1808-1889 
Home to Camp R. E. LeePresident of the Confederate States of America
1808-1889
Home to Camp R. E. Lee
President of the Confederate States of America
Jefferson Davis was born June 3, 1808, in Christian county, Kentucky. His grandfather was a colonist from Wales, living in Virginia and Maryland. His father, Samuel Emory Davis, and his uncles, were all Revolutionary soldiers in 1776. Samuel Davis served during the Revolution partly with Georgia cavalry and was also in the siege of Savannah as an officer in the infantry. He is described as a young officer of gentle and engaging address, as well as remarkable daring in battle. Three brothers of Jefferson Davis, fought in the war of 1812, two of them serving directly with Andrew Jackson, and gaining from that great soldier special mention of their gallantry in the battle of New Orleans.
Jefferson Davis was born on June 3, 1808, in Christian (now Todd) County, Kentucky, and educated at Transylvania University, Lexington, Kentucky.
Military History:U.S. Military Academy.
Graduated 1828
Afterwards was in the frountier service.
Health forced him to resign from the army in 1835
Fought in the Mexican War at Monterrey and Buena Vista
Wounded at Buena Vista
On February 18, 1861, the provisional Congress of the Confederate States made him provisional president.
Jefferson Davis and wife Varina
More on Varina
Sworn in at Montgomery Capital BuildingPolitical History: US senator from Mississippi from 1835 to 1845.
US Congressman from 1845 to 1846
US Congressman from 1857 to 1861
Withdrew from the Senate in 1861 when Mississippi seceeded.
On February 18, 1861, the provisional Congress of the Confederate States made him provisional president
He was elected to the office by popular vote the same year for a 6-year term and was inaugurated in Richmond, Virginia, the capital of the Confederacy, on February 22, 1862.
Maj. General Jefferson Davis
Davis Home in Montgomery, AlabamaDurring the War:
Davis failed to raise sufficient money to fight the American Civil War and could not obtain recognition and help for the Confederacy from foreign governments. He was in constant conflict with extreme exponents of the doctrine of states' rights, and his attempts to have high military officers appointed by the president were opposed by the governors of the states. The judges of state courts constantly interfered in military matters through judicial decisions. Davis was nevertheless responsible for the raising of the formidable Confederate armies, the notable appointment of General Robert E. Lee as commander of the Army of Virginia, and the encouragement of industrial enterprise throughout the South. His zeal, energy, and faith in the cause of the South were a source of much of the tenacity with which the Confederacy fought the Civil War. Even in 1865 Davis still hoped the South would be able to achieve its independence, but at last he realized defeat was imminent and fled from Richmond. On May 10, 1865, federal troops captured him at Irwinville, Georgia. From 1865 to 1867 he was imprisoned at Fortress Monroe, Virginia. Davis was indicted for treason in 1866 but the next year was released on a bond of $100,000 signed by the American newspaper publisher Horace Greeley and other influential Northerners. In 1868 the federal government dropped the case against him. From 1870 to 1878 he engaged in a number of unsuccessful business enterprises; and from 1878 until his death in New Orleans, on December 6, 1889, he lived near Biloxi, Mississippi. His grave is in Richmond, Virginia. He wrote The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (1881).
Davis Home
Home in Biloxi, Mississippi
Davis Imprisoned at Fort Monroe, VA
1201 East Clay, Richmond Home
With Grandchildren later in life
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Jefferson Davis thoughts on resignation, loyalty, presidency and the first shots. |
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| January 21, 1861
Today, with great sadness, I have resigned from the
United States I am leaving tomorrow for my plantation - Briarfield -
in Mississippi. Lincoln will be inaugurated President of the United
States in less |
February 2, 1861
Well, I've been back at my plantation (Briarfield) for
nearly 8 days. How I wonder how things are in Washington. Lincoln takes
office in a month. Now As each day passes, I feel more content with my
decision to join the |
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February 10, 1861
I feel as if I was struck by a lightning bolt. As Varina and
I worked in the "Sir: I cannot believe it. "President Davis!" My fellow
Southerners have formed a |
April 14, 1861
At 4:30 am on April 12, our cannons opened fire on Fort Rumor has it that Mr. Lincoln has now called for 75,000 Virginia is now holding a convention to vote on secession. |
Time Line for Jefferson Davis
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1807/1808 June 3 Born in Christian County (now Todd) on a site that has since become a part of Fairview, Kentucky, the son of Samuel Emory and Jane Cook Davis (for more information about Davis' birth year, see Frequently Asked Questions)
1816-18 Attends St. Thomas College near Springfield, Kentucky 1818-23 Enters Jefferson College in Adams County 1823-24 Member of the junior class at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky 1824 July 4 Davis' father Samuel Emory Davis dies 1829-34 As second lieutenant, serves in what is now Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arkansas 1834-35 Serves in Arkansas and Oklahoma (Indian) Territories 1835 February 19 Acquitted in court-martial on charge of bad conduct May 12 Resignation from Army officially forwarded to headquarters June 17 Marries Sarah Knox Taylor (daughter of Zachary Taylor) near Louisville, Kentucky; leaves with bride for Mississippi September 15 Sarah Knox Taylor Davis dies at Locust Grove plantation near Bayou Sara, Louisiana; Davis seriously ill 1836-46 Establishes Brierfield plantation on land adjacent to brother Joseph's Hurricane plantation on Davis Bend, 20 miles down the Mississippi River from Vicksburg; travels; becomes involved in local and state politics 1844 January Chosen state Democratic presidential elector December 4 Casts electoral vote for James K. Polk 1845 February 26 Marries 18-year-old Varina Banks Howell at The Briars, the home of her parents in Natchez, Mississippi October 3 Davis' mother Jane Cook Davis dies November 4 Elected to the House of Representatives 1846 May 11 Votes in favor of bill declaring that a state of war exists between the United States and Mexico July 18 Assumes command of the 1st Mississippi in New Orleans September 21-23 Commands regiment in Battle of Monterrey 1847 June 20 Declines appointment as brigadier general August 10 Appointed United States senator 1848 January 11 Elected U.S. senator by Mississippi legislature 1850 July 9 Present at death of Zachary Taylor 1851 September 17 Accepts nomination as gubernatorial candidate September 23 Resigns as senator November 3-4 Defeated by Henry S. Foote in election 1852 July 30 Son Samuel Emory Davis born 1853 March 7 Takes oath of office as secretary of war June 1-15 1854 June 13 Son Samuel Emory Davis dies 1855 February 25 Daughter Margaret Howell Davis born 1857 January 16 Son Jefferson Davis, Jr., born March 4 Resigns as secretary of war; takes oath as senator 1859 April 18 Son Joseph Evan Davis born in Washington while Davis is in Mississippi 1860 November 6 Abraham Lincoln elected December 20 South Carolina secedes |
1861
February 9 Elected president of the
Confederate States 1862
January 19 Battle of Mill Springs,
Kentucky 1863
January 1 Emancipation Proclamation goes
into effect; Galveston, Texas, retaken by Confederates 1864
February 20 Battle of Olustee, Florida
1865 1866 May 8 indicted for treason by grand jury for the U.S. Circuit Court, District of Virginia (for more information about the case, see Frequently Asked Questions) June 11 U.S. Circuit Court Judge John C. Underwood refuses to set bail since Davis technically a military prisoner 1867 May 11 Taken to Richmond; housed under guard at the Spotswood Hotel in the same room he had when he reached Richmond in May 1861 May 13 Appears in court before Judge John C. Underwood; bail set at $100,000; bond posted by Horace Greeley, abolitionist Gerrit Smith, a representative of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and ten Richmond businessmen; to "deafening applause," freed after two years of confinement; meets Greeley for the first time (for more information about the case, see Frequently Asked Questions) November 26 The United States v. Jefferson Davis convenes in Richmond; with Chase unable to be present, government granted postponement to March; Davis released on his own recognizance (his last appearance in court on this matter); long talk with Lee at the courthouse (last time he would see Lee); new grand jury drawn (Lee would testify before it the next day); (for more information, see Frequently Asked Questions); in the evening, receives news of the death of Margaret K. Howell, Varina's mother (Nov. 24) November-December 1868 March-July Spends most of his time in Lennoxville, where Jeff Jr. and Billy are attending Bishop's College Grammar School, and Montreal, where Margaret is enrolled in a convent school Late April July 25 With family, sails from Quebec for Europe 1869 February 15 Indictment dismissed ( nolle prosequi), as are those against thirty-seven other Confederates (for more information, see Frequently Asked Questions) November 23 Elected president of Carolina Life Insurance Company at a salary of $12,000 a year; plans to move the home office to Baltimore 1870 October 8 Sails with family for Baltimore; learns of Robert E. Lee's death (Oct. 12) upon arrival; family remains at Baltimore while Davis travels to Richmond 1872 Son William Howell Davis dies of diphtheria at age 10 1875 Declines appointment as senator from Mississippi and presidency of what is now Texas A&M University; begins relationship with Mississippi Valley Association (a British firm seeking to promote emigration to the South and to encourage direct trade between New Orleans and European ports), and starts promoting it in his travels; speaks in Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri; makes numerous visits to Vicksburg because of lawsuit; reaches informal agreement with W. T. Walthall to begin marketing proposal for Davis' memoirs; withdraws Jeff Jr. from Virginia Military Institute, and in fall travels with him to inspect mines in Colorado 1876 January 1 Daughter Margaret marries Joel Addison Hayes at St. Lazarus Episcopal Church in Memphis (she will be the only Davis offspring to marry and to have children)late 1878 October 16 Son Jefferson Davis, Jr., dies in Memphis in yellow fever epidemic at age 21 1879 July 4 At bedside when Sarah Dorsey dies in New Orleans; Dorsey leaves Beauvoir to him in her will
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1889
| Jefferson Davis |
| b. June 3, 1808. d. December 6, 1889. Confederate President. Hollywood Cemetery, Richmond, Virginia, USA |
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