The 1st Confederate States Congress, consisting of the Confederate States Senate and the Confederate States House of Representatives, convened between February 18, 1862, and February 17, 1864. This assembly took place during the first two years of Jefferson Davis's presidency, convening at the Virginia State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia.

Sessions

The following sessions were held during the period February 18, 1862, and February 17, 1864, at the Virginia State Capitol 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 17, 1864

Leadership

Senate

  • President: Alexander H. Stephens
  • President pro tempore: R. M. T. Hunter

House

  • Speaker: Thomas S. Bocock

Officers

Senate

  • Secretary: James H. Nash, South Carolina
  • Assistant Secretary: Edward H. Stephens, Virginia
  • Journal Clerk: C. T. Bruen, Virginia
  • Recording Clerk: Henry H. Hubbard, Mossy Creek, Tennessee
  • Sergeant-at-Arms: Lafayette H. Fitzhugh, Kentucky
  • Doorkeeper: James Page, North Carolina
  • Assistant Doorkeeper: John Wadsworth, Georgia

House

  • Clerk: Robert Emmett Dixon Sr., Georgia (died April 24, 1863)
  • Albert Reese Lamar, Georgia — sessions 3 and 4
  • Assistant Clerk: James McDonald, Virginia
  • Assistant Clerk: David Louis Dalton, Alabama — sessions 3 and 4
  • Doorkeeper: Robert Harrison Wynne, Alabama

Members

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 commence fresh six-year terms with each subsequent Congress following the inaugural one.

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 six-year term,1864–1870. 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 drawing of lots, which was done during the meeting of the Senate on February 21, 1862.

The class is indicated before the name.

Alabama

  • 1. Clement Claiborne Clay
  • 3. William Lowndes Yancey (died on 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 on 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 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 on 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 on March 1, 1863 after third session)
  • Porter Ingram (took his seat on January 12, 1864 - Elected to fill vacancy on December 7, 1863
  • 1. William Mordecai Cooke Sr. X (died on 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 N. H. Smith
  • 2. Robert Rufus Bridgers
  • 3. Owen Rand Kenan
  • 4. Thomas David Smith McDowell X
  • 5. Archibald Hunter Arrington
  • 6. James Robert McLean
  • 7. Thomas Samuel Ashe
  • 8. William Lander
  • 9. Burgess Sidney Gaither
  • 10. Allen Turner Davidson X

South Carolina

  • 1. John McQueen
  • 2. William Porcher Miles X
  • 3. Lewis Malone Ayer Jr.
  • 4. Milledge Luke Bonham (resigned on October 13, 1862 after the second session)
  • William Dunlap Simpson (took his seat on February 5, 1863 - Elected to fill vacancy on January 20, 1863)
  • 5. James Farrow
  • 6. William Waters Boyce X

Tennessee

  • 1. Joseph Brown Heiskell (resigned on February 6, 1864)
  • 2. William Graham Swan
  • 3. William Henry Tibbs
  • 4. Erasmus Lee Gardenhire
  • 5. Henry Stuart Foote
  • 6. Meredith Poindexter Gentry
  • 7. George Washington Jones
  • 8. Thomas Menees
  • 9. John DeWitt Clinton Atkins X
  • 10. John Vines Wright
  • 11. David Maney Currin X

Texas

  • 1. John Allen Wilcox (died on February 7, 1864)
  • 2. Caleb Claiborne Herbert
  • 3. Peter W. Gray
  • 4. Franklin Barlow Sexton
  • 5. Malcolm D. Graham
  • 6. William Bacon Wright

Virginia

  • 1. Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett (died on February 14, 1864)
  • 2. John Randolph Chambliss Sr.
  • 3. James Lyons (Representative-elect John Tyler died on January 18, 1862, before the Congress started. Lyons was elected on February 10, 1862.)
  • 4. Roger Atkinson Pryor X (resigned on April 5, 1862)
  • Charles Fenton Collier (took his seat on August 18, 1862 - Elected to fill vacancy in May 1862)
  • 5. Thomas Stanley Bocock X
  • 6. John Goode Jr.
  • 7. James Philemon Holcombe
  • 8. Daniel Coleman DeJarnette Sr.
  • 9. William "Extra Billy" Smith (resigned on April 4, 1863)
  • David Funsten (took his seat on December 7, 1863 - Elected to fill vacancy)
  • 10. Alexander Boteler X
  • 11. John Brown Baldwin
  • 12. Waller Redd Staples X
  • 13. Walter Preston X
  • 14. Albert Gallatin Jenkins (resigned on April 21, 1862 after first session)
  • Samuel Augustine Miller (took his seat on February 24, 1863 - Elected to fill vacancy)
  • 15. Robert Johnston X
  • 16. Charles Wells Russell X

Delegates

Non voting members of the House of Representatives.

Arizona Territory

  • Marcus H. MacWillie

Cherokee Nation

  • Elias Cornelius Boudinot X

Choctaw Nation

  • Robert McDonald Jones

Senate committees

Accounts

  • Charles Burton Mitchel, Arkansas, Chairman
  • William Theophilus Dortch, North Carolina
  • William Emmett Simms, Kentucky
  • Allen Taylor Caperton, Virginia — temporary, session 3
  • Robert Ward Johnson, Arkansas —temporary, session 3

Claims

  • George Davis, North Carolina, Chairman (resigned on January 11, 1864)
  • Henry Cornelius Burnett, Kentucky
  • Robert Ludwell Yates Peyton, Missouri (died on September 3, 1863)
  • Waldo Porter Johnson, Missouri — session 4
  • James McNair Baker, Florida — session 4
  • Robert Jemison Jr., Alabama — temporary, session 4

Commerce

  • Clement Claiborne Clay, Alabama, Chairman
  • Augustus Emmett Maxwell, Florida
  • William Theophilus Dortch, North Carolina
  • Robert Ludwell Yates Peyton, Missouri (died on September 3, 1863)
  • Henry Cornelius Burnett, Kentucky — sessions 1 and 2
  • James McNair Baker, Florida — session 3
  • William Simpson Oldham Sr., Texas — sessions 3 and 4
  • James Lawrence Orr, South Carolina — session 4

Engrossment and Enrollment

  • Landon Carter Haynes Sr., Tennessee, Chairman — session 1 (appointed, but substituted by James Phelan)
  • James Phelan, Mississippi, Chairman — sessions 1 and 2
  • William Theophilus Dortch, North Carolina, Chairman — sessions 3 and 4
  • Augustus Emmett Maxwell, Florida
  • Charles Burton Mitchel, Arkansas — sessions 1 and 2
  • Robert Ludwell Yates Peyton, Missouri — session 2
  • James McNair Baker, Florida — session 2
  • Allen Taylor Caperton, Virginia — sessions 3 and 4

Finance

  • Robert Woodward Barnwell, South Carolina, Chairman
  • Thomas Jenkins Semmes, Louisiana
  • Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter, Virginia
  • George Davis, North Carolina (resigned on January 11, 1864)
  • Gustavus Adolphus Henry Sr., Tennessee — sessions 1 and 2
  • John Wood Lewis Sr., Georgia — session 2
  • Herschel Vespasian Johnson, Georgia — sessions 3 and 4
  • Edwin Godwin Reade, North Carolina — session 4
  • Robert Jemison Jr., Alabama — temporary, session 4

Foreign Affairs

  • James Lawrence Orr, South Carolina, Chairman
  • John Bullock Clark Sr., Missouri
  • Louis Trezevant Wigfall, Texas
  • William Lowndes Yancey, Alabama (died on July 26, 1863)
  • William Ballard Preston, Virginia (died on November 16, 1862)
  • Robert M. T. Hunter, Virginia — session 3
  • Augustus Emmet Maxwell, Florida — sessions 3 and 4
  • Herschel Vespasian Johnson, Georgia — session 4

Indian Affairs

  • Robert Ward Johnson, Arkansas, Chairman
  • William Emmett Simms, Kentucky
  • William Simpson Oldham Sr., Texas
  • Clement Claiborne Clay, Alabama — sessions 1 and 2
  • Robert Ludwell Yates Peyton, Missouri — sessions 1 and 2
  • John Bullock Clark Sr., Missouri — sessions 3 and 4
  • James Phelan, Mississippi — sessions 3 and 4

Judiciary

  • Benjamin Harvey Hill, Georgia, Chairman
  • Thomas Jenkins Semmes, Louisiana
  • Landon Carter Haynes Sr., Tennessee
  • James Phelan, Mississippi
  • Henry Cornelius Burnett, Kentucky — sessions 1 and 2
  • Allen Taylor Caperton, Virginia — sessions 3 and 4

Military Affairs

  • Edward Sparrow, Louisiana, Chairman
  • Gustavus Adolphus Henry Sr., Tennessee
  • Louis Trezevant Wigfall, Texas
  • Robert Ward Johnson, Arkansas — sessions 1 and 2
  • William Ballard Preston, Virginia — sessions 1 and 2
  • Clement Claiborne Clay, Alabama — sessions 3 and 4
  • Henry Cornelius Burnett, Kentucky — sessions 3 and 4

Naval Affairs

  • Albert Gallatin Brown, Mississippi, Chairman
  • William Theophilus Dortch, North Carolina
  • William Emmett Simms, Kentucky
  • James McNair Baker, Florida
  • Henry Cornelius Burnett, Kentucky — temporary, session 1
  • Benjamin Harvey Hill, Georgia — temporary, session 1
  • George Davis, North Carolina — temporary, sessions 1 and 2
  • William Simpson Oldham Sr., Texas —sessions 1 and 2
  • Robert Ward Johnson, Arkansas — session 2
  • Augustus Emmett Maxwell, Florida — session 3
  • William Lowndes Yancey, Alabama (died on July 26, 1863) — session 3
  • Herschel Vespasian Johnson, Georgia — sessions 3 and 4
  • Robert Jemison Jr., Alabama — session 4

Patents

  • Augustus Emmett Maxwell, Florida, Chairman
  • Benjamin Harvey Hill, Georgia
  • Landon Carter Haynes Sr., Tennessee

Pay and Mileage (Session 1)

  • Henry Cornelius Burnett, Kentucky, Chairman
  • Gustavus Adolphus Henry Sr., Tennessee
  • James Lawrence Orr, South Carolina

Post Offices and Post Roads

  • William Simpson Oldham Sr., Texas, Chairman
  • Landon Carter Haynes Sr., Tennessee
  • Charles Burton Mitchel, Arkansas
  • James McNair Baker, Florida
  • John Bullock Clark Sr., Missouri — sessions 1, 2, and 4
  • James Phelan, Mississippi — session 1 (appointed but substituted by Landon Carter Haynes)
  • William Emmett Simms, Kentucky —session 1 (appointed but declined)
  • John Wood Lewis Sr., Georgia — session 2
  • Robert Ludwell Yates Peyton, Missouri (died on September 3, 1863) — session 3
  • Herschel Vespasian Johnson, Georgia — temporary, session 3

Printing

  • James Phelan, Mississippi, Chairman
  • Benjamin Harvey Hill, Georgia
  • John Bullock Clark Sr., Missouri — sessions 1, 2, and 4
  • Landon Carter Haynes Sr., Tennessee — sessions 3 and 4

Public Lands

  • John Bullock Clark Sr., Missouri, Chairman
  • James McNair Baker, Florida
  • William Lowndes Yancey, Alabama (died on July 26, 1863) — sessions 1, 2, and 3

Rules (Session 1)

  • James Lawrence Orr, South Carolina, Chairman
  • Clement Claiborne Clay, Alabama
  • Robert Ward Johnson, Arkansas

Territories

  • Louis Trezevant Wigfall, Texas, Chairman
  • Albert Gallatin Brown, Mississippi
  • William Lowndes Yancey, Alabama — sessions 1 and 2
  • John Bullock Clark Sr., Missouri — sessions 3 and 4

House committees

Accounts