Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 03.djvu/185

 DAVIS

DAVIS

of the army of northern Virginia. On March 1, 1862, Gen. Leroy Pope Walker resigned the port- folio of war, and Judah P. Benjamin was ap- pointed his successor. In April a general reorganization of the cabinet followed. Judah P. Benjamin was confirmed as secretary of state and of war ; C. G. Memminger as secretary of the treasury; S. W. Mallory as secretary of the navy; J. H. Reagan as postmaster-general; and Thomas H. Watts as attorney -general. The only change before this official one had been the ap- pointment of R. M. T. Hunter as secretary of state, early in 1861, to succeed Secretary Toombs, who resigned to enter the army, and when Sec- retary Hunter soon after resigned to enter the Confederate senate, Judah P. Benjamin took his place. Upon the resignation of Charles G. Mem- minger, secretary of the treasury in 1864, Presi- dent Davis appointed George A. Trenholm of South Carolina to succeed him, and when dissat- isfaction arose as to the conduct of the war department bj^ Secretary Benjamin he was suc- ceeded by John C. Breckinridge in March, 1865. President Davis visited the army operating in the west, and directed the general conduct of the war with much skill, keeping the expectations of the people at a high point by his cheerful assu- rances of tlie hopeful condition of affairs. He left Richmond when Lee's lines were broken, and while making his way to the trans-Mississippi under escort of a small party, hoping to rally the southwestern army, he was captured at Irwinsville, Ga., May 10, 1865, taken to Fort Monroe and confined as a state prisoner for two years, first in a gun casemate heavily ironed, and afterward he was allowed more freedom. On May 8, 1866, he was indicted for treason by the grand jury of the U.S. court for the district of Virginia under Judge Underwood, at Richmond, and on June 5, 1865, Charles O'Conor and James T. Brady of his counsel urged before the court then in session at Richmond, that the trial pro- ceed, or the prisoner be bailed. The court re- fused either, and on May 13, 1867, the prisoner was brought before the court at Richmond on a writ of habeas cot^yus issued by Judge Under- wood at Alexandria, Va., May 1, 1867, and on May 14 he was delivered to the civil authorities and admitted to bail on the sum of §100,000. The bail bond was signed by many prominent public men including Horace Greeley, Gerrit Smith, Augustus Schell, and Horace F. Clark, the last two also representing Cornelius Vanderbilt. He was brought to trial at Richmond, Va., Dec. 3, 1867, and after hearing the arguments. Chief Justice Chase was in favor of quashing the indictment. Judge Underwood opposed, and the case was certified to the supreme court to decide, when a nolle prosequi was entered by the

government. His name was included among those under the general amnesty of December, 1868. Mr. Davis declined always to take the oath of allegiance or ask pardon, consequently he had no vote. He returned to Mississippi and was for a time interested in the Mississippi valley com- pany, a project for encouraging trade between New Orleans and South America and European ports, which proved premature and he tlien re- paired to Beau voir where he commenced the prep- aration of The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Oovernment. His constituents were very de- sirous to test the question of his disfranchise- ment by sending him to the senate, but lie did not desire to raise disturbing questions in the country and declined their urgent appeals. He rented a cottage known as the Pavilion, in the grounds of Mrs. Sarah A. Dorsey's residence. She was a schoolmate of Mrs. Davis, and he sub- sequently purchased the place. Upon the death of Mrs. Dorsey he was made executor of the es- tate and found by the terms of her will that he was her legatee, and in order to render it impos- sible for him to refuse the gift the reversion was made to his youngest daughter. In November, 1889, he visited his plantation, Brierfield, where he was attacked with the grippe and when he became very ill he attempted to return to Beau- voir house on a steamer, by way of New Orleans, but could not be moved from the house of his friend, I. U. Payne. He was followed to his grave at Richmond by thousands of his people. He published. Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (2 volumes, 1881) ; and his wife, Varina Jefferson Davis, wlio for purposes of identification assumed his name at his death, finished an autobiography begun by him and published it as Jefferson Davis, Ex-President of the Confederate States of America: A Memoir (2 vols., 1891). He died at New Orleans, La., Dec. 6, 1889. DAVIS, Jefferson Clarke, soldier, was born in Clarke county, Ind., March 2, 1828. His ances- tors were among the early settlers of Kentucky and Southern Indiana at the falls of the Ohio, and liad been celebrated as Indian fighters. He was educated at the county academy and enlisted in the Indiana regiment recruited by Colonel Lane for the Mexican war. He won at Buena Vista a commission as 2d lieutenant in the 1st artillery which he received June 17, 1848. He was promoted 1st lieutenant in 1852. In 1858 he was stationed with the 1st U.S. artillery in Fort Moultrie, Charleston, S.C., an officer under Major Anderson and took part in the evacuation of the fort and the occupation and defence of Fort Sumter through a bombardment of thirty- six hours. In recognition of his bravery in this trying ordeal he was promoted captain and allowed leave of absence to recruit the 22d