William G. M. Davis was a Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 brigadier general and blockade runner during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. He was a lawyer and cotton speculator before the war and a lawyer in Washington, D.C. after the war.

Early life

Wlliam George Mackey Davis was born on May 9, 1812 in Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth, Virginia

Portsmouth is located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of the U.S. Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2010, the city had a total population of 95,535.The Norfolk Naval Shipyard, often called the Norfolk Navy Yard, is a historic and active U.S...

. At age 17, he became a sailor. Later he lived in Alabama and then moved to Apalachicola, Florida where he became a lawyer and cotton speculator.

American Civil War

When the American Civil War started, Davis donated $50,000 to the Confederate States and raised the 1st Florida Cavalry Regiment for the Confederate States Army. He was elected colonel and given command of the Confederate provisional forces in eastern Florida. On March 25, 1862, he was sent to join General Joseph E. Johnston in Tennessee. There, he commanded the 2d brigade in the 2d division (Heth's) from about July 3, 1862 to October 31, 1862, then the 1st brigade of the 3rd division (Heth's) of the Department of East Tennessee until December 1862. During the later period, on November 6, 1862, he was promoted to brigadier general. He commanded the 1st brigade of the District, Department of East Tennessee from December 1862 to early 1863. He then served as commander of the Department of East Tennessee until he resigned his commission on May 6, 1863.

Soon after his resignation from the Confederate States army, Davis lived in Richmond, Virginia and Wilmington, North Carolina where he ran a fleet of blockade runners between Wilmington and Nassau.

Aftermath

After a brief period of residence in Jacksonville, Florida after the war, Davis was pardoned on June 9, 1866. He then moved to Washington, D.C. and resumed the practice of law.

Davis died at Alexandria, Virginia, March 11, 1898. He is buried in Tacket-Burroughs-Davis Cemetery, Remington, Virginia

Remington, Virginia

Remington is a small incorporated town in Fauquier County, Virginia, United States. The population was 624 at the 2000 census, and at the 2008 census, the population is 673. It is near the highways, U.S. Route 15, U.S. Route 17, U.S. Route 29, and Virginia State Route 28...

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