Confederate Regular Troops in the Civil War

United States U.S. Military U.S. Civil War Confederate Regular Troops in the Civil War

Confederate General Pierre Gustave Toutant (PGT) Beauregard (1818-1893)

Introduction

The Confederate Congress established a provisional then a permanent Confederate States Army by March 9, 1861. Control was given to the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis.

Under orders from President Davis, the troops under General P. G. T. Beauregard bomb Fort Sumter on April 12–13, 1861, the first battle in the Civil War.

Tthe state militias supplemented the Confederate States Army. The state governments organized and commanded the state militias.

• With a new introduction by John M. Carroll. List of field officers, regiments, & battalions in the Confederate States Army, 1861-1865. (Mattituck, New York : J.M. Carroll & Co., c1983) FHL Fiche 6083686

No formal overall military commander or general-in-chief was designated until late in the war. This lack of centralized control was a strategic weakness. Commanders were:

President Jefferson Davis, (Commander-in-Chief) He provided the strategic direction for Confederate land and naval forces. He was a former U.S. Army officer and U.S. Secretary of War.
General Samuel Cooper, (Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Army)
General Robert E. Lee, (General-in-Chief, January 31 to April 9, 1865)

The above information, and additional information can be found in the Wikipedia article, Confederate States Army

Confederate Regular Troops Military Units

Most units were numbered, however, many were named. See the table below for lists of the regiments, battalions, batteries, and other units.

The information in the lists of Confederate Regular Troops Military Units comes from the Civil War Soldiers and Sailors web site. That web site also can be searched by the name of a soldier.

Confederate Regular Troops, Units by Number or by Name

Confed. Units

1st-20th

A-K

L-Z

Confederate Regular Troops, Units by Type of Unit

Confed. Units

Infantry

Cavalry

Artillery

Officers and Staff

Indian Units

Other

Records and Resources

Records of the Confederate Army are located in the National Archives Record Group (RG109). They are described in:

• Amann, William Frayne. Personnel of the Civil War. (New York, New York : T. Yoseloff, c1961) FHL Book 973 M2a Vol 1 and 2

• Bethel, Elizabeth, compiler. Preliminary Inventory of the War Department Collection of Confederate Records (Record Group 109). Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1957. (FHL book 973 A33npi no. 101.)

• Confederate States of America. Army. Roll of Confederate prisoners of war, paroled at Meridian, Mississippi, May 1865. (Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmed by the Genealogical Society of Utah, 1990), FHL film 1685778 Items 1-2.

• Glazier, Willard W. The capture, the prison pen, and the escape : giving a complete history of prison life in the South. (Bethesda, Maryland : University Publications of America, c1992) FHL fiche 6083612.

• Hewett, Janet B. The Roster of Union soldiers, 1861-1865. (Wilmington, North Carolina : Broadfoot Pub. Co., c1997-2000) FHL book 973 M29h v. 1 through v. 31.

The following archive may also be helpful in researching your Confederate ancestor:

Confederate Research Center
P.O. Box 619
Hillsboro, TX 76645
Telephone: 817-582-2555, ext. 242
Internet: http://www.rootsweb.com/~mscivilw/csa_resc.html

Confederate Amnesty Papers

When Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederates at the end of the Civil War on May 29, 1865, some had to apply for amnesty because they were not granted amnesty in the proclamation issued. See Confederate Amnesty Records for more information on these records.

Compiled Service Records

The Compiled Service Records ($) (Fold3.com) of Confederate soldiers are available online. In the future, these records will be made available at no charge through the National Archives web site. The service records are also available at no charge at National Archives research rooms. The compiled service records consist of an envelope containing card abstracts taken from muster rolls, returns, pay vouchers, and other records. Service records may provide rank, unit, date of enlistment, length of service, age, place of birth, and date of death. For more information see Confederate Service Records.

Additional Confederate records are at state archives and historical societies.

Also see United States Civil War, 1861 to 1865 for more Confederate records.

References

A wiki article describing an online collection is found at:

Kentucky Confederate Pension Applications (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Family History Library (FHL); now called, FamilySearch Library (FSL)

This website requires a paid subscription for full access. Some subscription websites are available for free at your local FamilySearch Center or Affiliate Library.