8. Jefferson Davis was a hero of the Mexican War
Before he became the President of the Confederate States of America (he voted against secession) Jefferson Davis was an American war hero. Davis graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1828, and as a young lieutenant served in the Black Hawk War. It fell to Davis to escort Chief Black Hawk to prison after that event. Davis was often ill, likely from recurrent malaria, and in 1835 he married the daughter of his commanding officer, Zachary Taylor, against the father’s wishes and resigned his commission later the same month. His wife, the former Sarah Taylor, died in September of that year on his sister’s Louisiana plantation. Davis became distant and a loner for several years, though he made his first forays into politics in the 1840s, and eventually remarried in early 1845. When the Mexican War broke out, Davis mustered a regiment of militia.
Although most of the army still used smoothbore muskets, Davis armed his companies with rifles, and his command became known as the Mississippi Rifles. In February 1847, Davis led his unit during the Battle of Buena Vista, where he was badly wounded by a shot in the foot while he rallied his men. His commander, Zachary Taylor, told Davis, “My daughter, sir, was a better judge of men than I was”, ending a long-standing grudge between the two men. Taylor recommended to President James K. Polk that Davis be promoted to the rank of General of Volunteers, to which Polk acceded. Davis declined the appointment, arguing that the federal government had no right to create or promote militia, which was reserved to the states. It was Davis’s war service which saw him appointed to a vacant Senate seat, launching his national political career.