The Confederate States War Department was a cabinet-level department in Confederate States of America

Confederate States of America

The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...

 government responsible for the administration of the affairs of the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

. The War Department was led by the Confederate States Secretary of War

Confederate States Secretary of War

The Confederate States Secretary of War was a member of the Confederate States President's Cabinet during the Civil War. The Secretary of War led the Confederate States Department of War. The position ended in May 1865 when the Confederacy crumbled during John C. Breckinridge's tenure of the...

. During its existence, the War Department was the largest department of the Civil Service

Confederate Civil Service

The Confederate Civil Service was the civil service of the Confederate States of America, a separatist political entity that existed between 1861 and 1865.-History:...

 in Confederate States of America.

History

The War Department was established by Act No. 26 of the Confederate Provisional Congress on February 26, 1861. On December 11, 1861, a bill was passed allowing

Key Personnel

There were twelve key positions in the War Department of which four were filled by civilians and eight by military personnel; these positions were:

• Secretary of War
  Confederate States Secretary of War
  The Confederate States Secretary of War was a member of the Confederate States President's Cabinet during the Civil War. The Secretary of War led the Confederate States Department of War. The position ended in May 1865 when the Confederacy crumbled during John C. Breckinridge's tenure of the...
  
   (civilian)
• Adjutant and Inspector General
• Assistant Secretary of War (civilian)
• Chief of the Bureau of War (civilian)
• Chief of Conscription
• Chief of Niter and Mining
• Chief of Ordnance
• Commissary General of Subsistence
• Quartermaster General
• Surgeon General
• War Department Commissioner of Indian Affairs (civilian)

Departments and Bureaus

The Confederate War Department had several sub-departments in its organization structure.

• Adjutant and Inspector-General's Department: Established by an act of the Confederate Congress on 19 April 1862.
• Bureau of Engineers: Established by an act of the Confederate Congress on March 6, 1861.
• Bureau of Indian Affairs
  Confederate States Bureau of Indian Affairs
  The Confederate States Bureau of Indian Affairs was a subdivision of the Confederate States War Department established in 1862 to handle the duties the War Department was charged with regarding the Confederacy's relations with the various Indian Nations with which it interacted....
  
  : Established by two separate acts of the Confederate Provisional Congress on February 21 and March 15, 1861.
• Bureau of Foreign Supplies
• Bureau of Conscription

Established on December 30, 1862.

• Bureau of Prison Camps
• Bureau of Prisoner Exchange

Established on July 12, 1862.

• Commissary Department
• Medical Corps:
• Niter and Mining Bureau: Established by an act the Confederate Congress on April 11, 1862. The Niter and Mining Bureau was initially a part of the Bureau of Ordnance, but later became a full bureau independent of the Bureau of Ordnance on April 22, 1862.
• Bureau of Ordnance: Established April 8, 1861 under Article 44 of the Confederate Army Regulations.
• Quartermaster-General Department: Established by an act of the Confederate Provisional Congress on February 26, 1861.

Signal Bureau

Established by an act of the Confederate Congress on 19 April 1862. This bureau was attached to the Adjutant General's office. Edward Porter Alexander

Edward Porter Alexander

Edward Porter Alexander was an engineer, an officer in the U.S. Army, a Confederate general in the American Civil War, and later a railroad executive, planter, and author....

 was responsible for this corp's establishment. Although official established in 1862, Edward Porter Alexander had set about the creation of a signal service and had a signal service operational in time for the First Battle of Manassas, months before any comparable Federal counterpart would emerge. The Signal Bureau was also involved in the gathering of intelligence during the course of the war.