CHAPTER 1: THE GEORGIA MILITIA, 1783–1861, AN INTRODUCTION
Military duty of citizens in a republican democracy—Order of St. Tammany or Columbian Order—the Militia District—court-martial of Adjutant General Augustus Christian George Elholm—confusion of nominatives—militia intervention in civilian matters and vice versa—James Gunn vs. Joseph Welscher—types of Militia—the Adjutants General—Governor (formerly BG) Charles J. McDonald’s message to the “Reform Legislature” regarding the failure of the militia, 1840—Senator Peter J. Williams responds with a bill to abolish the posts of adjutant and assistant adjutant generals—the Senate, containing nine present or former militia generals, joins with the House to abolish the posts—the Cavalry Brigade—the General Militia begins to fail—early military education—the Volunteers—Governor Gilmer refuses General Charles H. Nelson’s offer of service against Indian raiders in Ware and Camden Counties, and instead orders a draft from the seaboard brigade, 1838—in the face of growing public opposition, MAJ Elisha Wylly issues a call for volunteers and the general militia refuses it—Wylly orders a draft, and an alligator attacks—Tariff debates, Nullification, the Force Act, and the Test Oath—“Captain Merriman” and his “Fantasticals” or the “Hollow Guards”—Volunteers dominate the militia system—the Legion experiment—militia preparations for war as the nation fragments.

CHAPTER 2: COLONIAL AND REVOLUTIONARY ORIGINS
The Georgia Militia and its early organization—General Militia during the Revolution—field grade officers of the Georgia Militia, 1757–1783—the Georgia Brigades of the Revolution—Volunteers during the Revolution—Refugees and other Revolutionary militia commands—the Georgia Regulars, 1776–1784—the Georgia Continentals: infantry, cavalry, artillery, and navy.

CHAPTER 3: THE OCONEE WARS, 1787–1797
Emergence of Alexander McGillivray and the Oconee Lands dispute—formation of the Indian Department—Battle of Jack’s Creek—re-creation of the Georgia Regulars—Indian raiders burn Greenesborough as general war breaks out on the frontier—Solomon Wood’s blockhouse and the Williamson Swamp raids—death of CPT James Wood and his detachment—raids into Glynn, Camden, and Liberty Counties—arrival of CPT Henry Burbeck and his confederation troops, and Ft. St. Tammany—Ft. Fidius at the Rock Landing—“Handsome Hal” Gaither takes command of federal troops in Georgia—the Hundred Horse—fight at Harrison’s Boat Yard—Florida Expedition of 1795–96—Coleraine.

Georgia Units in Federal Service, Oconee War

Commissioned Officers, 1st Regiment Georgia State Troop

Roster of the Chatham Artillery, 1793

Federal Officers Serving in Georgia, 1789–1796

CHAPTER 4: THE EMBARGO WARS, 1807–1812
The Sans Culottes sing Ça Ira in Georgia—Citizen Genêt’s Revolutionary Legion of Florida—French privateers off the Georgia coast—raid for Le Transmerana’s powder—British sloop of war Sphynx stops the U.S. Revenue Cutter Eagle up the creek with a United States senator aboard, 1795—Quasi-War with France, 1798–1801—Naval Militia, galleys and gunboats—Gunboat Garden on Whitemarsh Island—Battle of Trafalgar leads to the Embargo Act of 1807—Chesapeake Affair—refortification of the port of Savannah—Second Militia Requisition—British war brig Sandwich attempts to break the Embargo, 1808—Ambush at Anciaux’s Wharf, 1811.

Returns of the Georgia Militia, 1804

CHAPTER 5: THE WAR OF 1812, 1812–1815
Governor David B. Mitchell calls for weapons manufactories in Georgia and an alleviating law for militiamen—Patriots’ Expedition and its sudden abandonment by Congress—loss of Moosa Old Fort—Battle of Twelve Mile Swamp—Newnan retaliates with a raid against the Alachua Towns, but successive defeats force the Georgia expedition’s withdrawal from East Florida—death of General Buckner Harris—Tecumseh and his “prophets” stir the Red Sticks—death of Arthur Lott near Warrior’s Stand—death of Thomas Meredith at Catoma Creek—outbreak of the Red Stick War—Burnt Corn Fight—Ft. Mims massacre—John Floyd’s expedition to Autossee and Calebee—David Adams’ expedition to the Tallapoosa River—Battle of Horseshoe Bend—North and South Carolina regiments move to the relief of the Georgia-Alabama frontier—war off the Atlantic coast and successive requisitions for service to protect the ports and rivers of the state—Admiral Alexander Cochrane’s proclamation intends to incite insurrection—Sir George Cockburn lands British Marines and captures St. Mary’s—Captain Abraham A. Massias evacuates Point Petre, CPT Elias Stallings attempts to ambush the British, and the Americans retreat to Barrington’s Ferry—mobilization of the Georgia cavalry on the plains of Darien—unable to force Archibald Clark to divulge the hiding place of the customs revenue, Cockburn attempts to extort the information by sending an expedition up St. Mary’s River to burn Clark’s mills—Colonel James Dell of the Florida Patriots and CPT William Mickler of the Georgia Militia badly maul Cockburn’s expedition—capture and loss of the Epervier—Major Sam Dale’s long, cold ride.

Georgia Militia Units in Federal Service, War of 1812

Georgia Militia Units in State Service

Other Militia Units in Federal Service

The Sea Fencibles

Georgians Commissioned in the United States Army

Benjamin Hawkins’ Recipe for Parched Corn Flour

“Coward’s List, War of 1812” by Thomas Gamble

CHAPTER 6: THE FIRST SEMINOLE WAR, 1817–1819
Lieutenant Colonel Edward Nicholls makes a personal treaty with the Seminoles, stockpiles weapons and ammunition in an abandoned British fort on the Apalachicola River, and leaves the fort to the Seminoles—Negroes take possession of Nicholl’s fort and attempt to cut off river traffic on the Apalachicola—General Andrew Jackson demands that the Spanish authorities take control of the situation, and General E.P. Gaines of the U.S. Army constructs Ft. Scott in Georgia upriver from Ft. Nicholls—Ft. Nicholls hauls up the red flag of death and COL Duncan L. Clinch of the U.S. Army accidentally blows up the place, focusing Seminole attention on Ft. Scott—General Gaines attempts to negotiate with the Seminoles and ends up burning Fowltown, thereby triggering war—Seminoles retaliate by ambushing LT Scott, his detachment, and their wives and children on the Apalachicola—Gregor McGregor captures Fernandina and raises the flag of the Green Cross of Florida—Luis Aury, a pirate, joins McGregor and raises the flag of the “Republic of Mexico” over Fernandina—General Andrew Jackson moves south as American troops occupy Fernandina—ambush at Cedar Creek—the Rhea Letter—Chehaw Indians from Au-muc-cul-le join Jackson on the way to fight the Seminoles—death of Joseph Burch and the fight at Breakfast Creek triggers a Creek War on the Big Bend—Governor Rabun sends Captain Obed Wright and his mixed command against the Indians who had fought on the Big Bend—Jackson ignores Rabun’s call for assistance on the Georgia frontier and moves on to Florida—Captain Obed Wright disobeys orders and attacks and destroys the Chehaw village of Au-muc-cul-le—Jackson overwhelms the Seminoles, takes St. Mark’s, tricks Arbuthnot into captivity, captures Ambrister, takes Pensacola and Ft. Barrancas, and executes Arbuthnot and Ambrister—General Thomas Glascock discovers the Chehaw village destroyed and angrily reports the news to Jackson, who demands Captain Wright’s immediate arrest and punishment—Governor Rabun’s response to and rebuke of Jackson, and the resulting exchange—the Adams-Onis Treaty ends with Florida as a U.S. territory.

Georgia Units in Federal Service, First Seminole War

Company Commanders in McIntosh’s Regiment of Creeks

CHAPTER 7: THE SECOND SEMINOLE WAR, 1835–1843
Treaty of Moultrie Creek, Treaty of Indian Springs, execution of General William McIntosh, and mobilization of the Georgia Militia—depredations along the Georgia-Florida line and the Florida Expedition of 1826–1827—Treaty of Payne’s Landing and “The Night the Stars Fell”—Ussa Yoholo (Black Drink) becomes Osceola by executing Charley Emathla for carrying out the Treaties of Payne’s Landing and Ft. Gibson, next assassinating General Wiley Thompson, the Indian agent—Alligator, Micanopy, and Jumper massacre BVT MAJ Francis L. Dade and his command—Seminoles severely maul Clinch at the Withlacoochee—Georgia volunteers respond to the news from Florida, but some refuse to be mustered—Winfield Scott attempts to overwhelm the Seminoles in an enveloping movement—Osceola invests MAJ Mark A. Cooper and his Georgia Battalion at Ft. Cooper—Coacoochee escapes from Ft. Marion—General Zachary Taylor plans to defeat the Seminoles with a grid system of forts—Harney’s command wiped out on the Caloosahatchee—war is declared ended, but continues.

Georgia Units in Federal Service, Second Seminole War

Field-Grade Officers of the Florida Militia, 1846

Letter from CPT John Campbell, 1836

CPT George W. Patton, “The Seminole’s Reply”

CHAPTER 8: THE CREEK WAR OF 1836, 1836–1837
Georgia responds to increasing Indian depredations in South Georgia in 1835—John H. Watson and the Battle of Hitchiti—Major John H. Howard’s Battalion—Creeks kill William B. Flournoy, capture Hardaway’s Ferry, and ambush the Montgomery mail stage—Alabama Militia responds as U.S. and Georgia troops pour into Columbus—Creeks burn Roanoke and ambush the Hyperion—escape of a brave woman—Georgia generals quarrel with the governor as Creeks break into Southwest Georgia—fight at Boykin’s Ferry—Battle of Shepherd’s Plantation—Battle of Chickasawachee Swamp—fight in the Alapaha Swamp—Battle of Brushy Creek—two-day Battle of Echowanotchaway Swamp—Lieutenant Nat Statham climbs the pine tree to locate the Indians—General William Wellborn, Ches-ke-Micco, the Franklin County militia, and the Battle of Pea River Swamp, Alabama, 1837—the Contract Migration.

Georgia Units in Federal Service, Creek War of 1836

Georgia Units in State Service, Creek War of 1836

Reminiscences of James H. Laing

James C. Key’s Race for Life

CHAPTER 9: THE CHEROKEE DISTURBANCES AND REMOVAL, 1836–1838
Cherokees move south into the Southern Appalachians, pushing the Creeks back—Oconastota and the Battle of Taliwa—gold discovered in Cherokee country and the organization of the Georgia Guard—George Tassels, Samuel A. Worcester, and Judge Augustin S. Clayton—Treaty of New Echota—John Howard Payne and Brigadier General Edward Harden Jr.—Colonel Samuel Stewart’s Regiment—Brigadier General Charles R. Floyd’s command—Trail of Tears.

Other Georgia Units in Federal Service, 1836–1838

Georgia Units in State Service, 1838

John Howard Payne, “Home, Sweet Home”

CHAPTER 10: THE MEXICAN WAR, 1846–1848
Unsuccessful in his attempts to negotiate with the Mexican government, President Polk sends the U.S. Army into the disputed territory north of the Rio Grande—Mexican army ambushes the Army of Observation near Matamoros to open the Mexican War—abolitionists attempt once again to inject the subject of slavery into the war—Henry Rootes Jackson and the 1st Regiment Georgia Volunteers—Lieutenant Colonel Isaac G. Seymour’s Battalion—Captain J.H. Foster kills a Pennsylvania lieutenant—bandits murder CPT Albert J. Gaulden on his way to defend CPT Foster—Lieutenant Colonel James S. Calhoun’s Mounted Battalion and the Newton Independent Horse.

Henry Rootes Jackson, “The Dead of the Georgia Regiment”250

CHAPTER 11: GEORGIA MILITIA GENERALS, A–G:
Selecting generals in the Georgia Militia—Georgia generals in other services: David Emanuel Twiggs, Duncan Lamon Clinch (I), Thomas Flournoy, and Duff Green—fake or undocumented generals—Thomas Flournoy duels with John Carter Walton—the Georgia Militia generals: Anderson Abercrombie of Sparta—David Adams of Greene and Randolph (Jasper) Counties, and the Tallapoosa Expedition—Moses H. Alexander of Randolph County—George Thomas Anderson of Covington—John Saxon Anderson of Cobb County—Thomas Farmer Anderson of Franklin County—James W. Armstrong of Macon—Samuel Armstrong Bailey of LaGrange and Columbus—John Bates of Hall County—Elias Beall of Greene and Monroe Counties—Elias H. Beall of Talbotton—Frederick Beall of Carnesville—Josiah B. Beall of Coweta County—Robert Augustus Beall of Macon—Thomas Beall of Thomaston and the Battle of Chickasawachee Swamp—John Fluker Beavers of Summerville—Joseph Bennett of Macon—James Neill Bethune of Columbus—Daniel Hammond Bird of Canton—William N. Bishop of Murray County—Samuel Blackburn of the Broad River Valley—David Blackshear of Springfield, Laurens County—Thomas E. Blackshear of Thomas County—Robert Bledsoe of Eatonton—Dr. James B. Bostwick, Georgia’s highest ranking dentist—William F. Brantley of Sandersville—Eppes Brown of Sparta—Carson P. Bryson of Union County—John W. Burney of Monticello—David Mitchell Burns of Jackson County—David B. Bush of Talbotton—William Byne of Liberty Grove, Burke County—John Clark of Wilkes and Baldwin Counties; his shift of the division designations in order to retain his command—Josiah A. Clark of Social Circle—Elijah Clarke, “Hero of Hornet’s Nest”—Benjamin Cleveland of Franklin County—John Coffee of Telfair County—John G. Coleman of Macon and Moultrie—Walter Terry Colquitt of Cowpens, Walton County; organizes and leads the “Coffin Brigade”—Peter Cone of Bulloch County—Allen Sherrod Cutts of Americus—Allen Daniel Jr. of Elbert and Madison Counties—Egbert P. Daniel of Zebulon—Bedford Harper Darden of Jackson—his brother James Monroe Darden of Monticello—Thomas Dawson of Greene County—Dr. Ange DeLaperriere of Jackson County—David Dickson of Jackson County—John Dill of Fort Gaines—John D. Howell shoots General Dill—the legend of Mrs. Stuart becomes the reality of Mrs. Elizabeth A. Dill; her tragic story—Stephen Drane of Appling—Robert Milner Echols of Walton County—Hugh Walton Ector of Greenville, Meriwether County—Joseph William Burton Edwards of LaGrange—Samuel Elbert of Chatham County—Davenport Evans of Thomaston—George Washington Evans (II) of Burke County—William Ezzard of Decatur—Edward Featherston of Lawrenceville—Lucius H. Featherston of Heard County—John D. Field(s) of Lumpkin County—William Flewellen of Clinton—Charles Rinaldo Floyd of Camden County—his father John Floyd of Fairfield, Camden County—William P. Ford of Talbot County—Dr. Ira Roe Foster of Cumming—James D. Frierson of Athens—Stephen H. Gilmore of Morgan County—Thomas Glascock (I) of Richmond County—his son Thomas Glascock (II) of Richmond County—John W. Gordon of Jones County—Barzilla J. Graves of Newton County—James Porterfield Graves of Washington-Wilkes—Aaron W. Grier of Warren County—Lewis Lawrence Griffin of Macon—Thomas M. Griffin of Coweta County—James Gunn of Savannah.

CHAPTER 12: GEORGIA MILITIA GENERALS, H–Z:
Thomas P. Hamilton of Jasper County—Andrew Jasper Hansell of Marietta—Edward Harden (II) of Chatham County—Charles Ferdinand Hardy of Jefferson, Jackson County—Hugh Anderson Haralson of LaGrange—Buckner Harris of Jackson County—Harris ambushed and killed as director of the Florida Patriots—his brother Jeptha Vining Harris of Elbert County—Robert Y. Harris of Augusta—George Paul Harrison (I) of Chatham County—Benjamin W. Heard of Wilkes County—John Adams Heard of Elbert County—James Hemphill of Floyd County—Brockman W. Henderson of Randolph County—Gustavus Hendrick of Butts County—Thomas Hilliard of Ware County—Thomas J. Holmes of Baker County—Thaddeus Goode Holt (II) of Baldwin County—William S. Holt of Macon—William White Holt of Augusta—Francis Hopkins of Belleville, McIntosh County—Orran Carstaphen Horne of Hawkinsville—Hiram Howard of Cobb County—Nicholas Howard of Greene County—Dr. Thomas Hoxey of Putnam County—William A. Hunt of Mount Yonah, Habersham County—George Russell Hunter of Knoxville, Crawford County—Samuel D. Irvin of Albany—Jared Irwin of Union Hill, Washington County—John Irwin of Washington County—Patrick Jack of Wilkes County—Abraham Jackson of Burke County—his brother James Jackson of Savannah—Lewis Augustus Jernigan of Sandersville—George R. Jessup of Madison, Morgan County—David Johnson (II) of Clinch County—Dr. Harrison Jones (II) of Gwinnett County—Willis Kilgore of Coweta County—George W. King of Clarke County—Levi Jordan Knight (I) of Lowndes County—Allen G. Lawhon of Monroe County—Dr. William Lee of Hancock County—Henry H. Lowe of Harris County—Daniel MacDougald of Harris County and Columbus—William R. Manning of Telfair County—Eli McConnell of Hickory Flat, Cherokee County—Samuel M. McConnell of Hickory Flat, Cherokee County—Charles James McDonald of Milledgeville—John McIntosh of McIntosh County—David Meriwether of Wilkes County—Andrew Miller of Rabun County—William Terrell Millican of Franklin County—Enoch R. Mills of Marietta—Homer Virgil Milton of Jefferson County—David Brydie Mitchell of Savannah—Henry Mitchell of Warren County—William Watts Montgomery (I) of Augusta—John B. Moore of Roswell—Eppes W. Morris of Franklin County—William St. Clair Morris of Burke County—John Morrison of Burke County—Stith Parham Myrick of Midway, Baldwin County—Charles Haney Nelson of Cherokee and Gordon Counties—Daniel Newnan of Henry County—Benjamin F. Patton of Habersham County—Charles Phillips of Jones County and his son Pleasant Jackson Phillips of Columbus—Andrew J. Pool(e) of Hall County—Burwell Pope Jr. of Oglethorpe County—John William Rabun (I) of Hancock County—Samuel M. Rice of Cherokee County—Harrison W. Riley of Dahlonega—Elsbury W. Robinson of Monroe County—Samuel Robinson (II) of Washington County—Benjamin Herbert Rutherford of Houston County—John William Augustus Sanford (I) of Milledgeville—John Baytop Scott (II) of Milledgeville—Paul Jones Semmes of Wilkes County—Edmund Shackleford of Putnam County—Dr. Reuben C. Shorter of Jasper County—Whitfield Hamlet Sledge of Troup County—Daniel Newnan Smith of Jones County—Thomas Pinckney Smith of Albany—William Green Smith of Jones County—Daniel Stewart of Liberty County—John Stewart of Oglethorpe County—Edward Madison Storey of Newnan—John W. Stroud of Walton County—George W. Summers of Augusta—James Minor Tait of Elbert County, brother of Judge Charles Tait—Judge Charles Tait—Benjamin Taliaferro of Washington-Wilkes—Hartwell Hill Tarver of Twiggs County—Josiah Tattnall Jr. of Chatham County—David Taylor Jr. of Burke County—Robert A. Taylor of Athens—Henry M. Terrell of Greene County—Jett Thomas of Milledgeville—Joseph D. Thomas of Burke County—Wiley Thompson of Elbert County—James W. Thornbury of Albany—Edwin C. Turner of Upson County—Robert Tuttle of Burke County—John Twiggs of Richmond County—Richard Venable of Gainesville—Tully Vinson of Hancock County—John A. Walker of Burke County—Valentine Walker of Augusta—Alexander Ware of Fayette County—Eli Warren of Dublin—Thomas Jefferson Warthen Sr. of Washington County—James C. Watson of Milledgeville—William Clifford Wayne of Chatham County—William Wellborn of Houston County—Wellborn at the Pea River Fight in Alabama—William Parker White of Savannah and his murder at Waccamaw—Zachariah White of Talbot County—Mark Willcox of Telfair County—Charles J. Williams of Columbus—John Napier Williamson of Covington—Dr. Benjamin F. Willis of Elberton—John Willson of Jasper County—Richard Wilson of Hall County—Ezekiel Wimberly of Twiggs County—William Benton Wofford of Hollingsworth, Habersham County—James Wood of Coweta County—Solomon Wood of Jefferson County—Sowell Woolfolk of Columbus—William H. Wyatt of Monticello—James R. Wyly of Habersham County—Burwell J. Wynn of Hancock County.

APPENDIX: ACTS, ORDERS AND GENERAL MILITIA ORGANIZATION

Selected Militia Acts

Selected Militia Orders

Orders Renumbering the Militia, 1805

The Battalions and Regiments of the Georgia Militia, 1805–1861

Designations of Battalions, 1805–1861

Designations of Regiments, 1805–1861

Designation by County

Georgia Militia Brigades and Divisions, Table of Organization