In the summer of 1861, Davis and her husband moved to Richmond, Virginia, the new capital of the Confederacy. They lived in the Presidential mansion during the remainder of war (1861–1865). "She tried intermittently to do what was expected of her, but she never convinced people that her heart was in it, and her tenure as First Lady was for the most part a disaster," as the people picked up on her ambivalence.[22] White residents of Richmond freely criticized Varina Davis; some described her appearance as resembling "a mulatto or an Indian 'squaw'."[6]