Jefferson Davis, a 187-ton brig, was built in Baltimore, Maryland, in about 1845 as the merchant vessel Putnam. As the slaver Echo, she was captured off Cuba on 21 August 1858 by USS Dolphin. Sold by the U.S. Government in January 1859 to a Charleston, South Carolina, owner, she regained the name Putnam.

In May 1861, after the outbreak of the Civil War, Putnam was renamed Jefferson Davis (or Jeff Davis) and was commissioned as a Confederate privateer in mid-June. She left Charleston later in that month to begin an effective commerce-raiding cruise off the U.S. east coast, capturing nine merchant sailing vessels. Three of these were recaptured, three were released, one was burned and two, able to reach port in the Confederacy, were auctioned for the benefit of the privateer's owners and crew. While attempting to enter harbor at Saint Augustine, Florida, in mid-August 1861, Jefferson Davis went aground and was lost.