Jefferson Davis
1808 - 1889
President of the Confederate States of America
DAVIS, Jefferson, statesman, born in that part of Christian County, Kentucky, which now forms Todd County, 3 June, 1808. His father, Samuel Davis, had served in the Georgia cavalry during the Revolution, and, when Jefferson was an infant, removed with his family to a place near Woodville, Wilkinson County, Miss. Young Davis entered Transylvania College, Kentucky, but left in 1824, on his appointment by President Monroe to the U. S. military academy. On his graduation, in 1828, he was assigned to the 1st infantry, and served on the frontier, taking part in the Black Hawk war of 1831 - '2. He was promoted to first lieutenant of dragoons on 4 March, 1833, but, after more service against the Indians, abruptly resigned on 30 June, 1835, and having married, after a romantic elopement, the daughter of Zachary Taylor, then a colonel in the army, settled near Vicksburg, Miss., and became a cotton planter. Here he pursued a life of study and retirement till 1843, when he entered politics in the midst of an exciting gubernatorial canvass. He was chosen an elector on the Polk and Dallas ticket in 1844, made a reputation as a popular speaker, and in 1845 was sent to congress, taking his seat in December of that year. He at once took an active part in debate, speaking on the tariff, the Oregon question, and military matters, especially with reference to the preparations for war with Mexico.
On 6 February, 1846, in a speech on the Oregon question, he spoke of the " love of union in our hearts," and, speaking of the battles of the Revolution, said : " They form a monument to the common glory of our common country."
In June, 1846, he resigned his seat in the house to become colonel of the 1st Mississippi volunteer rifles, which had unanimously elected him to that office. Having joined his regiment at New Orleans, he led it to reinforce General Taylor on the Rio Grande. At Monterey he charged on Fort Leneria without bayonets, led his command through the Streets nearly to the Grand Plaza through a storm of shot, and afterward served on the commission for arranging the surrender of the place. At Buena Vista his regiment was charged by a Mexican brigade of lancers, greatly its superior in numbers, in a last desperate effort to break the American lines. Colonel Davis formed his men in the shape of a letter V, open toward the enemy, and thus, by exposing his foes to a covering fire, utterly routed them, though he was unsupported. He was severely wounded, but remained in the saddle till the close of the fight, and was complimented for coolness and gallantry in the commander-in-chief's dispatch of 6 March, 1847. His regiment was ordered home on the expiration of its term of enlistment, and on 17 May, 1847, Colonel Davis was appointed by President Polk a brigadier general, but declined the commission on the ground that a militia appointment by the Federal executive was unconstitutional.
He was appointed by the governor of Mississippi to fill a vacancy in the U. S. Senate in August, 1847, and in January, 1848, the legislature unanimously elected him senator, and reelected him in 1850 for a full term. He was made chairman of the senate committee on military affairs, and here, as in the house, was active in the discussions on the various phases of the slavery question and the important work of the session, including the fugitive slave law, and the other compromise measures of 1850. Mr. Davis proposed the extension of the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific, and continued a zealous advocate of state rights. He was the unsuccessful state rights or "resistance" candidate for governor of his state in 1851, though by his personal popularity he reduced the Union majority from 7,500 to 999. He had resigned his seat in the senate to take part in the canvass, and, after a year of retirement, actively supported Franklin Pierce in the presidential contest of 1852. After the election of General Pierce, Mr. Davis received the portfolio of war in his cabinet, and administered it with great credit. Among other changes, he proposed the use of camels in the service on the western plains, introduced an improved system of infantry tactics, iron gun carriages, rifled muskets and pistols, and the use of the Mini ball. Four regiments were added to the army, the defenses on the seacoast and frontier were strengthened, and, as a result of experiments, heavy guns were east hollow, and a larger grain of powder was adopted. While in the senate, Mr. Davis had advocated the construction of a Pacific railway as military necessity, and a means of preserving the Pacific coast to the Union, and he was now put in charge of the organization and equipment of the surveying parties sent out to examine the various routes proposed. He also had charge of the appropriation for the extension of the capitol.
Mr. Davis left the cabinet at the close of President Pierce's term in 1857, and in the same year entered the senate again. He opposed the French spoliation bill, advocated the southern route for the Pacific railroad, and opposed the doctrine of " popular sovereignty," often encountering Stephen A. Douglas in debate on this question. After the settlement of the Kansas contest by the passage of the Kansas conference bill, in which he had taken a chief part, ha wrote to the people of his state that it was " the triumph of all for which we contended." Mr. Davis was the recognized democratic leader in the 36th congress. He had made a tour of the eastern states in 1858, making speeches at Boston, Portland, Maine, New York, and other places, and in 1859, in reply to an invitation to attend the Webster birthday festival in Boston, wrote a letter denouncing " partisans who avow the purpose of obliterating the landmarks of our fathers," and containing strong Union sentiments.
He had been frequently mentioned as a democratic candidate for the presidency, and received many votes in the convention of 1860, though his friends announced that he did not desire the nomination. Before congress met, in the autumn of 1860, Mr. Davis was summoned to Washington by members of President Buchanan's cabinet to suggest some modifications of the forthcoming message to congress. The suggestions were made, and were adopted. In the ensuing session Mr. Davis made, on 10 December 1860, a speech in which he carefully distinguished between independence, which the states had achieved at great cost, and the Union, which had cost " little time, little money, and no blood," taking his old state rights position. He was appointed on the senate committee of thirteen to examine and report on the condition of the country, and, although at first excused at his own request, finally consented to serve, accepting the appointment in a speech in which he avowed his willingness to make any sacrifice to avert the impending struggle. The committee, after remaining in session several days, reported, on 31 December their inability to coma to any satisfactory conclusion.
On 10 January 1861, Mr. Davis made another speech on the state of the country, asserting the right of secession, denying that of coercion, and urging the withdrawal of the garrison from Fort Sumter. Mississippi had seceded on 9 January and on 24 January having been officially informed of the fact, Mr. Davis withdrew from the senate and went to his home, having taken leave of his associates in a speech in which he defended the cause of the south, and, in closing, begged pardon of all whom he had ever offended. Before ha reached home he had been appointed by the convention commander-in-chief of the army of Mississippi, with the rank of major general ; but on 18 February, 1861, he exchanged this office for that of President of the Confederate States, to which the provisional congress at Montgomery had elected him on 9 February He selected for his cabinet Robert Toombs, of Georgia, as secretary of state; Leroy P. Walker, of Alabama, secretary of war; Charles G. Memminger, of South Carolina, secretary of the treasury; Stephen R. Mallory, of Florida, secretary of the navy; Judah P. Benjamin, of Louisiana, attorney general; and John H. Reagan, of Texas, postmaster general.
The last three continued in the cabinet as long as the Confederate Government maintained its existence. Toombs, Walker, and Memminger were succeeded by others. In his inaugural address Mr. Davis asserted that "necessity, not choice," had lad to the secession of the southern states" that the true policy of the south, an agricultural country, was peace; and that "the constituent parts, but not the system," of the government had been changed. The attack on Fort Sumter, on 12 April, precipitated the war, and Mr. Davis, in his first message to the provisional Confederate congress, on 29 April, after a review of events (from the formation of the United States constitution till 1861), which, in his judgment, had led to the contest, commended this act, while avowing a desire to prevent the shedding of blood. The message also condemned, as illegal and absurd, President Lincoln's proclamation calling for troops, and that announcing a blockade of southern ports, and ended with the famous words, "All we ask is, to be let alone," followed by a promise to resist subjugation to the direst extremity. Shortly after the change of the Confederate capital from Montgomery to Richmond, which he had strongly advised, Mr. Davis removed thither, and was met on his way with many marks of popular favor, every railway station swarming with men, women, and children, who greeted him with waving handkerchiefs. Soon after his arrival the fine residence of James A. Seddon was bought and put at Davis's disposal by citizens of Richmond.
His first days in the new capital were spent in reviewing troops and in speechmaking. He exhorted his hearers to remember the dignity of the contest, and "to smite the smiter with manly arms, as our fathers did before us," and declared his willingness to lay down his civil office and take command of the army, should the extremity of the cause ever warrant such action. Before his arrival in Virginia an army of about 30,000 men had been raised, and as fast as new troops arrived their officers were assigned to a rank in the Confederate service, regulated by that which they had formerly held in the U. S. army. On 20 July, Mr. Davis sent his second message to the provisional congress, then in session at Richmond. In this message he complained of barbarities committed by National troops, and again asserted the impossibility of subduing the south. On the morning succeeding the delivery of this message he set out for Manassas, where a contest was thought to be impending, and arrived there in time to witness the close of the battle of Bull Run, reaching the field when victory had been assured to the Confederates. The battle of Bull Run was followed by a period of inaction, and Mr. Davis was blamed by many for this policy, as well as for his "failure to organize the troops of the several states into brigades and divisions formed of the soldiers of each," as the law directed.
In answer to these complaints, he has urged the length of time necessary to organize "the terrible machine, a disciplined army," and protested that, as far as in him lay, he favored an advance and endeavored to comply with the legal plan of army organization. The question of the treatment of Confederate prisoners by the National authorities soon demanded his attention. On 17 April, 1861, two days after Mr. Lincoln's call for troops, Mr. Davis had issued a proclamation inviting applications for letters of marquee and reprisal.
The "Savannah," a private vessel commissioned in accordance with this offer, was captured off Charleston, and her officers and crew were tried for piracy in New York and sentenced to death. Later the captain and crew of the privateer "Jefferson Davis" were similarly convicted in Philadelphia. Thereupon, in November, 1861, Mr. Davis ordered retaliatory measures to be taken, and fourteen Union prisoners were selected by lot and held as hostages for the safety of the condemned men the latter were ultimately put on the footing of prisoners of war by order of the National government, and subsequently a cartel was adopted for the exchange of prisoners, which remained in force till its suspension in 1864, caused by disagreement as to the status of Negro soldiers.
In November, 1861, a presidential election was held in the Confederacy, and Mr. Davis was chosen president for six years without opposition. In his message to the provisional congress at its last session, 18 November, 1861, he briefly sketched the situation at the close of the first year of the war, alluding to the Confederate successes, the contest for the possession of Kentucky and Missouri, and to the "Trent" affair. He urged the construction of another railway line through the Confederacy, asserted the improvement of the south in military means and financial condition, and the inefficiency of the blockade, and said:" If it were indeed a rebellion in which we were engaged, we might find ample vindication for the course we have adopted in the scenes which are now being enacted in the United States." The first congress under the permanent constitution met in Richmond, on 18 February, 1862, and Mr. Davis was inaugurated on 22 February The Confederacy had just met with its first serious reverses in the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson ; but in his inaugural, after a vindication of the right of secession, Mr. Davis indulged in many favorable hopes. "The final result in our favor," said he, "is not doubtful. Our foes must sink under the immense load of debt which they have incurred In the heart of a people resolved to be free, these disasters tend but to stimulate to increased resistance."
In his short messages of 25 February and 15 August he suggested various measures for the improvement of the Confederate forces. The result of the reverses in the early months of the year, to which had now been added the capture of New Orleans, began to show itself in a growing opposition to Mr. Davis's administration, which up to this time had seemed all but universally popular, and this opposition increased in force up to the latest days of the war. One of the first acts of the congress was to puss a sweeping conscription law, to which Mr. Davis reluctantly assented. This was stoutly resisted in some quarters, and led to a spirited correspondence between Mr. Davis and Governor Joseph E. Brown, of Georgia, who disputed the constitutionality of the measure. Congress also authorized the suspension of the habeas corpus act for ten miles around Richmond, and the formation of a military police, for the alleged reason that the government was continually in danger from the presence in Richmond of National spies, and the consequent plots and intrigues.
Mr. Davis was present with General Lee at the battle of Fair Oaks on 31 May, and, after the wounding of General Joseph E. Johnston in that engagement, assigned Lee to the command of the Army of Northern Virginia, having previously, on 13 March, charged him, "under the direction of the president, with the conduct of military operations." During a visit to the army in the western department, in December, 1862, Mr. Davis, in an address to the Mississippi legislature, defended the conscription law and declared that "in all respects, the Confederacy was better prepared for war than it was a year previous." The proclamation of emancipation by President Lincoln, to take effect 1 January 1863, called out from Mr. Davis a retaliatory proclamation, dated 23 December 1862, in which, after reciting, among other acts, the hanging of William B. Mumford for tearing down the United States flag at New Orleans, after the City was captured by the National forces, General Benjamin F. Butler was declared a felon, and it was ordered that all commissioned officers serving under him, as well as any found serving in company with slaves, should be treated as "robbers and criminals deserving death." These threats, however, were not generally executed, though supported by the legislation of the congress.
In his message of January, 1863, Mr. Davis announced his intention of turning over National prisoners for prosecution in state courts, as abettors of servile insurrection; but this proposition was rejected by congress, and provision made for their trial by military tribunals. The two long messages sent by Mr. Davis to congress in 1863 consist largely of discussions of the position of foreign powers, especially Great Britain, with reference to the war. The one dated 7 Dee. announces the fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, and urges "the compulsory reduction of the currency to the amount required by the business of the country," together with other measures for improving the finances, which had become hopelessly depreciated. They had never been on a sound basis, and the currency had declined in value till it was nearly worthless.
In April, 1863, in compliance with a request of the Confederate congress, Mr. Davis had issued an address to the people of the south, in which he drew the happiest conclusions as to the success of the Confederacy, from the way in which, in the face of obstacles, it had already organized and disciplined armies. "At no previous period of the war," said he, "have our forces been so numerous, so well organized, and so thoroughly disciplined, armed, and equipped as at present." The disasters of July at, Gettysburg and Vicksburg coming in the face of this assertion, and the state of the currency just mentioned, emboldened the opposition party in all parts of the Confederacy fiercely to assail the administration. Mr. Davis was held responsible for the advance into Pennsylvania, and accused of partiality in appointing Peruberton to command in the west.
Charles G. Memminger, secretary of the treasury, resigned, and his place was filled by George A. Trenholm; but the new secretary was unable to stop the depreciation of the currency. The lack of coin in the country, the inability of the people to bear more taxation, and the spirit of speculation fostered by the enormous issues of paper money, hastened the financial ruin of the Confederacy. Food, too, was scarce. Kentucky and Tennessee, whence had come most of the meat supplies, were lost to the Confederacy, and the army was on half rations. At this time there was a clamor against the commissary general, Colonel Northrop. A committee of the Confederate congress investigated the matter and exonerated him ; but the opponents of the administration have continued to hold him, and Mr. Davis through him, responsible for the scarcity of food in the Confederacy, and therefore, indirectly, for much of the sufferings of Union prisoners during the war. The exchange of prisoners had been interrupted for some time by the refusal of the Confederate government to recognize Negroes as National soldiers, and after many futile attempts to come to an understanding with the National government, "We offered," says Mr. Davis (" Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government," vol. ii., p. 601), "to the United States government their sick and wounded, without requiring any equivalents."
The year 1864 opened with Confederate successes in Florida, the southwest, and North Carolina; and Mr. Davis, in his message of 2 May, said: " The armies in northern Virginia and Tennessee still oppose, with unshaken front, a formidable barrier to the progress of the invader." That progress, however, was not long to be stayed. By an order issued on 17 July, 1864, Mr. Davis removed General Joseph E. Johnston from the command of the army opposed to General Sherman in Georgia. The cause and alleged injustice of this removal have not yet ceased to be subjects for controversy, it being asserted by Mr. Davis's opponents that personal reasons influenced him against an officer with whom he had never been very friendly, while his supporters, denying this, fully justify the act. The reasons given m Adjunct General Cooper's brief dispatch were, to tuft General Johnston had "failed to arrest the advance of the enemy to the vicinity of Atlanta, and expressed no confidence that he could defeat or repel him." In answer to which General Johnston wrote: " I assert that Sherman's army is much stronger, compared with that of Tennessee, than Grant's compared with that of northern Virginia. Yet the enemy has been compelled to advance much more slowly to the vicinity of Atlanta than to that of Richmond and Petersburg. and penetrated much deeper into Virginia than into Georgia."
General John B. Hood, successor of General Johnston, was obliged to evacuate Atlanta on 1 September and Mr. Davis then visited Georgia and endeavored to raise the spirits of the people there, and to restore harmony between the Confederate and state governments. Governor Brown, who had opposed the conscription act, continued to be hostile to the administration, notwithstanding an interview with Mr. Davis in which the latter tried to convince him that his complaints were unjust. He reviewed and addressed Hood's army on 18 September, and afterward, in speeches made in Macon, Augusta, and elsewhere. strove to inspire the people with the spirit of renewed resistance, and to persuade them that an honorable peace was impossible. As is evident from the tone of these and other speeches, the peace party in the south was daily gaining strength. Besides those who really desired peace, there were others who hoped that a rejected attempt to treat with the National government might, fire the south with indignation. As early as 30 December 1863, Governor Zebulon B. Vance, of North Carolina, had written to Mr. Davis urging negotiation. The latter, in his answer, dated 8 January 1864, cited previous unsuccessful attempts to communicate with the authorities at Washington, and concluded that another would be undesirable.
In January, 1865, however, after an interview with Francis P. Blair, Sr., who had gone to Richmond, unofficially, in the hope of bringing about peace, Mr. Davis agreed to send three commissioners to confer with the National government The result was an unsatisfactory meeting on a steamer in Hampton Roads. On the return of the commissioners public meetings were held, at which there seemed to be a return of the enthusiasm of the early days of the war. Peace with the independence of the south was now seen to be impossible, and the horrors of subjugation by the north were painted in gloomy colors by the speakers. Mr. Davis, always an able and impressive speaker, made what has been called the most remarkable speech of his life. But this outburst of enthusiasm was only temporary. The evacuation of Atlanta had been followed by Sherman's march to the sea, and Hood's disastrous campaign in Tennessee. General Hood himself said, in speaking of it when taking leave of his army in January, 1865 :' " I alone am responsible for its conception." These reverses, however, with Grant's steady advance on Richmond, and, above all, the reelection of President Lincoln, had produced a growing conviction in the south that defeat was inevitable. The Confederate congress that met in November, 1864, was outspoken in opposition to the administration, and in January, 1865, the Virginia delegation urged a change in the cabinet, expressing their want of confidence in its members.
As a consequence of this, James A. Seddon, then secretary of war, sent in his resignation. In his last message to congress, dated 13 March, 1865, Mr. Davis, while acknowledging the peril of the Confederacy, asserted that it had ample means of meeting the emergency. On Sunday, 2 April, 1865, while seated in his pew in St. Paul's Church, Richmond, he was handed a telegram from General Lee, announcing the latter's speedy withdrawal from Petersburg, and the consequent necessity for the evacuation of the capital. That evening, accompanied by his personal staff, members of the cabinet, and others, he left by train for Danville. On his arrival there he issued, on 5 April, a proclamation of which he afterward admitted that, "viewed by the light of subsequent events, it may fairly be said it was oversanguine." In it he said : "Relieved from the necessity of guarding particular points, our army will be free to move from point to point, to strike the enemy in detail far from his base."
Danville was abandoned in less than a week, and after a conference at Greensboro, N. C., with Generals Johnston and Beauregard, in which his hopes of continuing the war met with little encouragement he went to Charlotte, where he heard of the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. His wife had preceded him with a small escort, and it was just after he had overtaken her, while encamped near Irwinsville, Georgia, that the whole party were captured, on 10 May, by a body of cavalry under Lieutenant Col. Pritchard. He was taken to Fort Monroe, and kept in confinement for two years.
On 21 September, 1865, the U. S. Senate called on the president for information on the subject of his trial, and in response reports were submitted from the secretary of war and the attorney general, their substance being that Virginia was the proper place for the trial, and that it was not vet possible peacefully to hold a U. S. court in that state. On 12 October, in reply to a letter from President Johnson, Chief Justice Chase said that he was unwilling to hold court in a district still under martial law. On 10 April, 1866, the judiciary committee of the House of Representatives reported that there was no reason why the trial should not be proceeded with, and that it was the duty of the government to investigate, without delay, the facts connected with Lincoln's assassination. On 8 May, 1866, Mr. Davis was indicted for treason by a grand jury in the U. S. court for the district of Virginia, sitting at Norfolk under Judge Underwood, the charge of complicity in the assassination of the president having been dropped. On 5 June, at a session of the court held in Richmond, James T. Brady, one of Mr. Davis's counsel, urged that the trial be held without delay; but the government declined to proceed on the indictment, urging the importance of the trial and the necessity of preparation for it. The court refused to admit the prisoner to bail. On 13 May, 1867, he was brought before the court at Richmond on a writ of habeas corpus, and admitted to bail in the amount of $100,000, the first name on his bail bond being that ofHorace Greeley. Mr. Davis's release gave much satisfaction to the southern people. The interest taken in him during his imprisonment, and their prudent idea that he was to suffer as a representative of the south, rather than for sins of his own, and was "a nation's prisoner," had made him more popular there than he had been since the first clays of the war. After an enthusiastic reception at Richmond he went to New York, then to Canada, and in the summer of 1868 visited England, a Liverpool firm having offered to take him as a partner, without capital. This offer, after investigation, was declined, and, having visited France, he returned to this country. He was never brought to trial, a nolle prosequi being entered by the government in his case December, 1868, and he was also included in the general amnesty of that month. After his discharge he became president of a life insurance company at Memphis, Tenn.
In 1879 Mrs. Dorsey, of Beauvoir, Miss., bequeathed to him her estate, where he has since quietly resided, giving much of his time to literary pursuits. In June, 1871, in a speech at a public reception in Atlanta, Georgia, he said that he still adhered to the principle of state sovereignty, was confident of its final triumph, and was "not of those who ' accept the situation.'' In 1876, when a bill was before the House of Representatives to remove all the political disabilities that had been imposed on those who took part in the insurrection, James G. Blaine offered an amendment excepting Jefferson Davis, and supported it by a speech in which he accused Mr. Davis of being " the author of the gigantic murders and crimes at Andersonville." Senator Benjamin H. Hill, of Georgia, spoke in reply, defending Mr. Davis from this charge. Again, in 1879, Mr. Davis was specially accepted in a bill to pension veterans of the Mexican war, the adoption of an amendment to that effect being largely the result of a speech by Zachariah Chartdler.
In October, 1884, at a meeting of Frank P. Blair post, of the Grand Army of the Republic, in St. Louis, General William T. Sherman asserted that he had seen letters and papers showing that Mr. Davis had abandoned his state rights doctrines during the war, and had become practically a dictator in the south. Mr. Davis, in a letter to a newspaper, denied the charge, and General Sherman then filed with the war department at Washington papers that, in his view, substantiated it. On 28 April, 1886, Mr. Davis spoke at the dedication of a monument to confederate soldiers at Montgomery, Ala., and was enthusiastically received.
The engraving on the preceding page is a view of his early home in Mississippi. Two biographies of Mr. Davis have been written, both by southern authors, which illustrate the extremes of southern opinion. That by Frank H. Alfriend (New York, 1868) represents those who are friendly to Mr. Davis, while that by Edward A. Pollard, with the subtitle " Secret History of the Confederacy" (Philadelphia, 1869), holds him responsible for all the disasters of the war. Mr. Pollard, who was an editor of the "Richmond Examiner," a paper hostile to the administration, concedes that Mr. Davis was thoroughly devoted to the cause of the south, and had indomitable pluck, but accuses him of vanity, gross favoritism, and incompetency.
In addition to these works, see Dr. Craven's " Prison Life of Jefferson Davis" (New York, 1866). Mr. Davis himself has published " The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government" (2 vols., New York, 1881).
His brother, Joseph Emory Davis, lawyer, born near Augusta, Georgia, 10 December 1784; died in Vicksburg, Miss., 18 September, 1870, was the oldest of the ten children of Sanmel Davis, and in 1796 removed with his father to Kentucky. He was placed in a mercantile house at an early age, studied law in Russellville and in Wilkinson County, whither he accompanied his father in 1811, was admitted to the bar in 1812, and practiced in Pinckneyville, and afterward in Greenville, rising to high rank in the profession, he was the delegate from Jefferson County in the convention that organized the state government in 1817, and took a prominent part in framing the constitution. In 1820 he removed to Natchez, and formed a copartner ship with Thomas B. Reed, then the leader of the Mississippi bar. In 1827 he decided to retire from the profession in which he had won success by his learning, argumentative powers, and oratorical ability, in order to become a planter. In this occupation he was also very successful, and at the Beginning of the civil war he possessed one of the finest plantations on the Mississippi river. During the war he was driven from his home with his family, and endured many hardships. He returned to Vicksburg at its close, and, after a controversy with the officers of the Freedmen's bureau, regained possession of his estate, but continued to reside in the City of Vicksburg. Mr. Davis was noted for his benevolence, and many youths of both sexes were indebted to him for a liberal education. -- Edited A. C. American Biography Copyright© 2000 by VirtualologyTM
Varina Howell Davis
(1826–1906)
Varina Howell Davis (1826–1906) was born on May 7, 1826, in Natchez, Mississippi, into a family of modest wealth but distinguished ancestry. Her father, William Burr Howell, came from a notable family in New Jersey, and her mother, Margaret Louisa Kempe, was descended from Virginia’s prominent Randolph family. Despite their lineage, the Howell family faced financial challenges. Varina received a well-rounded education unusual for women of her time, studying literature, French, and history. Known for her intelligence, wit, and sharp sense of humor, she became a perceptive and articulate young woman, traits that would define her throughout her life.
In 1843, at the age of 17, Varina met Jefferson Davis, a widower and former army officer 18 years her senior, while visiting the plantation of mutual family friends. Though initially uncertain about their differences, the two shared an intellectual rapport and became engaged the following year. They were married on February 26, 1845. Their early years together were turbulent; Davis was often away, preoccupied with his political ambitions, leaving Varina to manage their plantation and household on her own. Nonetheless, they developed a deep, if sometimes strained, bond, with Varina acting as a stabilizing force in Jefferson’s life.
As her husband’s political career advanced, Varina adapted to her role as a politician’s wife in Washington, D.C., where Jefferson Davis served as a U.S. Senator from Mississippi and later as Secretary of War under President Franklin Pierce. In Washington, Varina’s intelligence, lively personality, and sharp observations gained her both admirers and critics. She formed friendships with prominent figures of the day, including First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln and writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. However, her outspoken opinions and Northern heritage occasionally put her at odds with Southern society, which expected a more traditional, subdued role from women.
In 1861, as tensions over slavery and states’ rights boiled over into the Civil War, Jefferson Davis was appointed President of the Confederate States of America. Varina assumed the role of First Lady of the Confederacy, relocating with her family to Richmond, Virginia, where the Confederate government was based. Her role during the war years was marked by hardship and controversy. The Davises endured personal losses, including the deaths of two of their six children. Varina also faced considerable public scrutiny, as her Northern background made her a target of suspicion among some Southerners. Despite these challenges, she stood by her husband and contributed to the war effort, volunteering in military hospitals and helping to organize relief efforts for Confederate soldiers.
Varina’s time in Richmond was fraught with fear and uncertainty, particularly as the war turned against the South. In April 1865, with the fall of Richmond imminent, she and her children fled the capital. Shortly afterward, Jefferson Davis was captured by Union forces and imprisoned, while Varina struggled to provide for her family. She became a vocal advocate for his release, working tirelessly to garner support and eventually securing his freedom in 1867.
Following the war, the Davises faced financial hardship and social ostracism. For a time, they lived in exile in Canada and then moved to England, where Jefferson sought work. Eventually, they returned to the American South, settling in Biloxi, Mississippi, at the Beauvoir estate, which had been donated to Jefferson by a wealthy Southern admirer. While Jefferson wrote his memoirs, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, Varina took an active role in assisting him, managing their household and handling much of the estate’s daily operations. The Davises spent their later years at Beauvoir, and Jefferson passed away there in 1889.
After Jefferson’s death, Varina faced the challenge of reshaping her life and legacy. She moved to New York City in 1891 to work as a columnist for The New York World, where her articles covered a range of topics, from social issues to reflections on her life. Her move to New York and her association with former Union supporters and intellectuals sparked controversy in the South, where many expected her to remain loyal to Confederate ideals. Yet, Varina held firm in her decision, valuing her independence and intellectual freedom. She developed friendships with figures such as Julia Dent Grant, the widow of Ulysses S. Grant, signaling a remarkable reconciliation between the former First Lady of the Confederacy and the Union general’s family.
In her later years, Varina worked on preserving Jefferson’s legacy but also distanced herself from many aspects of the Confederate cause. She expressed regret about the institution of slavery and the suffering caused by the Civil War, and her personal reflections revealed a complex view of the Southern cause and her husband’s role within it. Her nuanced stance earned her respect from some but alienated her from others who felt betrayed by her seeming departure from the “Lost Cause” narrative that had gained traction in Southern memory.
Varina Davis passed away on October 16, 1906, at the age of 80. She was laid to rest beside Jefferson in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery. Today, she is remembered as a multifaceted figure who lived through and witnessed the profound upheaval of the Civil War and its aftermath. Her legacy is marked by resilience, independence, and a willingness to embrace change in a deeply divided nation.
The Congressional Evolution of the United States of America
For students and teachers of U.S. history, this video features Stanley and Christopher Klos presenting America's Four United Republics Curriculum at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. Filmed in December 2015, this video is an informal recording by an audience member capturing a presentation attended by approximately 200 students, professors, and guests. To explore the full curriculum, [download it here].
Sept. 5, 1774 to July 1, 1776
September 5, 1774 | October 22, 1774 | |
October 22, 1774 | October 26, 1774 | |
May 20, 1775 | May 24, 1775 | |
May 25, 1775 | July 1, 1776 |
Commander-in-Chief United Colonies & States of America
George Washington: June 15, 1775 - December 23, 1783
July 2, 1776 to February 28, 1781
July 2, 1776 | October 29, 1777 | |
November 1, 1777 | December 9, 1778 | |
December 10, 1778 | September 28, 1779 | |
September 29, 1779 | February 28, 1781 |
Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled
March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789
March 1, 1781 to March 3, 1789
March 1, 1781 | July 6, 1781 | |
July 10, 1781 | Declined Office | |
July 10, 1781 | November 4, 1781 | |
November 5, 1781 | November 3, 1782 | |
November 4, 1782 | November 2, 1783 | |
November 3, 1783 | June 3, 1784 | |
November 30, 1784 | November 22, 1785 | |
November 23, 1785 | June 5, 1786 | |
June 6, 1786 | February 1, 1787 | |
February 2, 1787 | January 21, 1788 | |
January 22, 1788 | January 21, 1789 |
Articles of Confederation Congress
United States in Congress Assembled (USCA) Sessions
United States in Congress Assembled (USCA) Sessions
USCA | Session Dates | USCA Convene Date | President(s) |
First | 03-01-1781 to 11-04-1781* | 03-02-1781 | |
Second | 11-05-1781 to 11-03-1782 | 11-05-1781 | |
Third | 11-04-1782 to 11-02-1783 | 11-04-1782 | |
Fourth | 11-03-1783 to 10-31-1784 | 11-03-1783 | |
Fifth | 11-01-1784 to 11-06-1785 | 11-29-1784 | |
Sixth | 11-07-1785 to 11-05-1786 | 11-23-1785 | |
Seventh | 11-06-1786 to 11-04-1787 | 02-02-1787 | |
Eighth | 11-05-1787 to 11-02-1788 | 01-21-1788 | |
Ninth | 11-03-1788 to 03-03-1789** | None | None |
* The Articles of Confederation was ratified by the mandated 13th State on February 2, 1781, and the dated adopted by the Continental Congress to commence the new United States in Congress Assembled government was March 1, 1781. The USCA convened under the Articles of Confederation Constitution on March 2, 1781.** On September 14, 1788, the Eighth United States in Congress Assembled resolved that March 4th, 1789, would be commencement date of the Constitution of 1787's federal government thus dissolving the USCA on March 3rd, 1789.
Presidents of the United States of America
Capitals of the United Colonies and States of America
Philadelphia | Sept. 5, 1774 to Oct. 24, 1774 | |
Philadelphia | May 10, 1775 to Dec. 12, 1776 | |
Baltimore | Dec. 20, 1776 to Feb. 27, 1777 | |
Philadelphia | March 4, 1777 to Sept. 18, 1777 | |
Lancaster | September 27, 1777 | |
York | Sept. 30, 1777 to June 27, 1778 | |
Philadelphia | July 2, 1778 to June 21, 1783 | |
Princeton | June 30, 1783 to Nov. 4, 1783 | |
Annapolis | Nov. 26, 1783 to Aug. 19, 1784 | |
Trenton | Nov. 1, 1784 to Dec. 24, 1784 | |
New York City | Jan. 11, 1785 to Nov. 13, 1788 | |
New York City | October 6, 1788 to March 3,1789 | |
New York City | March 3,1789 to August 12, 1790 | |
Philadelphia | Dec. 6,1790 to May 14, 1800 | |
Washington DC | November 17,1800 to Present |
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Edited: Open AI. (2024). ChatGPT [Large language model] - https://chatgpt.com
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