Today we drove to Irwinville where Jeff Davis, his family and 20 Confederate soldiers and officials were captured by Union soldiers May 10, 1865. He was fleeing to Texas after Richmond (the Confederate capitol fell and Lee surrendered) to continue the Lost Cause fight. The site was marked by a wagon axle until this stone memorial was erected in 1935.
There is a small museum inside and we started by watching an 18 minute video of the events after Richmond, VA fell until Jeff was captured.
Guess what? We saw some Confederate battle flags so not everyone is a wimp and wanting to be politically correct! GOOD FOR THEM!
Jeff was surrounded by 2 Union patrols, one from Wisconsin and one from Michigan which had been tracking him, they both surrounded his party before dawn BUT neither Union patrol knew the other was there. In the dark they started to fire at each other and two Michigan troopers were killed before they discovered their error. They then focused on Jeff and his party while Jeff thought he was being defended by other Confederate troops. Surprise!
