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 Jefferson Davis
N 37° 31.921 W 077° 27.610
18S E 282621 N 4156737
President of the Confederate States of America
Waymark Code: WMN56
Location: Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 08/23/2006
Views: 178
Jefferson Davis was the first and only President of the Confederate States of America. The Kentucky native was serving in the United States Senate when in 1861, he and a number of others Southern Senators resigned as the south seceded from the Union. On February 9, 1861, The Confederate constitutional convention at Montgomery, Alabama named him provisional president of the Confederate States of America and he was inaugurated on February 18, 1861 on the steps of the Alabama State House in Montgomery. The government moved to Richmond, Virginia in May, 1861, and Davis and his family took up his residence there at the White House of the Confederacy on May 29. Davis was confirmed as President by popular vote, and elected to a six-year term as president of the Confederacy on November 6, 1861. He had never served a full term in any elective office, and that would turn out to be the case on this occasion as well, as the Confederacy would collaspe in April 1865.
In April 1865, as the Confederacy was collapsing, Davis fled from Richmond, Virginia, hoping to continue the war from the Deep South or from west of the Mississippi, or to organize a government in exile. On May 10, 1865, President Davis was captured by Federal cavalrymen in southern Georgia. For 2 years he was held in prison and threatened with trial for treason. His suffering during his imprisonment won him the affection of the Southern people, who came to regard him as a martyr to their lost cause. Although indicted, Davis was never brought to trial, and he was released on bond in 1867. His subsequent ventures into business were unsuccessful. Believing that he had done nothing to be pardoned for, he refused to seek a pardon and remained ineligible for public office. Davis retired to Behavior, Mississippi, to an estate that he inherited from a generous family friend, and devoted himself to writing in defense of the South. Davis died on December 6, 1889, in New Orleans and was buried in Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana. Several years later the President’s Widow had President Davis moved and reburied in Richmond, Virginia. On May 31, 1893, with full Confederated Military Honors, President Jefferson Davis was reinterred in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.
Description:
Jefferson Davis was born on June 3, 1808 in what is now Fairview, Todd County, Kentucky. He moved with his parents to a plantation near Woodville, Wilkinson County, Mississippi. He attended country schools, and St. Thomas College. He was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor and a Representative and a Senator from Mississippi. He graduated from the United States Military Academy, West Point, N.Y., in 1828; served in the Black Hawk War in 1832. He was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-ninth Congress, serving from March 4, 1845, until June 1846, when he resigned to command the First Regiment of Mississippi Riflemen in the war with Mexico. Following the war Davis was appointed to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Jesse Speight and was subsequently elected and served from August 10, 1847, until September 23, 1851. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Secretary of War, serving in that office from 1853 through 1857 when he was once again elected to the United States Senate. He served in the Senate from March 4, 1857 until January 21, 1861, when he resigned along with several other secessionist Senators. Davis was chosen to become President of the Confederacy by the Provisional Congress and was inaugurated on February 18, 1861 on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol in Montgomery. He was elected President of the Confederacy and was inaugurated on February 22, 1862 in Richmond, Virginia. He served as the Confederated President until April 1865, when Richmond and the Confederacy collapsed and President Davis and his family were force to flee. Federal Troops captured President Davis on May 10, 1865 near Irwinsville, Georgia. Following his capture he was indicted for treason and held prisoner for the next two years at Fort Monroe. President Davis was never tried and was paroled by the court in 1867 and returned to Mississippi where he lived out the remaining years of his life. President Jefferson Davis died on December 6, 1889 in New Orleans and was buried in the Metairie Cemetery. Several years later Mrs. Davis decided to have the President remains moved and reinterred in at a location that could accommodate the entire Davis Family. After listening to several options, Mrs. Davis decided that Richmond, Virginia, which had been the Capital of the Confederacy would be the final resting place of the Davis Family. On May 31, 1893, with full Confederate Military Honors, President Jefferson Davis was reinterred in Richmond’s Hollywood Cemetery
Date of birth: 06/03/1808
Date of death: 12/05/1889
Area of notoriety: Historical Figure
Marker Type: Statue
Setting: Outdoor
Visiting Hours/Restrictions: Gates open daily, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (open until 6:00 p.m. April-October)
Fee required?: No
Web site: [Web Link]
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