was remaking the Army of Northern Virginia. He wanted younger,  more aggressive commanders to take charge of his divisions.

The Unsuccessful International Escape of Jefferson Davis.

Johnston and Sherman at the Bennett Place

   On March 26, 1865, Federal general William T. Sherman met with US President Abraham Lincoln, General US Grant, and Admiral David Porter on the steamer River Queen near Grant's headquarters at City Point, Virginia. When Sherman asked Lincoln about what to do with Confederate president Jefferson Davis, Lincoln responded with a story: "A man once had taken the total-abstinence pledge. When visiting with a friend, he was invited to take a drink, but declined, on the score of his pledge; when his friend suggested lemonade, which was accepted. In preparing the lemonade, the friend pointed to the branch-bottle, and said the lemonade would be more palatable if he were to pour in a little brandy; when his guest said, if he could do so 'unbeknown' to him, he would not object." Sherman added "From which illustration I inferred that Mr. Lincoln wanted Davis to escape, 'unbeknown' to him." (Sherman, Memoirs, 2:324-328.)

   So Lincoln wanted Davis, and probably the Confederate cabinet, to simply disappear. To catch Davis and his cabinet would present unique problems for the Lincoln administration. If the leader of the "rebellious" Southern states was captured, indicted for treason, tried, found guilty, and executed, would this not be a driving factor for the resumption of the war? Or, if Davis was tried and found not guilty, well, that would lead to all kinds of other problems.

   Three weeks later, Sherman, back in North Carolina, had just met with his Confederate counterpart, Gen. Joseph E. Johnston. They had discussed the surrender of not only the Army of Tennessee, but the civil officers as well. Sherman was in Raleigh, meeting with his top lieutenants. "We discussed all the probabilities, among which was, whether, if Johnston made a point of it, I should assent to the escape from the country of Jeff. Davis and his fugitive cabinet; and some one of my general officers, either Logan or Blair, insisted that, if asked for, we should even provide a vessel to carry them to Nassau from Charleston." (Sherman, Memoirs, 351-352).

Jefferson Davis

   Johnston does not come out and say that Sherman ever offered a ship to Davis and the cabinet to expedite their escape. Or does he? Meeting at the Bennett Farm outside Durham on April 18, Johnston writes that everything was agreed to "except that General Sherman did not consent to include Mr. Davis and the officers of his cabinet in an otherwise general amnesty. Much of the afternoon was consumed in endeavors to dispose of this part of the question in a manner that would be satisfactory both to the Government of the United States and the Southern people, as well as to the Confederate president; but at sunset no conclusion had been reached, and the conference was suspended..." (Johnston, Narrative of Military Operations, 403-404.) So what was satisfactory to the "Government of the United States"? The escape of Jefferson Davis? Neither Johnston or Sherman make mention of such an offer, and nothing appears in Davis's papers or in the Official Records that states such an offer was ever made. Yet, Sherman provides such a warning to John C. Breckinridge. Once the first set of terms were worked out, and sent to Andrew Johnson and Jefferson Davis, Sherman recalled telling Breckinridge "that he had better get away, as the feeling of our people was utterly hostile to the political element of the South, and to him especially, because he was the Vice-President of the United States, who had as such announced Mr. Lincoln, of Illinois, duly and properly elected the President of the United States, and yet that he had afterward openly rebelled and taken up arms against the Government. . . I may have also advised him that Mr. Davis too should get abroad as soon as possible." (Sherman, Memoirs, 353.)

   We know that Davis did not "get abroad" and was captured on May 10, 1865, near Irwinville, Georgia. Breckinridge did escape, making his way through Florida to Cuba, then Great Britain, and finally Cuba. Other Confederate cabinet members who fled the county include Robert Toombs, Judah P. Benjamin, and George W. Randolph (he fled in 1864). George Davis was attempting to flee when he was captured in Key West on October 18, 1865.

   Did Davis ever know that he might have escaped on a boat out of Charleston? Unlikely. Davis really didn't really seem to want to escape in the first place, holding on to the ideal of a Southern Confederacy when everyone else had already abandoned the attempt. He could have left Charlotte on April 24, when he learned of the rejection of the first set of terms between Johnston and Sherman. He could have pressed on harder when in the state of Georgia. Others, like Breckinridge and Benjamin, were able to escape successfully. But not Davis. It almost seems that Davis wanted to be captured.