Davis, Jefferson. Born in 1808. American statesman and soldier. Davis graduated at West Point in 1828, and served in the army for seven years. In 1845 he was elected to Congress, and was appointed colonel of the first regiment of Mississippi volunteers. In 1853 Jefferson Davis was secretary of war, and from 1857-61 was again member of the senate. On February 9, 1861, he was unanimously elected "President of the Confederate States of America." War followed, and commenced with a Confederate victory at Bull Run, but the South soon sustained serious reverses, then finances failed, and Grant's defeat of Lee concluded the war. Davis was captured at Irwinsville, and conveyed to Fort Monroe, where he was imprisoned for two years. He was prosecuted in 1867 for treason, was discharged, and his name included in the general amnesty. Died in 1889.

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