Confederate States of America

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For the fictional documentary about alternative history, see C.S.A.: The Confederate States of America.

The Confederate States of America (also referred to as the Confederacy, Confederate States, and CSA) was formed by eleven southern states of the United States of America between 1861 and 1865. These eleven states declared their secession from the United States. The United States of America ("The Union") held that secession was illegal and refused to recognize the Confederacy.

The American Civil War broke out when Confederate States Army batteries fired on United States Army troops occupying Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, in April 1861. No European powers officially recognized the CSA, but British commercial interests sold it warships and operated blockade runners to help supply it. The warships were sold on a cash-and-carry basis and contributed to the rapid exhaustion of the Confederacy's supply of gold bullion. Most battles took place in Confederate territory. When Robert E. Lee and the other Confederate generals surrendered their armies in the spring of 1865, the CSA collapsed, and there was no guerrilla warfare afterwards. A difficult decade-long process of Reconstruction gave civil rights and the vote to the freedmen (for a time), and readmitted the states to representation in the Congress.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Secession process, December 1860 - May 1861 1.1.1 Seceding states 1.1.2 Reasons for secession 1.2 Rise and fall of the Confederacy 2 Government and politics 2.1 Constitution 2.2 Civil liberties 2.3 Capital 2.4 International diplomacy 3 Relations with the United States 3.1 Confederate flags 3.2 Political leaders 3.2.1 Executive 3.2.2 Legislative 3.2.2.1 Sessions of the Confederate Congress 3.2.3 Judicial 4 Geography 4.1 Climate 4.2 River system 4.3 Rural nation 5 Economy 6 Armed forces 6.1 Military leaders 7 Significant dates 8 See also 9 References 10 Notes 11 Bibliography 11.1 Economic & Social History 11.2 Politics 11.3 Primary sources 12 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Secession process, December 1860 - May 1861

[edit] Seceding states

Seven states seceded by March 1861:

• South Carolina (December 20, 1860),^[1]
• Mississippi (January 9, 1861),^[2]
• Florida (January 10, 1861),^[3]
• Alabama (January 11, 1861),^[4]
• Georgia (January 19, 1861),^[5]
• Louisiana (January 26, 1861),^[6]
• Texas (February 1, 1861).^[7]

After Lincoln called for troops, four more states seceded:

• Virginia (April 17, 1861);^[8] there was also a rump Union government of Virginia^[9]
• Arkansas (May 6, 1861),^[10]
• Tennessee (May 7, 1861).^[11][12]
• North Carolina (May 20, 1861)^[13]

Two more states had rival (or rump) governments. The Confederacy admitted them but they never controlled their states and were soon in exile:

• Missouri (October 31, 1861).^[14][15]
• Kentucky (November 20, 1861).^[16][17]

Both states allowed slavery and both had strong Unionist and Confederate counties, including some Unionist slave-owners. The legalities of the matter remain a matter of dispute down to the present day.

See also: Border states (Civil War), Missouri in the Civil War, and Kentucky in the Civil War

[edit] Reasons for secession

Following Abraham Lincoln's election as President in 1860 on a platform that would end extension of slavery, seven Southern cotton states seceded from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America on February 4, 1861. Jefferson Davis was selected as its first President on February 9 and was inaugurated on February 18.

In what later came to be known as the Cornerstone Speech, C.S. Vice President Alexander Stephens, declared that the

“cornerstone” of the new government "rest[ed] upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery—subordination to the superior race—is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."[1]

By contrast, Jefferson Davis made no explicit reference to slavery in his inaugural address[2]. However, the Deep South states of South Carolina[3], Mississippi[4], Georgia[5], and Texas[6] all issued declarations of causes, each of which identified the threat to slavery and slaveholders’ rights as a major cause of secession.

Texas joined the Confederate States of America on March 2. These seven states seceded from the United States and took control of military/naval installations, ports, and custom houses within their boundaries, except for Fort Sumter and remote forts in Florida.

A month after the Confederate States of America was formed, on March 4, 1861, Abraham Lincoln was sworn in as President of the United States. In his inaugural address, he argued that the Constitution had made the United States a more perfect union than under the earlier Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union—and likewise that "the Union is much older than the Constitution," being, he claimed, 1) formed by the Articles of Association in 1774, 2) made a nation via the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and 3) "declared to be perpetual" under the Articles of Confederation in 1778. As such, he claimed that the Constitution was a binding contract supremely bestowing national authority to the Union over the states, and that therefore "no state by its own mere motion can lawfully get out of the Union," calling the secession "legally void". Lincoln stated that he had no intent to invade Southern states—except that which was "necessary" to maintain possession of federal property and collection of various federal taxes, duties and imposts. His speech closed with a plea for acceptance of the bonds of union.

[edit] Rise and fall of the Confederacy

On April 12, Confederate troops, following orders from the Davis and his Secretary of War, fired upon the federal troops occupying Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, forcing their surrender. Following the Battle of Fort Sumter, Lincoln called for all states in the Union to send troops to recapture Sumter and other forts, defend Washington, D.C., and preserve the Union. Most Northerners believed that a quick victory for the Union would crush the rebellion, and so Lincoln only called for volunteers for 90 days of duty. Lincoln's call for troops resulted in four more states voting to secede. Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina joined the Confederacy for a total of 11. Once Virginia joined the Confederate States, the Confederate capital was moved from Montgomery, Alabama, to Richmond, Virginia.

Kentucky was a border state during the war and, for a time, had two state governments, one supporting the Confederacy and one supporting the Union. The original government remained in the Union after a short-lived attempt at neutrality, but a rival faction from that state was accepted as a member of the Confederate States of America; it did not control any territory. A more complex situation surrounds the Missouri Secession, but, in any event, the Confederacy considered Missouri a member of the Confederate States of America; it did not control any territory. With Kentucky and Missouri, the number of Confederate states can be counted as 13.

The five tribal governments of the Indian Territory—which became Oklahoma in 1907—also mainly supported the Confederacy, providing troops and one General officer. It was not represented in the Confederate Congress.

Citizens at Mesilla and Tucson in the southern part of New Mexico Territory formed a secession convention and voted to join the Confederacy on March 16, 1861, and appointed Lewis Owings as the new territorial governor. In July, Mesilla appealed to Confederate troops in El Paso, Texas, under Lieutenant Colonel John Baylor for help in removing the Union Army under Major Isaac Lynde that was stationed nearby. The Confederates defeated Lynde at the Battle of Mesilla on July 27. After the battle, Baylor established a territorial government for the Confederate Arizona Territory and named himself governor. In 1862, a New Mexico Campaign was launched under General Henry Hopkins Sibley to take the northern half of New Mexico. Confederates briefly occupied the territorial capital of Santa Fe, the Confederates were defeated at Glorietta Pass in March, and they retreated and never returned.

The northernmost slave states (Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia) were contested territory, but the Union won control by 1862. In 1861, martial law was declared in Maryland (the state which borders the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C., on three sides) to block attempts at secession. Delaware, also a slave state, never considered secession, nor did Washington, D.C. In 1861, a unionist legislature in Wheeling, Virginia seceded from Virginia, claiming 48 counties, and joined the United States in 1863 as the state of West Virginia with a constitution that gradually abolished slavery. There also was a rump state of Virginia that stayed loyal to the U.S.

Attempts to secede from the Confederate States of America by some counties in East Tennessee were held in check by Confederate declarations of martial law[7][8].

The surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia by General Lee at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865, is generally taken as the end of the Confederate States. President Davis was captured at Irwinville, Georgia, on May 10, and the remaining Confederate armies surrendered by June 1865. The last Confederate flag was hauled down from CSS Shenandoah on November 6, 1865.

[edit] Government and politics

[edit] Constitution

The Confederate States Constitution provides much insight into the motivations for secession from the Union. While much of it was a word-for-word duplicate of the United States Constitution, it reflected a stronger philosophy of states' rights, curtailing the power of the central authority, and also contained explicit protection of the institution of slavery, though international slave trading was prohibited. The Confederate government was prohibited from instituting protective tariffs. The Confederate government was also prohibited from using revenues collected in one state for funding internal improvements in another state. The Confederates asked God's blessing ("invoking the favor of Almighty God.")

At the drafting of the Constitution of the Confederate States of America, a few radical proposals such as allowing only slave states to join and the reinstatement of the Atlantic slave trade were turned down. The constitution did not specifically include a provision allowing states to secede, although the Preamble spoke of each state "acting in its sovereign and independent character". The Southern leaders met in Montgomery, Alabama, to write their constitution.

The President of the Confederate States of America was to be elected to a six-year term and could not be reelected. The only president was Jefferson Davis; the Confederate States of America was defeated by the federal government before he completed his term. One unique power granted to the Confederate president was the ability to subject a bill to a line item veto, a power held by some state governors. The Confederate Congress could overturn either the general or the line item vetoes with the same two thirds majorities that are required in the U.S. Congress.

Printed currency in the forms of bills and stamps was authorized and put into circulation, although by the individual states in the Confederacy's name. The government considered issuing Confederate coinage. Plans, dies and 4 "proofs" were created, but a lack of bullion prevented any public coinage.

Although the preamble refers to "each State acting in its sovereign and independent character," it also refers to the formation of a "permanent federal government".

[edit] Civil liberties

The Confederacy actively used the military to arrest people suspected of loyalty to the United States. They arrested at about the same rate as the Union arrested Conferacy loyalists. Neely found 2,700 names of men arrested and estimated the full list was much longer. Neely concludes,

"The Confederate citizen was not any freer than the Union citizen—and perhaps no less likely to be arrested by military authorities. In fact, the Confederate citizen may have been in some ways less free than his Northern counterpart. For example, freedom to travel within the Confederate states was severely limited by a domestic passport system." [Neely 11, 16]

[edit] Capital

The capital of the Confederate States of America was Montgomery, Alabama, from February 4, 1861, until May 29, 1861. Richmond, Virginia, was named the new capital on May 6, 1861. Shortly before the end of the war, the Confederate government evacuated Richmond, planning to relocate further south. Little came of these plans before Lee's surrender at Appomattox Court House. Danville, Virginia, served as the last capital of the Confederate States of America, from April 3 to April 10, 1865.

[edit] International diplomacy

Once the war with the United States began, the best hope for the survival of the Confederacy was military intervention by Britain and France. The U.S. realized that too and made it clear that recognition of the Confederacy meant war with the United States—and the cutoff of food shipments into Britain. The Confederates who had believed that "cotton is king"—that is, Britain had to support the Confederacy to obtain cotton—were proven wrong. Britain, in fact, had ample stores of cotton in 1861 and depended much more on grain from the Union states.

During its existence, the Confederate government sent repeated delegations to Europe; historians do not give them high marks for diplomatic skills. James M. Mason was sent to London as Confederate minister to Queen Victoria, and John Slidell was sent to Paris as minister to Napoleon III. Both were able to obtain private meetings with high British and French officials, but they failed to secure official recognition for the Confederacy. Britain and the United States were briefly at odds during the Trent Affair in late 1861. Mason and Slidell had been illegally seized from a British ship by an American warship. Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, helped calm the situation, and Lincoln released Mason and Slidell, so the episode was no help to the Confederacy.

Throughout the early years of the war, both British foreign secretary Lord Russell and Napoleon III, and, to a lesser extent, British Prime Minister Lord Palmerston, were interested in the idea of recognition of the Confederacy, or at least of offering a mediation. Other figures in both governments, and particularly a strong anti-slavery faction in Palmerston's ministry, were less sympathetic to the idea. Recognition was considered following the Second Battle of Manassas when the British government was preparing to mediate in the conflict, but the Union victory at the Battle of Antietam and Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, combined with internal opposition, caused the governments to back away.

In November 1863, Confederate diplomat A. Dudley Mann met Pope Pius IX and received a letter addressed "to the Illustrious and Honorable Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America.” Mann, in his dispatch to Richmond, interpreted the letter as "a positive recognition of our Government," and some have mistakenly viewed it as a de facto recognition of the C.S.A. Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin, however, interpreted it as "a mere inferential recognition, unconnected with political action or the regular establishment of diplomatic relations" and thus did not assign it the weight of formal recognition.[9] For the remainder of the war, Confederate diplomats continued meeting with Cardinal Antonelli, the Vatican Secretary of State. In 1864, Catholic Bishop Patrick N. Lynch of Charleston traveled to the Vatican with an authorization from Jefferson Davis to represent the Confederacy before the Holy See.

The Confederacy expelled all the European diplomats except the consul for Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Ernst Raven, who was a citizen of Texas.

Throughout the war, most European powers adopted a policy of neutrality, meeting informally with Confederate diplomats but withholding diplomatic recognition. In its place, they applied international law principles that recognized the Union and Confederate sides as belligerents. Canada allowed both Confederate and Union agents to work openly within its borders, and some state governments in northern Mexico negotiated regional agreements to cover trade on the Texas border.

[edit] Relations with the United States

For the four years of its existence, the Confederate States of America asserted its independence and appointed dozens of diplomatic agents abroad. The United States government, by contrast, asserted that the Southern states were provinces in rebellion and refused any formal recognition of their status. Thus, U.S. Secretary of State William Seward issued formal instructions to Charles Francis Adams, the new minister to Great Britain:

You will indulge in no expressions of harshness or disrespect, or even impatience concerning the seceding States, their agents, or their people. But you will, on the contrary, all the while remember that those States are now, as they always heretofore have been, and, notwithstanding their temporary self-delusion, they must always continue to be, equal and honored members of this Federal Union, and that their citizens throughout all political misunderstandings and alienations, still are and always must be our kindred and countrymen."^[18]

However, if the British seem inclined to recognize the Confederacy, or even waver in that regard, they were to be sharply warned, with a strong hint of war:

[if Britain is] tolerating the application of the so-called seceding States, or wavering about it, you will not leave them to suppose for a moment that they can grant that application and remain friends with the United States. You may even assure them promptly, in that case, that if they determine to recognize, they may at the same time prepare to enter into alliance with the enemies of this republic."^[19]

The Confederate Congress responded to the hostilities by formally declaring war on the United States in May 1861—calling it "The War between the Confederate States of America and the United States of America." The Union government never declared war but conducted its war efforts under a proclamation of blockade and rebellion. Mid-war negotiations between the two sides occurred without formal political recognition, though the laws of war governed military relationships.

Four years after the war, in 1869, the United States Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. White that secession was unconstitutional and legally null. The court's opinion was authored by Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase. Jefferson Davis, former president of the Confederacy, and Alexander Stephens, its former vice-president, both penned arguments in favor of secession's legality, most notably Davis' The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government.

[edit] Confederate flags

Main article: Flags of the Confederate States of America

1st National Flag - 13 Stars Version "Stars and Bars"

2nd National Flag "Stainless Banner"

3rd National Flag

CSA Naval Jack 1861-1863

CSA Naval Jack 1863-1865

Battle Flag "Southern Cross"

The official flag of the Confederate States of America, and the one actually called the "Stars and Bars", has seven stars, for the seven states that initially formed the Confederacy. This flag was sometimes difficult to distinguish from the Union flag under battle conditions, so the Confederate battle flag, the "Southern Cross", became the one more commonly used in military operations. The Southern Cross has 13 stars, adding the four states that joined the Confederacy after Fort Sumter, and the two divided states of Kentucky and Missouri. As a result of its depiction in 20th century popular media, the "Southern Cross" is a flag commonly associated with the Confederacy today. The actual "Southern Cross" is a square-shaped flag, but the more commonly seen rectangular flag is actually the flag of the First Tennessee Army, also known as the Naval Jack because it was first used by the Confederate Navy.

[edit] Political leaders

[edit] Executive

OFFICE	NAME	TERM
President	Jefferson Davis	1861-1865
Vice President	Alexander Stephens	1861-1865
Secretary of State	Robert Toombs	1861
	Robert M. T. Hunter	1861-1862
	Judah P. Benjamin	1862-1865
Secretary of the Treasury	Christopher Memminger	1861-1864
	George Trenholm	1864-1865
	John H. Reagan	1865
Secretary of War	Leroy Pope Walker	1861
	Judah P. Benjamin	1861-1862
	George W. Randolph	1862
	James Seddon	1862-1865
	John C. Breckinridge	1865
Secretary of the Navy	Stephen Mallory	1861-1865
Postmaster General	John H. Reagan	1861-1865
Attorney General	Judah P. Benjamin	1861
	Thomas Bragg	1861-1862
	Thomas H. Watts	1862-1863
	George Davis	1864-1865

[edit] Legislative

Main article: Confederate Congress

The legislative branch of the Confederate States of America was the Confederate Congress. Like the United States Congress, the Confederate Congress consisted of two houses: the Confederate Senate, whose membership included two senators from each state (and chosen by the state legislature), and the Confederate House of Representatives, with members popularly elected by residents of the individual states.

Speakers of the Provisional Congress

• Robert Woodward Barnwell of South Carolina - February 4, 1861
• Howell Cobb, Sr. of Georgia - February 4, 1861-February 17, 1862
• Thomas Stanhope Bocock of Virginia - February 18, 1862-March 18, 1865

Presidents pro tempore

• Howell Cobb, Sr. of Georgia
• Robert Woodward Barnwell of South Carolina
• Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell of Mississippi
• Thomas Stanhope Bocock of Virginia

Tribal Representatives to Confederate Congress

• Elias Cornelius Boudinot 1862-65 - Cherokee
• Burton Allen Holder 1864-1865 Chickasaw
• Robert McDonald Jones 1863-65 - Choctaw

[edit] Sessions of the Confederate Congress

• Provisional Confederate Congress
• First Confederate Congress
• Second Confederate Congress

[edit] Judicial

A Judicial branch of the government was outlined in the constitution, but the "Supreme Court of the Confederate States" was never created or seated because of the ongoing war.[10] Some Confederate district courts were, however, established within some of the individual states of the Confederate States of America; namely, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia (and possibly others). At the end of the war, U.S. district courts resumed jurisdiction.[11]

The state and local courts generally continued to operate as they had been, simply recognizing the CSA, rather than the U.S., as the national government.[12]

Supreme Court - not established

District Court

• Asa Biggs 1861-1865
• John White Brockenbrough 1861
• Alexander Mosby Clayton 1861
• Jesse J. Finley 1861-1862

[edit] Geography

The Confederate States of America had a total of 2,919 miles (4,698 km) of coastline. A large portion of its territory lay on the sea coast with level and sandy ground. The interior portions were hilly and mountainous, and the far western territories were deserts. The lower reaches of the Mississippi River bisected the country, with the western half often referred to as the Trans-Mississippi. The highest point (excluding Arizona and New Mexico) was Guadalupe Peak in Texas at 8,750 feet (2,667 m).

[edit] Climate

Much of the area of the Confederate States of America had a humid subtropical climate with mild winters and long, hot, humid summers. The climate varied to semiarid steppe and arid desert west of longitude 96 degrees west. The subtropical climate made winters mild but allowed infectious diseases to flourish. They killed more soldiers than did combat.

[edit] River system

In peacetime, the vast system of navigable rivers allowed for cheap and easy transportation of farm products. The railroad system was built as a supplement, tying plantation areas to the nearest river or seaport. The vast geography made for difficult Union logistics, and Union soldiers were used to garrison captured areas and protect rail lines. But the Union Navy seized most of the navigable rivers by 1862, making its own logistics easy and Confederate movements difficult. After the fall of Vicksburg in July 1863, it became impossible for units to cross the Mississippi since Union gunboats constantly patrolled it. The South thus lost use of its western regions.

[edit] Rural nation

The Confederate States of America was overwhelmingly rural. Small towns of more than 1,000 were few—the typical county seat had a population of less than 500 people. Cities were rare. Only New Orleans was in the list of top 10 largest U.S. cities in the 1860 census, and it was captured by the Union in 1862. Only 13 Confederate cities ranked among the top 100 U.S. cities in 1860, most of them ports whose economic activities were shut down by the Union blockade. The population of Richmond swelled after it became the national capital, reaching an estimated 128,000 in 1864 (Dabney 1990:182). Other large southern cities (Baltimore, St. Louis, Louisville, and Washington, as well as Wheeling, West Virginia, and Alexandria, Virginia) were never under the control of the Confederate States.

#	City	1860 Population	US Rank	return to USA control
1.	New Orleans, Louisiana	168,675	6	1862
2.	Charleston, South Carolina	40,522	22	1865
3.	Richmond, Virginia	37,910	25	1865
4.	Mobile, Alabama	29,258	27	1865
5.	Memphis, Tennessee	22,623	38	1862
6.	Savannah, Georgia	22,292	41	1864
7.	Petersburg, Virginia	18,266	50	1865
8.	Nashville, Tennessee	16,988	54	1862
9.	Norfolk, Virginia	14,620	61	1862
10.	Augusta, Georgia	12,493	77	1865
11.	Columbus, Georgia	9,621	97	1865
12.	Atlanta, Georgia	9,554	99	1864
13.	Wilmington, North Carolina	9,553	100	1865

(See also Atlanta in the Civil War, Charleston, SC in the Civil War, Nashville in the Civil War, New Orleans in the Civil War, and Richmond in the Civil War).

[edit] Economy

Main article: Economy of the Confederate States of America

The Confederacy had an agrarian-based economy that relied heavily on slave-run plantations with exports to a world market of cotton, and to a lesser extent tobacco and sugarcane. Local food production included grains, hogs, cattle, and gardens. The 11 states produced $155 million in manufactured goods in 1860, chiefly from local grist mills, together with lumber, processed tobacco, cotton goods and naval stores such as turpentine. The CSA adopted a low tariff of 15% but imposed it on all imports from the United States.[13] The tariff mattered little; the Confederacy's ports were shut to all commercial traffic by the Union blockade, and very few people paid taxes on goods smuggled from the U.S. The government collected about $3.5 million in tariff revenue from the start to late 1864. The lack of adequate financial resources led the Confederacy to finance the war through printing money, which in turn led to high inflation.

[edit] Armed forces

The military armed forces of the Confederacy comprised of three branches:

• Confederate States Army
• Confederate States Navy
• Confederate States Marine Corps

The Confederate military leadership included many veterans from the United States Army and United States Navy who had resigned their Federal commissions and had been appointed to senior positions in the Confederate armed forces. Many had served in the Mexican-American War (including Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis), but others had little or no military experience (such as Leonidas Polk, who had attended West Point but did not graduate.) The Confederate officer corps was composed in part of young men from slave-owning families, but many came from non-owners. The Confederacy appointed junior and field grade officers by election from the enlisted ranks. Although no Army service academy was established for the Confederacy, many colleges of the South (such as the The Citadel and Virginia Military Institute) maintained cadet corps that were seen as a training ground for Confederate military leadership. A naval academy was established in 1863, but no midshipmen had graduated by the time the Confederacy collapsed.

The rank and file of the Confederate armed forces consisted of white males with an average age between 16 and 28. The Confederacy adopted conscription in 1862, but opposition was widespread. Depleted by casualties and desertions, the military suffered chronic manpower shortages. Towards the end of the Civil War, boys as young as 12 were fighting in combat roles, and the Confederacy began an all-black regiment with measures underway to offer freedom to slaves who voluntarily served in the Confederate military—a measure of how desperate the Confederacy had become.

[edit] Military leaders

Military leaders of the Confederacy (with their state of birth and highest rank^[20]) included:

• Robert E. Lee (Virginia) - General and General-in-Chief (1865)
• Albert Sidney Johnston (Kentucky) - General
• Joseph E. Johnston (Virginia) - General
• Braxton Bragg (North Carolina) - General
• P.G.T. Beauregard (Louisiana) - General
• Richard Stoddert Ewell (Virginia) - Lieutenant General
• Samuel Cooper (New York) - General (Adjutant General and highest ranking general in the Army); not in combat
• James Longstreet (South Carolina) - Lieutenant General
• Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson (Virginia) - Lieutenant General
• John Hunt Morgan (Kentucky) - Brigadier General
• A.P. Hill (Virginia) - Lieutenant General
• John Bell Hood (Texas) - Lieutenant General
• Wade Hampton III (South Carolina) - Lieutenant General
• Nathan Bedford Forrest (Tennessee) - Lieutenant General
• J.E.B. Stuart (Virginia) - Major General
• Edward Porter Alexander (Georgia) - Brigadier General
• Franklin Buchanan (Maryland) - Admiral
• Raphael Semmes (Maryland) - Rear Admiral
• Josiah Tattnall (Georgia) - Commodore
• Stand Watie (Indian Territory, now Oklahoma) - Brigadier General (last to surrender)
• Leonidas Polk (North Carolina) - Lieutenant General
• Sterling Price (Virginia) - Major General (In 1865 rather than surrendering to Union forces, led his army to Mexico where he became leader of a colony of Confederate exiles at Carlota in the state of Veracruz.)
• Jubal Anderson Early (Virginia) - Lieutenant General
• Richard Taylor (Kentucky) - Lieutenant General (Son of U.S. President Zachary Taylor)
• Lloyd J. Beall (South Carolina) - Colonel - Commandant of the Confederate States Marine Corps

[edit] Significant dates

State	Flag	Secession ordinance	Admitted C.S.A.	Under predominant Union control	Readmitted to Union
South Carolina		December 20, 1860	February 4, 1861	1865	July 9, 1868
Mississippi		January 9, 1861	February 4, 1861	1863	February 23, 1870
Florida		January 10, 1861	February 10, 1861	1865	June 25, 1868
Alabama		January 11, 1861	February 18, 1861	1865	July 13, 1868
Georgia		January 19, 1861	February 4, 1861	1865	1st Date July 21, 1868; 2nd Date July 15, 1870
Louisiana		January 26, 1861	February 4, 1861	1862	July 9, 1868
Texas		February 1, 1861	March 2, 1861	1865	March 30, 1870
Virginia		April 17, 1861	May 7, 1861	1865; (1861 for West Virginia)	January 26, 1870
Arkansas		May 6, 1861	May 18, 1861	1864	June 22, 1868
North Carolina		May 20, 1861	May 16, 1861	1865	July 4, 1868
Tennessee		May 16, 1861	June 8, 1861	1862	July 24, 1866
Missouri		October 30, 1861	October 31, 1861	1861	Unelected Pro-Union Government from 1861
Kentucky (Russellville Convention)		November 20, 1861	December 10, 1861	1861	Pro-Union & C.S.A. Government from 1861
Arizona (Mesilla government)		March 28, 1861	February 14, 1862	1862	Not a state until 1912

[edit] See also

• Golden Circle (Slavery)
• Origins of the American Civil War
• Southern United States
• History of the Southern United States
• Flags of the Confederate States of America
• Seal of the Confederate States of America
• Confederate States of America dollar
• Military history of the Confederate States
• Stamps and postal history of the Confederate States

[edit] References

• Eicher, John H., & Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ The text of South Carolina's Ordinance of Secession.
2. ^ The text of Mississippi's Ordinance of Secession.
3. ^ The text of Florida's Ordinance of Secession.
4. ^ The text of Alabama's Ordinance of Secession.
5. ^ The text of Georgia's Ordinance of Secession.
6. ^ The text of Louisiana's Ordinance of Secession.
7. ^ The text of Texas' Ordinance of Secession.
8. ^ The text of Virginia's Ordinance of Secession.
9. ^ Virginia did not turn over its military to the Confederate States until June 8, 1861 and the Constitution of the Confederate States was ratified on June 19, 1861.
10. ^ The text of Arkansas' Ordinance of Secession.
11. ^ The text of Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession.
12. ^ The Tennessee legislature ratified an agreement to enter a military league with the Confederate States on May 7, 1861. Tennessee voters approved the agreement on June 8, 1861.
13. ^ The text of North Carolina's Ordinance of Secession.
14. ^ The text of Missouri's Ordinance of Secession.
15. ^ The pro-Confederate politicians tried to meet in Neosho, Missouri, and then were driven out of the entire state.
16. ^ The text of Kentucky's Ordinance of Secession.
17. ^ Russellville Convention
18. ^ William Seward to Charles Francis Adams, April 10, 1861 in Marion Mills Miller, Ed. Life And Works Of Abraham Lincoln (1907) Vol 6.
19. ^ ibid
20. ^ Eicher, Civil War High Commands

[edit] Bibliography

• Current, Richard N., ed. Encyclopedia of the Confederacy (4 vol), 1993. 1900 pages, articles by scholars.
• Faust, Patricia L. ed, Historical Times Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Civil War, 1986.
• Heidler, David S., et al. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War : A Political, Social, and Military History, 2002. 2400 pages (ISBN 0-393-04758-X)
• Steven E. Woodworth, ed. The American Civil War: A Handbook of Literature and Research, 1996. 750 pages of historiography and bibliography

[edit] Economic & Social History

see Economy of the Confederate States of America

• Black, Robert C., III. The Railroads of the Confederacy, 1988.
• Clinton, Catherine, and Silber, Nina, eds. Divided Houses: Gender and the Civil War, 1992.
• Dabney, Virginius. Richmond: The Story of a City. Charlottsville: The University of Virginia Press, 1990. ISBN 0-8139-1274-1.
• Faust, Drew Gilpin. Mothers of Invention: Women of the Slaveholding South in the American Civil War, 1996.
• Faust, Drew Gilpin. The Creation of Confederate Nationalism: Ideology and Identity in the Civil War South, 1988.
• Grimsley, Mark. The Hard Hand of War: Union Military Policy toward Southern Civilians, 1861-1865, 1995.
• Lentz, Perry Carlton. Our Missing Epic: A Study in the Novels about the American Civil War, 1970.
• Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Bonnet Brigades: American Women and the Civil War, 1966.
• Massey, Mary Elizabeth. Refugee Life in the Confederacy, 1964.
• Rable, George C. Civil Wars: Women and the Crisis of Southern Nationalism, 1989.
• Ramsdell, Charles. Behind the Lines in the Southern Confederacy, 1994.
• Roark, James L. Masters without Slaves: Southern Planters in the Civil War and Reconstruction, 1977.
• Rubin, Anne Sarah. A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, 1861-1868, 2005. A cultural study of Confederates' self images.
• Thomas, Emory M. The Confederacy as a Revolutionary Experience, 1992.
• Wiley, Bell Irwin. Confederate Women, 1975.
• Wiley, Bell Irwin. The Plain People of the Confederacy, 1944.
• Woodward, C. Vann, ed. Mary Chesnut's Civil War, 1981.

[edit] Politics

• Alexander, Thomas B., and Beringer, Richard E. The Anatomy of the Confederate Congress: A Study of the Influences of Member Characteristics on Legislative Voting Behavior, 1861-1865, 1972.
• Boritt, Gabor S., et al, Why the Confederacy Lost, 1992.
• Cooper, William J, Jefferson Davis, American, 2000. Standard biography.
• Coulter, E. Merton. The Confederate States of America, 1861-1865, 1950.
• William C. Davis (2003). Look Away! A History of the Confederate States of America. New York: Free Press. ISBN 0-684-86585-8.
• Eaton, Clement. A History of the Southern Confederacy, 1954.
• Eckenrode, H. J., Jefferson Davis: President of the South, 1923.
• Gallgher, Gary W., The Confederate War, 1999.
• Neely, Mark E., Jr., Confederate Bastille: Jefferson Davis and Civil Liberties, 1993.
• Rembert, W. Patrick. Jefferson Davis and His Cabinet, 1944.
• Rable, George C., The Confederate Republic: A Revolution against Politics, 1994.
• Roland, Charles P. The Confederacy, 1960. brief
• Thomas, Emory M. Confederate Nation: 1861-1865, 1979. Standard political-economic-social history
• Wakelyn, Jon L. Biographical Dictionary of the Confederacy Greenwood Press ISBN 0-8371-6124-X
• Williams, William M. Justice in Grey: A History of the Judicial System of the Confederate States of America, 1941.
• Yearns, Wilfred Buck. The Confederate Congress, 1960.

[edit] Primary sources

• Carter, Susan B., ed. The Historical Statistics of the United States: Millennial Edition (5 vols), 2006.
• Davis, Jefferson, The Rise and Fall of the Confederate Government (2 vols), 1881.
• Harwell, Richard B., The Confederate Reader (1957)
• Jones, John B. A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital, edited by Howard Swiggert, [1935] 1993. 2 vols.
• Richardson, James D., ed. A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Confederacy, Including the Diplomatic Correspondence 1861-1865, 2 volumes, 1906.
• Yearns, W. Buck and Barret, John G.,eds. North Carolina Civil War Documentary, 1980.
• Confederate official government documents major online collection of complete texts in HTML format, from U. of North Carolina

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Confederate States of America

• Confederate offices Index of Politicians by Office Held or Sought
• Civil War Research & Discussion Group - Fields Of Conflict - Containing 1000+ Links And 350+ Articles.
• An Act to Prohibit the Importation of Luxuries, or of Articles not Necessary or of Common Use, 1864, a Confederate Congress document
• Confederate States of Am. Army and Navy Uniforms, 1861
• The Countryman, 1862-1866, published weekly by Turnwold, Ga., edited by J.A. Turner
• The Federal and the Confederate Constitution Compared
• The Making of the Confederate Constitution, by A. L. Hull, 1905.
• Photographic History of the Civil War, 10 vols., 1912.
• Preventing Diplomatic Recognition of the Confederacy
• DocSouth: Documenting the American South - numerous online text, image, and audio collections.
• Confederate States of America: Heads of State: 1861-1865
• The Geographical Reader for the Dixie Children - a Confederacy textbook written in 1863.
• Confederate States of America: A Register of Its Records in the Library of Congress