John Davidson ( general ) John Wynn Davidson ( August 14 , 1825 – June 26 , 1881 ) was a brigadier general in the United States Army during the American Civil War and an American Indian fighter . In 1866 , he received brevet grade appointments as a major general of volunteers and in the regular U . S . Army for his Civil War service , Biography . Davidson was born in Fairfax County , Virginia . He graduated from West Point . Shortly after graduation he was promoted to 2nd lieutenant in the 1st U . S . Dragoons and participated in the Mexican - American War , seeing considerable action at the San Pasqual and the Rio San Gabriel battles . Following the war , Davidson was promoted to 1st lieutenant and assigned to the Western frontier . He served as the regimental quartermaster and adjutant . He led the 1st Cavalry Regiment against the Jicarilla Apache s in the Battle of Cieneguilla on March 30 , 1854 , where he was badly defeated in what was to be the fourth worst defeat suffered by the American military during the Western Indian Wars . In 1855 Davidson was promoted captain and was in command of Fort Tejon , California when the American Civil War erupted . Civil War . He was allegedly offered a commission in the Confederate Army but turned it down . Davidson was transferred to the east and took command of a brigade in the newly formed Army of the Potomac . On February 6 , 1862 , President Abraham Lincoln appointed Davidson to the grade of brigadier general of U . S . volunteers , to rank from February 3 , 1862 , the same day the U . S . Senate confirmed the previously submitted nomination . General Davidson assumed command of the 3rd Brigade , 2nd Division , IV Corps during the Peninsula Campaign . He fought at the battles of Yorktown and Williamsburg . During the Seven Days Battles he received brevet promotions in the Regular Army for his service at Gaines ' Mill and Golding ' s Farm . Shortly after the culmination of the Seven Days ' fighting , Davidson was transferred to the Trans - Mississippi Theater where he was placed in command of the Dist . of St . Louis . From December 3 , 1862 to March 26 , 1863 he was also in command of the so - called Army of Southeast Missouri until much of his army was transferred to Ulysses S . Grant in preparation for the Vicksburg Campaign . He retained command of the Dist . of St . Louis until June 16 , 1863 when he briefly commanded the Dist . of Southeast Missouri . From August 10 to November 3 , 1863 Davidson commanded the 1st Division of Frederick Steele ' s Army of Arkansas in his most distinguished role in the west . He led Union advance into central Arkansas and won the battle of Bayou Fourche , which led directly to the fall of Confederate - held Little Rock . After the Little Rock expedition , Davidson commanded the cavalry in the Dept . of the Gulf before returning to command the cavalry in the Dist . of Southeast Missouri . For the remainder of the war , Davidson held various administrative commands in Mississippi . He was mustered out of the volunteer service on January 15 , 1866 . On January 13 , 1866 , President Andrew Johnson nominated Davidson for appointment to the grade of brevet major general of volunteers to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on March 12 , 1866 . On April 10 , 1866 , President Johnson nominated Davidson for appointment to the grade of brevet brigadier general , U . S . Army , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on May 4 , 1866 . On July 17 , 1866 , President Johnson nominated Davidson for appointment to the grade of brevet major general , U . S . Army , to rank from March 13 , 1865 , and the U . S . Senate confirmed the appointment on July 23 , 1866 . Following the end of the American Civil War Davidson was again posted on the Western frontier , this time as a lieutenant colonel of the 10th Cavalry , known as the Buffalo Soldiers . It was there that he acquired the nickname " Black Jack . " In 1879 he was transferred to the 2nd Cavalry as colonel , at Fort Custer in the Montana Territory . Davidson died in St . Paul , Minnesota , in 1881 after being seriously injured by a fall from a horse during an inspection tour . He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery .