The Trans-Mississippi Department was a territorial department of the Confederate States Army that included Arkansas, Louisiana west of the Mississippi River, Texas (including what is now New Mexico and Arizona), and the Indian Territory. It was the last department to surrender to United States forces at the end of the American Civil War.

History

The Trans-Mississippi Department was established pursuant to War Department General Orders No. 39, dated May 26, 1862,

Following the Union capture of the remaining strongholds at Vicksburg and Port Hudson resulting in the closing of the Mississippi to the Confederacy, General E. Kirby Smith was virtually cut off from the Confederate capital at Richmond. He had to command a nearly independent area of the Confederacy, with all the inherent administrative problems. The area became known in the Confederacy as "Kirby Smithdom". He was thought of as a virtual military dictator and negotiated directly with foreign countries.

Commanding officers

thumb|Confederate Trans-Mississippi Department (from 1863)

  • Brigadier-General Paul O. Hébert (May 26, 1862June 20, 1862)
  • Major-General John B. Magruder (assigned June 20, 1862, but did not accept)
  • Major-General Thomas C. Hindman (June 20, 1862July 16, 1862)
  • Lieutenant-General Theophilus H. Holmes (July 30, 1862February 9, 1863)
  • General E. Kirby Smith (March 7, 1863April 19, 1865)
  • Lieutenant-General Simon Bolivar Buckner (April 19, 1865April 22, 1865)
  • General E. Kirby Smith (April 22, 1865May 26, 1865)

References

Further reading

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