1861, February 9—Elected President of the Confederate States of America by the legally appointed delegates to the Convention of the Seceding States in session at Montgomery, Alabama.
1861, February 18—Inaugurated as President of the Confederate States of America at Montgomery, Alabama, the first capital of the new nation.
1862, May 6—Baptized at the Executive Mansion and later confirmed in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church by Bishop John Johns.
1861-1865—Gave 4 years of dedicated service as Chief Executive of the Confederate States of America and Commander-in-Chief of the Nation’s Military Forces.
1865, May 10—Captured with some of the members of his cabinet at Irwinville, Georgia, while in flight from Richmond, Virginia to set up a temporary capital elsewhere.
1865, May 22—Imprisoned at Fortress Monroe on two charges—treason and taking part in a conspiracy to assassinate President Lincoln.
1867, May 13—Released from Fortress Monroe, Virginia on a bail bond signed by Cornelius Vanderbilt, Horace Greeley, Augustus Schell and others.
1867-1876—Visited relatives, friends and noted acquaintances in Canada, Cuba, England, Scotland, and Europe before returning to the United States, where he accepted the presidency of a new Life Insurance Company at Memphis, Tennessee.
1877—With the failure of this Life Insurance Company, he gladly accepted Mrs. Sarah Anne Dorsey’s solicitous offer of her home, Beauvoir, as the quiet, restful place needed for concentration on the books he was writing.
1879-1889—Significant were these last 10 years of Davis’ life—because of the completion of his great contribution to the history of the South, “The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government”; his satisfaction and deep-seated emotions over being the owner of loved Beauvoir; and his sweet contentment and reserved happiness in being again with his family and seeing, from time to time, his close friends as well as interested and admiring associates.