Commander in Chief B
Time Line for Jefferson Davis
1807/1808 June 3 Born in Christian County (now Todd) on a site that has since become a part of Fairview, Kentucky, the son of Samuel Emory and Jane Cook Davis (for more information about Davis' birth year, see Frequently Asked Questions) 1816-18 Attends St. Thomas College near Springfield, Kentucky 1818-23 Enters Jefferson College in Adams County 1823-24 Member of the junior class at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky 1824 July 4 Davis' father Samuel Emory Davis dies 1829-34 As second lieutenant, serves in what is now Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Arkansas 1834-35 Serves in Arkansas and Oklahoma (Indian) Territories 1835 February 19 Acquitted in court-martial on charge of bad conduct May 12 Resignation from Army officially forwarded to headquarters June 17 Marries Sarah Knox Taylor (daughter of Zachary Taylor) near Louisville, Kentucky; leaves with bride for Mississippi September 15 Sarah Knox Taylor Davis dies at Locust Grove plantation near Bayou Sara, Louisiana; Davis seriously ill 1836-46 Establishes Brierfield plantation on land adjacent to brother Joseph's Hurricane plantation on Davis Bend, 20 miles down the Mississippi River from Vicksburg; travels; becomes involved in local and state politics 1844 January Chosen state Democratic presidential elector December 4 Casts electoral vote for James K. Polk 1845 February 26 Marries 18-year-old Varina Banks Howell at The Briars, the home of her parents in Natchez, Mississippi October 3 Davis' mother Jane Cook Davis dies November 4 Elected to the House of Representatives 1846 May 11 Votes in favor of bill declaring that a state of war exists between the United States and Mexico July 18 Assumes command of the 1st Mississippi in New Orleans September 21-23 Commands regiment in Battle of Monterrey 1847 June 20 Declines appointment as brigadier general August 10 Appointed United States senator 1848 January 11 Elected U.S. senator by Mississippi legislature 1850 July 9 Present at death of Zachary Taylor 1851 September 17 Accepts nomination as gubernatorial candidate September 23 Resigns as senator November 3-4 Defeated by Henry S. Foote in election 1852 July 30 Son Samuel Emory Davis born 1853 March 7 Takes oath of office as secretary of war June 1-15 1854 June 13 Son Samuel Emory Davis dies 1855 February 25 Daughter Margaret Howell Davis born 1857 January 16 Son Jefferson Davis, Jr., born March 4 Resigns as secretary of war; takes oath as senator 1859 April 18 Son Joseph Evan Davis born in Washington while Davis is in Mississippi 1860 November 6 Abraham Lincoln elected December 20 South Carolina secedes 1861 February 9 Elected president of the Confederate States 1862 January 19 Battle of Mill Springs, Kentucky 1863 January 1 Emancipation Proclamation goes into effect; Galveston, Texas, retaken by Confederates 1864 February 20 Battle of Olustee, Florida 1865 1866 May 8 indicted for treason by grand jury for the U.S. Circuit Court, District of Virginia (for more information about the case, see Frequently Asked Questions) June 11 U.S. Circuit Court Judge John C. Underwood refuses to set bail since Davis technically a military prisoner 1867 May 11 Taken to Richmond; housed under guard at the Spotswood Hotel in the same room he had when he reached Richmond in May 1861 May 13 Appears in court before Judge John C. Underwood; bail set at $100,000; bond posted by Horace Greeley, abolitionist Gerrit Smith, a representative of Cornelius Vanderbilt, and ten Richmond businessmen; to "deafening applause," freed after two years of confinement; meets Greeley for the first time (for more information about the case, see Frequently Asked Questions) November 26 The United States v. Jefferson Davis convenes in Richmond; with Chase unable to be present, government granted postponement to March; Davis released on his own recognizance (his last appearance in court on this matter); long talk with Lee at the courthouse (last time he would see Lee); new grand jury drawn (Lee would testify before it the next day); (for more information, see Frequently Asked Questions); in the evening, receives news of the death of Margaret K. Howell, Varina's mother (Nov. 24) November-December 1868 March-July Spends most of his time in Lennoxville, where Jeff Jr. and Billy are attending Bishop's College Grammar School, and Montreal, where Margaret is enrolled in a convent school Late April July 25 With family, sails from Quebec for Europe 1869 February 15 Indictment dismissed ( nolle prosequi), as are those against thirty-seven other Confederates (for more information, see Frequently Asked Questions) November 23 Elected president of Carolina Life Insurance Company at a salary of $12,000 a year; plans to move the home office to Baltimore 1870 October 8 Sails with family for Baltimore; learns of Robert E. Lee's death (Oct. 12) upon arrival; family remains at Baltimore while Davis travels to Richmond 1872 Son William Howell Davis dies of diphtheria at age 10 1875 Declines appointment as senator from Mississippi and presidency of what is now Texas A&M University; begins relationship with Mississippi Valley Association (a British firm seeking to promote emigration to the South and to encourage direct trade between New Orleans and European ports), and starts promoting it in his travels; speaks in Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri; makes numerous visits to Vicksburg because of lawsuit; reaches informal agreement with W. T. Walthall to begin marketing proposal for Davis' memoirs; withdraws Jeff Jr. from Virginia Military Institute, and in fall travels with him to inspect mines in Colorado 1876 January 1 Daughter Margaret marries Joel Addison Hayes at St. Lazarus Episcopal Church in Memphis (she will be the only Davis offspring to marry and to have children)late 1878 October 16 Son Jefferson Davis, Jr., dies in Memphis in yellow fever epidemic at age 21 1879 July 4 At bedside when Sarah Dorsey dies in New Orleans; Dorsey leaves Beauvoir to him in her will |
1889
The death of the President occurred at New Orleans about one o'clock a.m., December 5, 1889, and the event was announced throughout the Union. The funeral ceremonies in New Orleans were such as comported with the illustrious character of the deceased chieftain, while public meetings in other cities and towns of the South were held to express the common sorrow, and the flags of State capitols were dropped to half-mast. Distinguished men pronounced eulogies on his character, and the press universally at the South and generally at the North contained extended and laudatory articles on his character.
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The burial place in New Orleans was selected only as a temporary receptacle, while a general movement was inaugurated for a tomb and monument, which resulted in the removal of the body to Richmond, the capitol of the Confederacy. The removal took place by means of a special funeral train from New Orleans to Richmond, passing through several States and stopping at many places to receive the respectful and affectionate tributes bestowed by the people. The scene from the time of the departure from New Orleans to the last rites at Richmond was singular in its nature and sublime in its significance of popular esteem for the memory of the Confederate President. The funeral train moved day and night almost literally in review before the line of people assembled to see it pass. Finally in the presence of many thousands the casket was deposited in the last resting place in the keeping of the city, which had so long withstood the rude alarms of war under his presidency.
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