End of War and Escape of Confederate Officials

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Union Brigadier General Edward M. McCook

Photo Credit: courtesy of the State Archives of Florida

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Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin

Photo Credit: Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin

The surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia on April 9, 1865 set in motion events that led to the conflict’s conclusion.

News reached Florida about a week later, followed shortly by word of President Lincoln’s assassination. Shocking as these events were, Lee’s capitulation had not included Confederate units in Florida. Major General Sam Jones, who commanded Confederate forces in the state, initially called for continued resistance. He soon learned, however, that General Joseph E. Johnston was negotiating the surrender of his Army of Tennessee as well. The provisions of Johnston’s April 26 surrender included the capitulation of Confederate troops in Florida. Union Major General James Wilson ordered Brigadier General Edward McCook of his command to proceed from Macon, Georgia to occupy Tallahassee and receive the surrender there. McCook arrived in the capital on May 10, with a final transfer of power ceremony taking place on May 20. Not until June did the final Confederates in the southern part of the peninsula capitulate.

Another aspect of the war’s end was the escape of various Confederate officials who hoped to reach safety in Cuba or the Bahamas by traveling through Florida. Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin eluded his pursuers by traveling down the Florida Gulf coast and staying at the Gamble Mansion on the Manatee River before reaching Cuba. Meanwhile another group, including Confederate Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge, likewise reached safety in Cuba. Confederate Attorney General George Davis hid out in the state for several months before attempting passage to the Bahamas in a small boat. Unsuccessful, he was forced into Key West, where he surrendered.

To learn more, see: “The Surrender of Tallahassee” by James P. Jones and William Warren Rogers, Apalachee, No. 6, 1963-1967. And: Flight Into Oblivion by Alfred Jackson Hanna, Louisiana State University Press, 1999 (reprint of 1938 edition, with forward by William C. Davis).