`` We the people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity -- invoking the favor and the guidance of Almighty God -- do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States of America ''.

On April 1, 1865, Grant successfully outflanked Lee's forces in the Battle of Five Forks and nearly encircled Petersburg, and the Confederate government evacuated Richmond.

As the Confederate government concentrated efforts on the units in the East, they gave Johnston only small numbers of reinforcements and minimal amounts of arms and material.

Eleven southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America (" the Confederacy "); the other 25 states supported the federal government (" the Union ").

* 1863 – Richmond Bread Riot: Food shortages incite hundreds of angry women to riot in Richmond, Virginia and demand that the Confederate government release emergency supplies.

* 1861 – American Civil War: The Trent Affair: Confederate diplomatic envoys James M. Mason and John Slidell are freed by the United States government, thus heading off a possible war between the United States and United Kingdom.

Once in Confederate hands, Lincoln would be exchanged for the release of Confederate Army prisoners of war held captive in Northern prisons and, Booth reasoned, bring the war to an end by emboldening opposition to the war in the North or forcing Union recognition of the Confederate government.

No conclusive proof has linked Booth's kidnapping or assassination plots to a conspiracy involving the leadership of the Confederate government, although historians such as David Herbert Donald have said, " It is clear that, at least at the lower levels of the Southern secret service, the abduction of the Union President was under consideration ".

Barney speaks of " the heavy-handed intervention of the Confederate government.

President Davis met with his Confederate Cabinet for the last time on May 5, 1865, in Washington, Georgia, and the Confederate government was officially dissolved.

* 1861 – American Civil War: Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government.

However, the Confederate territorial government continued to operate out of Texas, and Confederate troops marched under the Arizona flag until the end of the war.

In the American Civil War, the contention of the Confederate States that a State could secede from the Union was untenable because of the power enjoyed by the Federal government in the executive, legislative and judiciary branches.

In the Camp Jackson Affair, a large force of German volunteers helped prevent Confederate forces from seizing the government arsenal in St. Louis just prior to the beginning of the war.

The Union advances achieved by Maj. Gen. Grant and Adm. Foote at Forts Henry and Donelson caused significant concern in the Confederate government.

* November 28 – Acting on the ordinance passed by the Jackson government, the Confederate Congress admits Missouri as the 12th Confederate state.

During the American Civil War, American cotton exports slumped due to a Union blockade on Southern ports, also because of a strategic decision by the Confederate government to cut exports, hoping to force Britain to recognize the Confederacy or enter the war, prompting the main purchasers of cotton, Britain and France to turn to Egyptian cotton.

The Southern capitulation in 1865 ended the Confederate state government and began a controversial and difficult decade of Reconstruction.

During the Civil War, the Confederate government honored Calhoun on a one-cent postage stamp, which was printed in 1862 but was never officially released.

His Amnesty Proclamation of December 8, 1863, offered pardons to those who had not held a Confederate civil office, had not mistreated Union prisoners, and would sign an oath of allegiance.

In South Carolina, the honor was diluted ; until 2000 the state offered employees the option to celebrate this holiday or substitute one of three Confederate holidays instead.

Marschall offered three designs, one of which became the “ Stars and Bars ,” the first official flag of the Confederate States of America ( C. S. A.

During Confederate General Braxton Bragg's invasion of Kentucky in the fall of 1862, the Union high command became nervous about Buell's cautious tendencies and offered command of the Army of the Ohio to Thomas, who refused.

His request was denied by the Confederate War Department, but Jefferson Davis offered Hindman a leave of absence until he had fully recovered from his " physical disability ".

Hampton was offered the nomination for governor in 1865, but refused because he felt that those in the North would be suspicious of a former Confederate general seeking political office only months after the end of the Civil War.

" and after his promotion to a general officer " he followed with conspicuous bravery every forlorn hope which the Confederacy offered ..." Likewise historian Jon L. Wakelyn summed up his military career by saying ".. he volunteered for service in the Confederate Army and distinguished himself in the western command.

The Gordon was offered to the Confederate government either as a purchase for $ 62, 000 or as a charter for $ 10, 000.

The Confederate Arizona Territory was important to the role of the New Mexico Territory in the American Civil War primarily because it offered Confederate access to Union California.

Because of the widespread attacks and the protection offered by Confederate sympathizers, Federal leaders issued General Order No. 11 in 1863, and evacuated areas of Jackson, Cass, and Bates counties.

For a time, the Confederate government offered a bounty to be paid for the capture and return of deserters.

With Confederate troops moving into southern New Mexico, Col. Canby sent Agent John Ward into Navajo lands to persuade any who might be friendly to move to a central encampment near the village of Cubero where they would be offered the protection of the government.

Pemberton resigned as a general officer on May 9, 1864, and Davis offered him a commission as a lieutenant colonel of artillery three days later, which he accepted, a testimonial of his loyalty to the South and the Confederate cause.

He was captured by Confederates en route and was offered a command by Confederate General Robert E. Lee.

Second, the Valley offered a protected corridor that allowed Confederate armies to head north into Pennsylvania unimpeded, and a hard-surfaced road, the Valley Pike ( current U. S. Route 11 ), allowed relatively swift movement ; this was the route taken by Lee to invade the North in the Gettysburg Campaign of 1863.

At the end of August 1861, Lee was offered and accepted the position of aide-de-camp to Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

After securing sufficient medical supplies for the wounded, Blackburn traveled to Richmond, Virginia, to meet with Confederate Secretary of War James Seddon and offered to serve as General Inspector of Hospitals and Camps without taking compensation or a rank.

As late as January 1865 Miles offered a resolution in Congress stating, " That we, the representatives of the people of the Confederate States, are firmly determined to continue the struggle in which we are involved until the United States shall acknowledge our independence.

In a parallel gesture in 1944, President Charles La Follette offered peace terms by radio to the Confederate States and offered a jamming-free channel of 640 kHz for response.

All but the most rabid of Confederate flag wavers admit that the Old Southern tradition is defunct in actuality and sigh that its passing was accompanied by the disappearance of many genteel and aristocratic traditions of the reputedly languid ante-bellum way of life.

Again Reverend Corder saved the bridge when Union soldiers planned to destroy it, after filling its two lanes with hay and straw -- but for what reason is not recorded nor remembered, certainly not because of pressure from an opposing Confederate force.

Virginia declared its secession and was rewarded with the Confederate capital, despite the exposed position of Richmond so close to Union lines.

Lincoln authorized Grant to target the Confederate infrastructure — such as plantations, railroads, and bridges — hoping to destroy the South's morale and weaken its economic ability to continue fighting.

Early in the Civil War, Confederate President Jefferson Davis decided that the Confederacy would attempt to hold as much of its territory as possible and he distributed its military forces around its borders and coasts.

The Swiss Confederate mobilized its troops — the country follows the doctrine of " armed neutrality " with all males required to have military training — a number that General Eisenhower estimated to be about 850, 000.

* 1865 – American Civil War: The Battle of Sayler's Creek – Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia fights its last major battle while in retreat from Richmond, Virginia.

Jefferson Finis Davis ( June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889 ) was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history.

The Jefferson Davis Presidential Library was established at Beauvoir Plantation, the white-columned Biloxi mansion that was Davis's final home, in 1998, after its use for some years as a Confederate Veterans Home.

* 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.

* 1965 – The wreck of the, valued at over $ 50, 000, 000 and said to have been the most powerful Confederate cruiser, is discovered by then teenage diver and pioneer underwater archaeologist E. Lee Spence, exactly 102 years after its destruction.

At Camp Douglas in Chicago, Illinois, 10 % of its Confederate prisoners died during one cold winter month ; and Elmira Prison in New York state, with a death rate of 25 %, very nearly equalled that of Andersonville.

On April 24, Virginia joined the Confederate States of America, which chose Richmond as its capital.

* May 20 – American Civil War: Kentucky proclaims its neutrality which lasts until September 3, when Confederate forces enter the state.

* December 13 – Battle of Fredericksburg: The U. S. Army suffers massive casualties and abandons its attempts to capture the Confederate capital city of Richmond, Virginia.

Feeling pressured by the Northern states, Alabama declared its secession in January 1861 and joined the Confederate States of America in February.

" Thereafter, his troops did little damage to the civilian infrastructure, as North Carolina, unlike its southern neighbor, was regarded by his men as a reluctant Confederate state, having been the last to secede from the Union.

The campaign pitted Union Army Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac against an army less than half its size, Gen. Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

It declared its secession from the Union on January 21, 1861, and was one of the original seven Confederate states.

Following the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861, on April 17, Virginia voted to secede from the United States and joined the Confederate States ( though not officially doing so until May ), and soon thereafter the Confederate government moved its capital from Montgomery, Alabama to Richmond.