Confederate States Army

(noun)

The army of the Confederate States of America (or "Confederacy") while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War.

Related Terms

Examples of Confederate States Army in the following topics:

  • McClellan's Peninsular Campaign

    • McClellan, was an amphibious turning movement against the Confederate States Army in northern Virginia intended to capture the Confederate capital of Richmond.
    • McClellan was initially successful against Confederate General Joseph E.
    • McClellan, recently having ascended to general chief of all Union armies in addition to remaining an army commander for the Army of the Potomac, revealed on January 12, 1862, a plan to transport the Army of the Potomac by ship to Urbanna, Virginia, in order to outflank Confederate forces near Washington and capture Richmond.
    • On January 27, President Lincoln issued orders that all armies begin offensive tactics by February 22, and four days later, he issued a supplementary decree that the Army of the Potomac specifically move to Manassas Junction and Centreville to attack Confederates there.
    • Confederate Brigadier General John B.

  • The West and the Civil War

    • Western states and territories witnessed major military campaigns by Confederate and Union forces.
    • Army units were moved out.
    • In 1861, the Confederate States Army launched a successful campaign into Arizona and New Mexico.
    • In April, the California Column of the Union Army drove the Confederates from Tucson after the Battle of Picacho Pass.
    • Missouri was a border state whose loyalties were courted by both Union and Confederate leaders.

  • Naval Actions

    • The naval actions of the Civil War revolved around the Union Navy's blockades of Confederate ports.
    • Lee's surrender of the Confederate Army.
    • Meet in combat the war vessels of the Confederate States Navy.
    • Carry the war to places in the seceded states that were inaccessible to the Union Army but could be reached by water.
    • Support the Union Army by providing both gunfire support and rapid transport and communications on the rivers of the interior.

  • The Battle of Chattanooga

    • In September 1863, the Union Army of the Cumberland, under Major General William S.
    • Rosecrans, executed a series of maneuvers that forced Confederate General Braxton Bragg and his Army of Tennessee to abandon Chattanooga and withdraw into northern Georgia.
    • Casualties for the Union Army amounted to 5,824 of about 56,000 engaged; Bragg reported Confederate casualties of 6,667 out of about 44,000.
    • The loss caused division within Confederate Army leadership.
    • The Union now held undisputed control of the state of Tennessee, including Chattanooga, the "Gateway to the Lower South."

  • The Articles of Confederation

    • The Articles of Confederation were the United States' first governing document, and had many weaknesses.
    • The Articles of Confederation were an agreement among the 13 founding states, legally establishing the United States of America as a confederation of sovereign states and serving as its first constitution.
    • The Articles of Confederation, which established a "firm league" among the 13 free and independent states, constituted an international agreement to set up central institutions for conducting vital domestic and foreign affairs.
    • The Articles envisioned a permanent confederation of states, but granted its Congress—the only federal institution—little power to finance itself or ensure that its resolutions were enforced.
    • The states, in turn, often failed to meet these requests in full, leaving both Congress and the Continental Army chronically short of money.

  • Powers of the American Government Under the Articles of Confederation

    • The Articles of confederation gave few but important powers of diplomacy to the American government.
    • The Articles supported the Congressional direction of the Continental Army, and allowed the 13 states to present a unified front when dealing with the European powers.
    • The states did not generally comply with the requests in full, leaving the confederation chronically short of funds.
    • Once the war was won, the Continental Army was largely disbanded.
    • Discuss how power was distributed and enforced under the Articles of Confederation

  • Financial Chaos and Paper Money

    • Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power to regulate financial matters was kept quite limited.
    • Under the Articles of Confederation, the central government's power was kept quite limited: the Confederation Congress could make decisions, but lacked the power to enforce them.
    • Under the Articles of Confederation, Congress was denied any powers of taxation and could only request money from the state legislatures.
    • States often failed to meet these requests in full, leaving both Congress and the Continental Army chronically short of funds.
    • The states and the Confederation Congress both incurred large debts during the Revolutionary War, and how to repay those debts became a major issue of debate (some states paid off their war debts and others did not).

  • African Americans in the Military

    • Union Army setbacks in battles over the summer of 1862 led Lincoln to emancipate all slaves in states at war with the Union.
    • The United States Colored Troops (USCT) were regiments of the U.S.
    • Army during the American Civil War that were composed of African-American ("colored") soldiers.
    • In actual numbers, African-American soldiers comprised 10 percent of the entire Union Army.
    • In reply, Union Major William Bradford refused surrender, and Confederate forces began their assault.

  • Lee's Surrender at Appomattox

    • Grant's Army of the Potomac and General Robert E.
    • Lee's Army of Northern Virginia ended with Lee's surrender at Appomattox on April 9, 1865.
    • Johnston's Army of Tennessee was among nearly 100,000 Confederate soldiers that were surrendered from North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
    • The Cherokee Confederate Indians were the last significant Confederate active force to surrender on June 23.
    • McLean House was originally built by Charles Raine in 1848, and was the site of the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia to the Union Army on April 9, 1865.

  • The Aftermath of the War

    • Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation enabled blacks to join the Union Army, giving the Union an advantage, and helped end the Civil War.
    • Confederate actions, they argue, only delayed defeat.
    • The Emancipation Proclamation enabled African-Americans, both free blacks and escaped slaves, to join the Union Army.
    • European immigrants joined the Union Army in large numbers, including 177,000 born in Germany and 144,000 born in Ireland.
    • Slaves in the border states and those located in some former Confederate territory occupied prior to the Emancipation Proclamation were freed by state action or (on December 18, 1865) by the Thirteenth Amendment.