But the event in the South that has made the deepest impression of all
occurred at Vicksburg, where for three weeks we lived in the same
house, en famille and intimately, with Jefferson Davis! I consider
that to have been a really wonderful experience. You probably can
recall a little of what I wrote you at the time--how we were boarding
with his niece in her splendid home when he came to visit her.
I remember so well the day he arrived. He knew, of course, that an
army officer was in the house, and Mrs. Porterfield had told us of his
coming, so the meeting was not unexpected. Still, when we went down to
dinner that night I was almost shivering from nervousness, although
the air was excessively warm. I was so afraid of something unpleasant
coming up, for although Mrs. Porterfield and her daughter were women
of culture and refinement, they were also rebels to the very quick,
and never failed at any time to remind one that their uncle was
"President" Davis! And then, as we went in the large dining room, Faye
in his very bluest, shiniest uniform, looked as if he might be Uncle
Sam himself.
But there was nothing to fear--nothing whatever. A tall, thin old man
came forward with Mrs. Porterfield to meet us--a courtly gentleman of
the old Southern school--who, apparently, had never heard of the Civil
War, and who, if he noticed the blue uniform at all, did not take the
slightest interest in what it represented.
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