Who was the chief general of the confederacy?

Answer 1

Until the last months of the war, there was no commander to oversee the overall strategy and logistics for the entire army. In essence, Davis did that himself, with nominal help from his Secretary of War. Davis finally appointed Lee to the position. Until then, Lee mainly served as the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia.

Answer 2

There were several generals during the Civil War who were leaders of confederate troops, but probably you are thinking of Robert E. Lee, who commanded the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia.

Answer 3

The highest ranking (full) generals in the confederacy after the outbreak of the civil war were appointed by Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States and were the founding five members of the Confederate States Army (CSA). This first group of full generals were, by rank, Samuel Cooper, Albert Sidney Johnston, Robert E. Lee, Joseph E. Johnston and P.G.T. Beauregard.

The highest ranking Confederate general throughout the civil war was General Samuel Cooper. He is perhaps the least known of the initial CSA generals, largely because he never saw military action as a commander. Still, his organizational skills were instrumental in the prosecution of the Confederate campaign, to which Robert E. Lee was dutifully grateful after the war. The very brave and likely most able field commander and second highest ranking full general was General Albert S. Johnston. He was killed early in the war at the Battle of Shiloh which elevated Robert E. Lee to the position of highest field commander of the CSA. Johnston was the Patton of his day and would have added a very different complexion to the war.