Noting this was a small press story, I wasn’t prepared for a deep, detailed narrative of the flight of Confederate cabinet member Judah P. Benjamin. Well done, New Port Richey Patch!
And, while Judah was well-liked, he was very reserved when it came to both his private and professional matters, perhaps a trait that Confederate President Jeff Davis liked.
Among his golden rule was to destroy any and all correspondence or anything that might aid or enlighten a person who shouldn’t be enlightened.
In April 1883 Benjamin wrote,
“I have never kept a diary or retained any copy of a letter written by me. No letters addressed to me by others will be found among my papers when I die. With perhaps the exception of Mrs. Jefferson Davis, no one has many letters of mine; for I have read so many American biographies which reflected only the passions and prejudices of their writers, [for] that I do not want to leave behind my letters and documents to be used in such a work about myself”
Benjamin’s position was no more evident then when the Confederate capital fell in Richmond and when his last days there were spent burning the secret service papers of the Confederacy.
But, it was after Richmond’s demise where our story begins.
http://newportrichey.patch.com/articles/the-great-escape-judah-p-benjamin