The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.

Confederate Army, 1862

ARMY, CONFEDERATE. 1862 The policy usually adopted by countries between which hostilities exist, to conceal from each other not only their military plans, but especially the strength of the forces by which they are to be executed, has been very carefully pursued by the Confederate Government. No precise statement of its forces in the field has ever been published, or any such details as would enable the United States Government to form an accurate estimate of their numbers. In all the military operations of the Confederate States, large, and probably exaggerated statements of the numbers of men have been made before action, which have been greatly reduced after a conflict. It is also impossible for the most unprejudiced observer to form a correct estimate of the numbers of men from the mere appearance of an army. These circumstances have rendered it difficult to state with precision the number of Southern troops which have been actually brought into service. The entire white population of the States comprising the Confederacy, by the census of 1860, was as follows:

Alabama ………526,481

Arkansas ……...824,191

Florida …………77,748

Georgia ………591,588

Louisiana …….357,629

Mississippi …..358,901

North Carolina 681,100

South Carolina 291,888

Tennessee ……826,782

Texas ………..421,294

Virginia ……1,047,411

Total ……….8,449,468

This statement of the population includes the whole of Virginia and the whole of Tennessee. A statement of the population made in the Confederate States, for an estimate of the effects of conscription embraces only one half of Virginia, and two thirds of Tennessee. A statement, however, including all of Virginia and Tennessee, and excluding aid received from Kentucky and Missouri, somewhat exceeds the available force of the Confederate Government. According to the census of 1850 the population of the United States between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five was fifteen per cent, of the aggregate population. Under this ratio the males between those ages in the Confederate States, by the census of 1860, were 817,419. The estimate made in the Confederate States on this basis was for a white population of 5,015,018. The number between the ages of eighteen and thirty-five was put at 752,342. It was also estimated that the volunteers offering who were not embraced in these ages, together with those from Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri, would make the aggregate soldiery of the Confederacy reach the number of 800,000. It has been generally supposed that the number of volunteers under eighteen and over thirty-five, including also those from Kentucky and Missouri, was large. The Confederate estimates make it about 50,000. From the male population be tween the ages of eighteen and thirty-five in 1800, amounting to 817,419 if the entire population of the States which have joined the Confederacy is estimated; and amounting to 752,342 if only the population is estimated, which was under the control of the Confederate Government on the 16th of April, when the conscription Page 13 act was passed; there is to be a deduction for those who were not able bodied, or who were exempt from service. This deduction would amount to fifteen per cent. If this deduction is made on the Confederate estimate of 752,342, it is 112,851, and leaves the number of able-bodied men 039.491, to which fifty-thousand should be added for volunteers under and above the prescribed ages, and also from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, making the total 689,491. If the deduction of fifteen per cent, is made from the whole population of the Confederate States within the prescribed ages in 1860, viz., 817,419, it is 122,612, and leaves 694,807, with no additions to be made for volunteers from other States or of other ages. The troops furnished by the States at the close of 1861 with their quotas were nearly as follows:

Alabama

Arkansas

Florida

Georgia

Louisiana

Mississippi

North Carolina.

South Carolina.

Tennessee Texas

Virginia

Total

I 805.095 I 849,954 23.000 SS1..W 7,000 25.000 28,577 17.S24 84,ll4 19.000 44.000 19,500 70,000 Quota. 88,760 21,435 5,141 87,638 23.706 23,24 18.270 82,73 66,105

These volunteers were mostly for twelve months. To these troops in the Confederate service should be added the militia force called out in Georgia, and the volunteers from Maryland, Kentucky, and Missouri, making the entire force about 350,000.

On the 1st of February the President called upon the States for an additional quota of troops: Mississippi, 7 regiments; Alabama, 12; North Carolina, 5; Georgia, 12,000 men, &c. The governors resorted to threats of a draft, and the quotas were completed. The original force had been reduced by sickness and the casualties of war to such an extent, that when the Federal armies commenced operations in February and March, 1862, the Confederate Government was entirely unprepared to resist them. The first disasters showed to the Government and people their real weakness. Soon after the session of Congress commenced under the Permanent Government, President Davis sent in a Message Urging the passage of a conscription act. One was passed on the 16th of April, which declared every man, with a few exceptions, between the ages of 18 and 35 years, a soldier. (See Confederate States.) Thirty days were allowed in which to volunteer, after which the law took absolute effect. All contracts with volunteers were annulled, and those over 35 and under 18 years were required to continue in the service 90 days after their term of enlistment expired. Before the ninety days expired an order from the Secretary of War extended the time of service. This conscript act thus brought out the full number liable to conscription, 639,491, reduced by the losses of war and sickness, exemptions, and desertions up to midsummer 1862, which reduction was not less than 100,000 men, and probably near 200,000. The weakness of the Confederate armies was however so sensibly felt, that the press publicly declared in the middle of August that the Confederacy had not 300,000 effective men in the field, and Congress, in October, passed a second conscription act, by which the President was authorized to call into the field all men between the ages of 35 and 45 years. The act provided that only such portions of this conscription should be called out as the President deemed necessary. By the 1st of November the Secretary of War issued an order for the enrolment of all persons, except exempts, between 18 and 45 years of age. This law was declared to be "odious to a large class of the people." A few regiments of Indians have been brought into the field, but they have proved so troublesome that the experiment has not been tried any further.

The following is an official list of general officers in the service in August, 1862. The major and brigadier generals are said to belong to the Provisional Army, their commissions having been granted under the Provisional Government, or prior to 1862:

General-in-Chief.

*Robert E. Lee, Virginia.

Adjutant and Inspector-General. Samuel Cooper, Virginia.

Quartermaster-General. A. C. Myers Louisiana.

*Larkin Smith, (Assistant).

Chief of Ordnance.

Benjamin Hunger, South Carolina.

Generals—Regular Army.

*Samuel Cooper, Virginia.

*Joseph E. Johnston, Virginia.

*Robert E. Lee, Virginia.

*P. G. T. Beauregard, Louisiana.

Braxton Bragg. Louisiana.

Major-Generals—Provisional Army.

*Leonidas Polk, Louisiana.

Earl Van Dorn, Mississippi.

*Gustavus W. Smith, Kentucky.

*Theo. N. Holmes, North Carolina.

*William J. Hardee, Georgia.

*Ben J. Huger (rel'd) South Carolina.

James Longstreet, Alabama.

*J. B. Magruder, Virginia

*Thomas J. Jackson, Virginia

*Mansfield Lovell, District Columbia.

*E. Kirby Smith, (rel'd) Florida.

William W. Loring, North Carolina

Sterling Price, Missouri.

John P. McCown, Tennessee,

Daniel H. Hill, North Carolina

Richard S. Ewell, Virginia

John C. Pemberton, Virginia

Ambrose P. Hill, Virginia

John C. Breckinridge, Kentucky.

Win. S. Cheatham, Tennessee.

Thomas C. Hindman, Arkansas.

*Richard H. Anderson, South Carolina

*James E. B. Stewart, Virginia

*Simon B. Buckner, Kentucky.

*James M. Withers, Alabama

Brigadier-Generals.

John B. Floyd (rel'd), Virginia.

Henry A. Wise, Virginia

*August R. Lawton, Georgia

G. J. Pillow, (rel'd) Tennessee.

Daniel S. Donelson, Tennessee.

David R. Jones, South Carolina

*John H. Winder, Maryland.

*Ashbel A. Early, Virginia

*Arnold Elzey Maryland.

*Samuel Jones Virginia

*C. O. Sibley (dead) Louisiana

*Wm. H. C. Whiting, Georgia

*Daniel Ruggles, Virginia.

Charles Clark Mississippi.

*Roswell S. Ripley, South Carolina

*Isaac R. Trimble, Maryland.

*Paul O. Hebert, Louisiana.

*Richard C. Gatlin, North Carolina

L. Pope Walker, Alabama

Albert B. Blanchard, Louisiana

*Gab. J. Rains (killed), Kentucky.

*Lafayette McLaws, Georgia

*Thomas F. Dayton, South Carolina

*Lloyd Tilghman, Kentucky.

*Nat. G. Evans, South Carolina

Cadmus C. Wilcox, Tennessee.

Richard JS. Rodes Alabama.

Richard Taylor, Louisiana.

James H. Trapier, South Carolina.

Samuel G. French, Mississippi.

William H. Carroll, Tennessee.

Hugh W. Mercer, Georgia.

Humphrey Marshall, Kentucky.

*Alexander I. Steuart, Tennessee.

W. Montgomery Gardner Georgia.

Richard B. Garnett, Virginia.

William Mahone, Virginia.

L. O'B. Branch (killed), North Carolina.

Maxey Gregg, South Carolina.

Robert Toombs, Georgia.

*George H. Stewart, Virginia.

*Wm. W. Mackall, District Columbia.

*Henry Heth, Virginia.

*Johnson K. Duncan, Louisiana.

John R. Jackson, Georgia.

*Edward Johnson, Virginia.

Howell Cobb, Georgia.

Joseph L Hogg, Texas.

William S. Featherston, Mississippi.

Roger A. Pryor, Virginia.

*John H. Forney Alabama.

*John B. Villepigue (dead) Georgia.

*Bushnel R. Johnson, Tennessee.

*Thomas K. Jackson

*Thomas Jordan, Virginia.

*John S. Bowen, Missouri.

*John B. Hood, Texas.

*G. B. Anderson (k'd)..North Carolina.

*Thomas M. Jones, Virginia.

J. J. Pettigrew South, Carolina.

Albert Rust, Arkansas.

James J. Ramsey, Georgia.

Hamilton 1. Bee, Texas.

Henry McCulloch, Texas.

William Preston, Kentucky.

*Henry Little (killed), Missouri.

R. Ransom, North Carolina.

Martin E. Greene, Missouri.

Thomas R. R. Cobb, (killed), Georgia.

Wood , Alabama.

Kemper, South Carolina

Kershaw, South Carolina.

Leadbeater, Tennessee. Armstrong 

John S. Williams, Kentucky.

N. B. Forrest, Tennessee.

Robert E. Garland, (killed) Virginia.

*A. W. Reynolds, Virginia.

Jenkins, South Carolina,

* Pender, North Carolina.

Edward W. Gantt Arkansas.

Solon Borland, Arkansas.

*M. L. Smith, Mississippi.

*William B. Taliaferro, Virginia.

*George E. Pickett, Virginia.

Wright Georgia, Helm Kentucky.

George Maurey, Tennessee.

Blanton Duncan, Kentucky.

*L. A. Armistead, Virginia.

Semmes Georgia. Maxey .

B. R. Gist, South Carolina.

*D. M. Frost, Missouri.

Beverly R. Robertson, Virginia.

J. B. S. Roane, Arkansas.

C. L. Stevenson  

Wade Hampton, South Carolina.

A. G. Jenkins, Virginia. Fields .

Martin, North Carolina.

*Fitz Hugh Lee, Virginia.

John R. Jones, Virginia.

James E. Slaughter

Henry Hayes, Louisiana.

Henry W. Hilliard, Alabama.

*Abraham Buford Kentucky,

This list, numbering 187 generals, is divided among the several States as follows: Virginia, 81; South Carolina, 14; Georgia, 14; Kentucky. 11; Tennessee, 11; Louisiana. 9; North Carolina, 9; Alabama, T; Mississippi, B; Missouri, 6; Arkansas, S; Texas, 4; Maryland, 8; District of Columbia, 2; Florida, 1; Unknown, 6.

The following were born in the North;

General S. Cooper, New York; Major General. John C. Pemberton, Pennsylvania: Brigadier Generals. H. C. Whiting, A. B. Blanchard, Massachusetts: Johnson K. Duncan, Pennsylvania; It. S. Ripley. Ohio; Leadbeater, Connecticut; S. G. French, New Jersey; D. M. Frost.

Casualties, &c.—-Killed.—

Major General. A. S. Johnston,* Texas, at Shiloh, April 6, 1863.

Brigadier-General. R. S. Garnett, Virginia, at Carrick's Ford, July 11, 1861.-

Brigadier-General. Bernard E. Beet South Carolina, at Manassas, July 21,1861.

Brigadier-General. F. K. Zollicoffer, Tennessee, at Somerset, January 19,1862.

Brigadier-General. Ben McCulloch, Texas, at Pea Ridge, March 7, 1862.

Brigadier-General. A. H. Gladden, La., at Shiloh, April 6,1862.

Brigadier-General. T. W. Ashby, at , May —, 1862.

Brigadier-General. Robert Hatton, Tennessee, at Seven Pines, May 31,1862.

Brigadier-General. Richard Griffith, Mississippi, before Richmond, June 27, 1862.

Brigadier-General. C. S. Winder. Maryland, at Cedar Mountain, August 9, 1862.

Brigadier-General. J. T. Hughes, Missouri, at Independence, August —, 1862.

Brigadier-General. Robert E. Garland, Virginia, at South Mountain, September 14,1862.

Brigadier-General. Starke, North Carolina., at Antietam, September 17,1862.

Brigadier-General. Law. O'B. Branch, North Carolina., at Antietam, September 17, 1602.

Brigadier-General. Henry Little, Missouri, at Iuka, September 19,1863. Total—15. Acting

Brigadier-General. F. S. Bartow, Georgia, at Manassas, July 21,1861.

Acting Brigadier-General. James Mcintosh, at Pea Ridge, March 7, 1862.

Total—18.

Died.—Brigadier-General. J. B. Grayson, Kentucky; T. A. Flourney, Arkansas;

Philip St. George Cooke, Virginia (suicide)—8.

Resigned.—Major-Generals. David E. Twiggs, Georgia (since dead); M. L. Bonham, South Carolina; George B. Crittenden, Kentucky; Brigadier-Generals. H. K Jackson, Georgia; T.T. Fauntleroy, Virginia; G. W. Randolph, Virginia; L. T. Wigfall, Texas; South Carolina Anderson, Tennessee; J. H. Anderson,* Virginia; Albert Pike. Arkansas: W. H. T. Walker. Georgia—11. 'Graduates of West Point.

The Confederate army in Virginia, near the close of the year, was in a most destitute condition. the following statement, dated at "Winchester, Virginia, on September 26, was circulated through the Confederate States, as entirely reliable, and made the basis of appeals to the people to contribute to the relief of the soldiers:

I can recall no parallel instance in history, except Napoleon's disastrous retreat from Moscow, where an army has ever done more marching and fighting, under such great disadvantages, than General Lee's has done since it left the banks of the James river.

This army proceeded directly to the line of the Rappahannock, and, moving out from that river, it fought its way to the Potomac, crossed the stream, and moved on to Frederick and Hagerstown, had a heavy engagement at Boonsboro' Gap, and another at Crampton Gap below, fought the greatest pitched battle of the war at Sharpsburg, and then recrossed the Potomac back into Virginia. During all this time, covering the full space of a month, the troops rested but four days! And let it always be remembered, to their honor, that of the men who performed this wonderful feat one fifth of them were barefooted, one half of them in rags, and the whole of them half famished. The country from the Rappahannock to the Potomac had been visited by the enemy with fire and sword, and our transportation was insufficient to keep the army supplied from so distant a base as Gordonsville; and, when provision trains would overtake the army, so pressing were the exigencies of their position, the men seldom had time to cook. Their difficulties were increased by the fact that cooking utensils in many cases had been left behind, as well as everything else that would impede their movements. It was not unusual to see a company of starving men have a barrel of flour distributed to them, which it was utterly impossible for them to convert into bread with the means and the time allowed to them. They could not procure even a piece of plank or a corn or flour sack upon which to work up their dough.

Do you wonder, then, that there should have been stragglers from the army ?—that brave and true men should have, fallen out from sheer exhaustion, or in their efforts to obtain a mouthful .to eat along the roadsides? Or that many seasoned veterans, the conquerors in the valley, at Richmond and Manassas, should have succumbed to disease, and been forced back to the hospital 1 I look to hear a great outcry against the stragglers. Already lazy cavalrymen and dainty staff officers and quartermasters, who are mounted and can forage the country for something to eat, are condemning the weary private, who, notwithstanding his body may be covered with dust and perspiration, and his feet with stone bruises, is expected to trudge along under his knapsack and cartridge box, on an empty stomach, and never turn aside for a morsel of food to sustain his sinking limbs. Out upon such monstrous injustice! That there has been unnecessary straggling is readily admitted; but, in a large majority of cases, the men have only to point to their bleeding feet, tattered garments, and gaunt frames for an answer to the unjust charge. No army on this continent has every accomplished as much or suffered as much as the army of Northern Virginia within the last three months. At no period during the first Revolutionary War, not even at Valley Forge, did our Page 15 forefathers in arms encounter greater hardships, or endure them more uncomplainingly.

But great as have been the trials to which the army has been subjected, they are hardly worthy to be named in comparison with the sufferings in store fur it this winter, unless the people of the Confederate States, everywhere and in whatever circumstances, come to its immediate relief. The men must hare clothing and shoes this winter. They must have something to cover themselves when sleeping, and to protect themselves from the driving sleet and snow storms when on duty. This must be done, though our friends at home should have to wear cotton, and sit by the fire. The army of Virginia stands guard this day, as it will stand guard this winter, over every hearthstone throughout the South, The ragged sentinel who may pace his weary rounds this winter on the bleak spurs of the Blue Ridge, or along the frozen valleys of the Shenandoah and Rappahannock, will also be your sentinels, my friends, at home. It will be for you and your household that he encounters the wroth of the tempest and the dangers of the night. He suffers, and toils, and fights for you, too, brave, true-hearted women of the South. Will you not clothe his nakedness, then? Will you not put shoes and stockings on his feet? Is it not enough that he has written down his patriotism in crimson characters along the battle road from the Rappahannock to the Potomac? And must his bleeding feet also impress their mark of fidelity upon the snows of the coming winter? It is not necessary to counsel violent measures; but it is not expected that any person will be permitted to accumulate leather and cloth for purposes of speculation. The necessities of the armies rise up like a mountain, and cannot, and will not be overlooked. It was hoped at one time that we might obtain winter supplies in Maryland. This hope was born after the army left Richmond, and has now miserably perished. The Government is unable to furnish the supplies, for they are not to be had in the country. If it had exercised a little foresight last spring and summer, when vessels were running the blockade with cargoes of calico, linen, and other articles of like importance, a partial supply at least of hats, blankets, shoes, and woollen goods might have been obtained from England. But foresight is a quality of the mind that is seldom put in practice in these days.

But whatever may be done by the people should be done immediately. Not one moment can be lost that will not be marked, as by the second-hand of a watch, with the pangs of a sufferer. Already the hills and valleys in this high latitude have been visited by frost, and the nights are uncomfortably cool to the man who sleeps upon the ground. Come up, then, men and women of the South, to this sacred duty! Let nothing! stand between you and the performance of it. Neither pride nor pleasure, nor personal ease and comfort, should withhold your hands from the holy work. The supply of leather and wool, we all know, is limited; but do what you can, and all you can, and as soon as you can. If you cannot send woollen socks, send half-woollen or cotton socks; and so with under clothing, coats, and pants; and if blankets are not to be had, then substitute comforts made of dyed osnaburgs, stuffed with cotton. Anything that will keep off the cold will be acceptable. Even the speculator and extortioner might forego their gains for a season, and unite in this religious duty.

If the army of Virginia could march through the South just as it is—ragged, and almost barefooted and hatless; many of the men limping along, and not quite well of their wounds and sickness, yet cheerful, and not willing to abandon their places in the ranks; their clothes riddled with balls, and their banners covered with the smoke and dust of battle, and shot into tatters, many of them inscribed with "Williamsburg," "Seven Pines," "Gaines's Mill," "Garnett's Farm," "Front Royal," " McDowell," " Cedar Run," and other victorious fields—if this army of veterans, thus clad and shod, with tattered uniforms and banners, could march from Richmond to the Mississippi, it would produce a sensation that has no parallel in history since Peter the Hermit led his swelling hosts across Europe to the rescue of the Holy Sepulchre.

The Governor of North Carolina issued an appeal to the citizens in behalf of the soldiers of that State in the following words:

After the most strenuous exertions on the part of its officers, the State finds it impossible to clothe and shoe our soldiers without again appealing to that overflowing fountain of generosity—the private contributions of our people. The rigors of winter are approaching, our soldiers are already suffering, and must sutler more if our sympathies are not practical and active. The quartermaster's department is laboring faithfully to provide for them; but owing to speculation and extortion, will fall short. The deficiency must be supplied by the people. We shall have an active winter campaign, and how can our troops, if ragged, cold and barefoot, contend with the splendidly equipped columns of the enemy.

The articles most needed, and which the State finds it most difficult to supply, are shoes, socks and blankets, though drawers, shirts, and pants would be gladly received. If every farmer who has hides tanning would agree to spare one pair of shoes, and if every mother in North Carolina would knit one strong pair of either thick cotton or woollen socks for the army, they would be abundantly supplied. A great lot of blankets also might yet be spared from private use, and thousands could be made from the carpets upon our parlor floors. With good warm houses and cotton bed clothing we can certainly get through the winter much better than the soldiers can with all the blankets, we can give them.

 The colonels of militia regiments throughout the State are hereby appointed agents for the purchase and collection of all such articles as can be spared by our people, who, through their respective captains, are ordered immediately to canvass every county and visit every citizen in their beats for this purpose. A liberal price will be paid for everything where the owner feels that he or she is not able to donate it, and active agents will immediately forward them to our suffering regiments. Expenses will be allowed the officers engaged in this duty, and transportation furnished the colonels or their agents to bring the articles to Raleigh.

And now, my countrymen and women, if you have anything to spare for the soldier, in his name I appeal to you for it Do not let the speculator have it, though he offer you an enormous price; spurn him from your door, and say to him that our brave defenders have need for it, and shall have it without passing through his greedy fingers. Do not place yourselves among the extortioners—they are the vilest and most cowardly of all our country's enemies; and when this war is ended, and people come to view the matter in its proper light, you will find that the most detested tories ore more respected than they. When they tempt you with higher prices than the State offers; just think for n moment of the soldier, and what he is doing for you. Remember, when yon sit down by the bright and glowing fire, that the soldier is sitting upon the cold earth; that in the wind Which is whistling so fearfully over your roof, only making you feel the more comfortable because it harms you not, he is shivering in darkness on the dangerous outpost, shuddering through the dreary hours of his watch. Remember that when you come forth in the morning well fed and warmly clad, leading your families toward the spot where the blessed music of the Sabbath bells tells you of the peaceful worship of the God of Peace, the soldier is going forth at the same moment, perhaps, half fed, after a night of shivering and suffering, to where the roar of artillery and shout of battle announce that he is to die that your peace and safety may be preserved. Oh, remember these things, generous and patriotic people of North Carolina, and give freely of your perishable Page 16 goods to those who are giving all that mortal men can give for your safety and your rights. Z. B. VANCE.

   RALEIGH, October 15,1862.

These appeals were not without effect. As an instance, the proprietors of the Pulaski House, in Mobile, contributed the carpeting of one hundred and twenty rooms, which was estimated to be sufficient to make five hundred blankets.

The straggling from the army, as the winter approached, was without a parallel. The press, the President, and officers of the Confederate and State Governments appealed to the people, and particularly to the women, to frown upon all stragglers, and use every means to secure their apprehension. It was declared that more than half the men who went into service from the northeastern counties of the State of Georgia were at home without leave, and most of them were skulking in the mountains to avoid being arrested. Others had banded together under a few desperate leaders to resist any attempts that might be made to arrest them, or to release from the jails those who had been arrested. Some of those bands had arms and ammunition, and subsisted by plunder. They were volunteers and not conscripts, as the conscript laws had never been enforced in that section. (The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year 1861, vol. 1. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868, pp. 12-16.)


Source: The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.