Jefferson Davis was the first and only president of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War. He led the Confederacy from its creation in 1861 until its defeat in 1865. Before the war he had a long career as a soldier, a senator and a member of the United States government. He is remembered as a complicated figure who worked hard to lead the South but whose leadership was also criticized for contributing to the Confederacy’s defeat.
Jefferson Davis’s Early Life
Jefferson Finis Davis was born on June 3rd, 1808 CE in Fairview, Kentucky. He was the tenth and youngest child of Samuel and Jane Davis. His parents were farmers who owned enslaved people and raised their family on a plantation. His middle name, Finis, means “final” in Latin, suggesting his parents had no plans for more children after him. When Jefferson was still a young boy, his family moved to Mississippi, where he grew up. His father died in 1824 CE, and from that point on his oldest brother Joseph, a wealthy lawyer and plantation owner, became his most important influence and helped pay for his education.
Davis was sent to college in Kentucky before entering the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1824 CE. He graduated in 1828 CE, finishing 23rd in a class of 33. After graduation he served in the United States Army for seven years. During this time he was stationed at several forts in the Midwest and took part in the Black Hawk War of 1832 CE. While stationed under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor, a future president of the United States, Davis fell in love with Taylor’s daughter Sarah. The two married in 1835 CE, but Sarah died of malaria just three months after the wedding, a painful loss that Davis carried with him for many years.
Jefferson Davis as a Planter and Politician
After leaving the army in 1835 CE, Davis returned to Mississippi and became a cotton planter. His brother Joseph gave him land to build a plantation called Brierfield, where Davis eventually owned as many as 113 enslaved people. He spent nearly a decade as a planter before turning to politics. In 1845 CE he married Varina Howell, who became a devoted partner and important figure in his public life. That same year he was elected to the United States House of Representatives for Mississippi.
Davis left Congress in 1846 CE to fight in the Mexican-American War. He led a volunteer regiment from Mississippi and performed very well in battle, earning a reputation as a military hero. For instance, at the Battle of Buena Vista his regiment helped stop a Mexican attack that threatened the entire American position. He returned from the war as a celebrated soldier and was soon appointed to the United States Senate. He served in the Senate and became one of the most powerful voices defending the rights of Southern slave states. In 1851 CE he resigned to run for governor of Mississippi but lost the election. In 1853 CE President Franklin Pierce appointed him Secretary of War. Davis proved to be an excellent Secretary of War. He increased the size of the army, improved weapons technology and oversaw major construction projects, including work on the United States Capitol building. After Pierce’s time ended in 1857 CE, Davis returned to the Senate, where he continued to defend the rights of Southern states to keep slavery.
Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy
When Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election of November 1860 CE, many Southern states felt the time had come to leave the United States. They believed Lincoln would eventually try to end slavery, which was the foundation of the Southern economy. Mississippi left the Union in January of 1861 CE and Davis resigned from the Senate right away. He expected to be given command of Mississippi’s military forces. Instead, a meeting of the seceded states in Montgomery, Alabama chose him to be president of the new Confederate States of America. Davis was surprised by the news and privately would have preferred a military command. Regardless, he accepted the position and was inaugurated as the first and only Confederate president on February 18th, 1861 CE.
The Confederate States of America was a new nation formed by eleven Southern states that had left the United States. The states that joined the Confederacy included South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina and Tennessee. The Confederate capital was first located in Montgomery, Alabama and then moved to Richmond, Virginia. Davis worked hard to build a government, raise an army and find ways to fund the war effort, all at the same time.
Jefferson Davis as President of the Confederacy
Davis faced enormous challenges as Confederate president. The North had far more people, more factories, more railways and more money than the South. Davis had to try to hold together a new country that was fighting for its survival against a much stronger enemy. He worked to organize the Confederate army, find good generals and keep the Southern states working together.
One of his best decisions was choosing Robert E. Lee to command the Army of Northern Virginia in June of 1862 CE. Lee proved to be a brilliant general and won many important victories. With that said, Davis also made mistakes. He spent too much time and energy defending Richmond, the Confederate capital, while other important areas further west, including the city of Vicksburg on the Mississippi River, were not given enough support. When Vicksburg fell to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in July of 1863 CE, the Confederacy was split in two.
Davis also had a difficult personality. He was proud, stubborn and found it hard to get along with people who disagreed with him. He clashed with members of his own Congress, argued with state governors who resented him telling them what to do and kept generals in command even when they were not performing well, such as Braxton Bragg. These problems made his job even harder than it already was. As such, Davis’s leadership of the Confederacy was a mix of genuine effort and serious mistakes, and historians continue to debate how much his decisions contributed to the South’s defeat.
Jefferson Davis’s Capture and Imprisonment
By the spring of 1865 CE, the Confederacy was collapsing. Union armies were pushing into Virginia from the north and through the South from Georgia. On April 2nd, 1865 CE, Davis and his government were forced to flee Richmond as Union troops approached. He and a small group of officials and soldiers moved south through the Carolinas and into Georgia, hoping to reach the Confederate forces still fighting west of the Mississippi River. He was captured by Union soldiers near Irwinville, Georgia on May 10th, 1865 CE, just weeks after Lee had surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
Davis was taken to Fort Monroe, Virginia and put in prison. He was treated harshly at first, including being placed in leg irons for a short time. Many in the North wanted him tried for treason. With that said, the United States government never brought him to trial. Many historians believe the government was afraid that a trial might raise awkward questions about whether the Constitution actually allowed states to leave the Union. Davis himself wanted a trial because he believed it would give him a chance to argue that he had done nothing wrong. After two years in prison, he was released on bond in May of 1867 CE and never faced trial.
Jefferson Davis’s Later Life and Legacy
After his release, Davis traveled to Canada and Europe to recover his health. He later ran an insurance company in Memphis, Tennessee, before retiring to a small estate near Biloxi, Mississippi called Beauvoir. There he wrote a long two-volume book called The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, published in 1880 CE, in which he defended his actions and the Confederate cause. He refused to ask the United States government for a pardon because he believed he had done nothing wrong. His American citizenship was not restored during his lifetime. Congress restored it in 1978 CE, nearly ninety years after his death.
Jefferson Davis died on December 6th, 1889 CE in New Orleans at the age of eighty-one. Approximately 200,000 people lined the streets of New Orleans for his funeral. He was buried in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans before being moved in 1893 CE to Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia, the former Confederate capital.
Jefferson Davis is remembered as a deeply dedicated but sometimes difficult leader who gave everything he had to a cause that ultimately failed. He spent his entire life defending slavery and states’ rights and never apologized for doing so. For instance, even in his old age he continued to argue that the South had been right and that secession had been legal. As such, his legacy is a complicated one that raises important questions about loyalty, leadership and the meaning of the Civil War.
