Jefferson Davis as an Unprotected Female!

The artist responsible for this cartoon is unknown, but the sketch reflects the widely held belief that President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, was wearing women’s clothing when apprehended by Union troops. General Robert E. Lee, the commander of Confederate forces, had surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant  at Appomattox, Virginia on April 9, 1865. Davis, however, wanted to continue fighting a guerrilla war and sought to evade capture. On May 10, Davis donned his wife's overcoat and shawl to obscure his identity from Union soldiers, but a corporal noticed the spurs on his boots. Gossip soon spread among soldiers that Davis had been apprehended while wearing women's clothing. The Northern press began to print exaggerated depictions of the former President in hoop skirt, petticoat, and other clearly feminine articles of clothing. These portrayals cast aspersions upon Davis's masculinity and bravery by depicting him as a cross-dressing coward, and undermined Southern attempts to valorize him.