Confederate States of America Confederacy, immediately following Fort Sumter the Confederate Congress proclaimed that "war exists between the Confederate States and the Government of the United States, and the States and Territories thereof". A state of war was not to formally exist between the Confederacy and those states and territories in the United States allowing slavery, although Confederate Rangers were compensated for destruction they could effect there throughout the war. Concerning the international status and nationhood of the Confederate States of America, in 1869 the United States Supreme Court in ruled Texas' declaration of secession was legally null and void. Jefferson Davis, former President
Economy of the Confederate States of America war effort. With legislation authorizing "impressment" (commandeering) that same year, railroads and their rolling stock came under "de facto" control of the military. At the beginning of the war (1861), the Northern states included 20,000 miles of railroad while the Confederate states had 9,000 miles (1,700 miles total in the three border states of Missouri, Kentucky and Maryland). The Confederate Army of the Shenandoah used their railroad system effectively at the First Battle of Manassas (Bull Run) on July 21, 1861. Confederate reinforcements under Brig. Gen. Joseph E. Johnston arrived from the Shenandoah Valley by railroad and the course of