Speech of Jefferson Davis: July 23, 1861

[Delivered at the Depot of the Virginia Central Railroad,

Richmond, Virginia, Tuesday, July 23, 1861.]

Fellow-citizens of the Confederate States:

I rejoice with you, this evening, in those better and happier feelings which we all experience, as compared with the anxiety of three days ago. Your little army — derided for its want of numbers — derided for its want of arms — derided for its lack of all the essential material of war — has met the grand army of the enemy, routed it at every point, and it now flies, in inglorious retreat, before our victorious columns. We have taught them a lesson in their invasion of the sacred soil of Virginia; we have taught them that the grand old mother of Washington still nurtures a band of heroes; and a yet bloodier and far more fatal lesson awaits them, unless they speedily acknowledge that freedom to which you were born.

SOURCES: Frank H. Alfriend, The Life of Jefferson Davis, p. 306; William Edward Dodd, Jefferson Davis, p. 248; John Warwick Daniel, Life and Reminscences of Jefferson Davis, p. 37-8