Confederate States of America See on September 24, 1863. But the Holy See never released a formal statement supporting or recognizing the Confederacy. In November 1863, Mann met Pope Pius IX in person and received a letter supposedly addressed "to the Illustrious and Honorable Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America"; Mann had mistranslated the address. In his report to Richmond, Mann claimed a great diplomatic achievement for himself, asserting the letter was "a positive recognition of our Government". The letter was indeed used in propaganda, but Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin told Mann it was "a mere inferential recognition,
President of the Confederate States of America was used by President Davis throughout the existence of his presidency. Later it became a repository for documents, relics, and pictures, and in 1896 it was redesignated the Confederate Museum. Late on the evening of April 2, 1865, President Davis, his aides, and members of the Presidential Cabinet, except C.S. Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge, departed from the burning capital city of Richmond going southwest on the Richmond and Danville Railroad shortly before Union troops occupied it. The Confederate President Davis and his Cabinet stayed at Danville, southwest of Richmond, until April 10, when, hearing of General Lee's surrender