1. Welcome to the CivilWarTalk, a forum for questions and discussions about the American Civil War! Become a member today for full access to all of our resources, it's fast, simple, and absolutely free! If you aren't ready for that, try posting your question or comment as a guest!

Who was in the Civil War?

Discussion in 'Articles, Guides, Interviews, and Reports' started by civilwartalk, Apr 16, 2012.

Page 1 of 2

  1. civilwartalk Lt. General & Webmaster

    Member Since:
    Apr 1, 1999
    Message Count:
    140,441
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    The American Civil War was fought between the rebelling Confederate States (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina), and the loyal states of the United States of America (California, Connecticut, Delaware*, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky*, Maine, Maryland*, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri*, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia*, and Wisconsin).

    Answering the question "Who was in the Civil War?" is not an easy one to answer. Many individuals participated in the American Civil War, as many as 3,164,000 men (and women) played military roles during this wartime period, and the nation (U.S.A./C.S.A. combined) had a population of 31,443,321 as a whole in 1860.

    Below is a listing of the most prominent individuals to participate in this struggle.

    The Union (United States of America)

    lincoln.png johnson.png mcclellan.png grant.png meade.png
    [Lincoln, Johnson, McClellan, Grant, Meade]

    Civilian Leadership
    • Abraham Lincoln - 16th President of the United States
    • Montgomery Blair - U.S. Postmaster General
    • Gustavus V. Fox - Assistant Secretary of the Navy
    • Hannibal Hamlin - 1st Term Vice President of Abraham Lincoln
    • Andrew Johnson - 2nd Term Vice President of Abraham Lincoln, Future U.S. President
    • William H. Seward - Secretary of State
    • Edwin M. Stanton - Secretary of War
    • Thaddeus Stevens - Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania
    • Benjamin Wade - United States Senator from Ohio
    • Gideon Welles - Secretary of the Navy
    Military Leadership
    • George B. McClellan - Major General
    • Ulysses S. Grant - Lieutenant General, and Future U.S. President
    • Robert Anderson - Major, commander of Fort Sumter, promoted to Brigadier General
    • Don Carlos Buell - Major General
    • Benjamin Butler - Major General
    • Ambrose Burnside - Major General
    • John A. B. Dahlgren - Rear Admiral
    • Samuel Francis Du Pont - Rear Admiral
    • David Farragut - Admiral
    • Andrew Hull Foote - Rear Admiral
    • John C. Frémont - Major General
    • Henry Halleck - Major General
    • Herman Haupt - Brigadier General, railroad engineer
    • Joseph Hooker - Major General
    • Henry Jackson Hunt - Chief of Artillery in the Army of the Potomac, Brevet Major General
    • Samuel Phillips Lee - Rear Admiral
    • Irvin McDowell - Major General
    • George Meade - Major General
    • Montgomery C. Meigs - Brigadier General, Brevet Major General
    • John Pope - Major General
    • David Dixon Porter - Admiral
    • William Rosecrans - Major General
    • Winfield Scott - Brevet Lieutenant General
    • Philip Sheridan - Major General
    • William Tecumseh Sherman - Major General
    • George Henry Thomas - Major General
    • John L. Worden - Lieutenant in command of the U.S.S. Monitor at Hampton Roads
    Other Notable Persons
    • John Brown - Abolitionist, unsuccessfully raided Harper's Ferry in 1859
    • Samuel Colt - developed the first viable mass-produced revolvers prior to the Civil War
    • Frederick Douglass - former slave, orator, writer, and leader of the abolitionist movement
    • John Ericsson - inventor and engineer, designed the USS Monitor
    • William Lloyd Garrison - Abolitionist, editor of the newspaper, The Liberator
    • Horace Greeley - publisher and editor of the New York Tribune, opponent to slavery
    • Benjamin Tyler Henry - gunsmith and manufacturer, inventor of the Henry Rifle
    • William Mason - significant supplier of locomotives and rifles for the Union Army
    • Samuel Morse - co-inventor of the single line telegraph system and Morse Code
    • Robert Parker Parrott - soldier & inventor of military ordnance at West Point Foundry
    • Allan Pinkerton - head of the Union Intelligence Service, detective and spy
    The Confederacy (Confederate States of America)

    davis.png lee.png jackson.png longstreet.png beauregard.png
    [Davis, Lee, Jackson, Longstreet, Beauregard]

    Civilian Leadership
    • Jefferson Davis - 1st and only President of the Confederate States of America
    • Alexander Stephens - Vice President of the C.S.A.
    • Judah P. Benjamin - 1st Attorney General, 2nd Secretary of War, 3rd Secretary of State
    • Thomas Bragg - 2nd Attorney General
    • John C. Breckinridge - 5th Secretary of War
    • George Davis - 4th Attorney General
    • Robert Hunter - 2nd Secretary of State
    • Stephen Mallory - Secretary of the Navy
    • Christopher Memminger - Secretary of the Treasury
    • Francis W. Pickens - Secessionist Governor of South Carolina
    • George Randolph - 3rd Secretary of War
    • John Reagan - Postmaster General
    • James Seddon - 4th Secretary of War
    • Robert Tombs - 1st Secretary of State
    • LeRoy Pope Walker - 1st Secretary of War
    • Thomas Hill Watts 3rd Attorney General
    Military Leadership
    • Robert E. Lee - General commanding the Army of Northern Virginia, General-in-Chief of all Confederate Forces
    • Edward Porter Alexander - General, Longstreet's Chief of Artillery
    • Joseph Reid Anderson - Brigadier General, owner of Tredegar Iron Works
    • Richard H. Anderson - Lieutenant General
    • P. G. T. Beauregard - General, commanded firing on Fort Sumter
    • Braxton Bragg - Lieutenant General
    • Franklin Buchanan - Captain of the C.S.S. Virginia, Admiral on board the C.S.S. Tennessee
    • Patrick R. Cleburne - Major General
    • Samuel Cooper - Full General, highest ranking Confederate general during the war
    • Jubal Early - Lieutenant General
    • Richard S. Ewell - Lieutenant General, senior commander under Jackson and Lee
    • Nathan Bedford Forrest - Cavalry General
    • Josiah Gorgas - Chief of Ordnance for the Confederate Army
    • Wade Hampton III - Lieutenant General
    • Ambrose Powell Hill - Lieutenant General
    • John Bell Hood - Lieutenant General
    • Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson - Lieutenant General
    • Albert Sidney Johnston - General, killed at Shiloh
    • Joseph E. Johnston - Full General
    • James Longstreet - Lieutenant General
    • John Hunt Morgan - Brigadier General
    • John S. Mosby - Colonel, guerrilla leader
    • Sterling Price - Major General
    • William Quantrill - leader of Quantrill's Raiders
    • Raphael Semmes - Admiral, Captain of CSS Alabama
    • Edmund Kirby Smith - General
    • James Ewell Brown "Jeb" Stuart - Major General, cavalry
    • Richard Taylor - Lieutenant General
    • Stand Watie - Brigadier General
    • Joseph Wheeler - Major General
    Other Notable Persons
    • John Wilkes Booth - famous stage actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre
    • Jedediah Hotchkiss - famous cartographer and topographer
    • Jean Alexandre LeMat - New Orleans physician and inventor of the LeMat Revolver
    • Samuel A. Mudd - physician, assisted John Wilkes Booth
    • Sir Joseph Whitworth - English engineer and inventor, designed the Whitworth Rifle
    Women of the Civil War
    * Border states with slavery in 1861: In Kentucky and Missouri, pro-secession "governments" declared for the South but never had significant control of the states. Also, West Virginia separated from Virginia and became part of the Union during the war, on June 20, 1863. Nevada also joined the Union during the war, becoming a state on October 31, 1864.
    civilwartalk, Apr 16, 2012
    #1

  2. Post Robot


    (Membership has it privileges! To remove this ad: Register NOW!)

  3. civilwartalk Lt. General & Webmaster

    Member Since:
    Apr 1, 1999
    Message Count:
    140,441
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    More Articles about the Civil War
    Additional Research About the Civil War
    Questions, comments, and revisions are welcome.
    civilwartalk, Apr 16, 2012
    #2

  4. donna Captain

    Member Since:
    May 12, 2010
    Message Count:
    6,535
    Location:
    Kentucky
    Under women, I would include Mary Todd Lincoln, Clara Barton and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
    donna, Apr 16, 2012
    #3
    James B White likes this.

  5. civilwartalk Lt. General & Webmaster

    Member Since:
    Apr 1, 1999
    Message Count:
    140,441
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    Updated: Thanks for the input!
    civilwartalk, Apr 16, 2012
    #4

  6. Mark F. Jenkins 1st Lieutenant

    Member Since:
    Mar 31, 2012
    Message Count:
    3,699
    Location:
    Central Ohio
    I'd include Franklin Buchanan in the Confederate military leadership and S. Phillips Lee and John A. B. Dahlgren in the Union military leadership, and Montgomery Blair in the Union civilian leadership.

    (Though Blair was Postmaster General, it's clear from Gideon Welles' diary that Blair exerted more influence in the cabinet than his formal position might indicate, especially via his family contacts.)

    ETA I think Gustavus V. Fox belongs in either the Union civilian leadership or "other" area also.

    How about neutrals? Surely Lord Lyons, Sir Alexander Milne, Lord Palmerston and Lord Russell had significant influence...
    Mark F. Jenkins, Apr 16, 2012
    #5

  7. CSA Today 1st Lieutenant

    Member Since:
    Dec 3, 2011
    Message Count:
    3,526
    Location:
    Laurinburg NC
    Women--
    Sally Thomkins, Juliet Opie Hopkins and Emma Sansom.

    "If it is a crime to love the South, its cause, and its President, then I am a criminal. I would rather lie down in this prison and die than leave it owing allegiance to a government such as yours."

    Belle Boyd
    CSA Today, Apr 16, 2012
    #6
    Nathanb1 likes this.

  8. donna Captain

    Member Since:
    May 12, 2010
    Message Count:
    6,535
    Location:
    Kentucky
    Under Confederate Military leadership I would add Wade Hampton III, Patrick R. Cleburne and Stand Watie
    donna, Apr 16, 2012
    #7

  9. civilwartalk Lt. General & Webmaster

    Member Since:
    Apr 1, 1999
    Message Count:
    140,441
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    I'll think about how I want to add neutrals...

    Great suggestions all, updated!
    civilwartalk, Apr 16, 2012
    #8

  10. diane Major

    Member Since:
    Jan 23, 2010
    Message Count:
    7,971
    Location:
    State of Jefferson
    Might I suggest adding James Dunwoody Bulloch and Thomas Haines Dudley? Better spies and intelligence gatherers than Pinkerton!
    diane, Apr 16, 2012
    #9

  11. Mark F. Jenkins 1st Lieutenant

    Member Since:
    Mar 31, 2012
    Message Count:
    3,699
    Location:
    Central Ohio
    Oh... James B. Eads, certainly, as a Union civilian, and John M. Brooke as a Confederate "other" (he's one of those sort of in-between military/civilian types, but deserves mention for his ordnance).
    Mark F. Jenkins, Apr 16, 2012
    #10

  12. Robtweb1 Brig. General, Mod

    Member Since:
    Apr 20, 2011
    Message Count:
    2,577
    Location:
    Louisiana
    Confederate Military - Leonidas Polk, A. P. Stewart, Benjamin Cheatham, William Loring
    Confederate Civilian Leardership - Edmond Ruffin
    Robtweb1, Apr 16, 2012
    #11

  13. Nathanb1 Brig. General, Mod

    Member Since:
    Dec 31, 2009
    Message Count:
    20,733
    Location:
    Smack dab in the heart of Texas
    Confederate Postmaster John H. Reagan....one of the few truly useful folks in the government.
    CSA General Lawrence Sullivan "Sul" Ross
    CSA General Benjamin McCulloch
    CSA General Henry McCulloch
    CSA John Robert Baylor
    CSA Co. John "Rip" Ford
    CSA Gen. Henry Sibley

    U.S. General Benjamin Grierson
    Col. Ranald Mackenzie

    Women: Adelicia Acklen
    Nathanb1, Apr 16, 2012
    #12

  14. donna Captain

    Member Since:
    May 12, 2010
    Message Count:
    6,535
    Location:
    Kentucky
    I think we need to include the photograhers.

    For North:

    Matthew Brady
    Alexander Gardner
    Timothy O'Sullivan

    For South:

    George S. Cook
    Robert Smith

    another one for notable person: Walt Whitman
    donna, Apr 16, 2012
    #13
    Nathanb1 likes this.

  15. TerryB Captain

    Member Since:
    Dec 7, 2008
    Message Count:
    5,058
    Location:
    Nashville TN
    I didn't see Henry Stanly of Dr. Livingston fame. And if any Brit needs to go on the list, surely Col. Fremantle, whose diary is a primary source.
    TerryB, Apr 16, 2012
    #14
    Nathanb1 likes this.

  16. prroh Captain

    Member Since:
    Oct 1, 2009
    Message Count:
    5,581
    Location:
    Maryland
    For CSA notables, Judah Benjamin
    For US military, Winfield Scott Hancock

    The list of women seems a bit excessive. Some were minor players. Why not Mary Chesnut? Why was Samuel Morse on the list? For the telegraph or as editor of the anti-Lincoln Journal of Commerce?
    prroh, Apr 16, 2012
    #15

  17. Nathanb1 Brig. General, Mod

    Member Since:
    Dec 31, 2009
    Message Count:
    20,733
    Location:
    Smack dab in the heart of Texas
    Benjamin and Chesnut are both on the list already. Do you mean they shouldn't be? On the other hand, great catch with Hancock!
    Nathanb1, Apr 16, 2012
    #16

  18. prroh Captain

    Member Since:
    Oct 1, 2009
    Message Count:
    5,581
    Location:
    Maryland
    It seems the lists are being Constantly updated and they weren't on a list at a time I posted is what I mean
    prroh, Apr 16, 2012
    #17

  19. Nathanb1 Brig. General, Mod

    Member Since:
    Dec 31, 2009
    Message Count:
    20,733
    Location:
    Smack dab in the heart of Texas
    Gotcha.....that Mike is one sneaky dude.:unsure:
    Nathanb1, Apr 16, 2012
    #18

  20. B Peach First Sergeant

    Member Since:
    Apr 17, 2010
    Message Count:
    1,338
    B Peach, Apr 17, 2012
    #19

  21. civilwartalk Lt. General & Webmaster

    Member Since:
    Apr 1, 1999
    Message Count:
    140,441
    Location:
    Martinsburg, WV
    I just want to remind everyone that this isn't supposed to be an Ultimate listing, instead it is more of a jumping off point for new users. However, I'd be willing to consider compiling more complete lists in another article.

    In that vein, I'm going to move the list of Women to it's own article and we can flesh out that list further there.

    I also plan to add more "Pillar Articles" as the week goes on. Keep the suggestions coming!
    civilwartalk, Apr 17, 2012
    #20
Page 1 of 2

Share This Page

Users found this page by searching for:

  1. who was in the civil war

    ,

  2. who was in the civil war?

    ,

  3. who took place in the civil war

    ,
  4. who was who in the civil war,
  5. who were in the civil war ,
  6. who was in the civilwar,
  7. who was in the cival war,
  8. who were the military leaders in the civil war,
  9. andrew johnson and pat cleaburne,
  10. who was the leader of the south during the civil war