The 1862 Plot To Kidnap Jefferson Davis

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The 1862 Plot to Kidnap Jefferson Davis Victor Vifquain authored this history of his and his friends’ daring attempt to kidnap Jefferson Davis. Their plot might have succeeded if events had not turned transpired as they did. Vifquain refers to himself and his friends as the characters in the book The Three Musketeers to hide their identities in the kidnapping plot. In reality, though they used their real names, but it made a better story with these code names. Vifquain tells his story in very romantic language, which stands to reason since they were living in the Victorian period. Vifquain and his friends used their French citizenship to their advantage by getting the French ambassador to write a letter of introduction for them to present to those who questioned their citizenship. One of them was a cousin of a fellow Frenchman who was serving as a Confederate general, Prince Camille Polignac, to whom they claimed to be making their way to visit. This was only a ruse to get them behind Confederate lines. They were arrested and taken to Richmond. They were freed once their identities were confirmed by the French consul general in Richmond. They spent days in Richmond and discovered that Davis visited Norfolk by tugboat with only a few people on board. They planned to ingratiate themselves with him and get themselves invited to join him for a trip. At the same time General George McClellan and his Union Army were moving up the peninsula toward Richmond. Eventually the Federals made it to Norfolk, ending Davis’ trips to that city and Vifquain and his friends’ plot. The Frenchmen then worked on getting back to Washington to join the Union Army. Vifquain went on to join the 97th Illinois and won the Medal of Honor for his bravery at the battle for Fort Blakely, Alabama, in April 1865. He reached the rank of brevet brigadier general and was later involved in Nebraska

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