海角大神

Bloody Crimes

Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis: Two journeys, two martyrs in the aftermath of the Civil War.

Just days earlier, they were two presidents who lived in White Houses separated by a few dozen miles and a canyon as wide as the world.

Now one was dead and the other on the run, both embarking on journeys that would help transform them from men to martyrs. One became a country鈥檚 savior and the other a noble leader whose lost cause, at least to some eyes, was just.

How鈥檇 it happen? Civil War historian James Swanson finds the answer in his eloquent and wrenching new book, Bloody Crimes: The Chase for Jefferson Davis and the Death Pageant for Lincoln鈥檚 Corpse.

Only one of the dual voyages is truly extraordinary, and the book lacks the high-tension suspense of Swanson鈥檚 2006 bestseller 鈥淢anhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln鈥檚 Killer.鈥� This time, he has less drama to work with. But he continues to serve as the Ken Burns of history-book storytelling, capturing the incredible emotions that swirled through a divided nation already torn by the war deaths of 620,000 men.

As Swanson puts it, the spring of 1865, when the book鈥檚 events took place, 鈥渨as the most remarkable season in American history.鈥� That鈥檚 no exaggeration: Within days, the Civil War essentially ended and the North celebrated while weary, hungry, and frightened Southerners waited for the worst. Then came one more death at Ford鈥檚 Theatre.

This is a familiar story, one that Swanson tells well. He digs deep, chronicling the parade of death that had already struck Abraham Lincoln and his White House. As friends and strangers died in the war, the president wrote letter after letter to widows and parents, preserving his agony in ink on paper. Then one of his sons, his favorite, passed away. Yet he persevered and guided his nation to victory.

When it was the public鈥檚 turn to grieve for him, the North unleashed a torrent of mourning as if all their pent-up emotions were let loose upon the land. They mobbed the train that carried his body home to Illinois with a level of mourning never seen before or since.

鈥淗is traveling corpse became a touchstone that offered catharsis for all the pain the American people had suffered and stored up over four bloody years of civil war,鈥� Swanson writes.

The words 鈥渄eath pageant鈥� in the book鈥檚 title hint at the morbid nature of Lincoln鈥檚 voyage, and it certainly sounds gruesome at times. But the acts of remembrance by men, women, and children are truly moving, coming during a time when there were no grief counselors or tsk-tsking commentators telling everyone to calm down. Armed with ribbons and signs, speeches and songs, tears and oceans of black crepe, they paid tribute and burnished a legend.
The Confederate president鈥檚 voyage, meanwhile, was not attended by millions or even thousands. Jefferson Davis fled south from Virginia, stubbornly seeking to continue the war while passing through exhausted Southern towns that often wanted little to do with him.

A couple of the largest players in 鈥淏loody Crimes鈥� are places instead of people: Washington, D.C., and Richmond, the Confederate capital. One is doomed to burn 鈥� but not before being visited by a brave (or foolhardy) Lincoln 鈥� and the other destined to launch a grand war-ending celebration cut short by an actor, a bullet, and a conspiracy. Swanson uses the voices of their residents to bring both cities alive.

But Swanson doesn鈥檛 always sail smoothly through his story. While he paints Davis鈥檚 wife, Varina, as a selfless helpmate, he unfairly turns the complicated Mary Todd Lincoln into a one-dimensional harridan. Although hardly an appealing figure, she deserves better.

At the same time, Swanson paints a portrait of a Confederate president who鈥檚 worthy of respect and not 鈥渁 humorless, arrogant, inflexible, racist, slave-owning traitor.鈥�

If it鈥檚 dishonorable to lead an ignoble cause, then his reputation should be as hollow as the statues that bear his craggy face. But his actions after the Civil War solidified his heroic status in the South, where counties and public schools still bear his name.

Indeed, Davis gained a victory of sorts despite the embarrassing (and exaggerated) end of his military and political career. As he solidified into 鈥渁 fixed symbol in a changing age,鈥� the South鈥檚 image of itself rose again, accompanied by a fervent defense of the 鈥淟ost Cause鈥� and the spirit of a onetime president.

As for Lincoln, he finally made it home to Springfield after breaking the hearts of millions. Their numbers will grow even larger thanks to this book.

Randy Dotinga regularly reviews books for the Monitor.