Confederate generals

__NOTOC__ Confederate States Army generals:ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Assigned to duty by E. Kirby Smith Incomplete appointments State militia generals

The Confederate and United States processes for appointment, nomination and confirmation of general officers were essentially the same. The military laws of the United States required that a person be nominated as a general officer by the president and be confirmed by the Senate and that his commission be signed and sealed by the president.

Despite legal interpretations that would preclude posthumous confirmation of appointments or delivery of commissions, the U.S. Senate and the Confederate Senate confirmed a few appointments of officers known to be dead and did not recall or revoke a few other confirmed appointments for officers who had recently died or died before receiving their commissions. No brevet appointments were made in the Confederate States Army but twenty acting or temporary general officers were authorized by and appointed under Confederate States law. At least one State militia (Virginia) had at least one brevet general (Francis Henney Smith).

Although not as prevalent as in the Union Army, some dates of rank in the Confederate States Army were before the date of appointment or commission. Under an Act of September 1, 1861, the Confederate Congress permitted Confederate President Jefferson Davis to make recess appointments and nominations subject to Confederate Senate confirmation during the next term. Confederate Senate confirmation of general officer appointments was usually prompt early in the war but often was delayed in the last two years of the war.

Details concerning Confederate officers who were appointed to duty as generals late in the war by General E. Kirby Smith in the Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department, who have been thought of as generals and exercised command as generals but who were not duly appointed and confirmed or commissioned, and state militia generals who had field commands in certain actions in their home states but were never given appointments or commissions in the Confederate States Army are in the List of American Civil War generals (Acting Confederate). Not all colonels or lower ranking officers who exercised brigade or division command at any time are in this list but those most often erroneously referred to as generals are. A few acting or temporary Confederate generals were duly appointed and confirmed as such. The full entries for these officers are in this list.

The notes mainly show pre-war military education or experience, pre-war political office, ranks and appointments prior to general officer appointments, some major assignments or events, information on wounds, killed in action or otherwise during the war, a few close relationships, deaths soon after the war, several of the longest lived generals and Spanish–American War service. As noted above official CS rank was shown as a collar insignia of three stars within a wreath for all grades of general officers; there were exceptions to this rule: Robert E. Lee always wore rank insignia of a colonel (three stars without a wreath); Benjamin McCulloch always disliked army uniforms and was wearing a black velvet civilian suit and Wellington boots at the time of his death; Joseph L. Hogg died of disease before he could put on a uniform. Abbreviations and notes: Rank column: conf. = date appointment confirmed by Confederate Senate; nom. = date nominated by Confederate President Jefferson Davis; rank = date of rank USMA = United States Military Academy at West Point, New York; South Carolina Military Academy = Predecessor to The Citadel at Charleston, South Carolina; VMI = Virginia Military Institute at Lexington, Virginia Additional notes: ranks: lt. = lieutenant

A

ImageNameRankNotesAdams, Daniel WeisigerBrigadier generalrank, nom: May 23, 1862conf: September 30, 1862 Mississippi state senator, 1852–1856. Brother of William Wirt Adams. 1st Louisiana Infantry: lieutenant colonel, March 13, 1861, colonel, October 30, 1861. Lost right eye at Shiloh. Wounded: Perryville, Stones River. Wounded, captured at Chickamauga. Exchanged 1864.Faust, Patricia L. Adams, Daniel Weisiger In Historical Times Illustrated History of the Civil War, edited by Patricia L. Faust. New York: Harper & Row, 1986. . p. 2.Sifakis, Stewart. Who Was Who in the Civil War. New York: Facts On File, 1988. . pp. 2–3.Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. . p. 99Heidler, David S. and Jeanne T. Heidler. Adams, Daniel Weisiger. In Heidler, David S., and Jeanne T. Heidler, eds. Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social, and Military History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000. .Adams, JohnBrigadier generalrank: December 29, 1862nom: January 9, 1863re-nom: May 23, 1863conf: February 17, 1864 USMA, 1846. Mexican–American War. Resigned as captain, U.S. Army, May 31, 1861. Appointed captain of cavalry in command at Memphis, August 27, 1861. Colonel, May 1862. Killed at Franklin, aged 39.Adams, William WirtBrigadier generalrank: September 25, 1863nom: September 28, 1863conf: January 25, 1864 Army of Republic of Texas. Mississippi legislator, 1858, 1860. Brother of Daniel Weisiger Adams. 1st Mississippi Cavalry: colonel, October 16, 1861.Alexander, Edward PorterBrigadier general (Artillery)rank: February 26, 1864nom: March 1, 1864conf: May 28, 1864(Artillery)conf: June 10, 1864. USMA, 1857. Resigned as 2nd lieutenant, U.S. Army, May 1, 1861. Captain, then major, July 1, 1861, engineers. Chief of ordnance, Army of Northern Virginia; Chief of Artillery, Longstreet's Corps. Wounded at Gettysburg, Petersburg.Allen, Henry WatkinsBrigadier generalrank, nom: August 19, 1863conf: January 25, 1864 Texas War of Independence. Louisiana legislator. 4th Louisiana Infantry: private, April 1861, lieutenant colonel, May 20, 1861, colonel, March 21, 1862. Wounded at Shiloh; leg shattered at Baton Rouge, 1862. Resigned as brigadier general, January 10, 1864. Governor of Louisiana, January 25, 1864–June 2, 1865.Allen, William W.Brigadier general (special)rank: February 26, 1864nom: March 1, 1864conf: June 9, 1864 Montgomery Mounted Rifles, 1st lieutenant, April 1861. 1st Alabama Cavalry: major, December 11, 1861, colonel, July 11, 1862. Wounded at Perryville, Stones River and Waynesboro, Georgia. Appointed major general (temporary rank), March 4, 1865, but Senate did not act on nomination.Anderson, George BurgwynBrigadier generalrank, nom: June 9, 1862conf: September 30, 1862. USMA, 1852 Resigned as 1st lieutenant, U.S. Army, April 25, 1861. 4th North Carolina Infantry: colonel, July 16, 1861. Wounded at Malvern Hill. Mortally wounded at Antietam, September 17, 1862. Died October 16, 1862, Raleigh, North Carolina, aged 31.Anderson, George T. "Tige"Brigadier generalrank, nom: November 1, 1862conf. April 22, 1863 Mexican–American War. Returned to U.S. Army May 3, 1855, captain, 1st U.S. Cavalry Resigned as captain, U.S. Army, June 11, 1858. 11th Georgia Infantry: colonel, July 2, 1861. Severely wounded at Gettysburg.Anderson, James PattonBrigadier generalrank, nom: February 10, 1862conf: April 22, 1863Major generalnom: February 11, 1864rank, conf: February 17, 1864 Mississippi legislator. Washington Territory marshal, delegate to U.S. Congress. Mexican–American War: lieutenant colonel, Mississippi militia. 1st Florida Infantry: colonel, April 1, 1861. Severely wounded at Jonesboro, Georgia.Anderson, Joseph R.Brigadier generalrank, nom: September 3, 1861conf: December 13, 1861 USMA, 1836. Resigned as 2nd lieutenant, U.S. Army, July 1, 1837. Superintendent, Tredegar Iron Works, Richmond, Virginia, 1841–1865. Virginia legislator. 6th Infantry Battalion, Local Defense troops, major, May 1861. Major, artillery, August 27, 1861. North Carolina Local Defense troops until April 19, 1862. Wounded in forehead at Glendale. Resigned as brigadier general, July 19, 1862, to resume control of Tredegar Iron Works.Anderson, Richard Heron"Fighting Dick"Brigadier generalrank, nom: July 18, 1861conf: August 28, 1861Major generalrank, nom: July 14, 1862conf: September 27, 1862Lieutenant general (temporary)rank, nom: May 31, 1864conf: June 1, 1864 USMA, 1842. Mexican–American War. Resigned as captain, U.S. Army, March 3, 1861. Wounded at Antietam. Promoted to lieutenant general with temporary rankafter Longstreet was wounded at the Wilderness. Reverted to major general on Longstreet's return to duty.Anderson, Robert H.Brigadier general (temporary)rank, nom: July 26, 1864conf: February 20, 1865 USMA, 1857. Resigned as 2nd lieutenant, U.S. Army, May 17, 1861. Special assistant to W.H.T. Walker, June 1861. 5th Georgia Cavalry: colonel, January 20, 1863. Wounded at Newnan, Georgia; Griswoldville, Georgia; Fayetteville, North Carolina.Anderson, Samuel ReadBrigadier generalrank, nom: July 9, 1861conf: August 18, 1861rank: November 7, 1864nom: November 15, 1864conf: November 19, 1864 Mexican–American War. Provisional Army of Tennessee, major general, May 9, 1861, aged 57. Resigned as brigadier general, Spring 1862, due to ill health. Brigadier general to rank from November 7, 1864, to head Tennessee conscription bureau.Archer, James J.Brigadier generalrank, nom: June 3, 1862conf: September 30, 1862 Mexican–American War. Returned to U.S. Army in 1855. Resigned as captain, U.S. Army, May 14, 1861. 5th Texas Infantry: colonel, October 2, 1861. Wounded, captured, July 1, 1863, at Gettysburg. Confined for over a year. Exchanged August 3, 1864, health shattered. Brief return to duty, summer 1864. Died of pneumonia, October 24, 1864, Richmond, Virginia, aged 46.Armistead, Lewis Addison "Lo"Brigadier generalnom: March 29, 1862rank, conf: April 1, 1862 Dismissed from USMA but nonetheless appointed to U.S. Army in 1839. Wounded in Mexican–American War. Resigned as captain, U.S. Army, May 6, 1861. 57th Virginia Infantry: colonel, September 25, 1861. Commanded a brigade in Pickett's division. Wounded at Sharpsburg. Mortally wounded during Pickett's Charge, Gettysburg, July 3, 1863. Died at a Union Army field hospital, July 5, 1863 aged 46.Armstrong, Frank CrawfordBrigadier generalrank: January 20, 1863nom: January 23, 1863conf: April 23, 1863 Fought with Union Army at First Manassas. Resigned from Union Army on August 13, 1861, and joined Confederate Army.Ashby, TurnerSee incomplete appointments section in List of American Civil War generals (Acting Confederate). Warner lists as a general; Eicher does not.Atchison, David RiceBrigadier generalRank: July, 1861Resigned April 23, 1862. Fought with Confederate Army and militia troops at Carthage, MO, and Pea Ridge, AR. April 1862 Atchison resigned from the army over reported strategy arguments with General Price and moved to Texas for the duration of the Civil War.

B

ImageNameRankNotesBaker, AlpheusBrigadier generalrank: March 5, 1864nom: March 7, 1864conf: May 11, 1864 7th Alabama Infantry: private, 1861, captain, 1861, lieutenant colonel, January 2, 1862. 54th Alabama Infantry: colonel, January 28, 1862. Captured at Island #10. Exchanged September 1862. Severely wounded at Baker's Creek. Wounded at Ezra Church.Baker, Laurence S.Brigadier generalrank: July 23, 1863nom: July 30, 1863conf: February 16, 1864 USMA, 1851 1st North Carolina Cavalry: lieutenant colonel, May 8, 1861, colonel, March 1, 1862. Wounded at Gettysburg, Brandy Station and in North Carolina, 1864.Baldwin, William EdwinBrigadier generalrank: September 19, 1862nom: September 26, 1862conf: October 3, 1862 Mississippi militia company: lieutenant, 12 years. 14th Mississippi Infantry: captain, May 2, 1861, colonel, May 1861. Captured at Fort Donelson. Prisoner until August 1862. Wounded, captured at Vicksburg. Exchanged October 13, 1863.