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The Death of Jefferson Davis

On December 6, 1889 (125 years ago today) Jefferson Davis, the only President of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans at the age of 81. A controversial even to this day, Davis had previously served as a Member of the US House of Representatives, as a United States Senator and as Secretary of War.

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It is ironic that the two leaders of the opposing factions in the Civil War were born about 100 miles apart from one another and within a year or two of one another. Davis was either born on June 3 of 1807 or 1808. He used both dates during the course of his life. His father Samuel had served in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War, and named his last son after Thomas Jefferson. Davis was born in Fairview, Kentucky, while Abraham Lincoln was born near Hodgenville, Kentucky. Davis grew up on his brother's large cotton plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana. His brother Joseph secured his appointment to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. In June 1828 he graduated 23rd in a class of 33. After he graduated he served six years as a lieutenant in the United States Army. He fought in the Black Hawk War and in the Mexican–American War as the colonel of a volunteer regiment. During the Black Hawk War Davis was assigned to escort Chief Black Hawk to prison. Davis made an effort to shield Black Hawk from curiosity seekers, and the chief mentioned in his autobiography that Davis treated him "with much kindness" and showed empathy towards him.

Davis's commanding officer was General and future President Zachary Taylor and Davis married Taylor's daughter Sarah Knox Taylor, against her father's wishes. After three months of marriage, Sarah died at the age of 21 on September 15, 1835. In 1844, Davis met Varina Banks Howell. He was 35 and she was 17. They were married on February 26, 1845.

Davis served as the U.S. Secretary of War, 1853 to 1857, under Democratic President Franklin Pierce, and as a Democratic U.S. senator from Mississippi both before and after. Davis and Pierce maintained a strong friendship even during the War, and Varina Davis would often fill in for Jane Pierce in her formal duties as First Lady. An operator of a large cotton plantation in Mississippi with over 100 slaves, Davis was a staunch supporter of slavery in the Senate. He initially argued against secession, but believed that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union. He was inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America on February 18, 1861.

Many historians attribute the Confederacy's weaknesses to the poor leadership on the part of Davis. The complaints about Davis were many: his preoccupation with micromanaging things, his reluctance to delegate responsibility, his lack of popular appeal, his feuds with powerful state governors, his favoritism toward old friends, his inability to get along with people who disagreed with him, his neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones, his jealousy of the popularity of some of his generals, and his resistance to public opinion. The consensus of most Civil War historians is that he was a much less effective war leader than his Union counterpart Abraham Lincoln.

After the war ended, Davis was captured by Union troops in May of 1865. Stories that he attempted to evade capture by dressing in women's clothing are historically inaccurate. He was accused of treason but was never tried. Pope Pius IX lobbied for his release. After two years of imprisonment, Davis was released on bail of $100,000, which was posted by prominent citizens including Horace Greeley and Cornelius Vanderbilt. Davis wrote a memoir entitled The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government, which he completed in 1881. By the late 1880s, he began to encourage reconciliation, telling Southerners to be loyal to the Union.

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In November of 1889, while en route New Orleans, he caught a severe cold, that was later diagnosed as bronchitis complicated by malaria. When he arrived in New Orleans, he was taken to the home of Charles Erasmus Fenner, an Associate Justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court. Davis remained in bed but was stable for the next two weeks. His health took a turn for the worse in early December. Just when he appeared to be improving, he lost consciousness on the evening of December 5 and died at age 81 at 12:45 a.m. on Friday, December 6, 1889. His funeral was one of the largest in the South. Davis was first entombed at the Army of Northern Virginia tomb at Metairie Cemetery in New Orleans. In 1893, Mrs. Davis decided to have his remains reinterred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond.
Tags: abraham lincoln, civil war, franklin pierce, jefferson davis, slavery, zachary taylor
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