Jefferson Davis's 200th
Birthday
Jefferson Davis, the only president of the Confederate States of America, was born June 3, 1808, in Christian County (now Todd County), Ky. He was the youngest of 10 children.
The Davis family moved to Mississippi when he was 4 years old and he received his early education there.
He graduated from West Point in 1828, then served with distinction in the Mexican War. Davis was appointed to fill an unexpired term in the U.S. Senate from Mississippi in 1847 but later resigned his seat to run for governor. Following his defeat in that race, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Secretary of War in 1853. He served in that post for four critical years. Davis returned to the Senate in 1857, this time elected to the seat.
When Mississippi seceded Feb. 9, 1861, Davis resigned from the U.S Senate and returned home. Shortly after his return, he was elected provisional President of the Confederate States of America and traveled to Montgomery, Ala., to assume the post.
When the Confederate capital moved to Richmond, Va., Davis and his family set up housekeeping in a rented Executive Mansion a few blocks away from the Virginia capitol building. Entering the city to cheers, he eventually suffered increasingly strident attacks on his policies and reputation as the Confederacy gradually slipped toward defeat.
Fleeing Richmond as the Union army approached in April 1865, he and the remnants of his government fled first to Danville, Va., then through North and South Carolina. A Union cavalry patrol caught up with him May 10 near Irwinville in Georgia.
He was imprisoned at Fort Monroe near Hampton, Va., and remained confined there for two years. After several years in the insurance business and writing a history of the Confederate states, he died Dec. 6, 1889, in New Orleans. He and his family are buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Davis-related tours and other events are scheduled throughout the year at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond [www.moc.org]. See CivilWarTraveler.com/events for more Davis-related activities.
Some visitor-friendly places related to Davis’s life:
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