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ML_jeffdavis_bkp.htm
Jefferson Davis
One-time U.S. Secretary of War Served Later Served as Confederate President
By Bethanne Kelly Patrick
Military.com Columnist
The man who would lead the Confederacy left his home state, Mississippi, in 1824 to attend the United States Military Academy. It was familial ground for Jefferson Davis, whose father and uncles fought in the Revolutionary War, and whose older brothers distinguished themselves in the War of 1812's Battle of New Orleans. As a second lieutenant, Davis first saw active duty in the Northwest Territory, then combat during the Blackhawk War in 1831.
Davis resigned his commission in 1835 -- due in part to his June 30 marriage to Sally Knox Taylor, daughter of his commander, Zachary Taylor. Three months later, Sally died suddenly of malaria, and Davis spent the next 10 years quietly, running his plantation and devoting himself to reading and study in preparation for political life.
Shortly after taking his seat in Congress as a representative from Mississippi, he was elected colonel of the First Mississippi Regiment and joined the army of Gen. Taylor on the Rio Grande. He led his command in a charge at Monterey on Sept. 21, 1846, and a successful assault on Fort Teneria. At Buena Vista, Davis organized a bold charge that turned the battle's course.
Ordered home in July 1847, Davis was appointed to a vacant Senate seat by the governor of Mississippi. During this period, agitation over states' rights in the matter of slavery and common territory was heated. Davis, while insisting on the primacy of the Constitution, also loved the Union. From 1853 to 1857, he served as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce, then returned to the Senate. There, he continued to press for compromise -- and was faulted by many of his Southern colleagues for a too-moderate stance.
Yet when Mississippi seceded, Davis pledged his allegiance and was appointed to command its forces. While many sources indicate that he shunned Confederate presidency, he did accept when elected on Nov. 6, 1861 (Davis had been serving as president of the provisional government since Feb. 18). An unpopular and ineffective leader, his difficult personality and inability to delegate led to neglect of civilian needs and disintegration of the Confederate government. In April 1865, Davis fled from Richmond, Va., but was captured by Federal cavalrymen in southern Georgia. His two-year imprisonment strengthened his image as Southern martyr, and he refused to seek a pardon, believing he had done nothing wrong. He died on Dec. 6, 1889, in New Orleans, and is interred in Richmond. |
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