Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use

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Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation

Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], "Jeff Davis in his Wife's Clothes" Song Sheet, c. 1865, Ms2022-040, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.

Source of Acquisition

This collection was purchased by Special Collections and University Archives in 2015.

Processing Information

The processing, arrangement, and description of the "Jeff Davis in his Wife's Clothes" Song Sheet was completed in August 2022.

Biographical Note

Jefferson Finis Davis was born June 3, 1808 and lived until December 6, 1889. Davis was the first and only President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. Prior to the war, Davis was elected to the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate. During the Mexican-American War, Davis was offered a promotion to Brigadier General but he turned it down. Also prior to the Confederacy, Davis was the United States Secretary of War.

At the end of the Civil War, Davis dissolved the Confederate government while in Georgia on May 5, 1865. Five days later, Union forces captured Davis along with his wife Varina. At the time, he was wearing his wife's shawl, which led to rumors that Davis was wearing his wife's clothes when he was captured.

Sources:

American Battlefield Trust. "Jefferson Davis Biography." https://www.battlefields.org/learn/biographies/jefferson-davis . Accessed August 2, 2022.

"Media: Jefferson Davis in the Clothes in Which He Was Captured." In Encyclopedia Virginia . https://encyclopediavirginia.org/879hpr-c7e7e6d95415e4a/ . Accessed September 6, 2022.

Scope and Content

This collection contains a song sheet for "Jeff Davis in his Wife's Clothes," published by A. W. Auner and Wanamaker & Brown's, Clothing Store, both of Philadelphia. The song depicts a comical representation of Jefferson Davis' defeat by the Union army during the American Civil War in 1865. It reads, in part: "Jefferson Davis took to the woods…by hook or by crook, to [go to] Mexico. The boys of the valiant Fourth Michigan…in the early morning…surround the fugitive traitor's camp…Jefferson D didn't look very neat…the hoops flew up and the bonnet hung down…Mrs. D in a rage cried out, "Don't hit the President…for he'll certainly hit you back…while clad in the feminine clothes of his wife…it didn't do and that is the end of the traitor's fighting…".

Related Material

See also the Jefferson and Varina Anne Davis Letter, 1886, Ms2022-028 , at Virginia Tech Special Collections and University Archives.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

• Advertisements
• Civil War
• Davis, Jefferson, 1808-1889
• Music
• United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865

Rights Statement for Archival Description

The guide to the "Jeff Davis in his Wife's Clothes" Song Sheet by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 ( https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/ ).