Jefferson Davis
his army court martial in 1835 for
insubordination. After the trial, Davis
resigned his commission and embarked
on a life in politics.
Before he joined President Pierce’s
administration as Secretary of War,
Davis had served as U.S. senatorfor Mississippi, where he earned a
reputation as a Southern radical. He
opposed the Compromise of 1850,
which helped lead to his defeat in
the 1851 gubernatorial election in
Mississippi. Davis reentered the Senate
in 1857, where he charted a more
moderate course. During the secession
winter after Lincoln’s election to the
presidency, he even offered to support
the last-ditch Crittenden Compromise,
which unsucccessfully tried to curtail
the creation of new slave states.
The newly formed Confederacy
chose Davis as president, in the hope
that his somewhat moderate prewar
record might attract the support of
the upper South.J
efferson Davis had considerable
talents, including a deep and
thorough knowledge of military
affairs. However, his personality and
temperament poisoned his relations
with some of his generals and helped
doom the Confederate war effort.
Davis’s prewar record seemed
to suit him far better for the role
of a wartime commander-in-
chief than his Northern
counterpart, Abraham
Lincoln. While Lincoln
mocked his own brief
stint as a militia officer,
Davis had commanded
a regiment with
distinction in the War
with Mexico. Later,
Davis served as an
effective reformist
Secretary of War. He
supervised the adoption
of the rifle-musket and new infantry
tactics to accompany this important
change. However, at the War
Department, Davis also showed his
difficult personality in his bitter
rows with General-in-Chief
Winfield Scott.
Davis’s contentious
personality had been
apparent even at West
Point, which nearly
expelled him for
disciplinary reasons.
These traits also led toCONFEDERATE PRESIDENT Born 1808 Died 1889
SECESSION TRIGGERS WAR 1861
“I do not despond and
will not shrink from
the task imposed
upon me.”
JEFFERSON DAVIS IN A LETTER TO HIS WIFE, FEBRUARY 20, 1861“Jeff sees the elephant”
Seeing the elephant was a phrase Civil War soldiers used
for experiencing the reality of combat. In this cartoon
Davis (the donkey), his troops armed with pitchforks,
wakes up to the true military might of the Union.Senator Davis
This portrait was taken
of Davis in 1860 by the
famous Northern
photographer Matthew
Brady, who captured
his distinguished
features and somewhat
austere expression.