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Jeff's Last Shift

1865
Not on view
During the closing days of the American Civil War Northern satirists often showed the defeated Confederate President Jefferson Davis trying to slip through enemy lines wearing women's clothing. After Robert E. Lee surrended on April 9, 1865, Davis evaded capture for a month, pursued by Union troops who believed he had plotted the assassination of President Lincoln. On May 10th he was finally arrested in Georgia wearing his wife's overcoat, thrown on as he rushed out of the house. Northern tabloids embellished this detail and described Davis in a dress, inspiring prints like this one. Challenge Southern claims of gallantry and chivarly, the image echoes a popular song titled "Jeff in Petticoats." Here, Union cavalrymen have stopped Davis, noticing military boots beneath his dress. Two girls inside a tent at left ask the soldiers to "Please let my old mother go to the spring for some water to wash in!" and "Who will care for Mother now?" The soldier lifting the subject's skirt says "It strikes me your Mother wears very big boots!!" leading Davis to reply "I am done gone! I must "kick the bucket."

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Jeff's Last Shift
  • Artist: After John Cameron (American, born Scotland, ca. 1828–after 1896 New York)
  • Publisher: Currier & Ives (American, active New York, 1857–1907)
  • Sitter: Jefferson Davis (American, Fairview, Kentucky 1808–1889 New Orleans, Louisiana)
  • Sitter: Margaret Howell Davis (American, 1855–1909)
  • Date: 1865
  • Medium: Lithograph
  • Dimensions: Image: 9 1/16 in. × 13 in. (23 × 33 cm)
    Sheet: 12 1/2 × 17 5/16 in. (31.7 × 44 cm)
  • Classification: Prints
  • Credit Line: Gift of A. S. Colgate, 1952
  • Object Number: 52.632.216
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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