The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-03
STORY OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, ,
 SOLDIER AND STATESMAN
A Towering Figure Among the Intellectual Giants of His Day. He Won Honor on the K. Field and on the
 Forum.

had early in 1881 become convinced that the high and true principles and rights which had been guaranteed n the bond of association with their sis ter States, were endangered They loved. with the purest patriotic devo- tion, the liberty which their forefath- CTS had with supreme effort. gained. and which was assured to all by the Constitution of the United States. To preserve those principles and to secure those rights the Southern States. each Cor itself. as 1t had the legal and moral right to do, peacefully withdrew from the Union, and to better establish these rights formed the Confederate States of America. Tn the Constitution of the new government were incorporated all the principles. privileges and rights and none other, which they possessed under the Constitution bequeathed them by their sires.
 It was but natural that in selecting leader for the new Confederacy they should, have turned not only to the greatest of all Southerners, but one who had discharged every trust imposed on him by the old government with dis erection, fidelity and wfsdom-the dis- 1ingufshed patriot, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi. That he had served hss country on the battlefield, In the na- tional legislature and in the cabinet, argued that in him the Southern Con-
 
 fidence and trust. His magnificent dis charge of every duty incumbent on the President proved that the people were not mistaken in their judgment of the man. The office sought the man, not ' the man the office. He grasped with a firm hand the leadership of new nation, without organization, without an army or navy. without arms and without a treasury, and for four long years heroically, effectively and wisely maintained 1t against the world.
 Consideration and study of the life of this great man must be of the greatest benefit to all
 Jefferson Davis was born June 3, 1908, in Kentucky. but his parents re- moved when he was an infant to plantation, Rosemount, near Woodville, Miss. While Kentucky had the honor Of being his birthplace, Mississippi was his beloved h ome and for her gave the services of life of unparalleled use- fitness.
 Jefferson Davis was an officer in the army of kls country before he was man in years. being thus early placed in command over men older than him self. he developed the rare power of controlling men without humilIating them. Personally. he enjoyed the af- fection of the Indians among whom he went in pursuance of his duties as soldier.
 Tn the early .thirties. Colonel Zachary Taylor was in charge at Fort Craw- ford wisconsin. the command of Lieu tent Davis being part of the forces there stationed. Lieutenant Davis be- came engaged to and subsequently, mar ried Miss Sarah Knox Taylor, sec- ond daughter of Colonel Taylor. The young couple went immediately to Mis- sissippi, where they spent the summer in the home of Mir. Davis's brother, J. D. Davis. the Hurricane plantation ad- Joining Briarheld. Tn September, they visited his sister Mrs. Smith, at Bayou Sara, La. where the young bride sick ened and died, after scarcely three months of happy married life. Mir. Da- wis was much prostrated, having been quite ilL On his partial recovery, he visited Cuba, going after a time to New York, thence to Washington, where he was the recipient of much attention from the President and other officials. He returned to Mississippi in the spring taking up again the life of planter at Briarf cid.
 In February. 1s45. MT. Davis was again married. to Miss varina Howell, of a prominent Natchez family. This lady was his devoted helpmeet in all his after life. and his private secretary much of the time. They had six chil- dren. four sons and two daughters of whom only one survives. Mrs. J. A. Hayes, of Colorado Springs.
 Just before leaving home Co enter Congress in December, 1S45. MT. Da- wis delivered an address of welcome for the City of Vicksburg, to the emi- nent John c. Calhoun. then visiting the Southwest. The new Congressman was soon elected colonel of the 1st Mississippi Regiment for the Mexican war, and his friend, Colonel Roach, of Vicksburg. sent as a special messenger to Washington to urge his acceptance. He Insisted upon having the (then) new Whitney rifles for his men and obtain ed them, although General Scott claim ed that the volunteers would not know how to use them. This marked the introduction of percussion rifles into the United States army. AS the man. uaI of arms then in use was not suited to the use of the rifle, Colonel Davis prepared a new one, which he taught to the officers, requiring them to drill the men. His command was thus soon brought up to a high state of military efficiency The desperate wound he re- ceived at Buena Vista lSkpt him on crutches for years. and changed his vigorous athletic development to the conditions of nervous semi-invaltdism.
 In the Senate, MT. Davis ypas the fearless advocate of State sovereignty and of slavery as involved in the greater issue. He entered the field In defense of his people against the at- tacks made upon them, at the request of Senator John c. Calhoun MT. Da- wis believed that slavery was school If Providence to fit the negroes for better state and as they improved, they would be gradually emancipated. We can only touch upon his stupendous work of Secretary of War. wherein he advanced that department to a scope and dignity undreamed of before Be- sides distinctive military advancement he devised the system of pensions, "civil service reform" and bullded Tor the government the Senate chamber and hall of Representatives now In use having the statue on the dome or the Capitol made by the sculptor Ill., ram Powers MT. Davis was charged with the settlement of affairs after the Mexican war between the pnlted States and Mexico; the decisions, while to the advantage of the United States left the Mexicans entirely satisfied.
 Since the cause of Southern indc- pendence which Mir. Davis represented with so much wisdom and steadfast- ness failed before the eyes of men, since he and all who might contradict or eorroborate have passed to the ps- yond, there perennially arise apologtsts who explained how happened" 1t that the Southern people elected man as Che head of their government who led ehe cause to defeat; why others wno were anxious for the honor were left unsolicited and choice made of him who desired 1t not. These illuminating -parrations belong in the class with the N4 WFA