<Li> Battle of Monterrey </Li> <Li> Battle of Buena Vista (WIA) </Li> <P> Jefferson Davis (né Finis Davis; June 3, 1808--December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as the only President of the Confederate States from 1861 to 1865 . He was a member of the Democratic Party who represented Mississippi in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives prior to becoming president of the Confederacy . He was the 23rd United States Secretary of War, serving under U.S. President Franklin Pierce from 1853 to 1857 . </P> <P> Davis was born in Fairview, Kentucky, to a moderately prosperous farmer, and grew up on his older brother Joseph's large cotton plantations in Mississippi and Louisiana . Joseph Davis also secured his appointment to the United States Military Academy . After graduating, Jefferson Davis served six years as a lieutenant in the United States Army . He fought in the Mexican--American War (1846--1848), as the colonel of a volunteer regiment . Before the American Civil War, he operated a large cotton plantation in Mississippi and owned as many as 74 slaves . Although he argued against secession in 1858, he believed that states had an unquestionable right to leave the Union . </P>

Who became president of the confederate states of america