- Jefferson Columbus Davis, Union Major General, Commanding Officer 3 rd Division, Army of the Southwest - Remarks of General Jef. C. Davis...The Army of the Cumberland, Reunion of the Society of the Army of Tennessee...1878 Signed by Jefferson C. Davis, General, No publication information. Very good condition light shelf wear in wraps. 1878. 1st edition. Signed by General Davis to Edward S. Flower dated July 28/79 with Fowler's stamp pencil notes with period biography of Davis. In 1858 he was serving with the 1st U.S. artillery in Fort Moultrie, Charleston, South Carolina, an officer under Major Anderson. On April 12, 1861, Davis was stationed at Fort Sumter, Charleston, South Carolina, when the Confederates started their 36-hour bombardment. In recognition of his bravery during this trying ordeal he was promoted to captain and allowed leave of absence to recruit the 22d Indiana Volunteers, which he commanded as colonel. On August 17, the 22nd Indiana was sent to seek out the Confederates in the interior of Missouri. Davis was assigned to the department of the Missouri as acting brigadier-general and for his action at Milford, Missouri, December 18, 1861, was promoted brigadier-general of volunteers. He commanded a division and contributed heavily toward a Union victory at the battle of Pea Ridge, March 8, 1862, and took part in the battle of Shiloh, April 6 and 7, and the siege of Corinth. After the evacuation of that place by the Confederates, May 29, he was assigned to the department of the Tennessee. During this campaign he had received, as he alleged, harsh treatment from Major General William Nelson, his superior officer. It was in September 1862 that Davis's career passed a crisis point. He and his superior officer, William Bull Nelson, were at the Galt House hotel in Louisville, Kentucky, exchanging insults. The provoked Davis, at five feet, nine inches and 125 pounds, blatantly shot and instantly killed (in cold blood) the six-foot-four, 300-pound Nelson. An arrest followed but Davis was never tried for this offense as politically powerful Governor Oliver P. Morton of Indiana quickly came to his defense. General Davis was soon after assigned to duty in Covington, Kentucky. He commanded his division forming a part of the 20th army corps, at the battle of Stone's River, (Murfreesboro), Tennessee on December 31, 1862, when he greatly distinguished himself. General Rosecrans recommended him for promotion to the rank of major-general. He was exemplary at Chickamauga, Georgia, in September 1863. During the Atlanta campaign, Davis especially distinguished himself in the capture of Rome, Georgia, and in his successful attack at the battle of Jonesborough. He commanded the Fourteenth Corps in the march to the sea and the Carolinas campaign. Davis was never received the second star of a major general although he received five brevet commissions. At the close of the war he was brevetted major-general of volunteers. on July 23, 1866, he was promoted colonel of the 23d U.S. infantry and transferred to the Pacific Northwest. From September 1867 to July 1870, Davis was the first commander of the military district of Alaska. The Alaskan assignment was not a choice one. After the murder of General Edward Richard Sprigg Canby by the Modoc Indians in 1873 Davis succeeded to the command of the department and forced the tribe to surrender. Brevet Major General Davis died of pneumonia in Chicago, Illinois, November 30, 1879.