THE NAME OF JEFFERSON DAVIS INSEPARABLE FROM THE HISTORY OF THE
MEXICAN WAR--HIS ESSENTIALLY MILITARY CHARACTER AND TASTES--JOINS
GENERAL TAYLOR'S ARMY ON THE RIO GRANDE, AS COLONEL OF THE FAMOUS
"MISSISSIPPI RIFLES"--MONTEREY--BUENA VISTA--GENERAL TAYLOR'S ACCOUNT
OF DAVIS' CONDUCT--DAVIS' REPORT OF THE ACTION--NOVELTY AND
ORIGINALITY OF HIS STRATEGY AT BUENA VISTA--INTERESTING STATEMENT OF
HON. CALEB CUSHING--RETURN OF DAVIS TO THE UNITED STATES--TRIUMPHANT
RECEPTION AT HOME--PRESIDENT POLK TENDERS HIM A BRIGADIER'S
COMMISSION, WHICH HE DECLINES ON PRINCIPLE.
The name of Davis is inseparable from those lettered glories of the
American Union, which were the brilliant trophies of the Mexican war. In
those bright annals it was engraven with unfading lustre upon the
conquering banners of the Republic, and his genius and valor were rewarded
with a fame which rests securely upon the laurels of Monterey and Buena
Vista.
Jefferson Davis is a born soldier. Even if we could forget the glories of
the assault upon Teneria and El Diablo, and banish the thrilling
recollection of that movement at Buena Vista, the genius, novelty, and
intrepidity of which electrified the world of military science, and
extorted the enthusiastic admiration of the victor of Waterloo, we must
yet recognize the impress of those rare gifts and graces which are the
titles to authority. The erect yet easy carriage, the true martial dignity
of bearing, which is altogether removed from the supercilious _hauteur_
of the mere martinet, the almost fascinating expression of _suaviter in
modo_, which yet does not for an instant conceal the _fortiter in re_,
constitute in him that imperial semblance, to which the mind involuntarily
concedes the right to supreme command. It is impossible, in the presence
of Mr. Davis, to deny this recognition of his intuitive soldiership. Not
only is obvious to the eye the commanding mien of the soldier, but the
order, the discipline of the educated soldier, whose nature, stern and
unflinching, was yet plastic to receive the impressions of an art with
which it felt an intuitive alliance. This military precision is
characteristic of Mr. Davis in every aspect in which he appears. There is
the constant fixedness of gaze upon the object to be reached, and the
cautious calculation of the chances of success with the means and forces
ready at hand; a constant regard for bases of supply and a proper concern
for lines of retreat, and, above all, the prompt and vigorous execution,
if success be practicable and the attack determined upon. Even in his
oratory and statesmanship are these characteristics evinced. In the former
there is far more of rhetorical order, harmony, and symmetry, than of
rhetorical ornament and display; and in the latter there is purpose,
consistency, and method, with little regard for the shifts of expediency
and the suggestions of hap-hazard temerity.
The attachment of Mr. Davis for the profession of arms is little less than
a passion--an inspiration. True, he voluntarily abandoned the army, at an
age when military life is most attractive to men, but the field of
politics was far more inviting to a commendable aspiration for fame, than
the army at a season of profound peace. But a more potent consideration,
of a domestic nature, urged his withdrawal from military life. He was
about to be married, and preferred not to remain in the army after having
assumed the responsibilities of that relation. His speeches in the House
of Representatives, indicating his earnest interest in military affairs,
his solicitude in behalf of the army, his enthusiastic championship of the
Military Academy, and his thorough information respecting all subjects
pertaining to the military interests of the country, show his ambitious
and absorbing study of his favorite science.
In common with an overwhelming majority of the Southern people, he had
favored the annexation of Texas, and cordially sustained Mr. Polk's
Administration, in all the measures which were necessary to the triumphant
success of its policy. While in the midst of his useful labors, as a
member of Congress, in promoting the war policy of the Government, he
received, with delight, the announcement of his selection to the command
of the First Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers. He immediately resigned
his seat in Congress and started to take command of his regiment, after
obtaining for it, with great difficulty, the rifles which were afterwards
used with such deadly effect upon the enemy. Overtaking his men, who were
already _en route_ for the scene of action, at New Orleans, by midsummer
he had reinforced General Taylor on the Rio Grande.
The incidents of the Mexican war are too fresh in the recollection of the
country to justify here a detailed narrative of the operations of the
gallant army of General Taylor in its progress toward the interior from
the scenes of its splendid exploits at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma.
For several weeks after the arrival of Colonel Davis and his
Mississippians, active hostilities were suspended. When the preparations
for the campaign were completed, the army advanced, and reached Walnut
Springs, about three miles from Monterey, on the 19th of September, 1846.
Two days afterwards began those series of actions which finally resulted
in the capitulation of a fortified city of great strength, and defended
with obstinate valor. Of the part borne in these brilliant operations
which so exalted the glory of the American name, and immortalized the
heroism of Southern volunteers, by Colonel Davis and his "Mississippi
Rifles," an able and graphic pen shall relate the story:
"In the storming of Monterey, Colonel Davis and his riflemen played a most
gallant part. The storming of one of its strongest forts (Teneria) on the
21st of September was a desperate and hard-fought fight. The Mexicans had
dealt such death by their cross-fires that they ran up a new flag in
exultation, and in defiance of the assault which, at this time, was being
made in front and rear. The Fourth Infantry, in the advance, had been
terribly cut up, but the Mississippians and Tennesseeans steadily pressed
forward, under a galling fire of copper grape. They approached to within a
hundred yards of the fort, when they were lost in a volume of smoke.
McClung,[7] inciting a company which formerly had been under his command,
dashed on, followed by Captain Willis. Anticipating General Quitman,
Colonel Davis, about the same time, gave the order to charge. With wild
desperation, his men followed him. The escalade was made with the fury of
a tempest, the men flinging themselves upon the guns of the enemy. Sword
in hand, McClung has sprung over the ditch. After him dashes Davis,
cheering on the Mississippians, and then Campbell, with his Tennesseeans
and others, brothers in the fight, and rivals for its honors. Then was
wild work. The assault was irresistible. The Mexicans, terror-stricken,
fled like an Alpine village from the avalanche, and, taking position in a
strongly-fortified building, some seventy-five yards in the rear, opened a
heavy fire of musketry. But, like their mighty river, nothing could stay
the Mississippians. They are after the Mexicans. Davis and McClung are
simultaneously masters of the fortifications, having got in by different
entrances. In the fervor of victory the brigade does not halt, but, led on
by Colonel Davis, are preparing to charge on the second post, (El Diablo,)
about three hundred yards in the rear, when they are restrained by
Quitman. This desperate conflict lasted over two hours. The charge of the
Mississippi Rifle Regiment, without bayonets, upon Fort Teneria, gained
for the State a triumph which stands unparalleled.
"Placed in possession of El Diablo, on the dawn of the 23d Colonel Davis
was exposed to a sharp fire from a half-moon redoubt, about one hundred
and fifty yards distant, which was connected with heavy stone buildings
and walls adjoining a block of the city. Returning the fire, he proceeded,
with eight men, to reconnoitre the ground in advance. Having reported, he
was ordered, with three companies of his regiment and one of Tennesseeans,
to advance on the works.
"When they reached the half-moon work a tremendous fire was opened from
the stone buildings in the rear. Taking a less-exposed position, Davis was
reinforced, and, the balance of the Mississippians coming up, the
engagement became general in the street, while, from the house-tops, a
heavy fire was kept up by the Mexicans. 'The gallant Davis, leading the
advance with detached parties, was rapidly entering the city, penetrating
into buildings, and gradually driving the enemy from the position,' when
General Henderson and the Texan Rangers dismounted, entered the city, and,
through musketry and grape, made their way to the advance. The conflict
increased, and still Davis continued to lead his command through the
streets to within a square of the Grand Plaza, when, the afternoon being
far advanced, General Taylor withdrew the Americans to the captured
forts."[8]
Thus, in their first engagement, the Mississippians and their commander
achieved a reputation which shall endure so long as men commemorate deeds
of heroism and devotion. Veteran troops, trained to despise death by the
dangers of a score of battles, have been immortalized in song and story
for exploits inferior to those of the "Mississippi Rifles" at Monterey.
Colonel Davis became one of the idols of the army, and took a prominent
place among the heroes of the war. The nation rang with the fame of "Davis
and his Mississippi Rifles;" the journals of the day were largely occupied
with graphic descriptions of their exploits; and the reports of superior
officers contributed their proud testimony to the history of the country,
to the chivalrous daring and consummate skill of Colonel Davis. A becoming
acknowledgment of his conduct was made by General Taylor in assigning him
a place on the commission of officers appointed to arrange with the
Mexicans the terms of capitulation. The result of the negotiations,
though approved by General Taylor, was not approved by the Administration,
which ordered a termination of the armistice agreed upon by the
commissioners from the respective armies and a speedy resumption of
hostilities. The terms of capitulation were assailed by many, who thought
them too lenient to the Mexicans; among others, by General Quitman, the
warm, personal, and political friend of Colonel Davis. A very important
portion of the history of the war consists of the latter's defense of the
terms of surrender and his memoranda of the incidents occurring in the
conferences with the Mexican officers.
To sustain the proud prestige of Monterey--if possible to surpass it,
became henceforth the aspiration of the Mississippians. But the name of
Mississippi was to be made radiant with a new glory, beside which the
lustre of Monterey paled, as did the dawn of Lodi by the full-orbed
splendor of Austerlitz. All the world knows of the conduct of Jefferson
Davis at Buena Vista. How he virtually won a battle, which, considering
the disparity of the contending forces, must forever be a marvel to the
student of military science; how like Dessaix, at Marengo, he thought
there was "still time to win another battle," even when a portion of our
line was broken and in inglorious retreat, and acting upon the impulse
rescued victory from the jaws of defeat; saving an army from destruction,
and flooding with a blaze of triumph a field shrouded with the gloom of
disaster, are memories forever enshrined in the Temple of Fame. Americans
can never weary of listening to the thrilling incidents of that
ever-memorable day. By the South, the lesson of Buena Vista and kindred
scenes of the valor of her children, can never be forgotton. In these days
of her humiliation and despair, their proud memories throng upon her, as
do a thousand noble emotions upon the modern Greek, who stands upon the
sacred ground of Marathon and Plætea.
The following vivid and powerful description of the more prominent
incidents of the battle is from the pen of Hon. J. F. H. Claiborne, of
Mississippi:
"The battle had been raging sometime with fluctuating fortunes, and was
setting against us, when General Taylor, with Colonel Davis and others,
arrived on the field. Several regiments (which were subsequently rallied
and fought bravely) were in full retreat. O'Brien, after having his men
and horses completely cut up, had been compelled to draw off his guns, and
Bragg, with almost superhuman energy, was sustaining the brunt of the
fight. Many officers of distinction had fallen. Colonel Davis rode forward
to examine the position of the enemy, and concluding that the best way to
arrest our fugitives would be to make a bold demonstration, he resolved at
once to attack the enemy, there posted in force, immediately in front,
supported by cavalry, and two divisions in reserve in his rear. It was a
resolution bold almost to rashness, but the emergency was pressing. With a
handful of Indiana volunteers, who still stood by their brave old colonel
(Bowles) and his own regiment, he advanced at double-quick time, firing as
he advanced. His own brave fellows fell fast under the rolling musketry of
the enemy, but their rapid and fatal volleys carried dismay and death into
the adverse ranks. A deep ravine separated the combatants. Leaping into
it, the Mississippians soon appeared on the other side, and with a shout
that was heard over the battle-field, they poured in a well-directed fire,
and rushed upon the enemy. Their deadly aim and wild enthusiasm were
irresistible. The Mexicans fled in confusion to their reserves, and Davis
seized the commanding position they had occupied. He next fell upon a
party of cavalry and compelled it to fly, with the loss of their leader
and other officers. Immediately afterwards a brigade of lancers, one
thousand strong, were seen approaching at a gallop, in beautiful array,
with sounding bugles and fluttering pennons. It was an appalling
spectacle, but not a man flinched from his position. The time between our
devoted band and eternity seemed brief indeed. But conscious that the eye
of the army was upon them, that the honor of Mississippi was at stake, and
knowing that, if they gave way, or were ridden down, our unprotected
batteries in the rear, upon which the fortunes of the day depended, would
be captured, each man resolved to die in his place sooner than retreat.
Not the Spartan martyrs at Thermopylæ--not the sacred battalion of
Epaminondas--not the Tenth Legion of Julius Cæsar--not the Old Guard of
Napoleon--ever evinced more fortitude than these young volunteers in a
crisis when death seemed inevitable. They stood like statues, as frigid
and motionless as the marble itself. Impressed with this extraordinary
firmness, when they had anticipated panic and flight, the lancers advanced
more deliberately, as though they saw, for the first time, the dark shadow
of the fate that was impending over them. Colonel Davis had thrown his men
into the form of a reëntering angle, (familiarly known as his famous V
movement,) both flanks resting on ravines, the lancers coming down on the
intervening ridge. This exposed them to a converging fire, and the moment
they came within rifle range each man singled out his object, and the
whole head of the column fell. A more deadly fire never was delivered, and
the brilliant array recoiled and retreated, paralyzed and dismayed.
"Shortly afterwards the Mexicans, having concentrated a large force on the
right for their final attack, Colonel Davis was ordered in that direction.
His regiment had been in action all day, exhausted by thirst and fatigue,
much reduced by the carnage of the morning engagement, and many in the
ranks suffering from wounds, yet the noble fellows moved at double-quick
time. Bowles' little band of Indiana volunteers still acted with them.
After marching several hundred yards they perceived the Mexican infantry
advancing, in three lines, upon Bragg's battery, which, though entirely
unsupported, held its position with a resolution worthy of his fame. The
pressure upon him stimulated the Mississippians. They increased their
speed, and when the enemy were within one hundred yards of the battery and
confident of its capture, they took him in flank and reverse, and poured
in a raking and destructive fire. This broke his right line, and the rest
soon gave way and fell back precipitately. Here Colonel Davis was severely
wounded."
The wound here alluded to was from a musket ball in the heel, and was
exceedingly painful, though Colonel Davis refused to leave the field until
the action was over. For some time grave apprehensions were entertained
lest it should prove dangerous by the setting in of erysipelas.
General Taylor, who was deeply impressed with the large share of credit
due to Colonel Davis, in his official report of the battle, says: "The
Mississippi Riflemen, under Colonel Davis, were highly conspicuous for
their gallantry and steadiness, and sustained throughout the engagement,
the reputation of veteran troops. Brought into action against an immensely
superior force, they maintained themselves for a long time, unsupported
and with heavy loss, and held an important part of the field until
reinforced. Colonel Davis, though severely wounded, remained in the saddle
until the close of the action. His distinguished coolness and gallantry,
at the head of his regiment on this day, entitle him to the particular
notice of the Government."
The report of Colonel Davis, of the operations of his regiment, is highly
important as a description of the most important features of the action,
and as an explanation of his celebrated strategic movement. We omit such
portions as embrace mere details not relevant to our purpose.
"SALTILLO, MEXICO, 2d March, 1847.
"SIR: In compliance with your note of yesterday, I have the honor to
present the following report of the service of the Mississippi
Riflemen on the 23d ultimo:
"Early in the morning of that day the regiment was drawn out from the
head-quarters encampment, which stood in advance of and overlooked the
town of Saltillo. Conformably to instructions, two companies were
detached for the protection of that encampment, and to defend the
adjacent entrance of the town. The remaining eight companies were put
in march to return to the position of the preceding day, now known as
the battle-field of Buena Vista. We had approached to within about two
miles of that position, when the report of artillery firing, which
reached us, gave assurance that a battle had commenced. Excited by the
sound, the regiment pressed rapidly forward, manifesting, upon this,
as upon other occasions, their more than willingness to meet the
enemy. At the first convenient place the column was halted for the
purpose of filling their canteens with water; and the march being
resumed, was directed toward the position which had been indicated to
me, on the previous evening, as the post of our regiment. As we
approached the scene of action, horsemen, recognized as of our troops,
were seen running, dispersed and confusedly from the field; and our
first view of the line of battle presented the mortifying spectacle of
a regiment of infantry flying disorganized from before the enemy.
These sights, so well calculated to destroy confidence and dispirit
troops just coming into action, it is my pride and pleasure to
believe, only nerved the resolution of the regiment I have the honor
to command.
"Our order of march was in column of companies, advancing by their
centers. The point which had just been abandoned by the regiment
alluded to, was now taken as our direction. I rode forward to examine
the ground upon which we were going to operate, and in passing through
the fugitives, appealed to them to return with us and renew the fight,
pointing to our regiment as a mass of men behind which they might
securely form.
"With a few honorable exceptions, the appeal was as unheeded, as were
the offers which, I am informed, were made by our men to give their
canteens of water to those who complained of thirst, on condition that
they would go back. General Wool was upon the ground making great
efforts to rally the men who had given way. I approached him and asked
if he would send another regiment to sustain me in an attack upon the
enemy before us. He was alone, and, after promising the support, went
in person to send it. Upon further examination, I found that the slope
we were ascending was intersected by a deep ravine, which, uniting
obliquely with a still larger one on our right, formed between them a
point of land difficult of access by us, but which, spreading in a
plain toward the base of the mountain, had easy communication with
the main body of the enemy. This position, important from its natural
strength, derived a far greater value from the relation it bore to our
order of battle and line of communication with the rear. The enemy, in
number many times greater than ourselves, supported by strong
reserves, flanked by cavalry and elated by recent success, was
advancing upon it. The moment seemed to me critical and the occasion
to require whatever sacrifice it might cost to check the enemy.
"My regiment, having continued to advance, was near at hand. I met and
formed it rapidly into order of battle; the line then advanced in
double-quick time, until within the estimated range of our rifles,
when it was halted, and ordered to 'fire advancing.'
"The progress of the enemy was arrested. We crossed the difficult
chasm before us, under a galling fire, and in good order renewed the
attack upon the other side. The contest was severe--the destruction
great upon both sides. We steadily advanced, and, as the distance
diminished, the ratio of loss increased rapidly against the enemy; he
yielded, and was driven back on his reserves. A plain now lay behind
us--the enemy's cavalry had passed around our right flank, which
rested on the main ravine, and gone to our rear. The support I had
expected to join us was nowhere to be seen. I therefore ordered the
regiment to retire, and went in person to find the cavalry, which,
after passing round our right, had been concealed by the inequality of
the ground. I found them at the first point where the bank was
practicable for horsemen, in the act of descending into the ravine--no
doubt for the purpose of charging upon our rear. The nearest of our
men ran quickly to my call, attacked this body, and dispersed it with
some loss. I think their commander was among the killed.
"The regiment was formed again in line of battle behind the first
ravine we had crossed; soon after which we were joined upon our left
by Lieutenant Kilbourn, with a piece of light artillery, and Colonel
Lane's (the Third) regiment of Indiana volunteers.... We had proceeded
but a short distance when I saw a large body of cavalry debouche from
his cover upon the left of the position from which we had retired, and
advance rapidly upon us. The Mississippi regiment was filed to the
right, and fronted in line across the plain; the Indiana regiment was
formed on the bank of the ravine, in advance of our right flank, by
which a reëntering angle was presented to the enemy. Whilst this
preparation was being made, Sergeant-Major Miller, of our regiment,
was sent to Captain Sherman for one or more pieces of artillery from
his battery.
"The enemy, who was now seen to be a body of richly-caparisoned
lancers, came forward rapidly, and in beautiful order--the files and
ranks so closed as to look like a mass of men and horses. Perfect
silence and the greatest steadiness prevailed in both lines of our
troops, as they stood at shouldered arms waiting an attack. Confident
of success, and anxious to obtain the full advantage of a cross-fire
at a short distance, I repeatedly called to the men not to shoot.
"As the enemy approached, his speed regularly diminished, until, when,
within eighty or a hundred yards, he had drawn up to a walk, and
seemed about to halt. A few files fired without orders, and both lines
then instantly poured in a volley so destructive that the mass yielded
to the blow and the survivors fled.... At this time, the enemy made
his last attack upon the right, and I received the General's order to
march to that portion of the field. The broken character of the
intervening ground concealed the scene of action from our view; but
the heavy firing of musketry formed a sufficient guide for our course.
After marching two or three hundred yards, we saw the enemy's infantry
advancing in three lines upon Captain Bragg's battery; which, though
entirely unsupported, resolutely held its position, and met the attack
with a fire worthy the former achievements of that battery, and of the
reputation of its present meritorious commander. We pressed on,
climbed the rocky slope of the plain on which this combat occurred,
reached its brow so as to take the enemy in flank and reverse when he
was about one hundred yards from the battery. Our first fire--raking
each of his lines, and opened close upon his flank--was eminently
destructive. His right gave way, and he fled in confusion.
"In this, the last contest of the day, my regiment equaled--it was
impossible to exceed--my expectations. Though worn down by many hours
of fatigue and thirst, the ranks thinned by our heavy loss in the
morning, they yet advanced upon the enemy with the alacrity and
eagerness of men fresh to the combat. In every approbatory sense of
these remarks I wish to be included a party of Colonel Bowles' Indiana
regiment, which served with us during the greater part of the day,
under the immediate command of an officer from that regiment, whose
gallantry attracted my particular attention, but whose name, I regret,
is unknown to me. When hostile demonstrations had ceased, I retired to
a tent upon the field for surgical aid, having been wounded by a
musket ball when we first went into action.... Every part of the
action having been fought under the eye of the commanding General, the
importance and manner of any service it was our fortune to render,
will be best estimated by him. But in view of my own responsibility,
it may be permitted me to say, in relation to our first attack upon
the enemy, that I considered the necessity absolute and immediate. No
one could have failed to perceive the hazard. The enemy, in greatly
disproportionate numbers, was rapidly advancing. We saw no friendly
troops coming to our support, and probably none except myself expected
reinforcement. Under such circumstances, the men cheerfully, ardently
entered into the conflict; and though we lost, in that single
engagement, more than thirty killed and forty wounded, the regiment
never faltered nor moved, except as it was ordered. Had the expected
reinforcement arrived, we could have prevented the enemy's cavalry
from passing to our rear, results more decisive might have been
obtained, and a part of our loss have been avoided....
"I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant.
"JEFFERSON DAVIS,
"_Colonel Mississippi Rifles_.
"MAJOR W. W. S. BLISS, _Assistant Adjutant-General_."
The reputation earned by Colonel Davis at Buena Vista could not fail to
provoke the assaults of envy. An effort, equally unwarranted and
unsuccessful, has since been made to deprive him of a portion of his
merited fame of having conceived and executed a movement decisive of the
battle. It has been pretended, in disparagement of the strategy of Colonel
Davis, that his celebrated V movement (for so it is, and will always be
known) had not the merit of originality, and besides was forced upon him
by the circumstances in which he was placed, and especially by the
conformation of the ground, which would not admit of a different
disposition of his troops. Such a judgment is merely hypercritical. There
is no account in military history, from the campaigns of Cæsar to those of
Napoleon, of such a tactical conception, unless we include a
slightly-analogous case at Waterloo. The movement in the latter
engagement, however, differs essentially from that executed by Davis at
Buena Vista. A party of Hanoverian cavalry, assailed by French huzzars, at
the intersection of two roads, by forming a salient, repulsed their
assailants almost as effectually as did the reëntrant angle of the
Mississippians at Buena Vista. As to the second criticism, it is certainly
a novel accusation against an officer, that he should, by a quick
appreciation of his situation, avail himself of the only possible means by
which he could not only extricate his own command from imminent peril of
destruction, but also avert a blow delivered at the safety of the entire
army.
In a lecture on "The Expatriated Irish in Europe and America," delivered
in Boston, February 11, 1858, the Hon. Caleb Cushing thus alludes to this
subject: "In another of the dramatic incidents of that field, a man of
Celtic race (Jefferson Davis) at the head of the Rifles of Mississippi,
had ventured to do that of which there is, perhaps, but one other example
in the military history of modern times. In the desperate conflicts of the
Crimea, at the battle of Inkermann, in one of those desperate charges,
there was a British officer who ventured to receive the charge of the
enemy without the precaution of having his men formed in a hollow square.
They were drawn up in two lines, meeting at a point like an open fan, and
received the charge of the Russians at the muzzle of their guns, and
repelled it. Sir Colin Campbell, for this feat of arms, among others, was
selected as the man to retrieve the fallen fortunes of England in India.
He did, however, but imitate what Jefferson Davis had previously done in
Mexico, who, in that trying hour, when, with one last desperate effort to
break the line of the American army, the cavalry of Mexico was
concentrated in one charge against the American line; then, I say,
Jefferson Davis commanded his men to form in two lines, extended as I have
shown, and receive that charge of the Mexican horse, with a plunging fire
from the right and left from the Mississippi Rifles, which repelled, and
repelled for the last time, the charge of the hosts of Mexico."
These puerile criticisms, however, were unavailing against the concurrent
testimony of Taylor, Quitman, and Lane, and the grateful plaudits of the
army, to shake the popular judgment, which rarely fails, in the end, to
discriminate between the false glare of cheaply-earned glory and the just
renown of true heroism.
The term of enlistment of his regiment having expired, Colonel Davis, in
July, 1847, just twelve months after the resignation of his seat in the
House of Representatives, returned to the United States. His progress
toward his home was attended by a series of congratulatory receptions, the
people every-where assembling _en masse_ to do honor to the "Hero of Buena
Vista." Mississippi extended a triumphant greeting to her
soldier-statesman, who, resigning the civic trust which she had confided
to his keeping, had carried her flag in triumph amid the thunders of
battle and the wastes of carnage, carving the name of Mississippi in an
inscription of enduring renown.
During his journey homeward, there occurred a most impressive illustration
of that strict devotion to principle which, above all other
considerations, is the real solution of every act of his life, public and
private. While in New Orleans, Colonel Davis was offered, by President
Polk, a commission as Brigadier-General of Volunteers, an honor which he
unhesitatingly declined, on the ground that no such commission could be
conferred by Federal authority, either by appointment of the President or
by act of Congress. As an advocate of States' Rights, he could not
countenance, even for the gratification of his own ambition, a plain
infraction of the rights of the States, to which respectively, the
Constitution reserves the appointment of officers of the militia.[9] The
soldier's pride in deserved promotion for distinguished services, could
not induce the statesman to forego his convictions of Constitutional
right. The declination of this high distinction was entirely consistent
with his opinions previously entertained and expressed. Before he resigned
his seat in the House of Representatives, the bill authorizing such
appointments by the President was introduced, and rapidly pressed to its
passage. Mr. Davis detected the Constitutional infraction which it
involved, and opposed it. He designed to address the House, but was
suddenly called away from Washington, and before leaving had an
understanding with the Chairman of the Committee from which the bill had
come, that it would not be called up before the ensuing Monday. On his
return, however, he found that the friends of the measure had forced its
passage on the previous Saturday.
This is but one in a thousand evidences of an incorruptible loyalty to his
convictions, which would dare face all opposition and has braved all
reproach. It is an attribute of true greatness in the character of
Jefferson Davis, which not even his enemies have called in question, to
which candor must ever accord the tribute of infinite admiration.