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Flight into Oblivion
Hanna begins with General Lee's fatal telegram and the hasty exodus of Jefferson Davis and high officials to Danville, then Greensboro and Charlotte. From there the Confederate Cabinet dispersed, and the author follows each man's adventurous course in detail. Most of the fugitives headed for the pine barrens and scrub lands of Florida but were soon apprehended. Only John C. Breckinridge and Judah P. Benjamin successfully escaped, outwitting Federal officials and pirates along their way to Cuba. A classic work that makes for fabulous, spirited reading, Flight Into Oblivion, first published in 1938, soars once again accompanied by William Davis's crackling new introduction.
328 pages, Paperback
First published June 16, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 25, 2014
A. J. Hanna's Flight Into Oblivion is an older, but pioneering and quite readable account of the flight of the Confederate cabinet at the end of the Civil War. Hanna was the first to write a history that examined the fate of Jefferson Davis' cabinet members, rather than just Davis himself.
The account is well paced, and the prose is easy and entertaining to read. A large number of illustrations and maps accompany the text. While the sketches vary some in quality and relevance (the pirate sketches, for example are a bit silly), the maps are all detailed and functional. The age of the book shows a little bit in these illustrations and the narrative, but not overly so.
While Hanna's narrative is sympathetic to his subjects, this book isn't the sort of insufferable Lost Cause dreck that it easily could have been. The author spends quite a bit of time of Northern leaders' and newspapers' calls for vengeance on the leaders of the late Confederacy, but this serves more to explain the desperate actions of the cabinet members, than to decry the supposed injustices they suffered. Hanna pointedly notes that the men that were arrested and imprisoned served remarkably short sentences for the crimes of which they were committed, and all were pardoned after a relatively short time. The main weakness in the narrative is in occasional small factual errors that only a dedicated Civil War enthusiast/historian will notice.
All in all, though this is not the most detailed account of it's subject matter, I'd say it's worth a look. Both Civil War enthusiasts and general readers will enjoy the well-paced, exciting narrative contained in Flight Into Oblivion. If you're looking for a detailed, authoritative account, then you may want to look elsewhere, but this book serves as an excellent introduction to the subject.
The account is well paced, and the prose is easy and entertaining to read. A large number of illustrations and maps accompany the text. While the sketches vary some in quality and relevance (the pirate sketches, for example are a bit silly), the maps are all detailed and functional. The age of the book shows a little bit in these illustrations and the narrative, but not overly so.
While Hanna's narrative is sympathetic to his subjects, this book isn't the sort of insufferable Lost Cause dreck that it easily could have been. The author spends quite a bit of time of Northern leaders' and newspapers' calls for vengeance on the leaders of the late Confederacy, but this serves more to explain the desperate actions of the cabinet members, than to decry the supposed injustices they suffered. Hanna pointedly notes that the men that were arrested and imprisoned served remarkably short sentences for the crimes of which they were committed, and all were pardoned after a relatively short time. The main weakness in the narrative is in occasional small factual errors that only a dedicated Civil War enthusiast/historian will notice.
All in all, though this is not the most detailed account of it's subject matter, I'd say it's worth a look. Both Civil War enthusiasts and general readers will enjoy the well-paced, exciting narrative contained in Flight Into Oblivion. If you're looking for a detailed, authoritative account, then you may want to look elsewhere, but this book serves as an excellent introduction to the subject.
October 28, 2021
This book traces the journey of President Jefferson Davis, his cabinet members, and the gold from the Confederate treasury in 1865. They flee the impending fall of Richmond, Virginia through the Carolinas and Georgia. Some drop off to await their fates at home, some are captured while fleeing, and some escape via Florida, or nearly do so.
The first half of the book covers the collective movements. The latter half covers individual escape attempts via Florida. The most detailed journey is that of John C. Breckenridge thanks to first-hand accounts written by Breckenridge and one of his compatriots, John Taylor Wood (grandson of Zachary Taylor). A final chapter recounts the postwar fate of everyone who ever served in the Confederate cabinet, whether they were still part of it at the start of the flight from Richmond or not.
The book has a number of useful maps. There are also many illustrations - mostly produced for the original edition of this book but some taken from Wood's memoir in Century magazine.
There is an Index and Endnotes, although the citations are a bit lacking. Sometimes the latter is a bit vague and some passages are cited to the author's personal correspondence or papers held by private individuals that (hopefully) have long since come into the possession of archives. However, this book seems to have been some excellent groundbreaking research when it was first published.
For a book related to the American Civil War that is now 80 years old, this one holds up remarkably well. The narrative is pretty much from the Confederate perspective; we get little detail about those in pursuit. However, it seems to be fairly written, focusing on the facts and experiences. The writing is pretty good, although occasionally feels a little overly tangential.
This 1999 edition (which I read) seems to only add an unremarkable Foreword which claims that the work "scarcely needs updating." I did find at least three errors - one a product of the time, one a misspelling carried over from a primary source, and one factual error albeit not directly about the principle subjects of the book. I particularly hope some additional source might have turned up in the last 80 years to give more details of the other three Florida escape attempts besides Breckenridge-Wood (Thomas A. Harris, Judah Benjamin, and George Davis) which I think make up the most interesting part of the narrative.
Strong recommendation for those interested in the American Civil War and/or Florida history. I think a more general reader seeking "interesting people doing interesting things" will also find most of this book worth their while.
The first half of the book covers the collective movements. The latter half covers individual escape attempts via Florida. The most detailed journey is that of John C. Breckenridge thanks to first-hand accounts written by Breckenridge and one of his compatriots, John Taylor Wood (grandson of Zachary Taylor). A final chapter recounts the postwar fate of everyone who ever served in the Confederate cabinet, whether they were still part of it at the start of the flight from Richmond or not.
The book has a number of useful maps. There are also many illustrations - mostly produced for the original edition of this book but some taken from Wood's memoir in Century magazine.
There is an Index and Endnotes, although the citations are a bit lacking. Sometimes the latter is a bit vague and some passages are cited to the author's personal correspondence or papers held by private individuals that (hopefully) have long since come into the possession of archives. However, this book seems to have been some excellent groundbreaking research when it was first published.
For a book related to the American Civil War that is now 80 years old, this one holds up remarkably well. The narrative is pretty much from the Confederate perspective; we get little detail about those in pursuit. However, it seems to be fairly written, focusing on the facts and experiences. The writing is pretty good, although occasionally feels a little overly tangential.
This 1999 edition (which I read) seems to only add an unremarkable Foreword which claims that the work "scarcely needs updating." I did find at least three errors - one a product of the time, one a misspelling carried over from a primary source, and one factual error albeit not directly about the principle subjects of the book. I particularly hope some additional source might have turned up in the last 80 years to give more details of the other three Florida escape attempts besides Breckenridge-Wood (Thomas A. Harris, Judah Benjamin, and George Davis) which I think make up the most interesting part of the narrative.
Strong recommendation for those interested in the American Civil War and/or Florida history. I think a more general reader seeking "interesting people doing interesting things" will also find most of this book worth their while.
January 20, 2024
I didn't know I'd be interested in the fate of the Confederacy cabinet members after Lee's surrender, nor did I know too much about Kirby Smith's holdout in such detail. I enjoyed this quick read, written in 1938!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews