Major Hinds raised his hand, and the little party of horseback riders started on a long, long trip northward.

"We're off," thought eight-year-old Jeff Davis. "We're off for Kentucky!"

Jeff Davis had been born in Kentucky, but his family had moved to Mississippi when he was only a baby. Now he was returning to the state of his birth to go to school. His trip northward along the Natchez Trace would be filled with excitement and adventure.

Each day along the way Jeff and eight-year-old Howie Hinds spent many long hours in the saddle. They learned to fish "Indian style," and they learned many other things about the ways of nature.

All the boys in the school were excited about Jeff's seven-hundred-mile horseback journey from Mississippi. Not one of them had ever ridden so far on horseback.

Two years later Jeff took another exciting journey—this time back to Mississippi on a steamboat. In those days steamboats were very scarce. Few people had ever ridden on a steamboat or even seen one.

Jeff's voyage down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers was a thrilling adventure. He greatly enjoyed it, but he enjoyed even more the chance to be back home with his family.

Jeff Davis was very fond of the State of Mississippi. He loved his country, too, and served it exceedingly well as an army officer, congressman, and Secretary of War. Nevertheless, he loved his state even more.

When Mississippi withdrew from the Union, Jeff felt compelled to follow, just as Robert E. Lee followed his beloved Virginia when that state left the Union.

Jefferson Davis was one of the most distinguished and popular leaders in all the southern states. Therefore, when the southern states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America, nearly everyone wanted him to become President of the new government.

Today, Jefferson Davis is esteemed throughout the country as a great American hero. He filled an important niche in history, but is revered most as an ideal southern gentleman, soldier, planter, and statesman. To most people he is a symbol of the Old South.

Lena Young de Grummond and her daughter, Lynn de Grummond Delaune, are steeped in southern history traditions. They have combined their rich talents to present an exciting story of a real, courageous boy who grew up to become a truly great American.

From the dust jacket