On May 6,1886, Jefferson Davis made two speeches: one honoring the centennial of the Chatham Artillery, and the other paying tribute to the memory of a Nathanael Greene, who had helped win independence from Britain. In this second speech Davis, who had been quite cautious in his previous remarks, let himself go too far. He had sensed in some of the Savannah businessmen a dread of "offending the Yankees," even a desire to please Northern capitalists by pretending the South had done wrong. So in this speech he spontaneously inserted a tinge of defiance.

In 1776, the colonies acquired State Sovereignty. They revolted from the mother country in a desperate struggle. That was the cause for which they fought. Is it a lost cause now? Never. . . . The independence of these States, the Constitution, liberty, State Sovereignty, which they won in 1776, and which Nathanael Greene, son of Rhode Island, helped to win for Georgia, can never die.

When he had finished, there was a mighty surge in the crowd, and the stage was filled with shouting veterans eager to grasp the ex-President's hand. The old statesman was in grave danger of being crushed, as the men, wild with enthusiasm, shoved and pushed to touch him. After some exciting confusion, a lane was at length cleared and Mr. Davis was escorted through the applauding crowd to his carriage.