Davis, Jefferson
Davis, Jefferson (1808–1889), soldier, senator, U.S. secretary of war, and the only president of the Confederate States of America.Jefferson Davis was born in Kentucky on 3 June 1808, and the family moved to Mississippi when he was an infant. In 1828, he graduated from West Point with a modest record and an infantry commission. He served in a variety of posts in Missouri, Oklahoma, and the Old Northwest, resigning in 1835 as a first lieutenant of dragoons.
Receiving a Mississippi cotton plantation from an older brother, Davis married the daughter of Gen. Zachary Taylor, but she died three months later. In 1845, he married Varina Howell and began a political career with election to the House of Representatives.
During the Mexican War, Davis commanded a Mississippi regiment with distinction at the Battle of Monterrey (1846) and the Battle of...
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