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Confederate States of America
Government
 
[Confederate States "Bonnie Blue" unofficial flag 1861 (C.S.A.)]
9 Jan 1861 - 4 Mar 1861 "Bonnie Blue"
 
[First National Flag of the Confederate States - 7 stars 1861 ("the Stars and bars") (C.S.A.)]
4 Mar 1861 - 1 May 1863 "Stars and Bars"
 
[First National Flag of the Confederate States -13 Star Version, 1861-1863 (C.S.A.)]
10 Dec 1861 - 1 May 1863 13 Star Version
 
[Second National flag of the Confederate States ("the Stainless Banner") 1863-1865 (C.S.A.)]
1 May 1863 - 4 Mar 1865 "Stainless Banner"
[Third National Flag of the Confederate States 1865 (C.S.A.)]
4 Mar 1865 - 10 May 1865
[Confederate States Naval Jack 1863-1865 (C.S.A.)]
26 May 1863 - 10 May 1865 Naval Jack

Map of the Confederate
States of America 		Hear National Anthem
"God Save the South"
(1861 - 10 May 1865) 		Popular Patriotic Song
"Dixie"
Constitution
(22 Feb 1862)
-----------------------------------
Provisional Constitution
(8 Feb 1861-1862)
Capital: Richmond;
(Montgomery
4 Feb 1861 - 21 May 1861;
Danville 3-10 Apr 1865) 		Currency: Confederate
States Dollar (CSAD)
(Apr 1861-May 1865) 		National Holiday: 4 Jul (1776)
Independence Day 		Population: 9,103,332 (1860)
(of which 3,521,110 were slaves)
Armed Forces: 439,675
 (1865 est.)
 Exports: $17 million
(1863 est.)
Imports: $5,332,469
 (1863 (est.)
 Religions: mostly Protestant (Baptist, Methodist,
Episcopal, Presbyterian, Congregational, Lutheran),
some Roman Catholic, and small Jewish minority
Confederate
States Index
Chronology
20 Dec 1860                South Carolina declares secession.
 9 Jan 1861                Mississippi declares secession.
10 Jan 1861                Florida declares secession.
11 Jan 1861                Alabama declares secession.
19 Jan 1861                Georgia declares secession.
26 Jan 1861                Louisiana declares secession. 
 4 Feb 1861                Congress of the secessionist states convenes in
                             Montgomery, Alabama.
 8 Feb 1861                Confederate States of America founded by Alabama,
                             Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, 
                             and South Carolina.
 5 Mar 1861                Accession of Texas.
16 Mar 1861                C.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs established to manage
                              affairs with Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek
                              and Seminole nations of Indian Territory.
 20 May 1861                Accession of Arkansas and North Carolina.
 23 May 1861                Accession of Virginia.
 22 Jul 1861                Accession of Tennessee.
 28 Nov 1861                Accession of Missouri.
 10 Dec 1861                Accession of Kentucky.
 14 Feb 1862                Arizona territory proclaimed part of Confederate
                             States (occupied by Union forces 7 Jul 1862).
  9 Apr 1865                Army of Northern Virginia surrenders at
                              Appomattox, Virginia.
 10 May 1865                President Davis captured in Irwinville, Georgia;
                              Confederate government extinguished.
 26 May 1865                Surrender of Confederate forces west of the
                              Mississippi River.
 2 Jun 1865                Formal surrender what is left of the Army of the
                             Trans-Mississippi by General Edmund Kirby Smith
                             at Galveston, Texas.
23 Jun 1865                General Stand Watie becomes the last Confederate
                             general to surrender at Fort Towson in Choctaw
                             lands, Indian Territory. 

State
Treasury
War 
Justice
Post Office
Navy
Congress
 
Note: The states making up the Confederate States of America previously seceded from the United States; the secession of Missouri (31 Oct 1861) and Kentucky (20 Nov 1861) affected only geographic parts of those states.

Executives

Chairman of the Congress
 4 Feb 1861  (hours)       Robert Woodward Barnwell          (b. 1801 - d. 1882)  Dem 
President of the Congress
 4 Feb 1861 - 18 Feb 1861  Howell Cobb                       (b. 1815 - d. 1868)  Dem
President
18 Feb 1861 - 10 May 1865  Jefferson Davis                   (b. 1808 - d. 1889)  Dem 

Vice President

Vice President
18 Feb 1861 - 11 May 1865  Alexander Hamilton Stephens       (b. 1812 - d. 1883)  Dem

Department of State

Secretaries of State
21 Feb 1861 - 24 Jul 1861  Robert Augustus Toombs            (b. 1810 - d. 1885)
                             (provisional)
25 Jul 1861 - 17 Feb 1862  Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter   (b. 1809 - d. 1887)
                             (provisional)
17 Feb 1862 - 18 Mar 1862  William Montague Brown (acting)   (b. 1827 - d. 1883)
18 Mar 1862 - 10 May 1865  Judah Philip Benjamin             (b. 1811 - d. 1884)

Census
1860 - 1865                the CSA did not conduct a census

Department of the Treasury

Secretaries of the Treasury
21 Feb 1861 - 18 Jul 1864  Christopher Gustavus Memminger    (b. 1803 - d. 1888)
                             (provisional to 17 Feb 1862)
18 Jul 1864 - 27 Apr 1865  George Alfred Trenholm            (b. 1807 - d. 1876)
                             (acting to 22 Nov 1864) 
27 Apr 1865 - 10 May 1865  John Henninger Reagan (acting)    (s.a.)

Treasurers of the Confederate States
 6 Mar 1861 -  1 Oct 1864  Edward Carrington Elmore          (b. c.1826 - d. 1926?)
10 Oct 1864 - Apr 1865     John N. Hendren                   (b. 1822 - d. 1898)

Registers
16 Mar 1861 - 13 Aug 1861  Alexander Baron Clitherall        (b. 1820 - d. 1869)
13 Aug 1861 - 1865         Robert Tyler                      (b. 1816 - d. 1877)

Comptroller of the Treasury
 19 Mar 1861 - 1865         Lewis Cruger                      (b. 1803 - d. 1879)

Chief Clerk of the War Tax Bureau
 1 Oct 1861 -  2 Jul 1863  Thompson Allan, Sr.               (b. 1819 - d. 1875)
 Commissioner of Taxes
 2 Jul 1863 - 1865         Thompson Allan, Sr.               (s.a.)

Chief Commissioners of the Produce Loan Office
1861 -  3 Jan 1862         James Dunwoody Brownson DeBow     (b. 1820 - d. 1867) 
Jan 1862 - 1862            Hansford Duncan Norrell (acting)  (b. 1834 - d. 1914)
Chief Clerk of the Produce Loan Office
(from 1 May 1863, Produce Loan Bureau)
1862 - 1865                Archibald Roane

Chief Clerks of the Treasury Note Division
1861 - 10 May 1862         Thompson Allan, Sr.               (s.a.)
10 May 1862 - 10 Feb 1864  Sanders G. Jamison
Chief of the Treasury Note Bureau
10 Feb 1864 - 1865         Sanders G. Jamison

Superintendent of the Confederate States Mint, New Orleans
18 Apr 1861 - 26 Apr 1862  William Augustus Elmore           (b. 1813 - d. 1890)
26 Apr 1862                retaken by Federal troops
Chiefs of the C.S. Light-House Bureau
 4 Apr 1861 - 18 Apr 1861  Raphael Semmes (officer in charge)(b. 1809 - d. 1877)
18 Apr 1861 -  1 May 1861  Edward F. Pedgard (acting)
 1 May 1861 -  5 May 1861  Thomas E. Martin (1st time)(acting)
 5 May 1861 - 20 Sep 1861  Ebenezer Farrand                  (b. 1803 - d. 1873)
20 Sep 1861 - Apr 1865     Thomas E. Martin (2nd time)
                             (interim)

Commissioners of Customs
1861 - 1865                the Secretaries of Treasury

[Confederate States Revenue Marine Customs Service Ensign 1861-1865] C.S. Revenue Marine Ensign

Chiefs of the C.S. Revenue Marine Customs Service
1861 - 1865                the Secretaries of Treasury 

 
War Department

Secretaries of War
21 Feb 1861 - 16 Sep 1861  Leroy Pope Walker (provisional)   (b. 1817 - d. 1884)
17 Sep 1861 - 23 Mar 1862  Judah Philip Benjamin             (s.a.) 
                            (acting provisional to 21 Nov 1861, 
                             acting from 17 Feb 1862) 
24 Mar 1862 - 17 Nov 1862  George Wythe Randolph             (b. 1818 - d. 1867)
17 Nov 1862 - 21 Nov 1862  Gustavus Woodson Smith (acting)   (b. 1822 - d. 1896)
21 Nov 1862 -  6 Feb 1865  James Alexander Seddon            (b. 1815 - d. 1880)
 6 Feb 1865 - 10 May 1865  John Cabell Breckenridge          (b. 1821 - d. 1875)

Generals-in-chief (commander-in-chief, operations officer, adviser to the President)
13 Mar 1862 - 31 May 1862  Robert E. Lee (1st time)(de facto)(b. 1807 - d. 1870)
24 Feb 1864 - 31 Jan 1865  Braxton Bragg                     (b. 1817 - d. 1876)
31 Jan 1865 -  9 Apr 1865  Robert E. Lee (2nd time)          (s.a.)

Chiefs of the Bureau of War
 7 Jun 1861 -  7 Apr 1862  Albert Taylor Bledsoe             (b. 1809 - d. 1877)
 7 Apr 1862 - 26 Apr 1865  Robert Garlick Hill Keane         (b. 1828 - d. 1898)

Chiefs of the Army Engineers Bureau
 8 Apr 1861 -  3 Aug 1861  Josiah Gorgas (acting)            (b. 1818 - d. 1883)
 3 Aug 1861 - 11 Nov 1861  Danville Leadbetter (acting)      (b. 1811 - d. 1886)
11 Nov 1861 - 24 Sep 1862  Alfred Landon Rives (1st time)    (b. 1830 - d. 1903)
                             (acting)
25 Sep 1862 - 17 Aug 1863  Jeremy Francis Gilmer (1st time)  (b. 1818 - d. 1883)
18 Aug 1863 -  9 Mar 1864  Alfred Landon Rives (2nd time)    (s.a.)
                             (acting)
 9 Mar 1864 -  2 Apr 1864  Martin Luther Smith               (b. 1819 - d. 1866)
 2 Apr 1864 - 18 Jul 1864  Alfred Landon Rives (3rd time)    (s.a.)
                             (acting)
18 Jul 1864 - Apr 1865     Jeremy Francis Gilmer (2nd time)  (s.a.)

Chief of Ordinance
 8 Apr 1861 - 26 Apr 1865  Josiah Gorgas                     (b. 1818 - d. 1883)

Chiefs of the Niter and Mining Bureau
28 May 1863 - 16 Feb 1865  Isaac Munroe St. John             (b. 1827 - d. 1880)
22 Feb 1865 - Apr 1865     Richard Morton

Commissioners-general of the Bureau of Prisons
21 Nov 1864 -  7 Feb 1865  John H. Winder                    (b. 1800 - d. 1865)
14 Feb 1865 - 20 Mar 1865  Gideon J. Pillow                  (b. 1806 - d. 1878)
20 Mar 1865 - 24 Mar 1865  William M. Gardner                (b. 1824 - d. 1901)
24 Mar 1865 - Apr 1865     Daniel Ruggels                    (b. 1810 - d. 1897)

Chief of the Bureau of Exchange
22 Jul 1862 -  9 Apr 1865  Robert Ould                       (b. 1820 - d. 1881)

Chief of the Signal Bureau
31 Jul 1862 - 25 Apr 1865  William Norris                    (b. 1820 - d. 1896)
 8 Aug 1864 - Apr 1865     William N. Barker
                             (acting for Norris)

Surgeon-general
16 Mar 1861 - Apr 1865     Samuel Preston Moore              (b. 1813 - d. 1889)

Commissioners of the Bureau of Indian Affairs
15 Mar 1861 -  7 Apr 1862  David Hubbard (1st time)          (b. 1792 - d. 1874)
 8 Apr 1862 - 1863         Sutton S. Scott                   (b. 1829 - d. 1907)
1863 - 1865                David Hubbard (2nd time)          (s.a.)         
 21 Feb 1865 - Apr 1865     Douglas Hancock Cooper            (b. 1815 - d. 1879)

Commanders of the Confederate Department of Indian Territory and
Commissioners (from Dec 1863 Commanders and Superintendents of Indian Affairs)
16 Mar 1861 - 1862         Albert Pike (1st time)            (b. 1809 - d. 1891) 
                             (commissioner of Indian Territory)
1862 -  7 Mar 1862         Benjamin J. McCullough            (b. 1811 - d. 1862) 
1862 -  5 Nov 1862         Albert Pike (2nd time)            (s.a.) 
 5 Nov 1862 -  8 Jan 1863  Douglas Hancock Cooper (1st time) (b. 1815 - d. 1879)
 8 Jan 1863 - 11 Dec 1863  William Steele                    (b. 1819 - d. 1885)
 11 Dec 1863 - 21 Feb 1865  Samuel Ball Maxey                 (b. 1825 - d. 1895) 
21 Feb 1865 - Apr 1865     Douglas Hancock Cooper (2nd time) (s.a.)

Department of Justice

Attorneys General
25 Feb 1861 - 17 Sep 1861  Judah Philip Benjamin             (s.a.)
                             (provisional)
17 Sep 1861 - 21 Nov 1861  Wade Rutledge Keyes (1st time)    (b. 1821 - d. 1879) 
                             (acting)
21 Nov 1861 - 17 Mar 1862  Thomas Bragg, Jr.                 (b. 1810 - d. 1872)
                             (provisional to 17 Feb 1862)
18 Mar 1862 -  1 Oct 1863  Thomas Hill Watts                 (b. 1819 - d. 1892) 
 1 Oct 1863 -  2 Jan 1864  Wade Rutledge Keyes (2nd time)    (s.a.)
                             (acting)
 2 Jan 1864 - 26 Apr 1865  George Davis                      (b. 1820 - d. 1896)
26 Apr 1865 - 10 May 1865  John Henninger Reagan (acting)    (b. 1818 - d. 1905)

Commissioner of Patents
22 May 1861 -  3 Apr 1865  Rufus Randolph Rhodes             (b. 1818 - d. 1870)

Superintendent of Public Printing
1861 - 1865                George E.W. Nelson

Post Office Department

Postmaster General
25 Feb 1861 -  5 Mar 1861  Henry T. Ellet                    (b. 1812 - d. 1887)
                            (nominated and confirmed,
                             but declined appointment)
 6 Mar 1861 - 10 May 1865  John Henninger Reagan             (s.a.)
                             (provisional to 17 Feb 1862)

Navy Department

Secretaries of the C.S. Navy
 4 Mar 1861 -  2 May 1865  Stephan Russell Mallory           (b. 1811 - d. 1873)
                             (provisional to 17 Feb 1862)
 2 May 1865 - 10 May 1865  John Henninger Reagan (acting)    (s.a.)

Ranking Officer of the Confederate States Navy
21 Aug 1861 - 17 May 1865  Franklin Buchanan                 (b. 1800 - d. 1874)
                            (U.S. prisoner 5 Aug 1864 - Feb 1865)

Engineer-in-chief, Confederate States Navy
21 Apr 1862 - Apr 1865     William P. Williamson             (b. 1810 - d. 1870)

Chiefs of the Bureau of Ordnance and Hydrography
10 Jun 1861 - 16 Nov 1861  Duncan N. Ingraham                (b. 1802 - d. 1891)
Dec 1861 - Mar 1863        George Buckner Minor              (b. 1808 - d. 1879)
Mar 1863 - Apr 1865        John M. Brooke                    (b. 1826 - d. 1906)

Chief Surgeon of the Confederate States Navy and
Chief, Bureau of Medicine and Surgery
10 Apr 1861 - Apr 1865     William A.W. Spotswood            (b. 1806 - d. 1891)

Superintendent of the Confederate States Naval School
23 Jul 1863 -  2 Apr 1865  William H. Parker                 (b. 1826 - d. 1896)

Commandant of the Confederate States Marine Corps
23 May 1861 - 10 May 1865  Lloyd J. Beall                    (b. 1808 - d. 1887)


Senate

President of the Senate
 18 Feb 1862 - 18 Mar 1865  the Vice President
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
18 Feb 1862 - 18 Mar 1865  Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter   (s.a.)               Dem


House of Representatives

Chairman of the Congress
 4 Feb 1861  (hours)       Robert Woodward Barnwell          (b. 1801 - d. 1882)  Dem 
President of the Congress
 4 Feb 1861 - 17 Feb 1862  Howell Cobb                       (b. 1815 - d. 1868)  Dem 
Presidents Pro Tempore of the Provisional Congress
10 Dec 1861 - 21 Dec 1861  Thomas Stanhope Bobcock (1st time)(b. 1815 - d. 1891)  Dem 
23 Dec 1861 - 24 Dec 1861  Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell (b. 1830 - d. 1917)  Dem
                             (1st time)
 6 Jan 1862                Josiah Abigail Patterson Campbell (s.a.)               Dem
                             (2nd time)
 7 Jan 1862 -  8 Jan 1862  Thomas Stanhope Bobcock (2nd time)(s.a.)               Dem
Speaker of the House of Representatives
18 Feb 1862 - 18 Mar 1865  Thomas Stanhope Bobcock           (s.a.)               Dem 
 


Supreme Court

The Confederate Constitution of 1861 provided for a Supreme Court, but one was never organized.
The formerly U.S. Federal district courts were re-organized as Confederate district courts on 16 Mar 1861 by act of the provisional Congress.


Party abbreviation: Dem = Democratic Party (southern democrat, pro-states rights, pro-slavery)





© Ben Cahoon