On Saturday, October 31, 1863 President Jefferson Davis entered Savannah, Georgia to an exuberant torchlight procession which was followed by a reception at the local Masonic Hall. The beleaguered Confederate president who had not seen such adoration for several weeks on his western tour must have been pleased by his greeting.
A young Savannah lady who stood in line in order to meet the president later wrote her soldier brother that she and her friends “were much pleased with the affability of the President. He has a good, mild, pleasant face and altogether, looks like a President of our struggling country should look—careworn and thoughtful, and firm, and quiet.”
After a month on the road Davis would certainly have agreed with the lady’s use of “careworn” to describe his demeanor.