Jefferson Davis Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3 , 1808 – December 6 , 1889 ) was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War . Davis was born in Kentucky and grew up on plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana . He graduated from the U . S . Military Academy at West Point and fought in the Mexican – American War as the colonel of a volunteer regiment . He served as the United States Secretary of War under Democratic President Franklin Pierce , and as a Democratic U . S . senator from Mississippi . His plantation in Mississippi depended on slave labor , like most Southern plantations . As a senator , he argued against secession , but did agree that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union . Davis lost his first wife to malaria after three months of marriage , and the disease almost killed him as well . He had six children with his second wife , but only two survived him . He suffered from ill health for much of his life . As President of the Confederate States of America from its beginning in 1861 to its collapse in 1865 , Davis took charge of the Confederate war plans but was unable to find a strategy to defeat the larger , more powerful and better organized Union . His diplomatic efforts failed to gain recognition from any foreign country . At home he paid little attention to the collapsing Confederate economy ; the government printed more and more paper money to cover the war ' s expenses , leading to runaway inflation . Historians tend to attribute many of the Confederacy ' s weaknesses to President Davis . His preoccupation with detail , reluctance to delegate responsibility , lack of popular appeal , feuds with powerful state governors , favoritism toward old friends , inability to get along with people who disagreed with him , neglect of civil matters in favor of military ones and resistance to public opinion all worked against him . Davis is described as a much less effective war leader than his Union counterpart Abraham Lincoln . After Davis was captured in 1865 , he was accused of treason but was not tried and was released after two years . While not disgraced , Davis had been displaced in white Southern affection after the war by his leading general , Robert E . Lee . Nevertheless , many Southerners empathized with his defiance , refusal to accept defeat , and resistance to Reconstruction . Over time , admiration for his pride and ideals made him a Civil War hero to many Southerners , and his legacy became part of the foundation of the postwar New South . Davis wrote a memoir entitled " The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government " , which he completed in 1881 and which also helped to restore his reputation . By the late 1880s , he began to encourage reconciliation , telling Southerners to be loyal to the Union . He became ill in mid - November 1889 and died in early December in New Orleans at the age of 81 . Early life and first military career . Davis ' paternal grandparents immigrated to North America from the region of Snowdonia in North Wales ; the rest of his ancestry can be traced to England and Scotland . After arriving in Philadelphia , Davis ' paternal grandfather Evan settled in Georgia and married Lydia Emory Williams , who had two sons from a previous marriage . Samuel Emory Davis was born to them in 1756 . He served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War , along with his two older half - brothers . In 1783 , after the war , he married Jane Cook ; she was born in 1759 in Christian County , Kentucky , to William Cook and his wife Sarah Simpson . In 1793 the family relocated to Kentucky , establishing what is now the community of Fairview on the border of Christian and Todd counties . Samuel and Jane had ten children ; Jefferson was the last and was born on June 3 , 1808 , on the Davis homestead in Fairview . Samuel had been a young man when Thomas Jefferson wrote of the Declaration of Independence in 1776 . Jefferson was the third President of the United States in 1808 , and Samuel , admiring him greatly , named his last son after the president . His son ' s middle name , Finis , was rarely used , but may have been chosen since he was likely to be the couple ' s last child . Abraham Lincoln was born 8 months later , less than to the northeast in Hodgenville , Kentucky . In the early 1900s , the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site was created near the site of Davis ' birth . During Davis ' youth , his family moved twice : in 1811 to St . Mary Parish , Louisiana , and less than a year later to Wilkinson County , Mississippi . Three of Jefferson ' s older brothers served in the War of 1812 . In 1813 Davis began his education at the Wilkinson Academy in the small town of Woodville , near the family cotton plantation . Two years later , Davis entered the Catholic school of Saint Thomas at St . Rose Priory , a school operated by the Dominican Order in Washington County , Kentucky . At the time , he was the only Protestant student at the school . Davis went on to Jefferson College at Washington , Mississippi , in 1818 , and then to Transylvania University at Lexington , Kentucky , in 1821 . His father Samuel died on July 4 , 1824 , when Jefferson was 16 years old . Davis attended the United States Military Academy ( West Point ) starting in late 1824 . While there , he was placed under house arrest for his role in the Eggnog Riot during Christmas 1826 . Whiskey was smuggled into the academy for the purpose of making eggnog , and more than one - third of the cadets were involved . In June 1828 he graduated 23rd in a class of 33 . Following graduation , Second Lieutenant Davis was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment and was stationed at Fort Crawford , Prairie du Chien , Wisconsin Territory . Zachary Taylor had recently been placed in command of the fort when Davis arrived in early 1829 . In March 1832 , Davis returned to Mississippi on furlough , having had no leave since he first arrived at Fort Crawford . He was still in Mississippi during the Black Hawk War but returned to the fort in August . At the conclusion of the war , Colonel Taylor assigned him to escort Black Hawk to prison . Davis made an effort to shield Black Hawk from curiosity seekers , and the chief noted in his autobiography that Davis treated him " with much kindness " and showed empathy for Black Hawk ' s situation as a prisoner . First marriage and early career . Davis fell in love with his commanding officer ' s daughter Sarah Knox Taylor . Both Sarah and Jefferson sought Taylor ' s permission to marry . Taylor refused , as he did not wish his daughter to have a difficult life as a military wife on frontier army posts . Davis ' own experience led him to appreciate the basis for Taylor ' s objection . He consulted with his older brother Joseph , and they both began to question the value of an Army career . Davis hesitated to leave , but his desire for Sarah overcame this , and he resigned his commission in a letter dated April 20 , 1835 . He had arranged for the letter to be sent to the War Department for him on May 12 when he did not return from leave ; he had made no mention to Taylor of his intention to resign . Against his former commander ' s wishes , on June 17 , he married Sarah in Louisville , Kentucky . His resignation became effective June 30 . Davis ' older brother Joseph had been very successful and owned Hurricane Plantation and of adjoining land along the Mississippi River near Vicksburg , Mississippi . The adjoining land was known as Brierfield since it was largely covered with brush and briers . Joseph desired to have his youngest brother and his wife nearby and gave Brierfield to Jefferson , who eventually developed Brierfield Plantation there . In August 1835 , Jefferson and Sarah traveled south to his sister Anna ' s home in West Feliciana Parish , Louisiana ; the home was known as Locust Grove . Their goal was to spend the hot summer months in the countryside and away from the flat river land , for their health , but both of them contracted malaria . After three months of marriage , Sarah died at the age of 21 on September 15 , 1835 . Davis was also severely ill , and his family feared for his life as well . In the month following Sarah ' s death , he slowly improved , although he remained weak . In late 1835 , Davis sailed from New Orleans to Havana , Cuba , to help restore his health . He was accompanied by James Pemberton , his only slave at that time . There Davis observed the Spanish military and sketched fortifications . Although no evidence points to any motive beyond general interest , the authorities knew that he was a former army officer and warned him to stop his observations . Being bored , and feeling somewhat better , Davis booked passage on a ship to New York , then continued to Washington where he visited his old schoolmate George Wallace Jones , and soon returned to Mississippi with Pemberton . For several years following Sarah ' s death , Davis was reclusive and honored her memory . He spent time clearing Brierfield and developing his plantation , studied government and history , and had private political discussions with his brother Joseph . By early 1836 , Davis had purchased 16 slaves ; he held 40 slaves by 1840 , and 74 by 1845 . Pemberton served as Davis ' overseer , an unusual position for a slave in Mississippi . In 1840 Davis first became involved in politics when he attended a Democratic meeting in Vicksburg and , to his surprise , was chosen as a delegate to the party ' s state convention in Jackson . In 1842 , he attended the Democratic convention , and in 1843 became a Warren County Whig candidate for the state House of Representatives but lost his first election . In 1844 , Davis was sent to the party convention for a third time , and his interest in politics deepened . He was selected as one of six presidential electors for the 1844 presidential election and campaigned effectively throughout Mississippi for the Democratic candidate , James K . Polk . Second marriage and family . In 1844 , Davis met Varina Banks Howell , then 17 years old , whom his brother Joseph had invited for the Christmas season at Hurricane Plantation . She was the granddaughter of New Jersey Governor Richard Howell . Within a month of their meeting , the 35 - year - old widower Davis had asked Varina to marry him , and they became engaged despite her parents ' initial concerns about his age and politics . They were married on February 26 , 1845 . During this time Davis was persuaded to become a candidate for the United States House of Representatives and began canvassing for the election . In early October 1845 he traveled to Woodville to give a speech and arrived a day early to visit his mother there , only to find that she had died the day before . After the funeral he rode the back to Natchez to deliver the news , then returned to Woodville again to deliver his speech . He won the election . Jefferson and Varina had six children ; three died before reaching adulthood . Samuel Emory , born July 30 , 1852 , was named after his grandfather ; he died June 30 , 1854 , of an undiagnosed disease . Margaret Howell was born February 25 , 1855 , and was the only child to marry and raise a family . She married Joel Addison Hayes , Jr . ( 1848 – 1919 ) , and they had five children . They were married in St . Lazarus Church , nicknamed " The Confederate Officers ' Church " , in Memphis , Tennessee . In the late 19th century , they moved from Memphis to Colorado Springs , Colorado . She died on July 18 , 1909 , at the age of 54 . Jefferson Davis , Jr . , was born January 16 , 1857 . He died of yellow fever at age 21 on October 16 , 1878 , during an in the Mississippi River Valley that caused 20 , 000 deaths . Joseph Evan , born on April 18 , 1859 , died at five years old as the result of an accidental fall on April 30 , 1864 . William Howell , born on December 6 , 1861 , was named for Varina ' s father ; he died of diphtheria at age 10 on October 16 , 1872 . Varina Anne , known as " Winnie " , was born on June 27 , 1864 , several months after her brother Joseph ' s death . She was unmarried as her parents had refused to let her marry into a northern abolitionist family . She died on September 18 , 1898 , at age 34 . Davis was plagued with poor health for most of his life . In addition to bouts with malaria , battle wounds from fighting in the Mexican – American War , and a chronic eye infection that made it impossible for him to endure bright light , he also suffered from trigeminal neuralgia , a nerve disorder that causes severe pain in the face . It has been called one of the most painful known ailments . Second military career . In 1846 the Mexican – American War began . Davis resigned his house seat in early June and raised a volunteer regiment , the 155th Infantry Regiment , becoming its colonel under the command of his former father - in - law , General Zachary Taylor . On July 21 the regiment sailed from New Orleans for Texas . Colonel Davis sought to arm his regiment with the M1841 Mississippi rifle . At this time , smoothbore muskets were still the primary infantry weapon , and any unit with rifle s was considered special and designated as such . President James K . Polk had promised Davis the weapons if he would remain long enough for an important vote on the Walker tariff . General Winfield Scott objected on the basis that the weapons were insufficiently tested . Davis insisted and called in his promise from Polk , and his regiment was armed with the rifles , making it particularly effective in combat . The regiment became known as the Mississippi Rifles because it was the first to be fully armed with these new weapons . The incident was the start of a lifelong feud between Davis and Scott . In September , Davis participated in the Battle of Monterrey , during which he led a successful charge on the La Teneria fort . On February 22 , 1847 , Davis fought bravely at the Battle of Buena Vista and was shot in the foot , being carried to safety by Robert H . Chilton . In recognition of Davis ' bravery and initiative , Taylor is reputed to have said , " My daughter , sir , was a better judge of men than I was . " On May 17 , President Polk offered Davis a federal commission as a brigadier general and command of a brigade of militia . Davis declined the appointment , arguing that the United States Constitution gives the power of appointing militia officers to the states , not the federal government . Return to politics . Senator . Honoring Davis ' war service , Governor Brown of Mississippi appointed him to take the place of United States Senator Jesse Speight , who had died on May 1 , 1847 . Davis took his temporary seat on December 5 , and in January 1848 he was elected to serve the remaining two years of the term . In December , during the 30th United States Congress , he was made a regent of the Smithsonian Institution and began serving on the Committee on Military Affairs and the Library Committee . In 1848 , Senator Davis proposed and introduced an amendment ( the first of several ) to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo that would have annexed most of northeastern Mexico , but it failed on a vote of 11 to 44 . Regarding Cuba , Davis declared that it " must be ours " to " increase the number of slaveholding constituencies . " He also was concerned about the security implications of a Spanish holding lying a few miles off the coast of Florida . A group of Cuban revolutionaries led by Narciso López intended to forcibly liberate Cuba from Spanish rule . Searching for a military leader for a filibuster expedition , they first offered command of the Cuban forces to General William J . Worth , but he died before making his decision . In the summer of 1849 , López visited Davis and asked him to lead the expedition . He offered an immediate payment of $ 100 , 000 ( worth more than $ 2 , 000 , 000 in 2010 ) , plus the same amount when Cuba was liberated . Davis turned down the offer , stating that it was inconsistent with his duty as a senator . When asked to recommend someone else , Davis suggested Robert E . Lee , then an army major in Baltimore ; López approached Lee , who also declined on the grounds of his duty . The Senate made Davis chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs on December 3 , 1849 , during the first session of the 31st United States Congress . On December 29 he was elected to a full six - year term ( by the Mississippi legislature , as the constitution mandated at the time ) . Davis had not served a year when he resigned ( in September 1851 ) to run for the governorship of Mississippi on the issue of the Compromise of 1850 , which he opposed . He was defeated by fellow Senator Henry Stuart Foote by 999 votes . Left without political office , Davis continued his political activity . He took part in a convention on states ' rights , held at Jackson , Mississippi , in January 1852 . In the weeks leading up to the presidential election of 1852 , he campaigned in numerous Southern states for Democratic candidates Franklin Pierce and William R . King . Secretary of War . Franklin Pierce won the presidential election , and in 1853 made Davis his Secretary of War . In this capacity , Davis began the Pacific Railroad Surveys in order to determine various possible routes for the proposed Transcontinental Railroad . He promoted the Gadsden Purchase of today ' s southern Arizona from Mexico , partly because it would provide an easier route for the new railroad ; the Pierce administration agreed , and the land was purchased in December 1853 . He saw the size of the regular army as insufficient to fulfill its mission , and maintained that salaries would have to be increased , something which had not occurred for 25 years . Congress agreed and increased the pay scale , and added four regiments which increased the army ' s size from about 11 , 000 to about 15 , 000 . Davis also introduced general usage of the rifles that he had used successfully during the Mexican – American War . As a result , both the morale and capability of the army was improved . He became involved in public works when Pierce gave him responsibility for construction of the Washington Aqueduct and an expansion of the capitol , both of which he managed closely . The Pierce administration ended in 1857 with the loss of the Democratic nomination to James Buchanan . Davis ' term was to end with Pierce ' s , so he ran for the Senate , was elected , and re - entered it on March 4 , 1857 . Return to Senate . In the 1840s , tensions were growing between the North and South over various issues including slavery . The Wilmot Proviso , introduced in 1846 , contributed to these tensions ; if passed , it would have banned slavery in any land acquired from Mexico . The Compromise of 1850 brought a temporary respite , but the Dred Scott case , decided in 1857 , spurred public debate . There was increasing talk of the South seceding from the Union . Davis ’ renewed service in the Senate was interrupted in early 1858 by an illness that began as a severe cold and which threatened him with the loss of his left eye . He was forced to remain in a darkened room for four weeks . He spent the summer of 1858 in Portland , Maine . On the Fourth of July , Davis delivered an anti - secessionist speech on board a ship near Boston . He again urged the preservation of the Union on October 11 in Faneuil Hall , Boston , and returned to the Senate soon after . As he explained in his memoir " The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government " , he believed that each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union . At the same time , he counseled delay among his fellow Southerners , because he did not think that the North would permit the peaceable exercise of the right to secession . Having served as secretary of war under President Pierce , he also knew that the South lacked the military and naval resources necessary to defend itself in a war . Following the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 , however , events accelerated . South Carolina adopted an ordinance of secession on December 20 , 1860 , and Mississippi did so on January 9 , 1861 . Davis had expected this but waited until he received official notification ; then on January 21 , the day Davis called " the saddest day of my life " , he delivered a farewell address to the United States Senate , resigned and returned to Mississippi . President of the Confederate States of America . Anticipating a call for his services since Mississippi had seceded , Davis had sent a telegraph message to Governor Pettus saying , " Judge what Mississippi requires of me and place me accordingly . " On January 23 , 1861 , Pettus made Davis a major general of the Army of Mississippi . On February 9 , a constitutional convention at Montgomery , Alabama , considered Davis , Howell Cobb , Alexander Stephens and Robert Toombs for the office of provisional president . Stephens was the choice of every man present , except that he was unwilling to agree to fire the first shot in the anticipated war against the United States , so the delegates chose Davis , who " was the champion of a slave society and embodied the values of the planter class , [ as ] . . . provisional Confederate President by acclamation . " He was inaugurated on February 18 , 1861 . Alexander Stephens was chosen as Vice President . Davis was chosen partly because he was a well - known and experienced moderate who had served in a president ' s cabinet . He wanted to serve as a general in the Confederate States Army and not as the president . He stated , " I have no confidence in my ability to meet its requirement . I think I could perform the function of a general . " Varina later wrote that when he received word that he had been chosen as president , " Reading that telegram he looked so grieved that I feared some evil had befallen our family . " Nevertheless , he accepted the role for which he had been chosen . Several forts in Confederate territory remained in Union hands . Davis sent a commission to Washington with an offer to pay for any federal property on Southern soil , as well as the Southern portion of the national debt . Lincoln refused . Informal discussions did take place with Secretary of State William Seward through Supreme Court Justice John A . Campbell , an Alabamian who had not yet resigned ; Seward hinted that Fort Sumter would be evacuated , but nothing definite was said . On March 1 , 1861 , Davis appointed General P . G . T . Beauregard to command all Confederate troops in the vicinity of Charleston , South Carolina , where state officials prepared to take possession of Fort Sumter ; Beauregard was to prepare his forces but avoid an attack on the fort . When Lincoln moved to resupply the fort with food , Davis and his cabinet directed Beauregard to demand its surrender or else take possession by force . Major Anderson did not surrender . Beauregard bombarded the fort on April 12 , and the Civil War began . At the start of the war , nearly 21 million people lived in the North compared to 9 million in the South . The North had vastly greater industrial capacity , built most of the locomotives , and had twice as much railroad density . Nearly all of the firearms production facilities were in the North , and some of the ingredients for gunpowder were not immediately available in the South . The Union also had a well - developed navy , whereas the new Confederacy had very few naval resources . When Virginia joined the Confederacy , Davis moved his government to Richmond in May 1861 . He and his family took up his residence there at the White House of the Confederacy later that month . Having served since February as the provisional president , Davis was elected to a full six - year term on November 6 , 1861 , and was inaugurated on February 22 , 1862 . In June 1862 , in his most successful move , Davis assigned General Robert E . Lee to replace the wounded Joseph E . Johnston in command of the Army of Northern Virginia , the main Confederate army in the Eastern Theater . That December he made a tour of Confederate armies in the west of the country . Davis had a very small circle of military advisers , and largely made the main strategic decisions on his own , though he had special respect for his friend Lee ' s views . Given the Confederacy ' s resources compared with the Union , Davis decided that the Confederacy would have to fight mostly on the strategic defensive . He maintained a mostly defensive outlook throughout the war , paying special attention to the defense of his national capital at Richmond . He attempted strategic offensives when he felt that military success would both shake Northern self - confidence and strengthen the peace movements there . The campaigns met defeat at Antietam in Maryland ( 1862 ) and Gettysburg in Pennsylvania ( 1863 ) , as well as in Kentucky during the Confederate Heartland Offensive ( 1862 ) . Administration and cabinet . As provisional president in 1861 , Davis formed his first cabinet . Robert Toombs of Georgia was the first Secretary of State , and Christopher Memminger of South Carolina became Secretary of the Treasury . LeRoy Pope Walker of Alabama was made Secretary of War , after being recommended for this post by Clement Clay and William Yancey ( both of whom declined to accept cabinet positions themselves ) . John Reagan of Texas became Postmaster General , and Judah P . Benjamin of Louisiana became Attorney General . Although Stephen Mallory was not put forward by the delegation from his state of Florida , Davis insisted that he was the best man for the job of Secretary of the Navy , and he was eventually confirmed . Since the Confederacy was founded , among other things , on states ' rights , one important factor in Davis ' choice of cabinet members was representation from the various states . He depended partly upon recommendations from congressmen and other prominent people , and this helped maintain good relations between the executive and legislative branches . This also led to complaints as more states joined the Confederacy , however , because there were more states than cabinet positions . As the war progressed , this dissatisfaction increased , and there were frequent changes to the cabinet . Toombs , who had wished to be president himself , was frustrated as an advisor and resigned within a few months of his appointment to join the army . Robert Hunter of Virginia replaced him as Secretary of State on July 25 , 1861 . On September 17 , Walker resigned as Secretary of War due to a conflict with Davis , who had questioned his management of the War Department and had suggested he consider a different position ; Walker requested , and was given , command of the troops in Alabama . Benjamin left the Attorney General position to replace him , and Thomas Bragg of North Carolina ( brother of General Braxton Bragg ) took Benjamin ' s place as Attorney General . Following the November 1861 election , Davis announced the permanent cabinet in March 1862 . Benjamin moved again , to Secretary of State ; George W . Randolph of Virginia had been made the Secretary of War . Mallory continued as Secretary of the Navy and Reagan as Postmaster General ; both men kept their positions throughout the war . Memminger remained Secretary of the Treasury , while Thomas Hill Watts of Alabama was made Attorney General . In 1862 , Randolph resigned from the War Department , and James Seddon of Virginia was appointed to replace him . In late 1863 , Watts resigned as Attorney General to take office as the Governor of Alabama , and George Davis of North Carolina took his place . In 1864 , Memminger withdrew from the Treasury post due to congressional opposition , and was replaced by George Trenholm of South Carolina . In 1865 , congressional opposition likewise caused Seddon to withdraw , and he was replaced by John C . Breckinridge of Kentucky . Cotton was the South ' s primary export and the basis of its economy , and its production was dependent upon slave labor . At the outset of the Civil War , Davis realized that intervention from European powers would be vital if the Confederacy was to stand against the Union . The administration sent repeated delegations to European nations , but several factors prevented Southern success in terms of foreign diplomacy . The Union blockade of the Confederacy led European powers to remain neutral , contrary to the Southern belief that a blockade would cut off the supply of cotton to Britain and other European nations and prompt them to intervene on behalf of the South . Many European countries objected to slavery . Britain had abolished it in the 1830s , and Lincoln ’ s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 made support for the South even less appealing in Europe . Finally , as the war progressed and the South failed to win enough battles , foreign powers were not convinced that the Confederacy had the strength to become independent . In the end , not a single foreign nation recognized the Confederate States of America . Strategic failures . Most historians sharply criticize Davis for his flawed military strategy , his selection of friends for military commands , and his neglect of homefront crises . Until late in the war , he resisted efforts to appoint a general - in - chief , essentially handling those duties himself . On January 31 , 1865 , Lee assumed this role , but it was far too late . Davis insisted on a strategy of trying to defend all Southern territory with ostensibly equal effort . This diluted the limited resources of the South and made it vulnerable to coordinated strategic thrusts by the Union into the vital Western Theater ( e . g . , the capture of New Orleans in early 1862 ) . He made other controversial strategic choices , such as allowing Lee to invade the North in 1862 and 1863 while the Western armies were under very heavy pressure . Lee lost at Gettysburg , Vicksburg simultaneously fell , and the Union took control of the Mississippi River , splitting the Confederacy . At Vicksburg , the failure to coordinate multiple forces on both sides of the Mississippi River rested primarily on Davis ' inability to create a harmonious departmental arrangement or to force such commanders as generals Edmund Kirby Smith , Earl Van Dorn , and Theophilus H . Holmes to work together . Davis has been faulted for poor coordination and management of his generals . This includes his reluctance to resolve a dispute between Leonidas Polk , a personal friend , and Braxton Bragg , who was defeated in important battles and distrusted by his subordinates . He did relieve the cautious but capable Joseph E . Johnston and replaced him with the reckless John Bell Hood , resulting in the loss of Atlanta and the eventual loss of an army . Davis gave speeches to soldiers and politicians but largely ignored the common people , who came to resent the favoritism shown the rich and powerful ; Davis thus failed to harness Confederate nationalism . One historian speaks of " the heavy - handed intervention of the Confederate government . " Economic intervention , regulation , and state control of manpower , production and transport were much greater in the Confederacy than in the Union . Davis did not use his presidential pulpit to rally the people with stirring rhetoric ; he called instead for people to be fatalistic and to die for their new country . Apart from two month - long trips across the country where he met a few hundred people , Davis stayed in Richmond where few people saw him ; newspapers had limited circulation , and most Confederates had little favorable information about him . To finance the war , the Confederate government initially issued bonds , but investment from the public never met the demands . Taxes were lower than in the Union and were collected with less efficiency , and European investment was insufficient . As the war proceeded , both the Confederate government and the individual states printed more and more paper money . Inflation increased from 60 % in 1861 to 300 % in 1863 and 600 % in 1864 . Davis did not seem to grasp the enormity of the problem . In April 1863 , food shortages led to rioting in Richmond , as poor people robbed and looted numerous stores for food until Davis cracked down and restored order . Davis feuded bitterly with his vice president . Perhaps even more seriously , he clashed with powerful state governors who used states ' rights arguments to withhold their militia units from national service and otherwise blocked mobilization plans . Davis is widely evaluated as a less effective war leader than Lincoln , even though Davis had extensive military experience and Lincoln had little . Davis would have preferred to be an army general , and as president tended to manage military matters himself , delegating poorly . Lincoln and Davis led in very different ways . According to one historian , There were many factors that led to Union victory over the Confederacy , and Davis recognized from the start that the South was at a distinct disadvantage ; but in the end , Lincoln helped to achieve victory , whereas Davis contributed to defeat . Final days of the Confederacy . In March 1865 , General Order 14 provided for enlisting slaves into the army . The idea had been suggested years earlier , but Davis did not act upon it until late in the war , and very few slaves were ever enlisted . On April 3 , with Union troops under Ulysses S . Grant poised to capture Richmond , Davis escaped to Danville , Virginia , together with the Confederate Cabinet , leaving on the Richmond and Danville Railroad . Lincoln sat in Davis ' Richmond office just 40 hours later . The William T Sutherlin Mansion served as his temporary residence from April 3 to April 10 , 1865 . On about April 12 , Davis received Robert E . Lee ' s letter announcing surrender . He issued his last official proclamation as president of the Confederacy , and then went south to Greensboro , North Carolina . After Lee ' s surrender , there was a public meeting in Shreveport , Louisiana , at which many speakers supported continuation of the war . Plans were developed for the Davis government to flee to Havana , Cuba . There , the leaders would regroup and head to the Confederate - controlled Trans - Mississippi area by way of the Rio Grande . None of these plans was put into practice . On April 14 , Lincoln was shot , dying the next day . Davis expressed regret at Lincoln ' s death , and also knew that he would have been less harsh with the South than his successor , Andrew Johnson . In the aftermath , Johnson issued a $ 100 , 000 reward for the capture of Davis and accused him of helping to plan the assassination . As the Confederate military structure fell into disarray , the search for Davis by Union forces intensified . President Davis met with his Confederate Cabinet for the last time on May 5 , 1865 , in Washington , Georgia , and the Confederate government was officially dissolved . The meeting took place at the Heard house , the Georgia Branch Bank Building , with 14 officials present . Along with a hand - picked escort led by Given Campbell , Davis and his wife were captured on May 10 at Irwinville in Irwin County , Georgia . It was reported that Davis put his wife ' s overcoat over his shoulders while fleeing , inspiring caricatures that portrayed him as having disguised himself as a woman while trying to avoid capture . However , Davis made no attempt to disguise himself . Mrs . Davis ' heavy shawl had been placed on him to protect him from the " chilly atmosphere of the early hour of the morning " by his slave James H . Johnson , who was with Davis during the Civil War and was his valet . Meanwhile , Davis ' belongings continued on the train bound for Cedar Key , Florida . They were first hidden at Senator David Levy Yulee ' s plantation in Florida , then placed in the care of a railroad agent in Waldo . On June 15 , 1865 , Union soldiers seized Davis ' personal baggage , together with some of the Confederate government ' s records , from the agent . A historical marker now stands at this site . Imprisonment . On May 19 , 1865 , Davis was imprisoned in a casemate at Fortress Monroe on the coast of Virginia . Irons were riveted to his ankles at the order of General Nelson Miles who was in charge of the fort . Davis was allowed no visitors , and no books except the Bible . His health began to suffer , and the attending physician warned that the prisoner ' s life was in danger , but this treatment continued for some months until late autumn when he was finally given better quarters . General Miles was transferred in mid - 1866 , and Davis ' treatment continued to improve . Pope Pius IX sent Davis a portrait inscribed with the Latin words , " Venite ad me omnes qui laboratis , et ego reficiam vos , dicit Dominus " , which comes from Matthew 11 : 28 and translates as , " Come to me all ye who labor and are heavy burdened and I will give you rest , sayeth the Lord . " A hand - woven crown of thorns associated with the portrait is often said to have been made by the Pope but may have been woven by Davis ' wife Varina . Varina and their young daughter Winnie were allowed to join Davis , and the family was eventually given an apartment in the officers ' quarters . Davis was indicted for treason while imprisoned ; one of his attorneys was ex - Governor Thomas Pratt of Maryland . Later years . After two years of imprisonment , Davis was released on bail of $ 100 , 000 , which was posted by prominent citizens of both Northern and Southern states , including Horace Greeley , Cornelius Vanderbilt and Gerrit Smith . ( Smith was a former member of the Secret Six who had supported abolitionist John Brown . ) Davis visited Canada , Cuba and Europe in search of work . In December 1868 the federal court rejected a motion to nullify the indictment , but the prosecution dropped the case in February 1869 . That same year , Davis became president of the Carolina Life Insurance Company in Memphis , Tennessee , where he resided at the Peabody Hotel . Upon Robert E . Lee ' s death in 1870 , Davis presided over the memorial meeting in Richmond , Virginia . Elected to the U . S . Senate again , he was refused the office in 1875 , having been barred from Federal office by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution . He turned down the opportunity to become the first president of the Agriculture and Mechanical College of Texas ( now Texas A & M University ) . During Reconstruction , Davis publicly remained silent on his opinions ; but privately he expressed opinions that federal military rule and Republican authority over former Confederate states was unjustified . He considered " Yankee and Negroe " rule in the South oppressive . Like many of his contemporaries , Davis held the belief that blacks were inferior to whites . The historian William J . Cooper has stated that Davis believed in a Southern social order that included " a democratic white polity based firmly on dominance of a controlled and excluded black caste . " In 1876 , Davis promoted a society for the stimulation of US trade with South America . He visited England the next year . In 1877 , Sarah Anne Ellis Dorsey , a wealthy widow who had heard of his difficulties , invited him to stay at her estate of Beauvoir near Biloxi , Mississippi . She provided him with a cabin for his own use and helped him with his writing through organization , dictation , editing , and encouragement . Knowing she was severely ill , in 1878 Dorsey made over her will , leaving Beauvoir and her financial assets to Jefferson Davis and , in the case of his death , to his only surviving child , Winnie Davis . Dorsey died in 1879 , by which time both the Davises and Winnie were living at Beauvoir . Over the next two years , Davis completed " The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government " ( 1881 ) . Davis ' reputation among whites in the South was restored by the book and by his warm reception on his tour of the region in 1886 and 1887 . In numerous stops , he attended Lost Cause ceremonies , where large crowds showered him with affection and local leaders presented emotional speeches honoring his sacrifices to the would - be nation . Such events helped the South deal with their defeat and continued for decades after the war . The " Meriden Daily Journal " stated that Davis , at a reception held in New Orleans in May 1887 , urged southerners to be loyal to the nation . He said , " United you are now , and if the Union is ever to be broken , let the other side break it . " Davis stated that men in the Confederacy had successfully fought for their own rights with inferior numbers during the Civil War and that the northern historians ignored this view . Davis firmly believed that Confederate secession was constitutional . The former Confederate president was optimistic concerning American prosperity and the next generation . Davis completed " A Short History of the Confederate States of America " in October 1889 . On November 6 he left Beauvoir to visit his plantation at Brierfield . While in New Orleans he was caught in a sleety rain , and on the steamboat trip upriver , he had a severe cold ; on November 13 he left Brierfield to return to New Orleans . Varina Davis , who had taken another boat to Brierfield , met him on the river , and he finally received some medical care ; two doctors came aboard further south and found him to be suffering from acute bronchitis complicated by malaria . They arrived in New Orleans three days later , and 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 ; however , he 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 , in the presence of several friends and with his hand in Varina ' s . 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 . After the remains were exhumed in New Orleans , they lay for a day at Memorial Hall of the newly organized Louisiana Historical Association , with many mourners passing by the casket , including Governor Murphy J . Foster , Sr . The body was placed on a Louisville and Nashville Railroad car and transported to Richmond . A continuous cortège , day and night , accompanied his body from New Orleans to Richmond . He is interred at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond . Legacy . Numerous memorials were created to Jefferson Davis . The largest is the concrete obelisk located at the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site in Fairview , Kentucky , marking his birthplace . Construction of the monument began in 1917 and finished in 1924 at a cost of about $ 200 , 000 . Jefferson Davis appeared on several postage stamps issued by the Confederacy , including its first postage stamp ( issued in 1861 ) . In 1995 , his portrait appeared on a United States postage stamp , part of a series of 20 stamps commemorating the 130th anniversary of end of the Civil War . The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library was established at Beauvoir in 1998 . For some years , the white - columned Biloxi mansion that was Davis ' final home had served as a Confederate Veterans Home . The house and library were damaged by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 ; the house reopened in 2008 . Bertram Hayes - Davis , Davis ' great - great grandson , is the executive director of Beauvoir , which is owned by the Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans . Based at Rice University in Houston , Texas , " The Papers of Jefferson Davis " is an editing project to publish documents related to Davis . Since the early 1960s , it has published 13 volumes , the first in 1971 and the most recent in 2012 ; two more volumes are planned . The project has roughly 100 , 000 documents in its archives . The birthday of Jefferson Davis is commemorated in several states . His actual birthday , June 3 , is celebrated in Florida , Kentucky , Louisiana and Tennessee ; in Alabama , it is celebrated on the first Monday in June . In Mississippi , the last Monday of May ( Memorial Day ) is celebrated as " National Memorial Day and Jefferson Davis ' Birthday " . In Texas , " Confederate Heroes Day " is celebrated on January 19 , the birthday of Robert E . Lee ; Jefferson Davis ' birthday had been officially celebrated on June 3 but was combined with Lee ' s birthday in 1973 . In 1913 , the United Daughters of the Confederacy conceived the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway , a transcontinental highway to be built through the South . Portions of the highway ' s route in Virginia , Alabama and other states still bear the name of Jefferson Davis . On September 20 , 2011 , the County Board of Arlington County , Virginia , voted to change the name of Old Jefferson Davis Highway , the original route of the road in the county ; Jefferson Davis Highway , a portion of U . S . 1 , retains that name . Jefferson Davis served in many roles . As a soldier , he was brave and resourceful . As a politician , he served as a United States senator and a Mississippi congressman and was active and accomplished , although he never completed a full term in any elected position . As a plantation owner , he employed slave labor as did most of his peers in the South , and supported slavery . As president of the Confederate States of America , he is widely viewed as an ineffective wartime leader ; although the task of defending the Confederacy against the much stronger Union would have been a great challenge for any leader , Davis ’ performance in this role is considered poor . After the war , he contributed to reconciliation of the South with the North , but remained a symbol for Southern pride . In the 21st century , as the Civil War and slavery become more distant in American history , and less relevant to modern American life , Jefferson Davis and the Confederacy are more likely to be associated primarily with slavery , and Davis is more likely to be a divisive figure . Nearly 150 years after the end of the Civil War , there is still a divide between North and South , and some memorials to Davis have produced controversy . A portion of the Jefferson Davis Highway ran through the northwest state of Washington , far from the South , and in 2002 an effort to rename it raised public disagreement on the issue . In the former Confederate capitol of Richmond , Virginia , the Museum of the Confederacy was involved in a controversy regarding a statue of Davis donated by the Sons of Confederate Veterans in 2008 . Likewise , a statue of Abraham Lincoln , donated to the Civil War Visitor Center in Richmond in 2003 , resulted in protests . In early 2013 , two parks in Memphis , Tennessee , which had been designated " Jefferson Davis Park " and " Confederate Park " were renamed , as was a third park named after CSA officer and early Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest . This decision also sparked controversy . Robert E . Lee ' s United States citizenship was posthumously restored in 1975 . Jefferson Davis had been specifically excluded from earlier resolutions restoring rights to other Confederate officials , and a move arose to restore Davis ' citizenship as well . This was accomplished with the passing of Senate Joint Resolution 16 on October 17 , 1978 . In signing the law , President Jimmy Carter referred to this as the last act of reconciliation in the Civil War .