By presidential proclamation on Wednesday, October 11, 1865 Andrew Johnson paroled Confederate Vice President Alexander Stephens, cabinet members John Reagan and George Trenholm, Mississippi Governor Charles Clark, and the Assistant Secretary of War John Campbell. All had been held in prison since the collapse of the Confederacy. This act by Johnson left only Jefferson Davis in Union custody. Davis was released on bail after two years; he became the president of a life insurance company and later turned down an offer to become the first president of Texas Agricultural and Mechanical College, now Texas A&M University. Traveling extensively throughout the South, Davis often attended Lost Cause ceremonies where crowds showered him with affection. Dying in New Orleans in December 1889, Davis received a full pardon from Jimmy Carter in 1978.
00000174-b11b-ddc3-a1fc-bfdbb1a20000The Schreiner University Department of History is honoring the sesquicentennial of the American Civil War with a series of short vignettes focusing on events from 1861 through 1865. The Civil War was the most destructive conflict in American history, but it was also one of our most defining moments as a people and as a nation. Let us know what you think about "This Week in the Civil War." E-mail your comments to Dr. John Huddleston at jhuddles@schreiner.edu.Airs: Weekdays at 5:19 a.m., 8:19 a.m., 4:19 p.m. on KTXI and 4:49 a.m., 9:29 p.m. on KSTX.