Editing Jefferson Davis (section)

====End of the Confederacy and capture====
[[File:Capture of Jefferson Davis, by Michigan Cavalrymen.jpg|thumb|Illustration of the capture of Davis by [[John Warner Barber|John Barber]] and [[Henry Howe]] (1865)|alt=man with shawl on head wearing an overcoat that looks almost like a dress being stopped by two soldiers.]]
The Union army broke through the Confederate trench lines at the end of March, forcing Lee to withdraw and abandon Richmond, Virginia.{{sfn|Stoker|2010|pp=400–401}} Davis evacuated his family, which included [[Jim Limber]], a free black orphan they briefly adopted, on March 29.{{sfn|Hattaway|Beringer|2002|p=386}} On April 2, Davis and his cabinet escaped by rail to [[Danville, Virginia]]. He issued a proclamation on April 4,{{sfn|Davis|1865}} encouraging the people of the Confederacy to continue resistance,{{sfn|McPherson|2014|p=241}} but Lee surrendered at [[Battle of Appomattox Courthouse#Surrender|Appomattox Courthouse]] on April 9.{{sfn|Stoker|2010|pp=400–401}} The president and his cabinet headed to [[Greensboro, North Carolina]]{{sfn|McPherson|2014|p=241}} where they met with Joseph Johnston, Beauregard, and [[North Carolina in the American Civil War|North Carolina]] Governor [[Zebulon Baird Vance|Zebulon Vance]]. Davis wanted to cross the Mississippi River and continue the war, but his generals stated that they did not have the forces. He gave Johnston authorization to negotiate the surrender of his army,{{sfn|Cooper|2000|pp=524–526}} but Davis headed south to carry on the fight.{{sfn|McPherson|2014|pp=241–244}}

When [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|Lincoln was assassinated]] on April 14, the Union government implicated Davis, and a bounty of $100,000 ({{Inflation|US|100000|1865|fmt=eq|r=-5|cursign=$}}) was put on his head.{{sfn|Eaton|1977|p=260}} On May 2, Davis met with Secretary of War Breckinridge and Bragg in [[Abbeville, Georgia]], to see if they could pull together an army. They said they could not. On May 5, he met with the remainder of his cabinet in Washington, Georgia, and officially dissolved the Confederate government.{{sfn|Davis|1991|pp=628–630}} He moved on, hoping to join Kirby Smith's army across the Mississippi.{{sfn|McPherson|2014|p=241}} On May 9, Union soldiers found Davis's encampment near [[Irwinville, Georgia]]. He tried to evade them, but was captured wearing a loose-sleeved cloak and covering his head with a black shawl,{{sfn|Cooper|2000|p=534}} which gave rise to depictions of him in political cartoons fleeing in women's clothes.{{sfn|Eaton|1977|p=261}}