THE CONFEDERATE HIGH COMMAND

The general officers of the Confederate States Army (CSA) - the army of the Confederate States of America - were the senior military leaders of the Confederacy and served during the American Civil War between 1861 and 1865. They were often former officers from theUnited States Army (the regular army) prior to the Civil War, while others were given the rank based on merit or when necessity demanded. Most Confederate generals needed confirmation from the Confederate Congress, much like prospective generals in the modern U.S. armed forces.

Like all of the Confederacy's military forces, these generals answered to their civilian leadership, in particular Jefferson Davis, the South'spresident and therefore "commander-in-chief" of the Army, Navy, and Marines in the Confederate States.