PREFACE

CHAPTER 1: THE GLYNN COUNTY MILITIA, 1783–1861
Creation of the parishes of St. David, St. Patrick, and St. James—Frederica on St. Simons Island—Brunswick on the Turtle—Mount Venture up the Altamaha—William Williams at San Savilla Bluffs—Josiah Barrington—raid and counter-raid during the Revolution—post-war “bonfire meetings”—John Tompkins and his “fort” on St. Simons—Williamsburg—George Purvis and the revival of Brunswick—Glynn’s general militia companies—7th Battalion—4th Regiment becomes the 3rd, 1810—Creeks raid Glynn County during the Oconee Wars—Volunteer Troop of Horse, 1788—Volunteer Company of Infantry, 1803—Glynn County during the Embargo Wars—War of 1812—efforts to improve Brunswick and its harbor—William B. Davis proposes a canal from Brunswick to the Altamaha—Laommi Baldwin takes over—Irish laborers quit work—Brunswick Canal finished, 1854—Brunswick and Florida Railroad reorganizes, 1851—Charles L. Schlatter takes over, 1855—Governor Brown seizes the railroad and has the tracks taken up—Macon and Brunswick Railroad—Glynn Academy—Carey W. Styles kills Jacob W. Moore, 1857, and becomes mayor of Brunswick—Brunswick Aquatic Club—Sporting and Agricultural Club of St. Simons—Glynn Hussars organize—Glynn County Volunteers in the Second Seminole War—early shipbuilding in Brunswick—James E. Withington builds the Henry DuBignon—Captain John H. Lightbourn breaks his leg during the celebration of the launch, so the Henry DuBignon sails to destruction without him—Dr. Thomas F. Hazzard kills John A. Wylly at the Oglethorpe House—Brunswick city stock—Brunswick Guards, 1838—Glynn County Rangers, 1848—Brunswick Riflemen, 1860—Glynn Guards, 1860—Secession.

Glynn County Militia Commissions

Roster of Glynn County Volunteers, 1836

Roster of the Brunswick Riflemen, 1860

Muster Roll of the Glynn Guards, 1861

Justices of the Glynn County Inferior Court, 1789–1817

CHAPTER 2: THE CAMDEN COUNTY MILITIA, 1783–1861
Timucuans, Spaniards, and pirates on San Pedro Island—San Pedro Island becomes Cumberland Island, and Oglethorpe stops a mutiny there at Ft. St. Andrew—Camden County, created in 1777 on the international boundary, continues as the crossroads for invasion during the Revolution and afterwards—Dan McGirth of the Florida Scout—John Linder Jr., “Bloody Bill” Cunningham, and other ex-Tories join McGirth’s post-war smugglers—McGirth marries a respectable woman; dies quietly as a resident of Camden County—the much-married Henry Osborne and his last wife Kitty Howell—Camden’s general militia companies—8th Battalion—the “Camden County War of 1793”—Ferdinand O’Neal—the much-court-martialed Thomas Carr—Lieutenant Colonel William Scott of Hickory Bluff—Camden Troop of Horse or Coleraine Troop—Camden County in the Oconee Wars—Volunteer Company of Artillery, 1802—hurricane of 1804 and yellow fever epidemic of 1808—St. Mary’s Volunteer Guards, 1812—Captain Abraham Bessent—Patriots’ Expedition—Royal Marines storm Cumberland Island and St. Mary’s—Camden inhabitants flee the dreaded CPT George Woodbine and the Indians—Archibald Bellinger Clark—Colonel James Dell of the Florida Patriots and CPT William Mickler of the Georgia Militia win the last fight with the British in Georgia during the War of 1812—East Florida becomes a United States territory and St. Mary’s loses its smugglers’ revenue—Robert R. Henry Jr. and the “Black Birds Scandal”—descriptions of St. Mary’s, 1828 and 1832—Charles Rossignol kills Thomas E. Hardee, 1838—St. Mary’s Volunteer Guards revive, 1816—Camden County in the Second Seminole War—Camden Chasseurs organize, 1835—celebration at Ft. Drane, 1836—James Mongin Smith—Noble A. Hull—Centreville Riflemen in the Okefenokee, 1841—St. Mary’s Riflemen organize, 1846—Samuel Elbert Muse—Centreville Guards, 1847—St. Mary’s burns, 1855—Camden County Guards, 1860—Secession.

Charles Rinaldo Floyd Hunts Wild Bulls With A Polish Lance

Organizational Resolutions of the Southern Rights Club, St. Mary’s

Muster Roll of the Camden Rifles, Camp Atkinson, 1861

CHAPTER 3: THE EFFINGHAM COUNTY MILITIA, 1783–1861
The Exulanten—John Adam Treutlen and his faction of the congregation at New Ebenezer take possession of their church and hold it at the point of a sword—Salzburger Lutherans and Palatinate Calvinists—militia of St. Matthew’s Parish—Triebner’s faction regains possession of the church at the point of British bayonets—Loyalist militia—Major Thomas Flyming—John Adam Treutlen quits the fight and takes the oath of loyalty to the Crown—Captain James Swinney and his Independent Company kill Treutlen in a fight—the Rev. Alexander Scott serves both the Whigs and the Loyalists—“Mad Anthony” Wayne retakes Effingham County and Nathanael Greene fills out the Georgia Continental Battalion with former Tories from the county—Sharper’s Insurrection and the fight at Bear Creek in Patton’s Swamp—Effingham’s ante-bellum general militia companies—President George Washington passes through Effingham—Effingham militia enforces the smallpox quarantine, 1800—Effingham County battalion goes through numerous changes of designation—Lieutenant Colonel Stephen Johnson—35th Regiment—1st and 2nd Volunteer Troops of Dragoons—Effingham volunteers for the Embargo Wars—Effingham volunteers for the War of 1812—Captain John Wisenbaker’s Detachment of Infantry—salubrious Camp Jack—Captain John Neidlinger’s Volunteer Company of Infantry, 1817—Captain William Bird’s Company in the First Seminole War—Captain John M. Hines and his Effingham Volunteers in the Creek War of 1836—Mexican Army captures Homer V. Morell—Effingham Hussars organize, 1846—trooper Joshua C. Shearouse of the Effingham Hussars builds his own private tilting field, is awarded permanent championship, and is disqualified from further tilting contests—Effingham Hussars on Tybee Island—Effingham Rifles organize, 1848—students at Springfield Academy organize the American Riflemen, 1852—Secession—Georgia Rangers at Guyton, 1861—Effingham Guards at Egypt, 1861.

Commanders of the 3rd Battalion of the 35th Regiment, G.M.

Commanders of the 35th Regiment, G.M.

Rank and Arrangement of the Effingham County Militia, 1790

Roster of the Effingham Hussars, 1854

CHAPTER 4: THE WASHINGTON COUNTY MILITIA, 1784–1861
Washington and Franklin Counties laid out in 1784 from the disputed Oconee lands—Saundersville (later Sandersville) made the county seat—Washington’s general militia companies—20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd Battalions—13th Regiment—2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division—Washington County units in the Oconee Wars—Washington County Troop of Horse—4th Squadron of the 2nd Regiment Cavalry—Volunteer Company of Light Infantry, 3rd (22nd) Battalion, 1801—Volunteer Company of Riflemen, 23rd Battalion, 1809—Volunteer Company of Light Infantry, 21st Battalion, 1812—Washington County units in the War of 1812—Daniel Smith, drummer—Major Roger Lawson’s court-martial enhances his popularity—Washington County Troop of Horse in the First Seminole War—Volunteer Company of Infantry, 20th Battalion, 1818—Washington Guards organize, 1823, and serve in the Creek War of 1836—Tennille family—Washington Rangers, 13th Regiment, 1833—Captain Reuben N. Hicklin’s Washington County Troop in the Florida Expedition, 1826–1827—Captain Charles J. Malone’s Company, Georgia Mounted Militia, during the Second Seminole War—Washington Riflemen organize, 1836—Washington Dragoons of the Georgia Guards, 2nd Division, 1840—Lieutenant Colonel John Wier Rudisill—Washington Guards revive, 1847—Sandersville and its courthouse destroyed by fire, 1855—Washington Rifles revive, 1859—Secession.

Washington County Militia Commissions

Captain Hugh Irwin’s detachment of Militia Cavalry, 1793

Captain John Stokes’ Troop of Militia Cavalry, 1793

Captain Joseph Carson’s detachment of Militia Cavalry, c1793

Captain Reuben N. Hicklin’s Troop of Cavalry, 1826–1827

CHAPTER 5: THE COLUMBIA COUNTY MILITIA, 1790–1861
Columbia County created out of Richmond in 1790—Columbia’s 12 original General Militia Companies and their geographical area—rank and arrangement of the Columbia County Militia, 1791—county court located at John Cobb’s—Columbia’s thirteen ultimate General Militia Companies—28th and 29th Battalions—11th Regiment—1st Brigade of the 2nd Division—2nd Division—Troop of Horse or Dragoons, 1791—Volunteer Company of Artillery, 1794—Oconee Wars—Henry Hampton and Thomas Carr—Light Infantry Company, by 1798—Volunteer Company of Riflemen, 29th Battalion, 1808—Volunteer Company of Infantry, 28th Battalion, 1808—3rd Squadron of the 2nd Regiment Cavalry—Volunteer Troop of Dragoons, 1812—War of 1812—Daniel Appling—Volunteer Artillery Company, 11th Regiment, 1818—Volunteer Company of Riflemen, 29th Battalion—Columbia County Cavalry—Columbia County Volunteers, 11th Regiment, 1836—Thomson Guards, 1860—Secession—Ramsay Volunteers, 1861—Moody Burt Volunteers, 1861.

Commanders of the General Militia Companies

Dr. David Bush and the Origins of Submarine and Mine Warfare

CHAPTER 6: THE LINCOLN COUNTY MILITIA, 1796–1861
Origins in the Ceded Lands and the 5th Regiment, G.M—Major Burwell Smith’s death at Wofford’s Iron Works—formation of additional battalions, regiments, and the loss of territory from Wilkes County—Colonel John Graves—the Federal Militia Act of 1792 and its effect in Wilkes County—John, Thomas, and George Dooly—Lincoln County created, 1796—Drury Cade—Lincoln’s general militia companies and their commanders—40th and 56th Battalions—20th Regiment—Court-martial of LTC John Mitchell Dooly for drunkeness during a court-martial—John Mitchell Dooly and his anecdotes—7th Squadron, 4th Regiment Cavalry, G.M—1st Brigade of the 4th Division—3rd Division becomes 4th Division—Volunteer Troop of Horse—War of 1812; CPT Peter Lamar’s Company; and Midshipman Henry Gilliam of the U.S.S. Constitution—Thomas Walton Murray speaks for old Lincoln—Wheat’s Camp Ground—Lincoln Volunteer Cavalry—Creek War of 1836 and CPT Robert Augustus Toombs’ Company—Lincoln Volunteers, 1836—Lincoln Independent Cavalry, 1836—Secession—Lincoln Confederates.

Lincoln County Militia Commissions

CHAPTER 7: THE CLARKE COUNTY MILITIA, 1801–1861
The cotton field on the battle site—Yahoo Hall—The Hero of Hornet’s Nest—Clarke’s ante-bellum general militia companies—48th, 49th, and 50th Battalions—Ben: Perley Poore becomes a Georgia major—24th Regiment—2nd Brigade of the 3rd Division—Brigadier General Robert A. Taylor—Brigadier James D. Frierson—Brigadier General David Meriwether—Colonel Harmon Runnels—Captain Augustin Smith Clayton—Volunteer Rifle Company, 1809—War of 1812, CPT Jack Cocke’s Rifle Company, CPT James Meriwether’s Rifle Company, CPT Isham Hendon’s Rifle Company, and CPT Jack Cocke’s Rifle Company serves once more—Franklin College Volunteers, 1815—John Rutherford’s chin-ups—James A. Meriwether—John Milledge (II)—John Howard Payne and Miss Mary Harden—Volunteer Rifle Company, 1820—the Hillyer brothers whip Robert Toombs—Athens legends: The Toombs’ Oak, Tree That Owns Itself, and The Napoleon Willow—Clarke County Troop of Cavalry—Georgia Guards, 1831—College Volunteers, 1834—Clarke Volunteers in the Creek War of 1836—Captain Isaac A. Vinson’s Company during the Cherokee Removals—Watkinsville Independent Blues, 1843—Clarke Hussars, 1845—Athens Guards, 1854—National Artillery organizes and becomes the Troup Artillery, 1860—Oconee Cavalry, 1860—Secession—Henry Hull Carlton—Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb.

Captains of the Clarke County general militia companies

CHAPTER 8: THE HABERSHAM COUNTY MILITIA, 1818–1861
American Indians of the prehistoric era, especially the Mississippian Period—American Indians of the historical period—Captain James H. Nichols and the relics of the Indians of the Nacoochee Valley—underground city—the Chopped Oak at the Law Ground—origins of Habersham County—Clarkesville—Habersham’s ante-bellum general militia companies—four battalions—two regiments—brigades and divisions—the Habersham Light Dragoons of the 64th Regiment and the 42nd Regiment—George D. Williamson—Captain Benjamin Cleveland Jr. (III)—Habersham Light Dragoons assist General Winfield Scott in moving the Cherokees—Habersham Mountaineers, 1833—Clarkesville Union Rifle Company, 1834—Thomas Jefferson Rusk—Habersham Rangers, 1836—the Rev. Barnard Elliott Habersham—Habersham Blues, 1840—Habersham Hussars, 1840—Habersham Cavalry, 1842—the Gentlemen of the Banks County Guards, 1860—Captain Daniel Gill Candler of the Banks County Guards and his son COL Allen Daniel Candler, “the One-eyed Plowboy of Pigeon Roost”—Home Guards of Habersham, 1860—Secession.

CHAPTER 9: THE MUSCOGEE COUNTY MILITIA, 1827–1861
Coweta Town—Lafayette crosses the Chattahoochee, 1825—Muscogee County created, 1826—General James N. Bethune catches a big fish—Colonel Ulysses Lewis—Muscogee’s ante-bellum general militia companies—Frontier Guards and Columbus Fencibles organize, 1829—Columbus Volunteers organize, 1830—Hall’s Company, 1830—Major Joseph T. Camp kills General Sowell Woolfolk, 1832—Cosam Emir Bartlett triggers another fight, leading to the death of MAJ Camp—John Milton—Mechanic Musketeers organize, 1833—Colonel John Crowell’s John Bascomb at the racetrack—Columbus Volunteers in the War for Texas Independence—Columbus Guards, Muscogee Blues, Columbus Independent Artillery, Cadet Riflemen, Muscogee Cavalry, and other local companies in the Creek War of 1836—Muscogee County courthouse and the public records destroyed by fire in 1838—Muscogee Hussars, 1838—Philip Thomas Schley—Samuel Armstrong Bailey and his family—Columbus Guards organize a band, 1845—Georgia Light Guards, City Light Guards, Muscogee Riflemen, Muscogee Rangers, Upatoi Rangers, Calhoun Guards, Jackson Guards, Muscogee Dragoons, and Quitman Guards during the Mexican War—Hitchatee Blues, 1848—Ringgold Artillery, 1850—Peyton H. Colquitt—United Riflemen, 1856—Georgia True Greys, 1858—Southern Guard, 1860—Secession.

Roster Of The Columbus Guards, 1836

Roster Of The Columbus Guards, 1846

Roster Of The Georgia Light Infantry, 1846

Roster Of The Crawford Guards, 1846

The Columbus Guards and Red Jacket at Tybee Island, 1861

CHAPTER 10: THE THOMAS AND COLQUITT COUNTY MILITIA, 1825–1861
Treaty of Ft. Jackson, 1814, opens South Georgia—Thomas County formed out of Decatur and Irwin Counties, 1825—Thomas’ ante-bellum general militia companies—137th and 141st Battalions—69th Regiment—2nd Brigade of the 13th Division—Thomas County Volunteers and Georgia Guards, 1836—Creek War of 1836—Major Michael Young—Battle of Brushy Creek—Thomas Independent Troop, 1844—Stephen P. Yoemans and his pirates, 1846—Thomasville Guards, 1854—Captain Peter Early Love—First Lieutenant Augustin Harris Hansell—Thomasville moves from wagon trade to shipping center—Colquitt County created, 1856, and named for the commander of the Coffin Brigade—Colquitt’s general militia companies—Captain (later Rev.) Charles S. Rockwell calls on the Guards to defend their homes and families—Thomasville Guards prepare for war—Patriotism of Mrs. Ann W. (Perry) Wright—Augustin Harris Hansell, Samuel B. Spencer, and William G. Ponder represent Thomas County and Elder Henry Crawford Tucker and General John G. Coleman represent Colquitt at the Secession Convention—Ochlocknee Light Infantry, 1861—Captain William J. Young—Dixie Boys, 1861—Captain Lucius Coffee Bryan—Thomas County Volunteers—Captain William Dixon Mitchell—Thomas Reserves—Colquitt Marksmen.

CHAPTER 11: THE LOWNDES COUNTY MILITIA, 1825–1861
Treaty of Ft. Jackson, 1814, opens South Georgia to settlement and drives a geographical barrier between the Creeks and the Seminoles—Lowndes County formed out of Irwin County, 1825—Georgians settle west of the Alapaha—Franklinville on the Withlacoochee River becomes county seat, 1828—Due to inconvenience of Franklinville, the General Assembly selects site of new county town at location to be called Lowndesville, 1833—Troupville, in the forks of the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers becomes county seat, 1835—“Uncle Billy” Smith’s Tranquil Hall—William Spencer Rockwell and the waffles—General DeLoach can’t fly down—Valdosta on the Atlantic and Gulf Railroad becomes the county seat, 1860—Sion Hall proposes a foot race, and “Uncle Green” breaks up court—“Old Cap” escapes the fire, but the courthouse and its records do not—Lowndes’ ante-bellum general militia companies—138th and second 158th Battalions—Majors John J. Underwood and John Joseph Pike—81st Regiment—Colonels Henry Blair, Enoch Hall, and Benjamin Waters Sinclair—2nd Brigade of the 6th Division—Captain Levi J. Knight’s Company, CPT John Pike’s Company, and CPT (later Rev.) Hamilton W. Sharpe’s Company in the Creek War of 1836—Fight in the Alapaha Swamp—Battle of Brushy Creek in the Chickasawhatchee Swamp—Lowndes County Cavalry, 1836—Captain David R. Bryan’s Company, CPT Jesse Carter’s Company, and CPT Levi J. Knight’s Company in the Okefenokee Expedition, 1838—Lowndes Hussars, 1847—Captain Henry J. Stewart—Captain Benjamin C. Ganos and the Republican Blues, 1849—Secession—Charles H.M. Howell and Isaiah Hambleton Tillman—Lowndes Volunteers, 1861—William N. Hunt.

Muster roll of CPT David R. Bryan’s Company, 1838

Muster roll of CPT Jesse Carter’s Company, 1838

Muster roll of CPT Levi J. Knight’s Company, 1838

APPENDIX: THE WANDERER TRIALS

INDEX