1st Confederate States Congress

Updated on Oct 03, 2024

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Type Bicameral Succeeded by 2nd		Preceded by Provisional Congress

Houses SenateHouse of Representatives Founded February 18, 1862 (1862-02-18) Disbanded February 18, 1864 (1864-02-18)

The First Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, met from February 18, 1862, to February 18, 1864, during the first two years of Jefferson Davis's presidency, at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia, Confederate States.

Sessions

Held February 18, 1862, through February 18, 1864, at the Virginia State Capital in Richmond, Virginia

1st Session - February 18, 1862 to April 21, 1862

2nd Session - August 18, 1862 to October 13, 1862

3rd Session - January 12, 1863 to May 1, 1863

4th Session - December 7, 1863 to February 18, 1864

Senate

President: Alexander H. Stephens

President pro tempore: R. M. T. Hunter

House

Speaker: Thomas S. Bocock

Senate

Confederate States Senators were elected by the state legislatures, or appointed by state Governors to fill casual vacancies until the legislature elected a new Senator. It was intended that one-third of the Senate would begin new six-year terms with each Congress after the first.

Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their terms. In this Congress, all Senators were newly elected. Senators of Class 1 served a two-year term, expiring at the end of this Congress, requiring a new election for the 1864–1870 term. Class 2 Senators served what was intended to be a four-year term, due to end on the expiry of the next Congress in 1866. Class 3 Senators were meant to serve a six-year term, due to expire at the end of the Third Confederate Congress in 1868. As the Confederate Congress lasted less than four full years, the distinction between classes 2 and 3 was ultimately academic.

The members of the classes were selected by the drawing of lots, which was done during the meeting of the Senate on February 21, 1862.

Alabama

1. Clement Claiborne Clay

3. William Lowndes Yancey (died July 23, 1863)

Robert Jemison, Jr. (took his seat on December 28, 1863 - Elected to fill vacancy)

Arkansas

1. Robert Ward Johnson

3. Charles Burton Mitchel

Florida

1. James McNair Baker

2. Augustus Emmet Maxwell

Georgia

3. Benjamin Harvey Hill

1. Robert Augustus Toombs (elected but refused to serve)

John Wood Lewis, Sr. (took his seat on April 7, 1862 - Appointed to serve until the place could be filled)

Herschel Vespasian Johnson (took his seat on January 19, 1863 - Elected to fill vacancy)

Kentucky

3. Henry Cornelius Burnett

1. William Emmet Simms

Louisiana

2. Thomas Jenkins Semmes

3. Edward Sparrow

Mississippi

2. Albert Gallatin Brown

1. James Phelan, Sr.

Missouri

1. John Bullock Clark, Sr.

2. Robert Ludwell Yates Peyton (died September 3, 1863)

Waldo Porter Johnson (took his seat on December 24, 1863 - Appointed to fill vacancy)

North Carolina

1. George Davis (resigned in January 1864 to become CS Attorney General)

Edwin Godwin Reade (took his seat on January 22, 1864 - Appointed to fill vacancy)

2. William Theophilus Dortch

South Carolina

2. Robert Woodward Barnwell

3. James Lawrence Orr

Tennessee

3. Landon Carter Haynes

2. Gustavus Adolphus Henry, Sr.

Texas

3. William Simpson Oldham, Sr.

2. Louis Trezevant Wigfall

Virginia

3. R. M. T. Hunter

2. William Ballard Preston (died November 16, 1862)

Allen Taylor Caperton (took his seat on January 22, 1864 - Elected to fill vacancy)

House of Representatives

X: Originally member of the Provisional Confederate Congress

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Alabama

1. Thomas Jefferson Foster

2. William Russell Smith

3. John Perkins Ralls

4. Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry X

5. Francis Strother Lyon

6. William Parish Chilton, Sr. X

7. David Clopton

8. James Lawrence Pugh

9. Edmund Strother Dargan

Arkansas

1. Felix Ives Batson

2. Grandison Delaney Royston

3. Augustus Hill Garland X

4. Thomas Burton Hanly

Florida

1. James Baird Dawkins (resigned December 8, 1862)

John Marshall Martin (took his seat on March 25, 1863 - Elected to fill vacancy on February 2, 1863 )

2. Robert Benjamin Hilton

Georgia

1. Julian Hartridge

2. Charles James Munnerlyn

3. Hines Holt (resigned March 1, 1863 after third session)

Porter Ingram (took his seat on January 12, 1864 - Elected to fill vacancy on December 7, 1863 )

4. Augustus Holmes Kenan X

5. David William Lewis

6. William White Clark

7. Robert Pleasant Trippe

8. Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell

9. Hardy Strickland

10. Augustus Romaldus Wright X

Kentucky

1. Willis Benson Machen

2. John Watkins Crockett, Jr.

3. Henry English Read

4. George Washington Ewing X

5. James Chrisman

6. Theodore Legrand BurnettX

7. Horatio Washington Bruce

8. George Baird Hodge X

9. Eli Metcalfe Bruce

10. James William Moore

11. Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, Jr.

12. John Milton Elliott X

Louisiana

1. Charles Jacques Villeré

2. Charles Magill Conrad X

3. Duncan Farrar Kenner X

4. Lucius Jacques Dupré

5. Henry Marshall X

6. John Perkins, Jr. X

Mississippi

1. Jeremiah Watkins Clapp

2. Reuben Davis (resigned March 1, 1863 after third session)

William Dunbar Holder (took his seat on January 21, 1864 - Elected to fill vacancy)

3. Israel Victor Welch

4. Henry Cousins Chambers

5. Otho Robards Singleton

6. Ethelbert Barksdale

7. John Jones McRae

Missouri

In Confederate law, the people of Missouri were entitled to elect thirteen representatives. The state never implemented the reapportionment and continued to use its existing seven districts. Pending an election, the appointed members of the delegation to the Provisional Congress were assigned to serve in the First Congress. No election was held, so the appointed members served throughout the Congress.

1. William Mordecai Cooke, Sr. X (died September 3, 1863)

2. Thomas Alexander Harris X

3. Caspar Wistar Bell X

4. Aaron H. Conrow X

5. George Graham Vest X

6. Thomas W. Freeman X

7. Representative-elect John Hyer never took his seat; the district was unrepresented for the entire First Congress;

North Carolina

1. William Nathan Harrell Smith

2. Robert Rufus Bridgers

3. Owen Rand Kenan

4. Thomas David Smith McDowell X