Devotion: A novel based on the life of Winnie Davis, Daughter of the Confederacy

Maggie Hayes

Maggie฀Hayes october฀1898 My฀mother฀has฀a฀flair฀for฀personal฀correspondence.฀A฀friend฀of฀ hers฀who฀had฀traveled฀from฀Kentucky฀to฀Richmond฀to฀attend฀ Winnie’s฀funeral฀told฀me,฀“Varina฀writes฀so฀engagingly,฀as฀if฀we฀ see฀each฀other฀frequently.฀Indeed,฀after฀I’ve฀read฀a฀letter฀from฀ her,฀I฀feel฀as฀though฀we’ve฀just฀had฀a฀good,฀long฀visit.”฀In฀letters ฀to฀me,฀however,฀Mother฀lets฀her฀hair฀down฀about฀whatever’s฀ foremost฀on฀her฀mind฀at฀that฀moment—someone฀has฀infuriated฀ her,฀or฀she’s฀elated฀over฀a฀bit฀of฀good฀fortune.฀Until฀the฀most฀ recent฀tragedy,฀the฀main฀theme฀usually฀revolved฀around฀her฀other ฀daughter—Winnie฀had฀provoked฀her฀and฀they฀were฀not฀on฀ speaking฀terms;฀Winnie฀was฀seeing฀someone฀secretly฀and฀did฀not฀ want฀her฀to฀know;฀Winnie฀was฀ailing,฀but฀would฀be฀better฀soon.฀ The฀first฀communication฀I฀received฀about฀what฀turned฀out฀to฀be฀ my฀sister’s฀fatal฀illness฀was฀not฀optimistic,฀but฀neither฀did฀it฀sound฀ a฀cry฀of฀alarm: Maggie,฀ dear—A฀ quick฀ note฀ to฀ let฀ you฀ know฀ Winnie฀ has฀ scarcely฀left฀her฀bed฀since฀she฀returned฀from฀the฀Atlanta฀convention ฀afflicted฀with฀gastric฀upset.฀I฀believe฀she฀may฀have฀ 144 devotion฀ caught฀some฀rare฀germ฀in฀Egypt,฀which฀lay฀dormant฀in฀her฀ system฀for฀months,฀then฀flared฀up฀when฀she฀traveled฀to฀the฀ Deep฀South฀during฀the฀most฀miserable฀time฀of฀the฀year.฀On฀ the฀train฀coming฀back,฀she฀had฀a฀clear฀hallucination฀of฀her฀ own฀funeral.฀.฀.฀.฀Looking฀on฀the฀bright฀side,฀the฀village฀doctor฀ seems฀competent,฀and฀I฀approve฀of฀his฀medicinal฀choices.฀But฀ oh,฀how฀I฀wish฀I฀had฀gone฀down฀to฀Georgia฀in฀her฀stead! That฀ last฀ was฀ not฀ true.฀ Mother฀ has฀ never฀ liked฀ traveling฀ to฀ those฀crowded฀post-Reconstruction฀gatherings.฀She,฀Winnie,฀my฀ little฀boy,฀and฀I฀were฀slated฀to฀travel฀on฀the฀special฀tour฀for฀the฀ twenty-fifth฀anniversary฀of฀Father’s฀inauguration,฀but฀my฀child฀ came฀down฀with฀scarlet฀fever฀soon฀after฀we฀arrived฀from฀Colorado .฀Mother฀used฀that฀excuse฀to฀stay฀at฀Beauvoir,฀with฀us.฀Had฀ we฀been฀on฀the฀train฀as฀planned,฀the฀general฀from฀Georgia฀would฀ have฀asked฀Mrs.฀Jefferson฀Davis฀to฀fill฀in฀for฀her฀husband฀when฀ he฀was฀too฀weak฀to฀greet฀the฀crowd.฀Winnie฀and฀I฀might฀have฀had฀ our฀names฀called฀out฀and฀waved฀dutifully฀to฀the฀crowd,฀but฀there฀ would฀have฀been฀no฀anointing฀of฀one฀of฀us฀as฀a฀symbol฀of฀the฀ Confederacy—like฀the฀battle฀flag,฀and฀Father. ฀ After฀Father฀died,฀the฀South฀criticized฀his฀widow฀for฀moving฀herself ฀and฀Winnie฀to฀New฀York,฀but฀Winnie฀was฀not฀blamed฀for฀that฀ decision.฀Except฀for฀a฀flurry฀of฀outrage฀over฀her฀engagement฀to฀ a฀Northerner฀with฀Abolitionist฀roots,฀the฀old฀guard’s฀devotion฀ to฀its฀“Daughter”฀has฀not฀wavered฀in฀the฀twelve฀years฀since฀they฀ gave฀her฀the฀title.฀Now,฀in฀the฀aftermath฀of฀her฀passing,฀they฀seem฀ determined฀to฀deify฀Winnie฀Davis. An฀energetic,฀prideful฀organization฀formed฀a฀few฀years฀ago,฀ the฀United฀Daughters฀of฀the฀Confederacy,฀has฀taken฀on฀the฀proj- maggie฀hayes฀ 145 ect฀of฀procuring฀a฀monument฀for฀my฀sister’s฀grave.฀My฀mother฀ put฀that฀bee฀in฀their฀bonnets,฀then฀sent฀the฀committee฀chairman ฀a฀paperweight฀angel,฀which฀she฀described฀as฀being฀one฀of฀ Winnie’s฀favorite฀possessions,฀for฀the฀sculptor฀to฀use฀as฀a฀model.฀ I฀asked฀her฀if฀the฀women฀knew฀that฀object฀was฀given฀to฀Winnie฀by฀ the฀man฀they฀got฀up฀in฀arms฀over฀her฀almost฀marrying.฀“I฀saw฀no฀ reason฀to฀include฀that฀information,”฀she฀replied. We฀have฀commissioned฀a฀life-sized฀bronze฀statue฀of฀Father฀for฀ his฀tomb.฀The฀finished฀piece฀will฀depict฀him฀in฀the฀attire฀he฀most฀ favored,฀a฀frock฀coat฀suit฀and฀cavalry฀boots,฀holding฀a฀slouched฀ hat฀in฀one฀hand.฀Mother฀believes฀this฀image฀will฀help฀dispel฀the฀ persistent฀rumor฀that฀the฀President฀of฀the฀Confederacy฀tried฀to฀ escape฀his฀captors฀by฀disguising฀himself฀as฀a฀woman. ฀My฀recollection฀of฀that฀incident฀in฀the฀woods฀outside฀Irwinville ,฀Georgia,฀is฀conjoined฀to฀another฀that฀occurred฀a฀few฀days฀ later.฀As฀Father฀was฀being฀transferred฀from฀the฀ship฀Clyde฀onto฀ a฀small฀launch฀for฀the฀trip฀to฀Fortress฀Monroe,฀near฀Norfolk,฀ the฀Yankee฀soldiers฀made฀cruel฀sport฀of฀seven-year-old฀Jeff฀Jr.฀ for฀begging฀them฀to฀take฀him฀to฀prison฀too.฀Shortly฀thereafter,฀ Mother,฀Winnie,฀Aunt฀Margaret,฀Robert฀Brown,฀Jeffie,฀Willie,฀ and฀I฀were฀put฀off...