Military forces of the Confederate States

The military forces of the Confederate States, also called the Confederate forces or Confederate States Armed Forces, were the services responsible for defending the Confederacy during its existence from 1861 to 1865. They were made up of the Confederate States Army, the Confederate States Navy and the Confederate States Marine Corps, together with other bodies such as a home guard that worked with the army to defend the home front and to track down deserters. The army was set up in two phases with provisional and permanent organisations that existed side by side: the Provisional Army of the Confederate States, authorised by Congress on 23 February 1861 and organising from 27 April, and the regular Army of the Confederate States, organised by Act of Congress on 6 March 1861. The navy defended Southern harbours and coasts and tried to make the war costly for the North by attacking merchant ships and breaking the Union blockade.