Mississippi in the American Civil War

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	1859–1863  John J. Pettus 1863–1865  Charles Clark
Senators	1862–1865  Albert G. Brown 1862–1864  James Phelan 1864–1865  John 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.