This is a list of U.S. counties named after prominent Confederate historical figures. The counties are named primarily for Confederate politicians and military officers. Most counties are located in former Confederate States, whilst five counties are located in what was the Indian Territory (present-day Oklahoma), a territory that was aligned and controlled by the Confederacy. Four further counties are in Border States (three in Kentucky and one in Missouri). Four counties are located in a Union State (Kansas) whilst two further counties are in New Mexico; which consisted of two territories, one of which was controlled by the Union and one by the Confederacy until the Union gained control of both. Though Tennessee, a former Confederate state, doesn’t have any counties directly named after any Confederate leaders, Tennessee does have some counties named after relatives of some Confederate leaders, some of which have the same last name, such as Cheatham County, Tennessee. There are 120 counties in total.
The most common Confederacy-related county names are "Lee County" (for Robert E. Lee) with eight examples, and "Jeff Davis County" or "Jefferson Davis County" (for Jefferson Davis) with four examples. Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar has three counties named after him whilst David Rice Atchison, Patrick Cleburne, Alexander Stephens, and Henry A. Wise, have two counties each named after them. There are also two "Johnson County" examples however one of them, in rural Southeast Georgia is named for Herschel V. Johnson and the other, in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex is named for Col. Middleton Tate Johnson Sr. Some counties are named after individuals who were closely related to Confederate leaders such as Hardeman County, Tennessee (named after the father of Confederate brigadier general William Polk Hardeman) and Lee County, Virginia (named after the father of Confederate general-in-chief Robert E. Lee).
Table
edit| Place name | State | Named after |
|---|---|---|
| Adair County | Oklahoma | Colonel William Penn Adair of the First Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Rifles, Cherokee Nation delegate |
| Alcorn County | Mississippi | James L. Alcorn, Confederate brigadier general and Governor of Mississippi |
| Allen Parish | Louisiana | Henry Watkins Allen, Confederate brigadier general and Governor of Louisiana |
| Anderson County | Kansas | Joseph C. Anderson, member of a secret militant group "Southern League" which smuggled weapons south to the Confederacy, also famous for refusing to take an oath of allegiance to the Union, Border Ruffian, Speaker pro Tempore of the Kansas Territorial Legislature |
| Arlington County | Virginia | Named in honor of Arlington House, the home of General Robert E. Lee, originally named after Arlington Archeological Site where the family originated |
| Atchison County | Kansas | David Rice Atchison, Confederate brigadier general of the Missouri Home Guard, U.S Senator and President pro tempore of the United States Senate |
| Atchison County | Missouri | |
| Bacon County | Georgia | Confederate soldier Augustus Octavius Bacon, speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives |
| Baker County | Florida | Confederate Senator James McNair Baker |
| Bamberg County | South Carolina | General Francis Marion Bamberg |
| Bartow County | Georgia | Colonel Francis S. Bartow, killed at the First Battle of Manassas, the first brigade commander of the Confederate States Army to die in combat |
| Beauregard Parish | Louisiana | General P.G.T. Beauregard, one of the designers of the Confederate Battle Flag |
| Ben Hill County | Georgia | Benjamin Harvey Hill, member of the Confederate Senate, U.S Representative and U.S. Senator |
| Benton County | Mississippi | Brigadier General Samuel Benton, 34th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, mustered from the same counties from which Benton County was formed in 1870 |
| Bleckley County | Georgia | Confederate soldier Logan Edwin Bleckley, Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court |
| Bradford County | Florida | Captain Richard Bradford, killed in the Battle of Santa Rosa Island, the first Confederate officer from Florida to die in the American Civil War |
| Brantley County | Georgia | Confederate soldier Benjamin Daniel Brantley, Georgia state representative |
| Brewster County | Texas | Colonel Henry Percy Brewster |
| Brown County | Kansas | Albert G. Brown, member of the Confederate Senate, U.S Representative, U.S. Senator and Governor of Mississippi |
| Bullock County | Alabama | Colonel Edward Bullock |
| Camp County | Texas | Colonel John Lafayette Camp, Texas state senator |
| Candler County | Georgia | First Lieutenant Allen Daniel Candler, U.S Representative, Georgia Secretary of State and Georgia Governor |
| Catron County | New Mexico | First Lieutenant Thomas B. Catron, U.S Representative, U.S Senator and Mayor of Santa Fe |
| Chambers County | Texas | Confederate soldier Thomas Jefferson Chambers, Texas state representative |
| Chilton County | Alabama | William Parish Chilton, Alabama Supreme Court Justice and Confederate congressman |
| Cleburne County | Alabama | Major General Patrick Cleburne |
| Cleburne County | Arkansas | |
| Coke County | Texas | Captain Richard Coke, U.S Senator and Governor of Texas |
| Cook County | Georgia | General Philip Cook, U.S. Representative |
| Crisp County | Georgia | Confederate soldier Charles Frederick Crisp, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives |
| Cross County | Arkansas | Confederate soldier David C. Cross, local politician |
| Culberson County | Texas | Lieutenant Colonel David B. Culberson, U.S Representative |
| Donley County | Texas | Confederate Soldier Stockton P. Donley and associate justice of the Supreme Court of Texas |
| Ector County | Texas | Brigadier General Mathew D. Ector |
| Elliott County | Kentucky | Congress of the Confederate States Representative John Milton Elliott, helped organised the Confederate government of Kentucky, U.S Representative |
| Erath County | Texas | Major George Bernard Erath, raised a company of the Fifteenth Texas Infantry regiment, Texas state representative and Texas state senator |
| Evans County | Georgia | Brigadier General Clement A. Evans, notably commanded infantry in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, later edited a 12-volume work on Confederate military history, so named, in 1899 and was president of the United Confederate Veterans |
| Faulkner County | Arkansas | Captain Sandford C. Faulkner, composer and fiddler known for the "Arkansas Traveler" |
| Florence County | South Carolina | Named for its county seat Florence, founded by General William Harllee, president of the Wilmington & Manchester Railroad and South Carolina Lieutenant Governor, who in turn named the town after his daughter Florence Harlee (as Harleesville already existed) |
| Foard County | Texas | Major Robert L. Foard |
| Forrest County | Mississippi | General Nathan Bedford Forrest |
| Garland County | Arkansas | Augustus Hill Garland, member of the Confederate Senate, U.S. Senator, United States Attorney General and Governor of Arkansas |
| George County | Mississippi | Colonel James Z. George, Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court and U.S Senator |
| Glasscock County | Texas | Confederate soldier George Washington Glasscock, Texas state representative |
| Graham County | North Carolina | William Alexander Graham, member of the Confederate Senate, U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Navy and Governor of North Carolina |
| Gray County | Texas | Peter W. Gray, member of the Confederate House of Representatives for the Houston district |
| Gregg County | Texas | Brigadier General John B. Gregg |
| Greenwood County | Kansas | Congress of the Confederate States Representative Alfred B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, U.S Representative |
| Hale County | Alabama | Lieutenant Colonel Stephen F. Hale |
| Hampton County | South Carolina | Lieutenant General Wade Hampton III, cavalry leader and later governor of South Carolina |
| Hemphill County | Texas | Congress of the Confederate States Representative John Hemphill, U.S Senator |
| Hendry County | Florida | Captain Francis A. Hendry, local politician |
| Hoke County | North Carolina | General Robert Hoke |
| Hood County | Texas | Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, commander of Hood's Texas Brigade |
| Humphreys County | Mississippi | Benjamin G. Humphreys, Confederate brigadier general and Governor of Mississippi |
| Jackson County | Oklahoma | Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson |
| Jeff Davis County | Georgia | Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy |
| Jeff Davis County | Texas | |
| Jefferson Davis County | Mississippi | |
| Jefferson Davis Parish | Louisiana | |
| Johnson County | Georgia | Herschel V. Johnson, member of the Confederate Senate, U.S vice-presidential candidate in the 1860 United States presidential election, U.S. Senator and Governor of Georgia |
| Johnson County | Texas | Colonel Middleton Tate Johnson Sr. |
| Kenedy County | Texas | Mifflin Kenedy, known for successfully transporting cotton and other goods for the Confederacy along the Rio Grande river to avoid the Union blockade and allow exports from the Confederacy to Europe |
| Lamar County | Alabama | Colonel Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar, U.S Representative, U.S Senator, United States Secretary of the Interior and Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States |
| Lamar County | Georgia | |
| Lamar County | Mississippi | |
| Lanier County | Georgia | Confederate soldier Sidney Lanier, poet, musician and academic often known as the "poet of the Confederacy" |
| Lea County | New Mexico | Confederate soldier and guerilla leader Joseph C. Lea, considered the "father of Roswell" |
| Lee County | Alabama | General Robert E. Lee |
| Lee County | Arkansas | |
| Lee County | Florida | |
| Lee County | Kentucky | |
| Lee County | Mississippi | |
| Lee County | North Carolina | |
| Lee County | South Carolina | |
| Lee County | Texas | |
| Levy County | Florida | David Levy Yulee, U.S Representative and U.S Senator who resigned to support the Confederacy, Confederate congressman (according to some sources) and notably arrested and imprisoned at Fort Pulaski for treason after aiding the 1865 escape of Confederate President Jefferson Davis |
| Loving County | Texas | Oliver Loving, known for being prevented from returning by the Union to Texas, before he successfully escaped and was commissioned by the Confederate States Army to produce beef and drive cattle along the Mississippi River; the Confederate Government later owed him between $100,000 and $250,000 |
| Lubbock County | Texas | Colonel Thomas Saltus Lubbock |
| Maverick County | Texas | Samuel Augustus Maverick, Confederate diplomat (negotiating the peaceful surrender of Union-aligned federal garrisons from Texas) and one of three commissioners appointed by the Texas Secession Convention |
| Mayes County | Oklahoma | Confederate soldier Samuel Houston Mayes of the Second Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Rifles, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation |
| McCreary County | Kentucky | Lieutenant Colonel James B. McCreary, U.S Representative, U.S Senator and Governor of Kentucky |
| McCulloch County | Texas | Brigadier General Benjamin McCulloch |
| Ochiltree County | Texas | Colonel William Beck Ochiltree, 18th Texas Infantry, a prominent figure in the Republic of Texas |
| Oldham County | Texas | William Simpson Oldham Sr., pioneer Texas lawyer and Confederate Senator |
| Parker County | Texas | Confederate Soldier Isaac Parker, Texas state representative and Texas state senator |
| Pasco County | Florida | Samuel Pasco, Confederate soldier and later U.S. Senator |
| Pender County | North Carolina | William Dorsey Pender, Confederate soldier mortally wounded at the Battle of Gettysburg |
| Randall County | Texas | Brigadier General Horace Randal |
| Reeves County | Texas | Colonel George R. Reeves |
| Reagan County | Texas | John Henninger Reagan, postmaster general of the Confederacy |
| Roberts County | Texas | Colonel Oran Milo Roberts, president of the Texas secession convention, Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court and Governor of Texas |
| Roger Mills County | Oklahoma | Colonel Roger Q. Mills, U.S Representative and U.S. Senator |
| Rogers County | Oklahoma | Confederate Soldier Clement Vann Rogers of the First Regiment of Cherokee Mounted Rifles, Cherokee judge, member of the Cherokee Senate and delegate to the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention |
| Schleicher County | Texas | Captain Gustav Schleicher, U.S Representative |
| Scurry County | Texas | General William Read Scurry |
| Starr County | Texas | James Harper Starr, director of the postal service of the Trans-Mississippi Department |
| Stephens County | Georgia | Alexander Stephens, vice president of the Confederacy |
| Stephens County | Texas | |
| Stone County | Mississippi | Colonel John Marshall Stone, Governor of Mississippi |
| Stonewall County | Texas | Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson |
| Sutton County | Texas | Colonel John S. Sutton |
| Terrell County | Texas | Brigadier General Alexander Watkins Terrell, Terrell's Texas Cavalry Regiment |
| Tift County | Georgia | Captain Nelson Tift of the Confederate States Navy, U.S Representative and founder of Albany, Georgia |
| Terry County | Texas | Colonel Benjamin Franklin Terry, Terry's Texas Rangers |
| Tom Green County | Texas | Brigadier General Thomas Green |
| Toombs County | Georgia | General Robert Toombs, Secretary of State of the Confederacy |
| Turner County | Georgia | Captain Henry G. Turner, associate justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia and U.S Representative |
| Tyler County | Texas | John Tyler, President of the United States, Confederate congressman, also noted for presiding over the Virginia Secession Convention and signing the Virginia Ordinance of Secession |
| Upton County | Texas | Generals John C. and William F. Upton |
| Vance County | North Carolina | Colonel Zebulon Baird Vance, twice governor of North Carolina |
| Waller County | Texas | Edward Leonard Waller, delegate for Austin County at the Secession Convention, in the convention Waller supported Texas joining the Confederacy, and co-signed (as the only living signer of the Texas Deceleration of Independence) the Texas Ordinance of Secession, also approving the "Constitution of the Confederate States of America", Mayor of Austin |
| Walthall County | Mississippi | General Edward C. Walthall |
| Wheeler County | Georgia | Named for Joseph Wheeler, Confederate cavalry general, later joined the U.S. Army, serving in the Spanish–American War and Philippine–American War |
| Winkler County | Texas | Colonel Clinton McKamy Winkler |
| Winston County | Alabama | Colonel John A. Winston and Governor of Alabama |
| Wise County | Texas | General Henry A. Wise and Governor of Virginia |
| Wise County | Virginia | |
| Woodruff County | Arkansas | Confederate Soldier William E. Woodruff, the first Treasurer of Arkansas and founder of the state's first newspaper the Arkansas Gazette |
| Young County | Texas | Colonel William Cooke Young, 11th Texas Cavalry Regiment |
See also
edit- List of Confederate monuments and memorials which covers counties, cities and other inhabited places named for Confederate leaders