125-772: The 2nd Confederate States Congress , consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from May 2, 1864, to March 18, 1865, during the last year of Jefferson Davis 's presidency , at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond , Virginia ; the Confederacy's government effectively dissolved 16 days later, when it fled Richmond on April 3, 1865. Its members were elected in
250-749: A Catholic preparatory school run by Dominicans near Springfield, Kentucky . In 1818, Davis returned to Mississippi, where he briefly studied at Jefferson College in Washington . He then attended the Wilkinson County Academy near Woodville for five years. In 1823, Davis attended Transylvania University in Lexington . While he was still in college in 1824, he learned that his father Samuel had died. Before his death, Samuel had fallen into debt and sold Rosemont and most of his slaves to his eldest son Joseph Emory Davis , who already owned
375-438: A Union with those who have already shown the will ...to deprive you of your birthright and to reduce you to worse than the colonial dependence of your fathers." In February 1860, Davis presented a series of resolutions defining the relationship between the states under the constitution, including the assertion that Americans had a constitutional right to bring slaves into territories. These resolutions were seen as setting
500-608: A crisis because the Confederacy needed time to organize its resources. To ensure that no attack on Fort Sumter was launched without his command, Davis had appointed Brigadier General P. G. T. Beauregard to command all Confederate troops in the vicinity of Charleston, South Carolina. Davis sent a commission to Washington to negotiate the evacuation of the forts, but President of the United States Lincoln refused to meet with it. When Lincoln informed Davis that he intended to reprovision Fort Sumter, Davis convened with
625-657: A debate on the Lecompton Constitution submitted by a convention in Kansas Territory . If approved, it would have allowed Kansas to be admitted as a slave state. Davis supported it, but it was not accepted, in part because the leading Democrat in the North, Stephen Douglas , argued it did not represent the true will of the settlers in the territory. The controversy undermined the alliance between Northern and Southern Democrats. Davis's participation in
750-628: A distant cousin of Jefferson Davis and the wife of Joseph Pulitzer , a major newspaper publisher in New York, had met Varina Davis during a visit to the South. She solicited short articles from her for her husband's newspaper, the New York World . In 1891 Varina Davis accepted the Pulitzers' offer to become a full-time columnist and moved to New York City with her daughter Winnie. They enjoyed
875-519: A dowry of 60 slaves and 2,000 acres (8.1 km ) of land in Mississippi. William Howell worked as a planter , merchant, politician, postmaster, cotton broker, banker, and military commissary manager, but never secured long-term financial success. He lost the majority of Margaret's sizable dowry and inheritance through bad investments and their expensive lifestyle. They suffered intermittent serious financial problems throughout their lives. Varina
1000-536: A failure." Jefferson Davis resigned from the U.S. Senate in 1861 when Mississippi seceded. Varina Davis returned with their children to Brierfield, expecting him to be commissioned as a general in the Confederate army. He was elected as President of the Confederate States of America by the new Confederate Congress. She did not accompany him when he traveled to Montgomery, Alabama (then capital of
1125-585: A fall from the porch at the Presidential mansion in Richmond. A few weeks later, Varina gave birth to their last child, a girl named Varina Anne Davis , who was called "Winnie". The girl became known to the public as "the Daughter of the Confederacy;" stories about and likenesses of her were distributed throughout the Confederacy during the last year of the war to raise morale. She retained the nickname for
1250-481: A family and lived to be 54; Jefferson Davis Jr., born in 1857, who died of yellow fever at age 21; Joseph Evan, born 1859, who died from an accidental fall at age five; William Howell, born 1861, who died of diphtheria at age 10; and Varina Anne , born 1864, who remained single and lived to be 34. In July 1845, Davis became a candidate for the United States House of Representatives . He ran on
1375-462: A few relatives and friends of the bride attended, and none of the groom's family. Their short honeymoon included a visit to Davis's aged mother, Jane Davis, and a visit to the grave of his first wife in Louisiana. The newlyweds took up residence at Brierfield, the plantation Davis had developed on 1,000 acres (4.0 km ) loaned to him for his use by his brother Joseph Davis. Their first residence
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#17327723077841500-402: A freshman senator because of his connections as the son-in-law (by his late wife) and former junior officer of President Zachary Taylor . Varina Davis enjoyed the social life of the capital and quickly established herself as one of the city's most popular (and, in her early 20s, one of the youngest) hostesses and party guests. The 1904 memoir of her contemporary, Virginia Clay-Clopton , described
1625-560: A large estate in Davis Bend, Mississippi , about 15 miles (24 km) south of Vicksburg, Mississippi . Joseph, who was 23 years older than Davis, informally became his surrogate father. His older brother Joseph got Davis appointed to the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1824, where he became friends with classmates Albert Sidney Johnston and Leonidas Polk . Davis frequently challenged
1750-479: A lifelong correspondence with some, and called herself a "half-breed" for her connections in both regions. After a year, she returned to Natchez, where she was privately tutored by Judge George Winchester, a Harvard graduate and family friend. She was intelligent and better educated than many of her peers, which led to tensions with Southern expectations for women. In her later years, Varina referred fondly to Madame Grelaud and Judge Winchester; she sacrificed to provide
1875-477: A member from each of the states of the Confederacy, including Texas which had recently seceded: Robert Toombs of Georgia for Secretary of State, Christopher Memminger of South Carolina for Secretary of the Treasury, LeRoy Walker of Alabama for Secretary of War, John Reagan of Texas for Postmaster General, Judah P. Benjamin of Louisiana for Attorney General, and Stephen Mallory of Florida for Secretary of
2000-529: A platform emphasizing a strict constructionist view of the constitution, states' rights , tariff reductions, and opposition to a national bank. He won the election and entered the 29th Congress. Davis opposed using federal monies for internal improvements, which he believed would undermine the autonomy of the states. He supported the American annexation of Oregon, but through peaceful compromise with Britain. On May 11, 1846, he voted for war with Mexico. At
2125-737: A prestigious academy for young ladies. Grelaud, a Huguenot , was a refugee from the French Revolution and had founded her school in the 1790s. One of Varina's classmates was Sarah Anne Ellis , later known as Sarah Anne Dorsey, the daughter of extremely wealthy Mississippi planters. (After the Civil War, Dorsey, by then a wealthy widow, provided financial support to the Davises.) While at school in Philadelphia, Varina got to know many of her northern Howell relatives; she carried on
2250-438: A respected novelist and historian, and had traveled extensively. She arranged for Davis to use a cottage on the grounds of her plantation. There she helped him organize and write his memoir of the Confederacy, in part by her active encouragement. She also invited Varina Davis to stay with her. Davis and her eldest daughter, Margaret Howell Hayes , disapproved of her husband's friendship with Dorsey. After Varina Davis returned to
2375-464: A senator. When Calhoun died in the spring of 1850, Davis became the senatorial spokesperson for the South. The Congress debated Henry Clay 's resolutions, which sought to address the sectional and territorial problems of the nation and became the basis for the Compromise of 1850 . Davis was against the resolutions because he felt they would put the South at a political disadvantage. He opposed
2500-766: A stalemate at the Battle of Perryville , Bragg and Smith retreated to Tennessee. In December, Bragg was defeated at the Battle of Stones River . In response to the defeat and the lack of coordination, Davis reorganized the command in the West in November, combining the armies in Tennessee and Vicksburg into a department under the overall command of Joseph Johnston. Davis expected Johnston to relieve Bragg of his command, but Johnston refused. During this time, Secretary of War Randolph resigned because he felt Davis refused to give him
2625-616: A successful planter and major landowner in Virginia and Mississippi, and Margaret Graham, born in Prince William County . Margaret Graham was illegitimate as her parents, George Graham, a Scots immigrant, and Susanna McAllister (1783–1816) of Virginia, never officially married. After moving his family from Virginia to Mississippi, James Kempe also bought land in Louisiana, continuing to increase his holdings and productive capacity. When his daughter married Howell, he gave her
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#17327723077842750-550: A time to Briarfield, where she chafed under the supervision of her brother-in-law, Joseph. The surviving correspondence between the Davises from this period expresses their difficulties and mutual resentments. After her husband's return from the war, Varina Davis did not immediately accompany him to Washington when the Mississippi legislature appointed him to fill a Senate seat. Ultimately, the couple reconciled. She rejoined her husband in Washington. He had unusual visibility for
2875-414: A winning manner of asserting himself. The fact is, he is the kind of person I should expect to rescue one from a mad dog at any risk, but to insist upon a stoical indifference to the fright afterward. In keeping with custom, Davis sought the permission of Howell's parents before beginning a formal courtship. They initially disapproved of him due to the many differences in background, age, and politics. Davis
3000-597: A woman in her public role. She did not support the Confederacy's position on slavery, and was ambivalent about the war. Davis became a writer after the war, completing her husband's memoir . She was recruited by Kate (Davis) Pulitzer, a purportedly distant cousin of Varina’s husband and wife of publisher Joseph Pulitzer , to write articles and eventually a regular column for the New York World . Widowed in 1889, Davis moved to New York with her youngest daughter Winnie in 1891 to work at writing. She enjoyed urban life. In her old age, she attempted to reconcile prominent figures of
3125-606: A woman of Scots-Irish descent whom he had met in South Carolina during his military service, in 1783. Around 1793, Samuel and Jane moved to Kentucky. Jefferson was born on June 3, 1808, at the family homestead in Davisburg, a village Samuel had established that later became Fairview, Kentucky . He was named after then-President Thomas Jefferson . In 1810, the Davis family moved to Bayou Teche , Louisiana. Less than
3250-522: A year later, they moved to a farm near Woodville, Mississippi , where Samuel cultivated cotton, acquired twelve slaves, and built a house that Jane called Rosemont . During the War of 1812 , three of Davis's brothers served in the military. When Davis was around five, he received a rudimentary education at a small schoolhouse near Woodville. When he was about eight, his father sent him with Major Thomas Hinds and his relatives to attend Saint Thomas College ,
3375-400: Is young or old. He looks both at times; but I believe he is old, for from what I hear he is only two years younger than you are [the rumor was correct]. He impresses me as a remarkable kind of man, but of uncertain temper, and has a way of taking for granted that everybody agrees with him when he expresses an opinion, which offends me; yet he is most agreeable and has a peculiarly sweet voice and
3500-1021: The 1863 congressional elections . Held May 2, 1864, through March 18, 1865, at the Virginia State Capital in Richmond, Virginia. The term of the Second Congress was due to end on February 18, 1866. However, due to the defeat and dissolution of the Confederacy prior to that time, the Congress did not function after the end of its second and final session. X : served in the Senate of the First Congress (i.e. reelected or continued in office for this Second Congress). Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi Missouri North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia The names of members of
3625-537: The Bank of the United States . William Howell relocated to Mississippi, when new cotton plantations were being rapidly developed. There he met and married Margaret Louisa Kempe (1806–1867), born in Prince William County, Virginia . Her wealthy planter family had moved to Mississippi before 1816. She was the daughter of Colonel James Kempe (sometimes spelled Kemp), a Scots-Irish immigrant from Ulster who became
3750-509: The Battle of Bad Axe , which ended the war. When Black Hawk was captured, Davis escorted him for detention in St. Louis. Black Hawk stated that Davis treated him with kindness. After Davis's return to Fort Crawford in January 1833, he and Taylor's daughter, Sarah, became romantically involved. Davis asked Taylor if he could marry Sarah, but Taylor refused. In spring, Taylor had him assigned to
3875-496: The Battle of Buena Vista on February 22, 1847. He was wounded in the heel during the fighting, but his actions stopped an attack by the Mexican forces that threatened to collapse the American line. In May, Polk offered him a federal commission as a brigadier general . Davis declined the appointment, arguing he could not directly command militia units because the U.S. Constitution gives the power of appointing militia officers to
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4000-692: The Missouri Compromise 's limits on slavery and left the decision about a territory's slaveholding status to popular sovereignty , which allowed the territory's residents to decide. The passage of this bill led to the demise of the Whig party, which had tried to limit expansion of slavery in the territories. It also contributed to the rise of the Republican Party and the increase of civil violence in Kansas . The Democratic nomination for
4125-661: The Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. The commanders responsible for the defeat were Brigadier Generals Gideon Pillow and John B. Floyd , political generals that Davis had been required to appoint. Davis gathered troops defending the Gulf Coast and concentrated them with A. S. Johnston's remaining forces. Davis favored using this concentration in an offensive. Johnston attacked the Union forces at Shiloh in southwestern Tennessee on April 6. The attack failed, and Johnston
4250-865: The United States Regiment of Dragoons under Colonel Henry Dodge . He was promoted to first lieutenant and deployed at Fort Gibson in Arkansas Territory . In February 1835, Davis was court-martialed for insubordination. He was acquitted. He requested a furlough, and immediately after it ended, he tendered his resignation, which was effective on June 30. Davis decided to become a cotton planter . He returned to Mississippi where his brother Joseph had developed Davis Bend into Hurricane Plantation , which eventually had 1,700 acres (690 ha) of cultivated fields with over 300 slaves. Joseph loaned him funds to buy ten slaves and provided him with 800 acres (320 ha), though Joseph retained
4375-642: The " Mississippi Rifles ". Davis's regiment was assigned to the army of his former father-in-law, Zachary Taylor, in northeastern Mexico. Davis distinguished himself at the Battle of Monterrey in September by leading a charge that took the fort of La Teneria. He then went on a two-month leave and returned to Mississippi, where he learned that Joseph had submitted Davis's resignation from the House of Representatives in October. Davis returned to Mexico and fought in
4500-693: The 1856 presidential election went to James Buchanan . Knowing his term was over when the Pierce administration ended in 1857, Davis ran for the Senate once more and re-entered it on March 4, 1857. In the same month, the United States Supreme Court decided the Dred Scott case , which ruled that slavery could not be barred from any territory. The Senate recessed in March and did not reconvene until November 1857. The session opened with
4625-418: The Confederacy and regain Tennessee, but he did not create a unified command. He formed a new department independent of Bragg under Major General Edmund Kirby Smith at Knoxville, Tennessee . In August, both Bragg and Smith invaded Kentucky. Frankfort was briefly captured and a Confederate governor was inaugurated, but the attack collapsed, in part due to lack of coordination between the two generals. After
4750-410: The Confederacy. The American Civil War had begun. In addition to being the constitutional commander-in-chief of the Confederacy, Davis was operational military leader as the military departments reported directly to him. Many people, including Generals Joseph E. Johnston and Major General Leonidas Polk, thought he would direct the fighting, but he left that to his generals. Major fighting in
4875-545: The Confederate Congress on April 8 and gave orders to demand the immediate surrender of the fort or to reduce it. The commander of the fort, Major Robert Anderson , refused to surrender, and Beauregard began the attack on Fort Sumter early on April 12. After over thirty hours of bombardment, the fort surrendered. When Lincoln called for 75,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion , four more states– Virginia , North Carolina , Tennessee , and Arkansas —joined
5000-483: The Confederate bureaucracy which helped support him. The social turbulence of the war years reached the Presidential mansion; in 1864, several of the Davises' domestic slaves escaped. James Dennison and his wife, Betsey, who had served as Varina's maid, used saved back pay of 80 gold dollars to finance their escape. Henry, a butler, left one night after allegedly building a fire in the mansion's basement to divert attention. In spring 1864, five-year-old Joseph Davis died in
5125-540: The Davises lived apart far more than they lived together. Davis was unemployed for most of the years after the war. In 1877 he was ill and nearly bankrupt. Advised to take a home near the sea for his health, he accepted an invitation from Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey , a widowed heiress, to visit her summer cottage Beauvoir on the Mississippi Sound in Biloxi . A classmate of Varina in Philadelphia, Dorsey had become
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5250-535: The East began an amphibious attack on the Virginia Peninsula , 75 miles from the Confederate capital of Richmond . Davis and Lee wanted Joseph Johnston, who commanded the Confederate army near Richmond, to make a stand at Yorktown . Instead, Johnston withdrew from the peninsula without informing Davis. Davis reminded Johnston that it was his duty to not let Richmond fall. On May 31, 1862, Johnston engaged
5375-460: The East began when a Union army advanced into northern Virginia in July 1861. It was defeated at Manassas by two Confederate forces commanded by Beauregard and Joseph Johnston. After the battle, Davis had to manage disputes with the two generals, both of whom felt they did not get the recognition they deserved. In the West, Davis had to address a problem caused by another general. Kentucky , which
5500-750: The House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers. X : reelected Alabama Arkansas Florida Georgia Kentucky Louisiana Mississippi Missouri North Carolina South Carolina Tennessee Texas Virginia Non-voting members of the House of Representatives. Arizona Territory Cherokee Nation Creek and Seminole Nations Accounts Claims Commerce Engrossment and Enrollment Finance Foreign Relations Indian Affairs Judiciary Military Affairs Naval Affairs Patents Post Offices and Post Roads Printing Public Buildings Jefferson Davis Jefferson F. Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889)
5625-606: The Hurricane Plantation for the Christmas season. At the convention, Davis was selected as one of Mississippi's six presidential electors for the 1844 presidential election . Within a month of their meeting, 35-year-old Davis and Varina became engaged despite her parents' initial concerns about his age and politics. During the remainder of the year, Davis campaigned for the Democratic party, advocating for
5750-611: The Mexican–American War, claiming that Nicholas Trist , who negotiated the treaty, had done so as a private citizen and not a government representative. Instead, he advocated negotiating a new treaty ceding additional land to the United States, and opposed the application of the Wilmot Proviso to the treaty, which would have banned slavery in any territory acquired from Mexico. During the 1848 presidential election, Davis chose not to campaign against Zachary Taylor, who
5875-688: The Navy. Davis stood in for Mississippi. During his presidency, Davis's cabinet often changed; there were fourteen different appointees for the positions, including six secretaries of war. On November 6, 1861 , Davis was elected president for a six-year term. He took office on February 22, 1862. As the Southern states seceded, state authorities took over most federal facilities without bloodshed. But four forts, including Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina , had not surrendered. Davis preferred to avoid
6000-471: The North and South. Varina Anne Banks Howell was born in 1826 at Natchez, Mississippi , the daughter of William Burr Howell and Margaret Louisa Kempe . Her father was from a distinguished family in New Jersey: His father, Richard Howell , served several terms as governor of New Jersey and died when William was a boy. William inherited little money and used family connections to become a clerk in
6125-561: The North for work after the war; they were nicknamed "Confederate carpetbaggers ". In the postwar years of reconciliation, Davis became friends with Julia Dent Grant , the widow of former general and president Ulysses S. Grant , who had been among the most hated men in the South. She attended a reception where she met Booker T. Washington , head of the Tuskegee Institute , then a black college . In her old age, Davis published some of her observations and "declared in print that
6250-464: The North, Lee invaded Maryland , but retreated back to Virginia after a bloody stalemate at Antietam in September. In December, Lee stopped another invasion of Virginia at the Battle of Fredericksburg . In the West, Bragg shifted most of his available forces from Tupelo to Chattanooga in July 1862 for an offensive toward Kentucky. Davis approved, suggesting that an attack could win Kentucky for
6375-544: The Senate was interrupted in early 1858 by a recurring case of iritis , which threatened the loss of his left eye. It left him bedridden for seven weeks. He spent the summer of 1858 in Portland, Maine recovering, and gave speeches in Maine, Boston, and New York, emphasizing the common heritage of all Americans and the importance of the constitution for defining the nation. His speeches angered some states' rights supporters in
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#17327723077846500-442: The Senate. He resigned in 1861 when Mississippi seceded from the United States. During the Civil War, Davis guided the Confederacy's policies and served as its commander in chief. When the Confederacy was defeated in 1865, Davis was captured, arrested for alleged complicity in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln , accused of treason , and imprisoned at Fort Monroe . He was released without trial after two years. Immediately after
6625-559: The South, requiring him to clarify his comments when he returned to Mississippi. Davis said that he appreciated the benefits of Union, but acknowledged that it could be dissolved if states' rights were violated or one section of the country imposed its will on another. Speaking to the Mississippi Legislature on November 16, 1858, Davis stated "if an Abolitionist be chosen President of the United States ... I should deem it your duty to provide for your safety outside of
6750-401: The Union army counterattacked and Bragg's forces retreated to northern Georgia. Bragg resigned his command; Davis replaced him with Joseph Johnston but retained Bragg as an informal chief of staff. Davis had to address faltering civilian morale. In early spring, there were riots in Confederate cities as people began to suffer food shortages and price inflation. During one riot in Richmond,
6875-555: The Union army less than ten miles from Richmond at the Battle of Seven Pines , where he was wounded. Davis put Lee in command. Lee began the Seven Days Battles less than a month later, pushing the Union forces back down the peninsula and eventually forcing them to withdraw from Virginia. Lee beat back another army moving into Virginia at the Battle of Second Manassas in August 1862. Knowing Davis desired an offensive into
7000-569: The United States have been removed . Jefferson F. Davis was the youngest of ten children of Jane and Samuel Emory Davis. Samuel Davis's father, Evan, who had a Welsh background, came to the colony of Georgia from Philadelphia. Samuel served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War , and received a land grant for his service near present-day Washington, Georgia . He married Jane Cook,
7125-498: The United States, she lived in Memphis with Margaret and her family for a time. Gradually she began a reconciliation with her husband. She was with him at Beauvoir in 1878 when they learned that their last surviving son, Jefferson Davis, Jr., had died during a yellow fever epidemic in Memphis. That year 20,000 people died throughout the South in the epidemic. During her grieving, Varina became friends again with Dorsey. Sarah Dorsey
7250-570: The Western territories. He argued that because the territories were the common property of all the United States and lacked state sovereignty to ban slavery, slave owners had the equal right to settle them as any other citizens. Davis tried to amend the Oregon Bill to allow settlers to bring their slaves into Oregon Territory . He opposed ratifying the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , which ended
7375-585: The academy's discipline. In his first year, he was court-martialed for drinking at a nearby tavern. He was found guilty but was pardoned. The following year, he was placed under house arrest for his role in the Eggnog Riot during Christmas 1826 but was not dismissed. He graduated 23rd in a class of 33. Second Lieutenant Davis was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment . He was accompanied by his personal servant James Pemberton, an enslaved African American whom he inherited from his father. In early 1829, he
7500-566: The admission of California as a free state without its first becoming a territory, asserting that a territorial government would give slaveowners the opportunity to colonize the region. He also tried to extend the Missouri Compromise Line to allow slavery to expand to the Pacific Ocean. He stated that not allowing slavery into the new territories denied the political equality of Southerners, and threatened to undermine
7625-472: The age of 21 on September 15, 1835, after only three months of marriage. For several years after Sarah's death, Davis spent much of his time developing Brierfield. In 1836, he possessed 23 slaves; by 1840, he possessed 40; and by 1860, 113. He made his first slave, James Pemberton, Brierfield's effective overseer, a position Pemberton held until his death around 1850. Davis continued his intellectual development by reading about politics, law and economics at
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#17327723077847750-406: The age of two. Varina Davis largely withdrew from social life for a time. In 1855, she gave birth to a healthy daughter, Margaret (1855–1909); followed by two sons, Jefferson, Jr., (1857–1878) and Joseph (1859–1864), during her husband's remaining tenure in Washington, D.C. The early losses of all four of their sons caused enormous grief to both the Davises. During the Pierce Administration , Davis
7875-435: The agenda for the Democratic Party nomination, ensuring that Douglas's idea of popular sovereignty, known as the Freeport Doctrine , would be excluded from the party platform. The Democratic party split—Douglas was nominated by the North and Vice President John C. Breckinridge was nominated by the South —and the Republican Party nominee Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 presidential election . Davis counselled moderation after
8000-440: The autonomy to do his job; Davis replaced him with James Seddon . In the winter of 1862, Davis decided to join the Episcopal Church ; in May 1863, he was confirmed at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Richmond. On January 1, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation . Davis saw this as attempt to destroy the South by inciting its enslaved people to revolt, declaring the proclamation "the most execrable measure recorded in
8125-446: The balance of power between Northern and Southern states in the Senate. In the autumn of 1851, Davis was nominated to run for governor of Mississippi against Henry Stuart Foote , who had favored the Compromise of 1850. He accepted the nomination and resigned from the Senate, but Foote won the election by a slim margin. Davis turned down a reappointment to his Senate seat by outgoing Governor James Whitfield , settling in Brierfield for
8250-429: The beginning of the Mexican–American War , Mississippi raised a volunteer unit, the First Mississippi Regiment , for the U.S. Army. Davis expressed his interest in joining the regiment if he was elected its colonel, and in the second round of elections in June 1846 he was chosen. He did not give up his position as a U.S. Representative, but left a letter of resignation with his brother Joseph to submit when he thought it
8375-423: The best route and sectional problems prevented any choice being made. Davis also argued for the acquisition of Cuba from Spain, seeing it as an opportunity to add the island, a strategic military location and potential slave state. He suggested that the size of the regular army was too small and that its salaries were too meagre. Congress agreed and authorized four new regiments and increased its pay scale. He ended
8500-414: The busy life of the city. White Southerners attacked Davis for this move to the North, as she was considered a public figure of the Confederacy whom they claimed for their own. As Davis and her daughter each worked at literary careers, they lived in a series of residential hotels in New York City. (Their longest residency was at the Hotel Gerard at 123 W. 44th Street.) Varina Davis wrote many articles for
8625-480: The care of relatives and a family servant. Initially forbidden to have any contact with her husband, Davis worked tirelessly to secure his release. She tried to raise awareness of and sympathy for what she perceived as his unjust incarceration. After a few months Varina Davis was allowed to correspond with him. Articles and a book on his confinement helped turn public opinion in his favor. Davis and young Winnie were allowed to join Jefferson in his prison cell. The family
8750-412: The couple became engaged shortly thereafter. Their wedding was planned as a grand affair to be held at Hurricane Plantation during Christmas of 1844, but the wedding and engagement were cancelled shortly beforehand, for unknown reasons. In January 1845, while Howell was ill with a fever, Davis visited her frequently. They became engaged again. When they married on February 26, 1845, at her parents' house,
8875-417: The defeats, with George W. Randolph . Davis kept Benjamin in the cabinet, making him secretary of state to replace Hunter, who had stepped down. In March, Davis vetoed a bill to create a commander in chief for the army, but he selected General Robert E. Lee to be his military advisor. They formed a close relationship, and Davis relied on Lee for counsel until the end of the war. In March, Union troops in
9000-469: The election, but South Carolina adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20, 1860. Mississippi seceded on January 9, 1861, though Davis stayed in Washington until he received official notification on January 21. Calling it "the saddest day of my life", he delivered a farewell address, resigned from the Senate , and returned to Mississippi. Before his resignation, Davis had sent a telegraph to Mississippi Governor John J. Pettus informing him that he
9125-448: The family's property. It was one of several sharp changes in fortune that Varina encountered in her life. She grew to adulthood in a house called The Briars , when Natchez was a thriving city, but she learned her family was dependent on the wealthy Kempe relatives of her mother's family to avoid poverty. Varina Howell was sent to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , for her education, where she studied at Madame Deborah Grelaud's French School ,
9250-446: The heiress after Jefferson Davis died in 1889. In 1891, Varina and Winnie moved to New York City. After Winnie died in 1898, she was buried next to her father in Richmond, Virginia. Varina Davis inherited Beauvoir. After her husband died, Varina Howell Davis completed his autobiography, publishing it in 1890 as Jefferson Davis, A Memoir . At first the book sold few copies, dashing her hopes of earning some income. Kate Davis Pulitzer,
9375-430: The highest quality of education for her two daughters in their turn. In 1843, at age 17, Howell was invited to spend the Christmas season at Hurricane Plantation , the 5,000 acres (20 km ) property of family friends Joseph Emory Davis and Eliza Van Benthuysen Davis . Her parents had named their oldest child after Joseph Davis. Located at Davis Bend, Mississippi , Hurricane was 20 miles south of Vicksburg . Davis
9500-408: The history of guilty man". He requested a law that Union officers captured in Confederate states be delivered to state authorities and put on trial for inciting slave rebellion. In response, the Congress passed a law that Union officers of United States Colored Troops could be tried and executed, though none were during the war. The law also stated that captured black soldiers would be turned over to
9625-500: The inferior sex; and that perhaps it was a mistake to deny women the suffrage before the war. In the summer of 1861, Davis and her husband moved to Richmond, Virginia , the new capital of the Confederacy. They lived in a house which would come to be known as the White House of the Confederacy for the remainder of war (1861–1865). "She tried intermittently to do what was expected of her, but she never convinced people that her heart
9750-533: The land. Jefferson Davis was a 35-year-old widower when he and Varina met. His first wife, Sarah Knox Taylor , daughter of his commanding officer Zachary Taylor while he was in the Army, had died of malaria three months after their wedding in 1835. Davis mourned her and had been reclusive in the ensuing eight years. He was beginning to be active in politics. Shortly after first meeting him, Howell wrote to her mother: I do not know whether this Mr. Jefferson Davis
9875-553: The large library Joseph and his wife, Eliza , maintained at Hurricane Plantation. Around this time, Davis became increasingly engaged in politics, benefiting from his brother's mentorship and political influence. Davis became publicly involved in politics in 1840 when he attended a Democratic Party meeting in Vicksburg and served as a delegate to the party's state convention in Jackson ; he served again in 1842. One week before
10000-452: The lively parties of the Southern families in this period with other Congressional delegations, as well as international representatives of the diplomatic corps. After seven childless years, in 1852, Varina Davis gave birth to a son, Samuel. Her letters from this period express her happiness and portray Jefferson as a doting father. The couple had a total of six children: The Davises were devastated in 1854 when their first child died before
10125-604: The manufacture of smoothbore muskets and shifted production to rifles, working to develop the tactics that accompany them. He oversaw the building of public works in Washington D.C., including the initial construction of the Washington Aqueduct . Davis assisted in the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854 by allowing President Pierce to endorse it before it came up for a vote. This bill, which created Kansas and Nebraska territories, repealed
10250-431: The mayor of Richmond called the militia when a mob protesting food shortages broke into shops. Davis went to the scene and addressed the protesters, reminding them of their patriotic duty and promising them that he would get food. He then ordered them to disperse or he would command the soldiers to open fire; they dispersed. In October, Davis went on a month-long journey to rally the Confederacy, giving public speeches across
10375-514: The new country) to be inaugurated. A few weeks later, she followed and assumed official duties as the First Lady of the Confederacy. Davis greeted the war with dread, supporting the Confederacy but not slavery. She was known to have said that: the South did not have the material resources to win the war and white Southerners did not have the qualities necessary to win it; that her husband was unsuited for political life; that maybe women were not
10500-523: The newspaper, and Winnie Davis published several novels. After Winnie died in 1898, Varina Davis inherited Beauvoir. In October 1902, she sold the plantation to the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans for $ 10,000 (~$ 285,012 in 2023). She stipulated the facility was to be used as a Confederate veterans' home and later as a memorial to her husband. The SCV built barracks on
10625-478: The next fifteen months. He remained politically active, attending the Democratic convention in January 1852 and campaigning for Democratic candidates Franklin Pierce and William R. King during the presidential election of 1852 . In March 1853, President Franklin Pierce named Davis his Secretary of War . He championed a transcontinental railroad to the Pacific, arguing it was needed for national defense, and
10750-544: The next fifteen years before the American Civil War , which gave Varina Howell Davis a broader outlook than many Southerners. It was her favorite place to live. But, as an example of their many differences, her husband preferred life on their Mississippi plantation. Soon he took leave from his Congressional position to serve as an officer in the Mexican–American War (1846–1848). Varina Davis returned for
10875-508: The nomination of John C. Calhoun . He preferred Calhoun because he championed Southern interests including the annexation of Texas , reduction of tariffs, and building naval defenses in southern ports. When the party chose James K. Polk for their presidential candidate, Davis campaigned for him. Davis and Varina married on February 26, 1845. They had six children: Samuel Emory, born in 1852, who died of an undiagnosed disease two years later; Margaret Howell, born in 1855, who married, raised
11000-627: The presidency of an insurance agency headquartered in Memphis . The family began to regain some financial comfort until the Panic of 1873 , when his company was one of many that went bankrupt. In 1872 their son William Davis died of typhoid fever , adding to their emotional burdens. While visiting their daughters enrolled in boarding schools in Europe, Jefferson Davis received a commission as an agent for an English consortium seeking to purchase cotton from
11125-572: The request of the Pierces, the Davises, both individually and as a couple, often served as official hosts at White House functions in place of the President and his wife. According to diarist Mary Boykin Chesnut , in 1860 Mrs. Davis "sadly" told a friend "The South will secede if Lincoln is made president. They will make Mr. Davis President of the Southern side. And the whole thing is bound to be
11250-537: The rest of her life. When the war ended, the Davises fled South seeking to escape to Europe. They were captured by federal troops and Jefferson Davis was imprisoned at Fort Monroe in Phoebus, Virginia , for two years. Left indigent, Varina Davis was restricted to residing in the state of Georgia, where her husband had been arrested. Fearing for the safety of their older children, she sent them to friends in Canada under
11375-521: The same year, he was elected to the United States House of Representatives , serving for one year. From 1846 to 1847, he fought in the Mexican–American War as the colonel of a volunteer regiment. He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1847, resigning to unsuccessfully run as governor of Mississippi. In 1853, President Franklin Pierce appointed him Secretary of War . After Pierce's administration ended in 1857, Davis returned to
11500-524: The site, and housed thousands of veterans and their families. The plantation was used for years as a veterans' home. Since 1953 the house has been operated as a museum to Davis. Beauvoir has been designated a National Historic Landmark . The main house has been restored and a museum built there, housing the Jefferson Davis Presidential Library . Varina Howell Davis was one of numerous influential Southerners who moved to
11625-519: The south and meeting with civic and military leaders. In his address to the Second Confederate Congress on May 2, 1864, Davis outlined his strategy of achieving Confederate independence by exhausting the Union will to fight: If the South could show it could not be subjugated, the North would elect a president who would make peace. Varina Davis Varina Anne Banks Davis ( née Howell; May 7, 1826 – October 16, 1906)
11750-558: The southern United States. He returned to the US for this work. Varina Davis remained in England to visit her sister who had recently moved there, and stayed for several months. The surviving correspondence suggests her stay may have been prompted by renewed marital difficulties. Both the Davises suffered from depression due to the loss of their sons and their fortunes. She resented his attentions to other women, particularly Virginia Clay . Clay
11875-579: The state election in November 1843, he was chosen to be the Democratic candidate for the Mississippi House of Representatives for Warren County when the original candidate withdrew his nomination, though Davis lost the election. In early 1844, Davis was chosen to serve as a delegate to the state convention again. On his way to Jackson, he met Varina Banks Howell , the 18-year-old daughter of William Burr Howell and Margaret Kempe Howell , when he delivered an invitation from Joseph for her to visit
12000-463: The state. In April, Union forces resumed their attack on Vicksburg. Davis concentrated troops from across the south to counter the move, but Joseph Johnston did not stop the Union forces. Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton withdrew his army into Vicksburg, and after a siege , surrendered on July 4. The loss of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, Louisiana , led to Union control of the Mississippi. Davis relieved Johnston of his department command. During
12125-468: The states they were captured in to be dealt with as the state saw fit. In May, Lee broke up another invasion of Virginia at the Battle of Chancellorsville , and countered with an invasion into Pennsylvania . Davis approved, thinking that a victory in Union territory could gain recognition of Confederate independence, but Lee's army was defeated at the Battle of Gettysburg in July. After retreating to Virginia, Lee blocked any major Union offensives into
12250-571: The states, not the federal government. Instead, he accepted an appointment by Mississippi governor Albert G. Brown to fill a vacancy in the U.S. Senate left when Jesse Speight died. Davis took his seat in December 1847 and was made a regent of the Smithsonian Institution . The Mississippi legislature confirmed his appointment as senator in January 1848. He quickly established himself as an advocate of expanding slavery into
12375-409: The summer, Bragg's army was maneuvered out of Chattanooga and fell back to Georgia . In September, Bragg defeated the Union army at the Battle of Chickamauga , driving it back to Chattanooga, which he put under siege. Davis visited Bragg to address leadership problems in his army. Davis acknowledged that Bragg did not have the confidence of his subordinates but kept him in command. In mid-November,
12500-511: The title to the property. Davis named his section Brierfield Plantation . Davis continued his correspondence with Sarah, and they agreed to marry with Taylor giving his reluctant assent. They married at Beechland on June 17, 1835. In August, he and Sarah traveled to Locust Grove Plantation , his sister Anna Smith's home in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana . Within days, both became severely ill with malaria . Sarah died at
12625-482: The war, Davis was often blamed for the Confederacy's defeat, but after his release from prison, the Lost Cause of the Confederacy movement considered him to be a hero. In the late 19th and the 20th centuries, his legacy as Confederate leader was celebrated in the South. In the twenty-first century, he is frequently criticized as a supporter of slavery and racism, and many of the memorials dedicated to him throughout
12750-611: The younger Davis's appointment to the United States Military Academy . Upon graduating, he served six years as a lieutenant in the United States Army . After leaving the army in 1835, Davis married Sarah Knox Taylor , daughter of general and future President Zachary Taylor . Sarah died from malaria three months after the wedding. Davis became a cotton planter , building Brierfield Plantation in Mississippi on his brother Joseph's land and eventually owning as many as 113 slaves. In 1845, Davis married Varina Howell . During
12875-466: Was a Democrat and the Howells, including Varina, were Whigs . In her memoir, Varina Howell Davis wrote that her mother was concerned about Jefferson Davis's excessive devotion to his relatives (particularly his older brother Joseph, who had largely raised him and upon whom he was financially dependent) and his near worship of his deceased first wife. The Howells ultimately consented to the courtship, and
13000-486: Was a two-room cottage on the property and they started construction of a main house. It became a source of contention. Soon after their marriage, Davis's widowed and penniless sister, Amanda (Davis) Bradford, came to live on the Brierfield property along with her seven youngest children. Her brothers decided that she should share the large house which the Davises were building, but they had not consulted Varina Davis. It
13125-848: Was an American politician who served as the first and only president of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865. He represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party before the American Civil War . He was the United States Secretary of War from 1853 to 1857. Davis, the youngest of ten children, was born in Fairview, Kentucky , but spent most of his childhood in Wilkinson County, Mississippi . His eldest brother Joseph Emory Davis secured
13250-466: Was an example of what she would later call interference from the Davis family in her life with her husband. Additionally, her brother-in-law Joseph Davis proved controlling, both of his brother, who was 23 years younger, and the even younger Varina – especially during her husband's absences. At the same time, her parents became more financially dependent on the Davises, to her embarrassment and resentment. Their youngest son, born after her own marriage,
13375-437: Was appointed to the post of Secretary of War . He and President Franklin Pierce also formed a personal friendship that would last for the rest of Pierce's life. Their wives developed a strong respect, as well. The Pierces lost their last surviving child, Benny, shortly before his father's inauguration. They both suffered; Pierce became dependent on alcohol and Jane Appleton Pierce had health problems, including depression . At
13500-477: Was appropriate. Davis was able to get his regiment armed with new percussion rifles instead of the smoothbore muskets used by other units. President Polk approved their purchase as a political favor in return for Davis marshalling enough votes to pass the Walker Tariff . Because of its association with the regiment, the weapon became known as the " Mississippi rifle ", and the regiment became known as
13625-466: Was available to serve the state. On January 27, 1861, Pettus appointed him a major general of Mississippi's army. On February 9, Davis was unanimously elected to the provisional presidency of the Confederacy by a constitutional convention in Montgomery, Alabama including delegates from the six states that had seceded: South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida , Georgia , Louisiana , and Alabama . He
13750-646: Was born in Natchez, Mississippi , as the second Howell child of eleven, seven of whom survived to adulthood. She was later described as tall and thin, with an olive complexion attributed to Welsh ancestors. (Later, when she was living in Richmond as the unpopular First Lady of the Confederacy, critics described her as looking like a mulatto or Indian "squaw".) When Varina was thirteen, her father declared bankruptcy. The Howell family home, furnishings and slaves were seized by creditors to be sold at public auction. Her wealthy maternal relatives intervened to redeem
13875-432: Was chosen because of his political prominence, his military reputation, and his moderate approach to secession, which Confederate leaders thought might persuade undecided Southerners to support their cause. He learned about his election the next day. Davis had been hoping for a military command, but he committed himself fully to his new role. Davis was inaugurated on February 18. Davis formed his cabinet by choosing
14000-880: Was determined to help support the former president; she offered to sell him her house for a reasonable price. Learning she had breast cancer, Dorsey made over her will to leave Jefferson Davis free title to the home, as well as much of the remainder of her financial estate. Her Percy relatives were unsuccessful in challenging the will. Her bequest provided Davis with enough financial security to provide for Varina and Winnie, and to enjoy some comfort with them in his final years. When Winnie Davis completed her education, she joined her parents at Beauvoir. She had fallen in love when at college, but her parents disapproved. Her father objected to his being from "a prominent Yankee and abolitionist family" and her mother to his lack of money and being burdened by many debts. Forced to reject this man, Winnie never married. Dorsey's bequest made Winnie Davis
14125-555: Was entrusted with overseeing the Pacific Railroad Surveys to determine which of four possible routes was the best. He promoted the Gadsden Purchase of today's southern Arizona from Mexico, partly because he preferred a southern route for the new railroad. The Pierce administration agreed and the land was purchased in December 1853. He presented the surveys' findings in 1855, but they failed to clarify
14250-471: Was eventually given a more comfortable apartment in the officers' quarters of the fort. Although released on bail and never tried for treason, Jefferson Davis had temporarily lost his home in Mississippi, most of his wealth, and his U.S. citizenship. In the late 20th century, his citizenship was posthumously restored by then President Carter. The small Davis family traveled constantly in Europe and Canada as he sought work to rebuild his fortunes. Davis accepted
14375-427: Was in it, and her tenure as First Lady was for the most part a disaster," as the people picked up on her ambivalence. White residents of Richmond criticized Varina Davis freely; some described her appearance as resembling "a mulatto or an Indian 'squaw'." In December 1861, she gave birth to their fifth child, William. Due to her husband's influence, her father William Howell received several low-level appointments in
14500-485: Was killed. General Beauregard took command, falling back to Corinth, Mississippi , and then to Tupelo, Mississippi . When Beauregard then put himself on leave, Davis replaced him with General Braxton Bragg . On February 22, Davis was inaugurated as president. In his inaugural speech, he admitted that the South had suffered disasters, but called on the people of the Confederacy to renew their commitment. He replaced Secretary of War Benjamin, who had been scapegoated for
14625-440: Was leaning toward the Confederacy, had declared its neutrality. In September 1861, Polk violated the state's neutrality by occupying Columbus, Kentucky . Secretary of War Walker ordered him to withdraw. Davis initially agreed with Walker, but changed his mind and allowed Polk to remain. The violation led Kentucky to request aid from the Union, effectively losing the state for the Confederacy. Walker resigned as secretary of war and
14750-630: Was named Jefferson Davis Howell in her husband's honor. The couple had long periods of separation from early in their marriage, first as Jefferson Davis gave campaign speeches and "politicked" (or campaigned) for himself and for other Democratic candidates in the elections of 1846. He was also gone for extended periods during the Mexican War (1846–1848). Varina Davis was put under the guardianship of Joseph Davis, whom she had come to dislike intensely. Her correspondence with her husband during this time demonstrated her growing discontent, to which Jefferson
14875-570: Was not particularly sympathetic. Jefferson Davis was elected in 1846 to the U.S. House of Representatives and Varina accompanied him to Washington, D.C., which she loved. She was stimulated by the social life with intelligent people and was known for making "unorthodox observations". Among them were that "slaves were human beings with their frailties" and that "everyone was a ' half breed ' of one kind or another." She referred to herself as one because of her strong family connections in both North and South. The Davises lived in Washington, DC, for most of
15000-513: Was planning a gala housewarming with many guests and entertainers to inaugurate his lavish new mansion on the cotton plantation. (Varina described the house in detail in her memoirs.) During her stay, she met her host's much younger brother Jefferson Davis . Then thirty-five years old, Davis was a West Point graduate, former Army officer, and widower. He worked as a planter, having developed Brierfield Plantation on land his brother allowed him to use, although Joseph Davis still retained possession of
15125-561: Was replaced by Judah P. Benjamin. Davis appointed General Albert Sidney Johnston, as commander of the Western Military Department that included much of Tennessee , Kentucky, western Mississippi , and Arkansas . In February 1862, the Confederate defenses in the West collapsed when Union forces captured Forts Henry , Donelson , and nearly half the troops in A. S. Johnston's department. Within weeks, Kentucky, Nashville and Memphis were lost, as well as control of
15250-573: Was stationed at Forts Crawford and Winnebago in Michigan Territory under the command of Colonel Zachary Taylor , who later became president of the United States . Throughout his life, Davis regularly suffered from ill health. During the northern winters, he had pneumonia , colds, and bronchitis . He went to Mississippi on furlough in March 1832, missing the outbreak of the Black Hawk War , and returned to duty just before
15375-540: Was the Whig candidate . After the Senate session following Taylor's inauguration ended in March 1849, Davis returned to Brierfield. He was reelected by the state legislature for another six-year term in the Senate. Around this time, he was approached by the Venezuelan adventurer Narciso López to lead a filibuster expedition to liberate Cuba from Spain. He turned down the offer, saying it was inconsistent with his duty as
15500-670: Was the only First Lady of the Confederate States of America , and the longtime second wife of President Jefferson Davis . She moved to the presidential mansion in Richmond, Virginia , in mid-1861, and lived there for the remainder of the Civil War . Born and raised in the Southern United States and educated in Philadelphia , she had family on both sides of the conflict and unconventional views for
15625-410: Was the wife of their friend, former senator Clement Clay , a fellow political prisoner at Fort Monroe. During this period, Davis exchanged passionate letters with Virginia Clay for three years and is believed to have loved her. In 1871 Davis was reported as having been seen on a train "with a woman not his wife", and it made national newspapers. Still in England, Varina was outraged. For several years,
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