Because this was one of the few times that Davis spoke freely in the company of Northern persons, his words are especially important. Both he and his two visitors expressed a profound desire for peace, but they saw different roads toward that end. To Davis, the matter was simple. The Union should cease its invasion and withdraw all its armies from Southern soil.

To Gilmore and Jaquess, the matter was rather different. They asked Davis if he really believed that two peoples who spoke the same language—as well as preserved the same cultural heritage—could really be separated by an imaginary line. Davis replied, with some bitterness, that it was no longer possible. The depredations of the war had caused such ill will that, as he put it: “Our children may forget this war, but we cannot.”