'Jefferson Finis Davis' (
June 3,
1808 –
December 6,
1889) was an
American politician who served as President of the
Confederate States of America for its entire history from
1861 to
1865 during the
American Civil War. Davis believed that corruption had destroyed the old Union and that the Confederacy had to be pure to survive.
[1] During his presidency, Davis was never able to find a strategy that would defeat the larger, more industrially developed
Union. Davis's insistence on independence even in the face of crushing defeat prolonged the war, and while not exactly disgraced, he was displaced in
Southern affection after the war by the leading general,
Robert E. Lee. After Davis was captured in 1865, he was charged for
treason and had his U.S citizenship taken away. Davis regained his citizenship in 1978, 90 years after his death.
A
West Point graduate, Davis prided himself on the military skills he gained in the
Mexican-American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment, and as U.S.
Secretary of War under
Franklin Pierce.
Early life and military career
Davis was born in what was then
Christian County, Kentucky, near what is now the small town of
Fairview, in
Todd County, Kentucky home to the
Jefferson Davis State Historic Site. Davis himself was unsure of his exact birth year. He wrote: "There has been some controversy about the year of my incarnation among the older members of my family, and I am not a competent witness in the case, having once supposed the year to have been
1807, I was subsequently corrected by being informed it was
1808, and have rested upon that point because it was just as good, and no better than another."
[2]
Davis was the youngest of the ten children of Samuel Emory Davis and his wife Jane Cook. The younger Davis' grandfather immigrated from
Wales and had once lived in
Virginia and
Maryland. His father, along with his uncles, had served in the
Continental Army during the
American Revolutionary War; he fought with the
Georgia cavalry and fought in the
Siege of Savannah as an infantry officer. Also, three of his older brothers served during the
War of 1812. Two of them served under
Andrew Jackson and received commendation for bravery in the
Battle of New Orleans.
During Davis' youth, the family moved twice; in
1811 to
St. Mary Parish, Louisiana, and in
1812 to
Wilkinson County, Mississippi. In
1813, Davis began his education together with his sister Mary, attending a
log cabin school a mile from their home. Two years later, Davis entered the Catholic school of Saint Thomas at
St. Rose Priory, a school operated by the
Dominican Order in
Washington County, Kentucky. At the time, he was the only
Protestant student.
Davis went on to
Jefferson College at
Washington, Mississippi, in
1818, and to
Transylvania University at
Lexington, Kentucky, in
1821. In
1824, Davis entered the
United States Military Academy (West Point).
[ ''The Three Kentucky Presidents'', , Holman, Hamilton, University Press of Kentucky, 1978, ] He completed his four-year term as a West Point cadet, and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in June
1828 following graduation.
Davis was assigned to the
1st Infantry Regiment and was stationed at
Fort Crawford,
Wisconsin. His first assignment, in
1829, was to supervise the cutting of timber on the banks of the
Red Cedar River for the repair and enlargement of the fort. Later the same year, he was reassigned to
Fort Winnebago. While supervising the construction and management of a sawmill in the
Yellow River in
1831, he contracted
pneumonia, causing him to return to Fort Crawford.
The year after, Davis was dispatched to
Galena, Illinois, at the head of a detachment assigned to remove miners from lands claimed by the Native Americans. Lieutenant Davis was home in Mississippi for the entire Black Hawk War, returning after the Battle of Bad Axe. Following the conflict, he was assigned by his colonel,
Zachary Taylor, to escort
Black Hawk himself to prison—it is said that the chief liked Davis because of the kind treatment he had shown. Another of Davis' duties during this time was to keep miners from illegally entering what would eventually become the state of
Iowa.
In
1833, Davis was promoted to first lieutenant of the
Regiment of Dragoons[ DAVIS, Jefferson, (1808 - 1889) ] and made a regimental adjutant. In
1834 he was transferred to
Fort Gibson in the
Indian Territory.
Marriage, plantation life, and early political career
Davis fell in love with
Colonel Taylor's daughter,
Sarah Knox Taylor. Her father did not approve of the match, so Davis resigned his commission and married Miss Taylor on
June 17,
1835, at the house of her aunt near
Louisville, Kentucky. The marriage, however, proved to be short. While visiting Davis' oldest sister near
Saint Francisville, Louisiana, both newlyweds contracted
malaria, and Davis' wife died three months after the wedding on
September 15,
1835. In
1836, he moved to
Brierfield Plantation in
Warren County, Mississippi. For the next eight years, Davis was a recluse, studying government and history, and engaging in private political discussions with his brother Joseph.
The year
1844 saw Davis' first political success, as he was elected to the
United States House of Representatives, taking office on
March 4 of the following year. In
1845, Davis married
Varina Howell, the granddaughter of late
New Jersey Governor Richard Howell who he met the year before, at her home in
Natchez, Mississippi.
There is a portrait of Mrs Jefferson Davis in old age at the Jefferson Davis Shrine in Biloxi, Missouri, painted by
Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862-1947) in 1895 and dubbed 'Widow of the Confederacy.' It was exhibited at the Durand-Ruel Galleries in New York in 1897. The Confederate Museum at Richmond, Virginia, possesses Müller-Ury's 1897-8 profile portrait of their daughter Winnie Davis which the artist presented to the Museum in 1918.
Second military career
The year
1846 saw the beginning of the
Mexican-American War. He resigned his House seat in June, and raised a volunteer regiment, the
Mississippi Rifles, becoming its colonel. On
July 21,
1846 they sailed from
New Orleans for the
Texas coast. Davis armed the regiment with
percussion rifles and trained the regiment in their use, making it particularly effective in combat.
In September of the same year, he participated in the successful
siege of
Monterrey, Mexico. He fought bravely at the
Battle of Buena Vista on
February 22,
1847, and was shot in the foot, being carried to safety by
Robert H. Chilton. In recognition of Davis's bravery and initiative, commanding general
Zachary Taylor is reputed to have said, "My daughter, sir, was a better judge of men than I was."
President
James K. Polk offered him a Federal commission as a
brigadier general and command of a
brigade of
militia. He declined the appointment, arguing that the
United States Constitution gives the power of appointing militia officers to the
states, and not to the
Federal government.
Return to politics
Senator
Because of his war service, the
Governor of
Mississippi appointed Davis to fill out the
Senate term of the late
Jesse Speight. He took his seat
5 December,
1847, and was elected to serve the remainder of his term in January 1848. In addition, the
Smithsonian Institution appointed him a
regent at the end of December 1847.
The Senate made Davis chairman of the
Committee on Military Affairs. When his term expired, he was elected to the same seat (by the Mississippi legislature, as the Constitution mandated at the time). He had not served a year when he resigned (in September 1851) to run for the Governorship of Mississippi on the issue of the
Compromise of 1850, which Davis opposed. This election bid was unsuccessful, as he was defeated by fellow senator
Henry Stuart Foote by 999 votes.
Left without political office, Davis continued his political activity. He took part in a convention on
states' rights, held at
Jackson, Mississippi in January 1852. In the weeks leading up to the
presidential election of 1852, he campaigned in numerous Southern states for Democratic candidates
Franklin Pierce and
William R. King.
Secretary of War
Pierce won the election and, in 1853, made Davis his
Secretary of War.
[ ''The Kentucky Encyclopedia'', , , , The University Press of Kentucky, 1992, ] In this capacity, Davis gave to Congress four annual reports (in December of each year), as well as an elaborate one (submitted on
February 22,
1855) on
various routes for the proposed
Transcontinental Railroad. The Pierce Administration ended in 1857. The President lost the Democratic nomination, which went instead to
James Buchanan. Davis' term was to end with Pierce's, so he ran successfully for the Senate, and re-entered it on
March 4,
1857.
Return to Senate
His renewed service in the Senate was interrupted by an illness that threatened him with the loss of his left
eye. Still nominally serving in the Senate, Davis spent the summer of 1858 in
Portland, Maine. On the
Fourth of July, he delivered an anti-
secessionist speech on board a ship near
Boston. He again urged the preservation of the Union on
October 11 in
Faneuil Hall, Boston, and returned to the Senate soon after.
On
February 2,
1860, as
secessionist clamor in the South grew ever louder, Davis submitted six
resolutions in an attempt to consolidate opinion regarding states' rights, including the right to maintain slavery in the South, and to further his own position on the issue.
Abraham Lincoln won the presidency that November. Matters came to a head, and
South Carolina seceded from the Union.
Though an opponent of secession in principle, Davis upheld it in practice on
January 10,
1861. On
January 21,
1861, he announced the secession of Mississippi, delivered a farewell address, and resigned from the Senate.
President of the Confederate States 1861-1865
Third Confederate National Flag
Four days after his resignation, Davis was commissioned a
Major General of Mississippi troops.
On
February 9,
1861, a
Constitutional convention at
Montgomery, Alabama named him provisional
President of the
Confederate States of America and he was inaugurated on
February 18. In meetings of his own Mississippi legislature, Davis had argued against secession; but when a majority of the delegates opposed him, he gave in.
In conformity with a resolution of the
Confederate Congress, Davis immediately appointed a Peace Commission to resolve the Confederacy's differences with the Union. In March 1861, before the bombardment of Fort Sumter, the Commission was to travel to Washington, D.C., to offer to pay for any Federal property on Southern soil, as well as the Southern portion of the national debt, but it was not authorized to discuss terms for reunion. He appointed General
P.G.T. Beauregard to command
Confederate troops in the vicinity of
Charleston, South Carolina. He approved the Cabinet decision to bombard Fort Sumter, which started the Civil War. When Virginia switched from neutrality and joined the Confederacy, he moved his government to
Richmond, Virginia, in May 1861. Davis and his family took up his residence there at the
White House of the Confederacy in late May.
Davis was elected to a six-year term as President of the Confederacy on
November 6,
1861. He had never served a full term in any elective office, and that would turn out to be the case on this occasion as well. He was inaugurated on
February 22,
1862. In June, 1862, he assigned General
Robert E. Lee to replace the wounded
Joseph E. Johnston in command of the
Army of Northern Virginia, the main Confederate army in the Eastern Theater. That December, he made a tour of Confederate armies in the
west of the country. Davis largely made the main strategic decisions on his own, or approved those suggested by Lee. He had a very small circle of military advisors.
In August
1863, Davis declined General Lee's offer of resignation after his defeat at the
Battle of Gettysburg. As Confederate military fortunes turned for the worse in
1864, he visited
Georgia with the intent of raising
morale.
Davis has received criticism over his conduct of the military affairs of the Confederacy. Until late in the war, he resisted efforts to appoint a general-in-chief, essentially handling those duties himself; on
January 31,
1865, Lee assumed this role, but it was far too late. Davis insisted on a strategy of trying to defend all Southern territory with ostensibly equal effort, which diluted the limited resources of the South and made it vulnerable to coordinated strategic thrusts by the Union into the vital Western Theater, such as the capture of New Orleans. He made other controversial strategic choices, such as allowing Lee to invade the North on two occasions while the Western armies were under very heavy pressure. Davis has been faulted for poor coordination and management of his generals. This includes his reluctance to relieve his personal friend,
Braxton Bragg, defeated in important battles and distrusted by his subordinates; he relieved the cautious but capable Joseph E. Johnston and replaced him with the reckless
John Bell Hood, resulting in the loss of
Atlanta and the eventual loss of an army.
On
April 3,
1865, with
Union troops under
Ulysses S. Grant poised to capture Richmond, Davis escaped for
Danville, Virginia, together with the Confederate Cabinet, leaving on the
Richmond and Danville Railroad. He issued his last official proclamation as President of the Confederacy, and then went south to
Greensboro, North Carolina.
President Jefferson Davis met with his Confederate Cabinet for the last time on
May 5,
1865 in
Washington, Georgia, and the Confederate Government was officially dissolved. The meeting took place at the Heard house, the Georgia Branch Bank Building, with fourteen officials present. On
May 10, he was captured at
Irwinville, Georgia. After being captured, he was held as a prisoner for two years in
Fort Monroe, Virginia.
Administration and Cabinet
Imprisonment and retirement
Jefferson Davis at his home c.
1885
On
May 19,
1865, Davis was imprisoned in a
casemate at
Fortress Monroe, on the coast of Virginia. He was placed in irons for three days. Davis was indicted for
treason a year later. While in prison, Davis arranged to sell his Mississippi
estate to one of his former slaves,
Ben Montgomery. Montgomery was a talented business manager, mechanic, and even an inventor who had become wealthy in part from running his own general store.
The next year, after imprisonment of two years, he was released on bail which was posted by prominent citizens of both northern and southern states, including
Horace Greeley,
Cornelius Vanderbilt, and
Gerrit Smith, who, as a member of the
Secret Six, had earlier supported
John Brown's raid at
Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. Davis visited Canada, Cuba and Europe. In December
1868, the court rejected a motion to nullify the indictment, but the prosecution dropped the case in February
1869.
In 1869 Davis became president of the
Carolina Life Insurance Company in
Memphis, Tennessee. Upon
Robert E. Lee's death in
1870, Davis presided over the memorial meeting in
Richmond, Virginia. Elected to the U.S. Senate again, he was refused the office in
1875, having been barred from Federal office by the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. He also turned down the opportunity to become the first president of The Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas, which is now
Texas A&M University.
In
1876, he promoted a society for the stimulation of U.S. trade with
South America. Davis visited
England the next year, returning in
1878 to
Beauvoir (Biloxi, Mississippi). Over the next three years there, Davis wrote ''
The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government''. Having completed that book, he visited
Europe again, and traveled to
Alabama and Georgia the following year.
He completed ''
A Short History of the Confederate States of America'' in October
1889. Two months later, Davis died in
New Orleans of unestablished cause at the age of eighty-one. His funeral was one of the largest ever staged in the South and ran a continuous march from New Orleans to
Richmond, Virginia, day and night. He is buried at
Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Legacy
Statue of Jefferson Davis
★ Jefferson Davis is included on a
bas relief sculpture on
Stone Mountain which is just east of
Atlanta, Georgia.
★ A monument to Jefferson Davis was unveiled on
June 3,
1907 on
Monument Avenue in
Richmond, Virginia.
★ A statue of Jefferson Davis stands in Confederate Park in
Memphis, Tennessee.
★ There is a statue of Jefferson Davis on the South Mall of the
University of Texas at Austin.
★
Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi,
Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana,
Jeff Davis County, Texas, and
Jeff Davis County, Georgia, all created after the civil war, were named after Jefferson Davis.
★ Section 3 of the
Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution barred from office anyone who had violated their oath to protect the Constitution by serving in the Confederacy. That prohibition included Davis. In 1978, pursuant to authority granted to Congress under the same section of the Amendment, Congress posthumously removed the ban on Davis with a two-thirds vote of each house and President
Jimmy Carter signed it. These actions were spearheaded by Congressman
Trent Lott of Mississippi. Congress had previously taken similar action on behalf of
Robert E. Lee.
★ The state of Alabama celebrates Davis's birthday on the first Monday in June. The state of Mississippi observes Davis's birthday in conjunction with the
Memorial Day Federal holiday.
★ In the State of Florida, Jefferson Davis's birthday, June 3, is a legal holiday and public holiday.
[1]
★ A 351-foot tall concrete
obelisk at the
Jefferson Davis State Historic Site in
Fairview Todd County, Kentucky honors the former president.
★ A bust statue of Jefferson Davis is located in a park on the spot he was captured, near
Fitzgerald, Georgia.
★ Another bust of Davis is located outside of the Jeff Davis County Court House building in
Hazlehurst, Georgia.
★ The
Jefferson Davis Highway was named in his honor.
★ Jefferson Davis was honorarily inducted into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity (University of Arkansas - ''Xi'' chapter) following his son's death.
Trivia
★ The Model 1858 Army hat, or
Hardee hat, was regulation headgear for officers and enlisted men of the
U.S. Army during the
American Civil War. It was sometimes called the "Jeff Davis hat," probably because Army hats of this style were adopted in 1855, when Davis was serving as Secretary of War.
★ Jefferson Davis's favorite hobbies included sailing and gambling.
★ While Secretary of War, Davis attempted to found a
camel-based American cavalry, but the idea failed to take hold.
Harry Turtledove's alternative history novels frequently reference this point. Davis's main instructor at West Point, Michael Kobily, is said to have suggested the Camel Cavalry idea in a lesson on cavalry effectiveness.
★ Jefferson Davis' home at
Beauvoir along with the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library, at 2244 Beach Boulevard,
Biloxi, Mississippi, was severely damaged by
Hurricane Katrina [2].
★ On the television show ''
The Dukes of Hazzard'',
Boss Hogg is properly named
Jefferson Davis Hogg after Jefferson Davis.
★
Ulysses S. Grant, named a favorite horse of his, Jeff Davis.
Notes
1. Rable (1994) p 87
2. The Papers of Jefferson Davis, 1:lxv-lxvi. Haskell M. Monroe, Jr., and James T. McIntosh, ed. 1971.
References
Primary sources
★ Jefferson Davis, ''Jefferson Davis: The Essential Writings'' ed. by William J. Cooper (2003)
★ Dunbar Rowland, ed., ''Jefferson Davis: Constitutionalist; His Letters, Papers, and Speeches'' (10 vols., 1923).
★ ''The Papers of Jefferson Davis'' (1971- ), edited by Haskell M. Monroe, Jr., James T. McIntosh, and Lynda L. Crist; latest is vol. 11 (2004) to May 1865
★ Jefferson Davis. ''The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government'' (1881; numerous reprints)
★ http://www.nndb.com/people/336/000050186/
Secondary sources
★ Allen, Felicity. ''Jefferson Davis: Unconquerable Heart'' (1999)
online edition
★ Ballard, Michael. '' Long Shadow: Jefferson Davis and the Final Days of the Confederacy'' (1986)
online edition
★ William J. Cooper. ''Jefferson Davis, American'' (2000)
★ William C. Davis, Jefferson Davis: The Man and His Hour (1991).
★ William E Dodd. ''Jefferson Davis'' (1907)
★ Clement Eaton, ''Jefferson Davis'' (1977).
★ Paul D. Escott, ''After Secession: Jefferson Davis and the Failure of Confederate Nationalism'' (1978).
★ Herman Hattaway and Richard E. Beringer. ''Jefferson Davis, Confederate President.'' (2001)
★ Rable; George C. ''The Confederate Republic: A Revolution against Politics.'' (1994).
online edition
★ Neely Jr.' Mark E. ''Confederate Bastille: Jefferson Davis and Civil Liberties'' (1993)
online edition
★ Hudson Strode, ''Jefferson Davis'' (3 vols., 1955-1964)
★ Emory M. Thomas, ''The Confederate Nation, 1861-1865'' (1979)
External links
★
★
★
★
The Papers of Jefferson Davis at Rice University
★
Biography of Jefferson Davis
★
Appleton's Biography edited by Stanley L. Klos
★
Extensive Biography from
public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica
★
Jefferson Davis' final resting place
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