Trolling Jefferson Davis (1865)

Deepfakes at the dawn of photography

Did Confederate President Jefferson Davis try to escape Union capture by dressing as a woman? True or not, it inspired some powerful satire and propaganda.

The rumor behind this “traveling costume” carte de visite originated from historical circumstances of Davis’ capture. (These “visiting cards”, mounted on sturdy paper, were widely produced and popular due to their relatively inexpensive price and ease of reproduction). Following the surrender of General Robert E. Lee’s Confederate forces at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, and the subsequent assassination of President Lincoln, newly inaugurated President Andrew Johnson issued a reward for Davis’ capture. Union forces soon tracked down Davis in Irwin County, Georgia, where he was captured on the morning of May 10, 1865.

One firsthand account of the capture written by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Harnden, head of the forces dispatched to detain the Confederate leader, describes the events of that day:

We rode up, dismounted, and saluted, and I asked if this was Mr. Davis? “Yes,” he replied, “I am President Davis.” At this the soldiers set up a shout that “Jeff” Davis was captured. Up to this time none of the men who actually arrested him, knew that he was Davis. One soldier said, “What! That man Jeff Davis? That’s the old fellow who, when I stopped him, had his wife’s shawl on.”

Reports of Davis’ feminine garb circulated wildly, often emphasizing that he had dressed as a woman to evade recognition and capture. Although Harnden’s account notes Davis’ use of his wife’s shawl, political cartoonists produced numerous artistic renditions in which his feminine attire is far more exaggerated, in some cases adding a full skirt, lace trimmings, or bonnet. ~ Exploring Fact and Fiction in Civil War Imagery by Melissa Lindberg

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Title: Jeff's Soliloquy to be or not to be (hanged) that's the question.

Creator(s): Hacker, Francis, photographer

Date Created/Published: [Rhode Island] : [Francis Hacker], [1865]

Library Congress: LC-DIG-ppmsca-59814

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Title: Jeff Davis, in his traveling costume

Date Created/Published: N.Y. : Thorne, 60 Nassau St., [1865].

Library of Congress: LC-DIG-ppmsca-52187