A Jefferson Davis Funeral Train Story – by Calvin E. Johnson, Jr.

If you listen closely, and the wind blows the right direction, you may hear a train whistle in the distance.

As a youngster near Atlanta, this and the sound of "taps" from nearby Fort McPherson were special sounds. Today, air conditioners and closed windows segregate the sounds of trains, owls and all the wonderful sounds of the symphony of the night. We do not hear our community's soul, we hear only it's machines.

Please share this story with your family!

Many songs have been written about the passenger trains. On Sunday, May 28,1893, in New Orleans, a story began that overshadowed all other events reported in the newspapers of the South and was heavily reported in Northern papers as well.

This was the day when the remains of Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederate State of America, lay in state at Confederate Memorial Hall in the crescent city.

Davis died in 1889 and was buried at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. Four years later, May 27, 1893, his body was moved from the burial site of the Army of Northern Virginia, placed in a new oak casket and taken to Confederate Memorial Hall.

At 4:30PM, May 28th, a funeral service was held for Mr. Davis and a moving memorial address was delivered by Louisiana's Governor Murphy J. Foster as thousands listened. There were no sounds of cars, planes, go-carts, sirens, cell phones, sound systems or electric guitars. They did not exist. A reverent silence fell among the people as the funeral procession made their way to the railroad station.

Train No. 69, with Engineer Frank Coffin, waited patiently as the casket was taken up a platform and passed through an open observation car window to a catafalque. The cars wall could not be seen due to the many flowers.

This was the vision of Mrs. Varina Davis when she began three years previous to secure a funeral train and military escort for a 1,200 mile funeral train trip from New Orleans to Richmond.

Train engine No. 69 of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad slowly pulled out of New Orleans Station at 7:50PM. L and N later became CSX Railroad.

Newspaper reporters from New Orleans, Richmond, Boston, New York and the Southern Associated Press were guests on the train.

The train stopped near Gulfport, Mississippi at Beauvoir which was the last home of Jefferson Davis. It was here Davis wrote his book, "The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government." The Davis' beloved dog "Traveller" is buried here. Traveller was named after the famed horse of Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Uncle Bob Brown, a former Servant of the Davis family and a passenger on the train, saw the many flowers that children had laid on the side of the railroad tracks. Brown was so moved by this beautiful gesture that he wept uncontrollably.

In Mobile, Alabama the train was met by a thousand mourners and the Alabama Artillery fired a 21-gun salute. Locomotive No. 69 was retired and locomotive No. 25 was coupled to the train. The new train's Engineer was C.C. Devinney and Warren Robinson was its fireman.

Church bells rang in Montgomery, Alabama when train pulled into the city at 6:00AM on May 29th. A severe rainstorm delayed the funeral procession to about 8:30AM when a caisson carried the body of Davis to Alabama's state capitol. A procession carried the casket through the portico where Jefferson Davis, in 1861, had taken the oath of office as President of the Confederacy.

The casket was placed in front of the bench of the Alabama Supreme Court room. Above the right exit of the room was a banner with the word "Monterrey" and above the left exit was a banner with the words "Buena Vista." During the Mexican War, Jefferson Davis was a hero at Monterrey and wounded at Buena Vista.

At 12:20PM Davis' train left Montgomery and a brief stop was made at West Point, Georgia to pick up Georgia's Governor William J. Northen and his escort.

At 4:30PM the funeral train pulled into the Union Station at Atlanta, Georgia. It is estimated that 20,000 people lined the city streets as the funeral procession made their way to the state capitol. Among those in attendance was ex-Confederate General and former Governor John Brown Gordon.

At 7:00PM the train went North on the Richmond and Danville Railroad, which later became Southern Railway and, today, Norfolk-Southern. The train traveled through Lula, Georgia, Greenville, South Carolina and stopped at the North Carolina capitol of Raleigh. Davis' remains were taken to the capitol building to lie in state.

A brief stop was made in Danville, Virginia where a crowd of people gathered around the train and sang, "Nearer My God To Thee" as city church bells tolled.

Finally, the train reached Richmond, Virginia on Wednesday, May 31, 1893, at 3:00AM. It was Memorial Day. Mrs. Davis met the train and her husband's casket was taken to the Virginia state house.

At 3:00PM, May 31st, the casket was placed on a caisson taken to Hollywood Cemetery which overlooks the historic James River. It was reported that earlier rains kept the dust for stirring on Richmond's dirt roads.

With Mrs. Jefferson Davis were her daughters Winnie and Margaret. Six state governors acted as pallbearers. It was estimated that 75,000 persons attended this final salute to President Davis. The ceremony concluded with a 21-gun salute and "Taps."

It had been 28 years since the war ended, but they came by the thousands to pay tribute to their former president. In truth, they came to remember a hope and a dream. And all across the South hundreds of thousands heard that train.

Lest We Forget!

A native of Georgia, Calvin Johnson lives near the historic town of Kennesaw, home of the locomotive "The General" from the War Between the States. His email is: cjohnson1861@bellsouth.net.

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Bibliography for this article:
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Magazine article from 1955 by Edison H. Thomas

History of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, 1894-1955

Confederate Veteran Magazine of 1893

Special thanks to Beauvoir for a copy of the L and N article. www.beauvoir.org

2003 Version || 2002 Version
Photos from first funeral in New Orleans
New Orleans Funeral procession of 200,000
Jefferson Davis' Birthday June 3
Book: Was Jefferson Davis Right?