Military leadership in the American Civil War facts for kids

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Military leadership during the American Civil War was handled by both political leaders and military generals. In the United States (the Union), the President was the top commander. He appointed political leaders to run the military departments. Most of the main Union commanders had experience in the regular army before the war. Some military leaders were volunteers, and a few even came from other countries.

In the Southern Confederacy, the President was also the commander-in-chief. He had studied at West Point and fought in the Mexican-American War. Many officers from the U.S. Army, who had trained at West Point, chose to join the Confederacy. Some important Confederate leaders came from state military groups, and like the Union, some were from other countries.

The United States (The Union)
The Confederate States

The United States (The Union)

Admiral David Farragut

Admiral David Porter

Civilian Leaders of the Union Military

President Abraham Lincoln was the top commander of the Union's armed forces during the entire war. After he was assassinated on April 14, 1865, Andrew Johnson became President.

Lincoln's first Secretary of War was Simon Cameron. Edwin M. Stanton took over this role in January 1862. Thomas A. Scott was the Assistant Secretary of War. Gideon Welles was the Secretary of the Navy, helped by Gustavus Fox.

Title	Name	Time in Office	Notes
Commander-in-Chief	Abraham Lincoln	March 4, 1861 - April 15, 1865	Assassinated on April 14, 1865.
Commander-in-Chief	Andrew Johnson	April 15, 1865 - March 4, 1869	Declared the war "virtually" over on May 9, 1865.
Secretary of War	Simon Cameron	March 5, 1861 - January 14, 1862	Resigned from his position.
Secretary of War	Edwin Stanton	January 20, 1862 - May 28, 1867	Previously the U.S. Attorney General.
Secretary of Navy	Gideon Welles	March 7, 1861 - March 4, 1869

Union Army Generals

When the war started, the U.S. "Regular Army" was very small. It had only 1,080 officers and 15,000 enlisted soldiers. Even though many regular officers became Union generals, most stayed with their original units. However, most of the main Union commanders had served in the regular army before the war.

The top general of the U.S. Army changed during the war. The generals in charge were Winfield Scott, George B. McClellan, Henry Halleck, and finally, Ulysses S. Grant.

Commanding Generals, U.S. Army

No.	Name	Time in Office	Notes
1	Winfield Scott	July 5, 1841 - November 1, 1861	Retired from service.
2	George McClellan	November 1, 1861 - March 11, 1862	Also led the Army of the Potomac.
3	Vacant	March 11, 1862 - July 23, 1862	President Lincoln handled the duties during this time.
4	Henry Halleck	July 23, 1862 - March 9, 1864	Became Chief of Staff in Washington D.C.
5	Ulysses S. Grant	March 9, 1864 - March 4, 1869	The first full-rank General in the U.S. Army.

Many other important generals served the Union. Here are some of them:

Union Leaders from State Militias and Politics

Under the U.S. Constitution, each state was responsible for its own local military, called the militia. State governors appointed and promoted officers. After President Lincoln asked for 75,000 volunteer soldiers in April 1861, many state groups became known as United States Volunteers. This helped tell them apart from the regular army units.

Union generals could get two types of commissions: U.S. Army or U.S. Volunteers. Many generals held both types of commissions, but regular army rank was seen as more important.

Here are some leaders who came from state militias or political backgrounds:

Union Officers from Other Countries and Native American Leaders

The Union Army included soldiers and leaders from many different backgrounds. Some military leaders came from countries other than the United States.

Union Naval Leaders

The United States Navy grew very quickly during the Civil War. This helped the North greatly in blocking Confederate ports and shipping early in the war. The Navy started with an old fleet of 90 ships and lost many sailors to the Confederate Navy. However, a huge effort to build new ships, using new ideas from engineers like James Buchanan Eads and John Ericsson, helped the U.S. Navy become a powerful force.

Commanding Officer, U.S. Navy

No.	Name	Time in Office	Notes
-	Charles Stewart	March 2, 1859 – December 21, 1861	Served as "Senior Flag Officer" until he retired.
1	David Farragut	December 21, 1861 - August 14, 1870	Also commanded the West Gulf Blockading Squadron.

Here are some other important Union naval leaders:

John A. Dahlgren
Charles Henry Davis
Samuel Francis du Pont
David Farragut
Andrew Hull Foote
Samuel Phillips Lee
David Dixon Porter
John Ancrum Winslow
John Lorimer Worden

The Confederate States

Robert E. Lee

T.J. "Stonewall" Jackson

James Longstreet

Joseph E. Johnston

James Waddell

Civilian Leaders of the Confederate Military

Jefferson Davis became the temporary president of the Confederacy on February 9, 1861. He had similar duties as commander-in-chief as President Lincoln. On November 6, 1861, Davis was officially elected President of the Confederate States of America. Alexander H. Stephens was the Vice President of the Confederate States of America.

Several men served as the Confederate Secretary of War, including Leroy Pope Walker, Judah P. Benjamin, George W. Randolph, James Seddon, and John C. Breckinridge. Stephen Mallory was the Confederate Secretary of the Navy for the entire war.

Title	Name	Time in Office	Notes
Commander-in-Chief	Jefferson Davis	February 18, 1861 - May 5, 1865
Vice President	Alexander H. Stephens	February 11, 1861 - May 11, 1865
Secretary of War	LeRoy Pope Walker	February 25, 1861 - September 16, 1861	Resigned from his position.
	Judah P. Benjamin	September 17, 1861 - March 24, 1862	Resigned to become Secretary of State.
	George W. Randolph	March 24, 1862 – November 15, 1862	Resigned due to health issues.
	James Seddon	November 21, 1862 – February 5, 1865	Resigned from his position.
	John C. Breckinridge	February 6, 1865 – May 10, 1865
Secretary of Navy	Stephen Mallory	March 4, 1861 – May 2, 1865

Confederate Army Generals (Former U.S. Army Officers)

After the Southern states left the Union, many U.S. Army officers felt they had to be loyal to their home states. About 313 of these officers resigned from the U.S. Army and joined the Confederate Army. Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who was also a West Point graduate, valued these experienced officers highly. He made sure they were given important leadership roles.

Here are some of these former U.S. Army officers who became Confederate generals:

Richard H. Anderson
P.G.T. Beauregard
Milledge Luke Bonham
Braxton Bragg
Simon Bolivar Buckner, Sr.
George B. Crittenden
Samuel Cooper
Jubal Anderson Early
Richard S. Ewell
Franklin Gardner
Robert S. Garnett
Josiah Gorgas
William Joseph Hardee
Ambrose Powell Hill
Daniel Harvey Hill
John Bell Hood
Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson
Albert Sidney Johnston
Joseph E. Johnston
Robert E. Lee
Stephen D. Lee
Mansfield Lovell
James Longstreet
John B. Magruder
Humphrey Marshall
Dabney Herndon Maury
John Hunt Morgan
John C. Pemberton
George Pickett
Edmund Kirby Smith
Gustavus Woodson Smith
J.E.B. Stuart
William B. Taliaferro
Earl Van Dorn
Joseph Wheeler
Henry A. Wise

Confederate Leaders from State Militias and Politics

In the Southern states, there was a strong tradition of state military groups, especially in areas that were once frontier lands. Many important Confederate military leaders came from leading these state units.

Confederate Officers from Other Countries and Native American Leaders

No foreign countries sent troops to help the Confederacy directly. However, some military leaders in the Confederate army came from other nations.

Patrick Cleburne
Stand Watie
Camille Armand Jules Marie, Prince de Polignac
Raleigh E. Colston
Collett Leventhorpe
George St. Leger Grenfell

Confederate Naval Leaders

The Confederate Navy did not have many places to build ships. Instead, they often used captured ships or bought warships from Great Britain. The South had many rivers that ships could use. However, after the Union built a large fleet of gunboats, they quickly took control of rivers like the Mississippi and Tennessee. This made these waterways almost useless to the Confederacy.

The Confederates did take over some Union Navy ships in harbors after they left the Union. They turned a few of these into ironclad ships, like the CSS Virginia. Ships called blockade runners were built and operated by British companies to get supplies past the Union blockade. Later in the war, the Confederate Navy operated some of these. A few new ships were built or bought in Britain, such as the CSS Shenandoah and the CSS Alabama. These warships attacked commercial ships, causing a lot of damage.

Here are some important Confederate naval leaders:

John Mercer Brooke
Isaac Newton Brown
Franklin Buchanan
James Dunwoody Bulloch
Catesby ap Roger Jones
Matthew Fontaine Maury
Raphael Semmes
Josiah Tattnall III
James Iredell Waddell

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Military leadership in the American Civil War Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.