Jefferson Davis

            Jefferson Davis was born the 3rd of June 1808 in Christian county Kentucky. He attended college at Transylvania University in Lexington Kentucky. In 1824 he received an appointment to West Pointe by President Monroe. He graduated from West Pointe in 1828 and was commissioned at the rank of second lieutenant. He fought in the Black-hawk war of 1831 and when his regiment captured Chief Blackhawk, he was placed in the charge of Davis.
             He resigned from the army in 1835 and married his first wife Sallie Knox Taylor, who was Zachary Taylor's daughter. Sallie died three months later due to malaria. He then remarried in 1845 to Varina Howell. They lived on his plantation, Brierfield, which was very successful. .
             He was elected to Congress in 1845 from Mississippi. During this time he heavily supported individual states rights and believed that the federal government should not interfere. He also supported the annexation of Texas.
             At the beginning of the Mexican war he was appointed as a colonel in the first Mississippi Rifle Regiment. In June 1846 he resigned from Congress to take command in New Orleans. He was able to equip his soldiers with the latest rifles and personally drilled them ensuring every soldier knew how to use this new rifle. In September of 1846 they took part in a charge at Monterey and with the aid of a Tennessee regiment, defeated the Mexicans. Later at Buena Vista the regiment would participate in another charge that would leave Davis severely wounded.
             In 1847 Davis was appointed to the U.S. Senate and in January of 1848 was elected to the remainder of the term. He would be a Senator from 1847 to 1851 during this time there would be many debates about slavery and the "Indian situation". He would vote for the Missouri Compromise. He started his first full term as Senator in March 1851. He then resigned to run for Governor of Mississippi. He lost the election by less than one thousand votes.