Civil War Confederate Documents
1861 Civil War Confederate General Order Number 14
October 4, 1861-Dated Civil War Period, Confederate General Order Number 14, "REGULATIONS" procedures for the operations of the CSA Army, Richmond, (VA), Very Fine.
Original early Civil War Printed Confederate Document, 5.25" x 8", 1 page printed front and back, Richmond, (VA). General Orders No. 14, by order of the Secretary of War. Short fine split at top center edge and even on tone. This scarce imprint outlines procedures for the operations of the Confederate Army. In part: "The following regulations are published for the information of the army, and it is earnestly enjoined upon commanding officers to enforce prompt compliance with their requirements, great embarrassment having already resulted from neglect in making out the required returns. Blank forms for all returns required by this office, will be furnished to the headquarters of each army corps for distribution to commanders of divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions and companies." There are sections on monthly returns, annual returns, casualties, deceased soldiers, field returns, etc. The Confederacy was clearly trying to get its protocols established. This Order is Signed in Print by S. Cooper, Adjutant and Inspector General. Actually used having each order with a handwritten number on the side, totaling 26. Having known Jefferson Davis during his term as United States Secretary of War, Cooper was commissioned immediately as a Brigadier General and appointed Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate Army. Cooper was appointed full general two months after joining the Confederate government, outranking men such as Beauregard, Joseph Johnston and even Robert E. Lee.
Samuel Cooper (1798-1876, USMA 1815) was born in the north, but married into a southern family, and with the onset of the Civil War, resigned his position as Adjutant General in the United States Army and went to Montgomery, AL.



Having known Jefferson Davis during his term as United States Secretary of War, Cooper was commissioned immediately as a Brigadier General and appointed Adjutant General and Inspector General of the Confederate Army. Cooper was appointed full general two months after joining the Confederate government, outranking men such as Beauregard, Joseph Johnston and even Robert E. Lee.



Although these men later received commissions as full generals, Cooper's was the earliest appointment (and, thus, he outranked them all). Cooper's last official act was to collect the records of the Confederate Army and turn them over to the Federal government. In this act, he made sure that the Confederate position was included in the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion.