Overview of the role of the U.S. state of Mississippi during the American Civil War
This article is about the Confederate state of Mississippi between 1861 and 1865. For the ship, see CSS Mississippi. For other uses, see Mississippi (disambiguation).
Mississippi
Nickname(s): "The Magnolia State"
Flag
Seal
Map of the Confederate States
Capital
Jackson
Largest city
Natchez
Admitted to the Confederacy
March 29, 1861 (5th)
Population
790,530 total
• 353,899 (44.77%) free
• 436,631 (55.23%) slave
Forces supplied
- Confederate Troops: 80,000 - Union Troops: 17,545 (17,000 black; 545 white) total
Major garrisons/armories
Corinth
Governor
1859–1863John J. Pettus 1863–1865Charles Clark
Senators
1862–1865Albert G. Brown
1862–1864James Phelan
1864–1865John W. C. Watson
Representatives
List
Restored to the Union
February 23, 1870
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Confederate States in the American Civil War
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Mississippi was the second southern state to declare its secession from the United States, doing so on January 9, 1861. It joined with six other southern states to form the Confederacy on February 4, 1861. Mississippi's location along the lengthy Mississippi River made it strategically important to both the Union and the Confederacy; dozens of battles were fought in the state as armies repeatedly clashed near key towns and transportation nodes.
Mississippian troops fought in every major theater of the American Civil War, although most were concentrated in the Western Theater. Confederate president Jefferson Davis was a Mississippi politician and operated a large cotton plantation there. Prominent Mississippian generals during the war included William Barksdale, Carnot Posey, Wirt Adams, Earl Van Dorn, Robert Lowry, and Benjamin G. Humphreys.
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