"
He had not seen his wife and babies since they left Richmond. The
conduct of the soldiers determined his course. He turned to Reagan:
"This move will probably cause me to be captured or killed. You are not
bound to go with me--but I must protect my family."
"I go with you, sir--" was the prompt response.
The soldiers were dismissed and the money still remaining in the
Treasury divided among them. A picked guard of ten men rode with the
fallen Chieftain in search of his loved ones.
They joined Mrs. Davis after a hard ride and found her camp threatened
by marauders. He traveled with her two days and, apparently out of
danger, she begged him to leave her and make good his escape. He finally
agreed to do this and with Reagan, the members of his staff and Burton
Harrison, his Secretary, started for the Florida coast.
The day was one of dismal fog and rain and the party lost the way,
turning in a circle, and at sunset met Mrs. Davis and her company at the
fork of the road near the Ocmulgee River.
The President and staff traveled with his wife next day and made
twenty-eight miles. At Irwinsville their presence was betrayed to the
Federal cavalry, his camp surrounded by Colonel Pritchard, and the
Confederate President and party arrested.
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