Joseph R Davis

Early life and education

Brigadier-General Joseph Robert Davis was born in Woodville, Mississippi on January 12, 1825, and was educated in Nashville and Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Trained in the law, he practiced his profession in Madison County, Mississippi, and was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1860.

American Civil War

Entering the Confederate service as Captain of Militia from Madison County, Mississippi, Davis was soon made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Tenth Regiment, Mississippi Volunteers, after which he served on the military staff of his uncle, President Jefferson Davis, in Richmond as an aide de camp with the rank of Colonel of Cavalry. Commissioned a brigadier-general to rank from September 15, 1862, and confirmed by the Senate only after charges of nepotism were freely aired and his nomination once rejected, Davis was assigned a brigade in Heth's Division, Army of Northern Virginia, which he led through some of the most bitter battles of the war. He fought at Gettysburg (where his command formed a support to Pickett in the celebrated third day), in the Wilderness Campaign, and at the siege of Petersburg.

Later years

Paroled at Appomattox on April 9, 1865, Brigadier-General Davis returned to Mississippi. He died September 15, 1896 and is buried at Biloxi Cemetery.