— Ch. 1 · A Youngest Of Ten —
Jefferson Davis.
~2 min read · Ch. 1 of 8
Jefferson F. Davis was born on the 3rd of June 1808 at a family homestead in Davisburg, Kentucky. He was the youngest of ten children born to Jane and Samuel Emory Davis. His father had served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War before receiving a land grant near present-day Washington, Georgia. The family moved to Kentucky around 1793 where they established their home. In 1811, the Davis family relocated again to Attakapas County in Orleans Territory. They soon moved to a farm near Woodville in Wilkinson County, Mississippi Territory. There Samuel cultivated cotton and acquired twelve slaves while building a house named Rosemont by his wife Jane. When Jefferson was about five years old he began attending a rudimentary schoolhouse near Woodville. At age eight his father sent him and relatives to Saint Thomas College, a Catholic preparatory school run by Dominicans near Springfield, Kentucky. An escort led them northeast along the Natchez Trace. This journey was guided by planter and Mississippi militia officer Thomas Hinds. By 1824 Davis attended Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. While still enrolled there he learned that his father Samuel had died.
West Point And Court Martial
Jefferson Davis entered the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1824 through the appointment secured by his older brother Joseph. He became friends with classmates Albert Sidney Johnston and Leonidas Polk during his time there. His first year included a court-martial for drinking at the nearby tavern of Benny Havens. He was found guilty but received a pardon from the academy authorities. The following year he faced house arrest for his role in the eggnog riot during Christmas 1826. Despite this disciplinary record he graduated 23rd in a class of 33 cadets. Second Lieutenant Davis was assigned to the 1st Infantry Regiment accompanied by James Pemberton, an enslaved African American whom he inherited from his father. In early 1829 he served under Colonel Zachary Taylor at Forts Crawford and Winnebago in Michigan Territory. Throughout his life Davis regularly suffered from ill health including pneumonia and bronchitis during northern winters. He went on furlough to Mississippi in March 1832 missing the outbreak of the Black Hawk War. He returned to duty just before the Battle of Bad Axe which ended the conflict. When Black Hawk was captured Davis escorted him for detention in St. Louis. Black Hawk stated that Davis treated him with kindness.