Edmund J. Davis

Edmund Jackson Davis
Brig. Gen. Edmund J. Davis in a Federal uniform
14th Governor of Texas
In office January 8, 1870 – January 15, 1874
Lieutenant	Vacant
Preceded by	Elisha M. Pease
Succeeded by	Richard Coke
Personal details
Born	October 2, 1827 St. Augustine, Florida
Died	February 7, 1883 (aged 55) Austin, Texas
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Anne Elizabeth Britton
Profession	Lawyer and politician
Military service
Allegiance	United States of America Union
Service/branch	United States Army Union Army
Years of service	1862–1865
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands	First Texas Cavalry Regiment (Union)
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Edmund Jackson Davis (October 2, 1827 – February 24, 1883) was an American lawyer, soldier, and politician. He was a Southern Unionist and a general in the Union Army in the American Civil War. He also served for one term from 1870 to 1874 as the 14th Governor of Texas.

Davis was born in St. Augustine, Florida, a son of William Godwin Davis and the former Mary Ann Channer. His father was a lawyer and land developer in St. Augustine, the oldest permanent settlement in the United States. In 1848, after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Davis moved with his parents to Galveston, Texas.

The next year, Davis moved to Corpus Christi, where he was admitted to the bar. He was an inspector and deputy collector of customs from 1849 to 1853, when he was appointed district attorney of the 12th Judicial District, which included Webb County in south Texas. He became a judge in that district.

The 1850 census has Davis living on Grant Street in downtown Laredo, the seat of Webb County. Davis, three carpenters, and a laborer were residing, apparently in a boarding house, with Tomasa Benavides and her children when the census was taken that year. He subsequently maintained a ranch in Webb County and conducted his law practice in Laredo. For a time he was a judge of the state 29th Judicial District.

In early 1861, Edmund Davis supported Governor Sam Houston in their mutual stand against secession. Davis also urged Robert E. Lee not to violate his oath of allegiance to the United States. Davis ran to become a delegate to the Secession Convention but was defeated. He thereafter refused to take an oath of allegiance to the Confederate States of America and was removed from his judgeship. He fled from Texas and took refuge in Union-occupied New Orleans, Louisiana. He next sailed to Washington, D.C., where President Abraham Lincoln issued him a colonel's commission with the authority to recruit the 1st Texas Cavalry Regiment (Union).