Queen of the Confederacy: The Innocent Deceits of Lucy Holcombe Pickens

CHAPTER NINETEEN: “The only comfort in all this misery is a little good talk now and then.” Lucy Holcombe Pickens (1861–1863)

148 The only comfort in all this misery T he fall of Sumter, followed by the Confederates’ victory at Manassas in July, 1861, raised the fighting spirit of the South’s soldiers. The Confederate Legislature selected the motto, Deo Vindice, (defended by God).1 Bulletins arrived daily, citing the Union forces as panic stricken and fleeing in terror. The South felt justified in separation from the Union and looked on itself as God’s chosen people. Encouraged with this first flush of victory, the Confederacy tended to overlook the shortage of shoes, uniforms, arms, and ammunition that plagued its army. The Union blockade of Southern ports prohibited supplies being brought in by ship and, with lack of appreciable industry and commerce in the agricultural South, the situation worsened. Daring Confederate blockade runners sometimes succeeded in getting safely past the Union blockade but this was not CHAPTER NINETEEN 1861–1863 “The only comfort in all this misery is a little good talk now and then.” Lucy Holcombe Pickens 149 1861–1863 enough and blame was heaped on Governor Pickens. The hapless governor provided a scapegoat for every shortage, disaster, and defeat . He was even blamed for the fire caused by lightning that destroyed much of Charleston in the last days of that fateful year of 1861. With his abundant political savvy, Francis continued to juggle what he thought best and what he thought the people wanted. No one was pleased. A crowning blow came in January of 1862, when the state convention selected a council of four men to act as a control to his actions. Lieutenant Governor W. W. Harlee, former United States Senator Colonel James Chesnut, state Attorney General Isaac Hayne, and former Governor William H. Gist would now pass judgement before the governor could act.2 Pickens was furious. It was obvious from the start that Chesnut and Hayne would thwart his every move. Lucy was indignant and bitter against the convention for questioning government decisions, many of which she may have influenced. Anonymous letters rebuking the governor’s detractors appeared in the Mercury. Mrs. Chesnut said that Franklin Moses Jr. wrote them. He denied and said that Lucy was the author. Mrs. Chesnut, vacillating between scorn and admiration for Lucy and Francis, likened the council to a “bundle of sticks and crutches for old Pickens.” But she added, “He will outwit them all yet, with the aid of the lovely Lucy, who is a host in herself.”3 In a rare moment of compassion or possibly curiosity, Mary Chesnut paid Lucy a call on the cold, wet day of 9 January 1862. “We flattered each other,” Mrs. Chesnut wrote in her diary, “as far as that sort of thing can be done. She is young, lovely, clever—and old Pick’s third wife. She cannot fail to hate us. Mr. C. put as [a] sort of watch and ward over her husband.”4 As educated and intelligent women, these two might have been friendly rivals under different circumstances . Both were conversant in French and read German and, aside from their intellectual qualities, both loved admiration and were experts in the art of flirtation. Men were attracted to them. Mary Chesnut, nearing forty and never considered a beauty, drew her admirers by her wit, conversation, lively personality, and appreciation of fine foods. 150 The only comfort in all this misery Lucy had matured from the impulsive, self-centered, ambitious belle of earlier years to a woman of direction. She possessed an appreciation of her physical attraction but was wise enough not to rely on it. Instead, she used intellect and charm to mold men to her liking , commanding them with her femininity. Mary Chesnut, on the other hand, coveted men’s adulation and received it with clever repartee believing that she could take their place if need be. Kind and thoughtful, she lamented the horrors of war and its waste of manhood whereas Lucy Pickens, ever the idealist, thought it man’s privilege to die for his country and championed patriotism. Many men in executive positions in the Confederacy noted Lucy’s qualities. As wife of the Governor of South Carolina, she was in a position to meet those in authority. Mr. Christopher G. Memminger, Confederate Secretary of the Treasury, considered himself a friend of the Governor and his wife. When Duncan Blanton, a handsome lawyer and able engraver, established a printing office in Columbia,5...