Burt-Stark House / Jefferson Davis’s Flight
Burt-Stark House When Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, left Richmond after its fall in April 1865, he traveled south, trying to reach and rally the remnants of his army. On May 2, he spent the night at the home of Col. Armistead Burt. In 1971, Burt’s grand-niece Mary Stark Davis gave this historic house and all its furnishings to Abbeville's Historic Preservation Commission.
Jefferson Davis’s Flight
Here, at the home of Colonel Burt, President Jefferson Davis held the last Confederate Council of War on May 2, 1865. He met with Secretary of War Breckenridge, Gen. Braxton Bragg, and 5 brigade generals; all agreed the only hope was for Davis to elude nearby U.S. cavalry and escape west. Though Davis passed safely through South Carolina, he was seized in Georgia on May 10th.
Marker is at the intersection of North Main Street (South Carolina Route 71) and Greenville Street (South Carolina Route 20) on North Main Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
