Confederate States Attorney General

The Attorney General of the Confederate States of America was a member of the Confederate cabinet. The office of Attorney General of the Confederate States was established by the Act of February 21, 1861, An Act to organize and establish an Executive Department to be known as the Department of Justice, Prov. C.S. Cong., Sess. I, Stat. I, Chap. XII, 0 C.S. St. Lg. 33 (C.S. Pb. L. 0:1-12). By statute, it was "the duty of the Attorney General to prosecute and conduct all suits in the Supreme Court, in which the Confederate States [was] concerned, and to give his advice and opinion upon questions of law, when required by the President of the Confederate States, or when requested by any of the heads of departments, touching any matters that may concern their departments on subjects before them." In this respect, his duties were the same as those of the United States Attorney General. But additionally, he had "supervisory power over the accounts of the marshals, clerks and officers of all the courts of the Confederate States, and all claims against the Confederate States."

Though the United States had established their office of Attorney General by the Judiciary Act of 1789, this act establishing the Confederate States Department of Justice predated and preceded the establishment of the United States Department of Justice by almost a decade, making it the first American Department of Justice.

List of Attorneys General

#	Picture	Name	Born	Died	Term Began	Term Ended	Political Party
1		Judah P. Benjamin	1811 Christiansted, Danish West Indies	1888 Paris, France	February 21, 1861	September 17, 1861	Democrat
		Wade Keyes (Assistant Attorney General)	1821 Mooresville, Alabama	1879 Florence, Alabama	September 17, 1861	November 21, 1861	Democrat
2		Thomas Bragg	1810 Warrenton, North Carolina	1872 Raleigh, North Carolina	November 21, 1861	March 18, 1862	Democrat
3		Thomas H. Watts	1819 Butler County, Alabama	1892 Montgomery, Alabama	March 18, 1862	October 1, 1863	Democrat
		Wade Keyes (Attorney General ad interim)	1821 Mooresville, Alabama	1879 Florence, Alabama	October 1, 1863	January 2, 1864	Democrat
4		George Davis	1820 Wilmington, North Carolina	1896 Wilmington, North Carolina	January 2, 1864	April 24, 1865	Democrat

External links

• Political Graveyard

Cabinet of President Jefferson Davis (1861–1865) Vice President Alexander H. Stephens (1861–65) Secretary of State Robert Toombs (1861) Robert M. T. Hunter (1861–62) Judah P. Benjamin (1862–65) Secretary of the Treasury Christopher Memminger (1861–64) George A. Trenholm (1864–65) John H. Reagan (1865) Secretary of War Leroy P. Walker (1861) Judah P. Benjamin (1861–62) George W. Randolph (1862) James A. Seddon (1862–65) John C. Breckinridge (1865) Secretary of the Navy Stephen R. Mallory (1861–65) Postmaster General John H. Reagan (1861–1865) Attorney General Judah P. Benjamin (1861) Thomas Bragg (1861–1862) Thomas H. Watts (1862–63) George Davis (1864–65)