Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 2).djvu/118

98 also a share of his mother's milder qualities, which won many friends, although, to the public, he seemed stern and dictatorial. At his death congress set apart a day for the commemoration of his public services, an honor never before paid to an ex-member of congress. lie published a book entitled the "War of Ormuzd and Ahriman in the Nineteenth Century" (Baltimore, 1853). His col- lected speeches, together with a eulogy by his colleague, John A. J. Cresswell, were published in New York in 1867.

DAVIS, Isaac, patriot, b. in 1745; d. in Concord, Mass., 19 April, 1775. He was captain of the Acton minute-men, and led them against the British at Concord bridge, saying: &ldquo;I have not a man that is afraid to go.&rdquo; He was killed by the first volley. Bancroft describes him as &ldquo;stately in his person, a man of few words; earnest even to solemnity.&rdquo; His body, with those of two of his company, was brought to his home and laid in the bedroom of his wife, from whom he had parted only a few hours before. The three men &ldquo;were followed to the village graveyard by a concourse of the neighbors from miles around.&rdquo; Mrs. Davis lived to a great age. When she was over ninety, &ldquo;the United States in congress bethought themselves to pay honors to her husband's martyrdom.&rdquo;

DAVIS, Isaac, lawyer, b. in Northborough, Mass., 2 June, 1799; d. in Worcester, Mass., 1 April, 1883. He was graduated at Brown in 1822, studied law, and began the practice of his profession in Worcester, Mass., where he soon rose to eminence. He was mayor of Worcester for three years, and for eleven years a member of the Massachusetts senate. Mr. Davis was a zealous promoter of popular education. He was chosen a member of the board of trustees of Brown university in 1838, and a fellow in 1851. For forty years he was president of the board of trustees of the Worcester academy, and for some time was an active member of the Massachusetts board of education. He has received the degree of LL. D.

DAVIS, Jefferson, statesman, b. in that part of Christian county, Ky., which now forms Todd county, 3 June, 1808; d. in New Orleans, 6 Dec., 1889. His father, Samuel Davis, had served in the Revolution, and, when Jefferson was an infant, removed with his family to a place near Woodville, Wilkinson co., Miss. Young Davis entered Transylvania college, Kentucky, but left in 1824, on his appointment by President Monroe to the U. S. military academy. On his graduation, in 1828, he was assigned to the 1st infantry, and served on the frontier, taking part in the Black Hawk war of 1831-'2. He was promoted to first lieutenant of dragoons on 4 March, 1833, but, after more service against the Indians, abruptly resigned on 30 June, 1835, and having married at one of the family homes, the daughter of Zachary Taylor, then a colonel in the army, settled near Vicksburg, Miss., and became a cotton-planter. Here he pursued a life of study and retirement till 1843, when he entered politics in the midst of an exciting gubernatorial canvass. He was chosen an elector on the Polk and Dallas ticket in 1844, made a reputation as a popular speaker, and in 1845 was sent to congress, taking his seat in December of that year. He at once took an active part in debate, speaking on the tariff, the Oregon question, and military matters, especially with reference to the preparations for war with Mexico. On 6 Feb., 1846, in a speech on the Oregon question, he spoke of the &ldquo;love of union in our hearts,&rdquo; and, speaking of the battles of the Revolution, said: &ldquo;They form a monument to the common glory of our common country.&rdquo;

In June, 1846, he resigned his seat in the house to become colonel of the 1st Mississippi volunteer rifles, which had unanimously elected him to that office. Having joined his regiment at New Orleans, he led it to re-enforce Gen. Taylor on the Rio Grande. At Monterey he charged on Fort Leneria without bayonets, led his command through the streets nearly to the Grand Plaza through a storm of shot, and afterward served on the commission for arranging the surrender of the place. At Buena Vista his regiment was charged by a Mexican brigade of lancers, greatly its superior in numbers, in a last desperate effort to break the American lines. Col. Davis formed his men in the shape of a letter V, open toward the enemy, and thus, by exposing his foes to a covering fire, utterly routed them, though he was unsupported. He was severely wounded, but remained in the saddle till the close of the fight, and was complimented for coolness and gallantry in the commander-in-chief's despatch of 6 March, 1847. His regiment was ordered home on the expiration of its term of enlistment, and on 17 May, 1847, Col. Davis was appointed by President Polk a brigadier-general, but declined the commission on the ground that a militia appointment by the Federal executive was unconstitutional. He was appointed by the governor of Mississippi to fill a vacancy in the U. S. senate in August, 1847, and in January, 1848, the legislature unanimously elected him senator, and re-elected him in 1850 for a full term. He was made chairman of the senate committee on military affairs, and here, as in the house, was active in the discussions on the various phases of the slavery question and the important work of the session, including the fugitive-slave law, and the other compromise measures of 1850. Mr. Davis proposed the extension of the Missouri compromise line to the Pacific, and continued a zealous advocate of state rights. He was the unsuccessful state-rights or &ldquo;resistance&rdquo; candidate for governor of his state in 1851, though by his personal popularity he reduced the Union majority from 7,500 to 999. He had resigned his seat in the senate to take part in the canvass, and, after a year of retirement, actively supported Franklin Pierce in the presidential contest of 1852. After the election of Gen. Pierce, Mr. Davis received the portfolio of war in his cabinet, and administered it with great credit. Among other changes, he proposed the use of camels in the service on the western plains, introduced an improved system of infantry tactics, iron gun-carriages, rifled muskets and pistols, and the use of the Minié ball. Four regiments were added to the army, the defences on the sea-coast and frontier were strengthened, and, as a result of experiments, heavy guns were cast hollow, and a larger grain of powder was adopted. While in the senate, Mr. Davis had advocated the construction of a Pacific railway as a military necessity, and a means of preserving the Pacific coast to the Union, and he was now put in