Jefferson Davis, Laurens County

On May 7, 1865, Jefferson Davis, with his family and a small escort, passed through Dublin enroute south to avoid a screen of Union cavalry attempting to intercept him. That evening, the 1st Wisconsin Cavalry [US] reached Dublin and camped at the ferry. Its commander, Lt. Col. Henry Harnden, could learn nothing from the white citizens of Dublin; but late that night a negro visited his camp and told him that the Davis party "had passed through the town that day, going south on the river road." At dawn, Harnden began a pursuit. After many difficulties, he reached Abbeville (50 miles SW) close behind his quarry. There, he met the 4th Michigan Cavalry [US], Lt. Col. B. D. Pritchard, and, after briefing Pritchard, continued his pursuit of Mr. Davis. Pritchard, bound down-river to intercept other Confederate officials, rode on some 12 miles; then, abandoning his own mission, he made a forced march and, finding the Davis camp by posing as the escort, he surrounded it quietly and waited for dawn. Unaware of his presence, Harnden moved up before dawn to surround the camp. His advance was fired upon and, in the fight that followed, two Michigan soldiers were killed before a prisoner taken by Harnden's men revealed the identity of the "enemy." During this unfortunate collision, Pritchard closed in and captured Mr. Davis and his party, thereafter claiming for the 4th Michigan the fruits of the 1st Wisconsin's labors.