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Sons of Confederate Veterans - Camp 1479 - Conroe, Texas - Granbury's Texas Brigade |
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On December 6, 1889, the Christmas Season in New Orleans was saddened when Jefferson Davis died of unknown causes at the age of
eighty-one. His funeral was one of the largest ever staged in the South.
The body of Jefferson Davis laid in state at the city hall of New Orleans from midnight on December 6th to the 11th.
He was dressed in Confederate gray and flowers adorned the city hall. Confederate flags and the Union flag were hung from above.
Thousands of mourners came from out of town to join the residents of New Orleans to pay their respects to the man who once was the
South's beloved leader. The men saluted their former leader and the women bowed their heads in prayer. Tears filled the eyes of young people who were born at the time Jefferson Davis was president of the Confederacy. The church bells rang throughout the city.
On December 11, 1889, twenty thousand people lined the streets of New Orleans as the body of Jefferson Davis was taken,
by funeral carriage, to Metairie Cemetery in the crescent city. The funeral procession included those who wore the gray
during the War Between the States. All flags flew at half mast. It is sad that the War Department of the United States did not
lower the United States flag in his honor. Jefferson Davis was the only former Secretary of War who had ever been denied the honor.
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Davis Casket, City Hall
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City Hall, New Orleans
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Funeral Procession |
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On December 11, 1889, twenty thousand people lined the streets of New Orleans as the body of Jefferson Davis was taken,
by funeral carriage, to Metairie Cemetery in the crescent city. The funeral procession included those who wore the gray
during the War Between the States. All flags flew at half mast.
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Metairie Cemetery about 1890
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Army of Northern Virginia Tomb
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Jefferson Davis Crypt |
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Eighteen months after his death and temporary burial in New Orleans Metaire Cemetery, Davis's widow, Varina, decided the final
burial place was to be Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery considered the National Cemetery of the Confederacy. His remains, were removed
from the vault in New Orleans and placed on a flag-draped caisson escorted by honor guards composed of his old soldiers to Memorial
Hall, where he lay in state. The next day, as thousands of people silently watched from the sidewalks and balconies, the caisson
bore his body to a waiting funeral train. On the way, bonfires beside the tracks lit up ranks of Davis's old soldiers standing at
attention beside stacked arms. In Richmond, Gray haired veterans escorted him to the Virginia statehouse where thousands filed
past in respect before interment.
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Procession from Richmond to Hollywood Cemetery
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Entrance, Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond
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Davis Tomb, Hollywood Cemetery
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