Jeff in Petticoats. A Song for the Times

New York: Wm. A. Pond & Co, 1865. Folio sheet music, lithographed pictorial cover. 6 pp. (including cover). 9.5 x 12.25 inches. Typical light age toning and minor edge wear; very good example with strong impression, remnants of string at spine, removed from a larger volume.. A vivid piece of end-of-war political satire commemorating the capture of Confederate president Jefferson Davis, whose attempted escape in May 1865 quickly became the subject of popular ridicule in Northern newspapers and song sheets. The cover lithograph depicts Davis fleeing through a wooded encampment while dressed in women’s clothing, a reference to widely circulated reports that he attempted to evade Union troops by donning a shawl or petticoats; in truth, he had borrowed a shawl from his wife. Behind him a Union soldier points in recognition while onlookers react with amusement. The music was written by Henry Tucker, a prolific mid-nineteenth-century songwriter known for sentimental and topical pieces, with lyrics by George Cooper, one of the most active American lyricists of the period and collaborator with composers such as Stephen Foster and J. R. Thomas. Together they produced a number of patriotic and topical songs during the Civil War years. The myth of Davis in women’s clothing was represented a few different ways, though this large lithographic illustration, done by Henry C. Eno, is possibly the most iconic.