Students at the university during this period were subject to extreme regimentation. A typical day began at sunrise and continued until the 9pm curfew. Faculty checked students' rooms at least once a day, and the university prohibited the sale of liquor within five miles of campus. Under such strict regulations, students often found themselves suspended.

During the spring of 1861, political events interrupted campus activities, and many students withdrew before the end of the school term to enlist in the Confederate Army. Most joined a company called the "University Greys" led by William B. Lowry, a nineteen year old student. Others joined the Lamar Rifles (another Lafayette County unit) or returned home to enlist in local units.

With only four students registered for fall classes, the university closed, and would not resume classes until 1865. Many of the 1861 graduates pictured on this page lost their lives fighting for the Confederacy. In 1866 the University of Mississippi awarded the class of 1861 diplomas, only Captain Francis A. Pope attended the ceremony.

• William Thomas Driver, Memphis, Tennessee
• William Thomas Ethridge, LaGrange, Texas
• Francis Fentress, Memphis, Tennessee
• Henry Gore Fernandez, Lafayette County, Mississippi

• Berkeley Green, Sewanee, Tennessee
• Samuel Donnell Gwin, Lexington, Mississippi
• William Handy, Birmingham, Alabama
• Andrew Jackson Harris, Belton, Texas

• George Christian Heidelberg, Quitman, Mississippi
• James Shannon Jones, Pontotoc County, Mississippi
• Oscar Alonzo Kibbe, LaFourche Parish, Louisiana
• William Lea, Memphis, Tennessee

• Calvin Breckenridge McCalebb, Kemper County, Mississippi
• James Lufkin McCaskill, Brandon County, Mississippi
• Duncan McCollum, Simpson County, Mississippi
• Albert Thomas McNeal, Sewanee, Tennessee

• Thomas Andrew Moore, Issaquena County, Mississippi
• William C. Nelson, New Orleans, Louisiana
• Thomas McNeal Peters, Bolivar, Tennessee
• Reuben Turner Pollard, Whitehaven, Tennnessee

• Francis Asbury Pope, Georgetown, Colorado
• Jacob Clark Robertson, Oktibbeha County, Mississippi
• Andrew Baron Stewart, Madison County, Mississippi
• Jerry Trezevant Talbert, Yalobusha County, Mississippi

• Thomas Emmette Tucker, Byhalia, Mississippi
• James Fisk Walton, Holmes County, Mississippi
• James Alexander Wiley, Covington, Tennessee
• James Edward Wilson, Russellville, Alabama