Confederate army structure

by Josh Howard
Research Branch, NC Office of Archives and History
http://www.ncmarkers.com [2]

See also: Civil War [3]; Confederate Party; [4]Civil War Rosters [5]; Civil War [6];

Here is an example of the structure of the Confederate army at the onset of the Civil War [3]. The actual figures or numbers of individuals vary wildly at different times and places during the Civil War.

 

General : Army Commander (60,000-90,000 individuals per army)

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Lieutenant-General : Corps Commander (3 - 4 corps per army with 20,000 - 30,000 individuals per corps)

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Major General : Division Commander (3 - 4 divisions per corps with 9,000 - 12,000 individuals per division)

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Brigadier General : Brigade Commander (3 - 4 brigades per division with 1500 - 3000 individuals per brigade)

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Colonel : Regimental Commander (4 - 5 regiments per brigade with 350 - 1000 per regiment)

 

Regimental Command structure

 

Colonel : 1st in command

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Lieutenant Colonel : 2nd in command

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Major : 3rd in command

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Captain (Captains commanded a company. There were 10 companies to a regiment.)

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1st Lieutenant

2nd Lieutenant

(sometimes a 3rd Lieutenant)

Sergeant (5 to a company)

Corporal (5 to a company)

Musician (2 - 4 to a company, drummers, fifers)

Private (90 to a company)

Companies

The ten companies in a regiment were each assigned a letter. The letters were A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, K. The letter J was skipped to avoid confusion with I.

Other ranks

Quartermaster : held the same rank as a Captain but was in charge of regimental supply. There was one quartermaster per regiment.

Sergeant major : Senior sergant in the entire regiment. There was one per regiment. Acted as the disciplinarian of the unit.

Surgeon

Assistant Surgeon

Adjutant : Head clerk of the unit. The Colonel's aide.