Davis, Jefferson Columbus, 1828-1879

Davis was born in Clark County, Indiana, near present-day Memphis, Indiana. He was born to William Davis, Jr. (1800–1879) and Mary Drummond-Davis (1801–1881), the oldest of their eight children. His father was a farmer. His parents came from Kentucky, and like many of the time including President Abraham Lincoln's family, moved to Indiana.

When Davis was 19 years old, in June 1847, he joined the 3rd Indiana Volunteers. He enlisted as a soldier during the Mexican–American War. Through the war, he received promotions through the rank of sergeant. He received a commission as a second lieutenant, in the First U.S. Artillery, in June 1848. He received the promotion for bravery at Buena Vista. He joined the 1st Artillery in October 1848 at Fort McHenry, outside of Baltimore, Maryland. He later moved south to Fort Washington, Maryland, just outside Washington DC, and again to the coast of Mississippi. He was promoted again to first lieutenant in February 1852 and was transferred to Florida in 1853 and on to Fortress Monroe in Virginia. In 1857, he was stationed again in Fort McHenry moving to Florida in 1858. In the summer of 1858, he received a transfer to Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. Fort Moultrie was located near Fort Sumter and Charleston, South Carolina. He remained in South Carolina until Fort Sumter was evacuated at the beginning of the Civil War, in 1861.

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