Georgia in the American Civil War
On the 21st of January 1861, 293 delegates signed the Ordinance of Secession inside the statehouse in Milledgeville. Governor Joseph E. Brown had declared that Abraham Lincoln's election would inevitably lead to the abolition of slavery. He urged Georgians to resist what he called Northern aggression or lose their enslaved labor force. Henry L. Benning spoke at the Virginia Secession Convention in February 1861 to explain the decision. He stated that separation from the North was the only way to prevent the end of slavery. William L. Harris told Georgia legislators that Republicans aimed to promote equality between white and Black races. Religious leaders defended slavery by claiming abolitionist views were subversive to all sound morality.
By summer 1861, the Union naval blockade shut down cotton exports and halted manufactured imports. Planters refused to grow food because they expected Europe to break the blockade soon. Cotton prices soared in Europe while towns faced desperate shortages. Poor white women raided stores and captured supply wagons for bacon, corn, flour, and yarn. The governor lamented that Confederate seizures of food ruined people in northeastern parts of the state. Food that normally came by rail from Northern states stopped arriving entirely. Conditions worsened late in the war as soldiers deserted to tend suffering farms and families.
Deserter gangs formed in north Georgia mountains where many groups operated during the conflict. Layout gangs consisted of those who avoided conscription by hiding out in swamps. Over 1,000 deserters hid on Black Jack Island and Soldiers Camp Island within the Okefenokee Swamp. By 1864, the Wiregrass Region was no longer fully controlled by the Confederate government due to these groups. Backcountry areas like Gum Swamp Creek became home to similar bands in Pulaski, Montgomery, and Telfair counties. The Madden Branch Massacre occurred on the 29th of November 1864 when six Georgians were executed by John P. Gatewood. Peter Parris and Wyatt J. Parton escaped the execution at Fannin county.
A total of nearly 550 battles and skirmishes occurred within the state mostly during the last two years. The first major battle was a Confederate victory at Chickamauga Creek in September 1863. Union general William T. Sherman invaded from Chattanooga in May 1864 against Joseph E. Johnston. Johnston withdrew toward Atlanta while facing successive flanking maneuvers by Sherman's armies. Jefferson Davis replaced Johnston with John Bell Hood in July 1864. Hood attempted several unsuccessful counterattacks at Peachtree Creek and Atlanta before the city fell on the 2nd of September 1864. Twelve county courthouses were destroyed including those in McIntosh, Dade, Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, Polk, and Whitfield counties.
Sherman stripped his army of non-essentials and burned Atlanta before leaving it to Confederates in November 1864. He began his famous march living off land then burning plantations and wrecking railroads. Thousands of escaped slaves followed him as he entered Savannah on December 22. Sherman estimated the campaign inflicted $100 million in damages about one fifth of which benefited the Union. His army wrecked miles of railroad and numerous bridges along with telegraph lines. It seized 5,000 horses, 4,000 mules, and 13,000 head of cattle. Approximately 400 Roswell mill workers mostly women were arrested as traitors and shipped north in July 1864.
Slaves were emancipated in 1865 while Reconstruction started immediately after hostilities ceased. Georgia did not re-enter the Union until the 15th of July 1870 as the last former Confederate state to be readmitted. The war left most of Georgia devastated with many dead wounded and an economy in shambles. The state remained poor well into the twentieth century. On the 16th of April 1865, the Battle of Columbus was fought on the Georgia-Alabama border. In 1935, the state legislature officially declared this engagement the last battle of the War Between the States.
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Common questions
When did Georgia sign the Ordinance of Secession?
On the 21st of January 1861, 293 delegates signed the Ordinance of Secession inside the statehouse in Milledgeville. Governor Joseph E. Brown declared that Abraham Lincoln's election would lead to the abolition of slavery and urged Georgians to resist Northern aggression.
What caused food shortages in Georgia during the Civil War?
By summer 1861, the Union naval blockade shut down cotton exports and halted manufactured imports while planters refused to grow food. Food that normally came by rail from Northern states stopped arriving entirely causing desperate shortages for towns and poor white women who raided stores for supplies.
Where did deserter gangs operate in north Georgia?
Deserter gangs formed in north Georgia mountains where many groups operated including over 1,000 deserters hiding on Black Jack Island and Soldiers Camp Island within the Okefenokee Swamp. Backcountry areas like Gum Swamp Creek became home to similar bands in Pulaski, Montgomery, and Telfair counties.
Who replaced Joseph E. Johnston as commander before Atlanta fell?
Jefferson Davis replaced Joseph E. Johnston with John Bell Hood in July 1864 after successive flanking maneuvers by Sherman's armies. Hood attempted several unsuccessful counterattacks at Peachtree Creek and Atlanta before the city fell on the 2nd of September 1864.
When was the last battle of the War Between the States fought in Georgia?
On the 16th of April 1865, the Battle of Columbus was fought on the Georgia-Alabama border. In 1935, the state legislature officially declared this engagement the last battle of the War Between the States.
All sources
37 references cited across the entry
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- 3bookHistorical Record of the City of SavannahF. D. Lee et al. — J. H. Estill — 1869
- 4webGeorgia Declaration of Causes of SecessionState of Georgia — January 29, 1861
- 5bookThese Truths: A History of the United StatesJill Lepore — W. W. Norton & Company — 2018
- 6webWhy Non-Slaveholding Southerners FoughtGordon Rhea — January 25, 2011
- 7webSpeech of Henry Benning to the Virginia ConventionHenry L. Benning — February 18, 1861
- 8bookApostles of DisunionCharles B. Dew
- 9bookJoe Brown's Pets: The Georgia Militia, 1862-1865William R. Scaife et al. — Mercer University Press — 2004
- 10bookJoseph E. Brown of GeorgiaJoseph H. Parks — Louisiana State University Press — 1977
- 11webGeorgians in the Union ArmyDavid Seibert — Digital Library of Georgia
- 12webGeorgians in the Union ArmyThe Georgia Historical Society — June 16, 2014
- 14magazineThe South's Inner Civil War: The more fiercely the Confederacy fought for its independence, the more bitterly divided it became. To fully understand the vast changes the war unleashed on the country, you must first understand the plight of the Southerners who didn't want secessionEric Foner — American Heritage Publishing Company — March 1989
- 15bookA Separate Civil War: Communities in Conflict in the Mountain SouthJonathan Dean Sarris — University of Virginia Press — 2006
- 16journalAnatomy of an Atrocity: The Madden Branch Massacre and Guerrilla Warfare in North Georgia, 1861-1865Jonathan D. Sarris — 1993
- 17bookPlain Folk in a Rich Man's War: Class and Dissent in Confederate GeorgiaDavid Williams et al. — University of Florida Press — 2002
- 18bookReconstruction In Georgia: Economic, Social, Political 1865-1872Clara Mildred Thompson — Columbia University Press — 1915
- 19journal'The Women Rising': Cotton, Class, and Confederate Georgia's Rioting WomenTeresa Crisp Williams et al. — Georgia Historical Society — Spring 2002
- 20bookA Higher Duty: Desertion among Georgia Troops during the Civil WarMark A. Weitz — University of Nebraska Press — 2005
- 21bookPlain Folk's Fight: The Civil War and Reconstruction in Piney Woods GeorgiaMark V. Wetherington — The University of North Carolina Press — 2005
- 22webAtlanta Southern ConfederacyJanuary 20, 1865
- 23bookThe Gray and the Black: The Confederate Debate on EmancipationRobert F. Durden — Louisiana State University — 1875
- 24webLetter to James A. SeddonHowell Cobb — January 1865
- 25webReal Confederates Didn't Know About Black ConfederatesAndy Hall — WordPress — January 8, 2015
- 26webThe Most Pernicious Idea: 150 Years LaterKevin Levin — January 7, 2015
- 28bookSouthern Storm: Sherman's March to the SeaNoah Andre Trudeau — HarperCollins — 2008
- 29bookPlain Folk's Fight: The Civil War and Reconstruction in Piney Woods GeorgiaMark V. Wetherington — University of North Carolina Press — 2005
- 30webInflation Calculator websites. Morgan Friedman
- 31bookDrawn with the Sword:Reflections on the American Civil War: Reflections on the American Civil WarJames M. McPherson — Oxford University Press — 1996
- 32bookMarching through Georgia: The Story of Soldiers and Civilians During Sherman's CampaignLee Kennett — HarperCollins — 1995
- 33encyclopediaDeportation of Roswell Mill WomenCaroline Matheny Dillman — 8 December 2003
- 34journalSurviving Sherman's March: Press, Public Memory, and Georgia's Salvation MythologyJanice Hume et al. — Association for Education in Journalism & Mass Communication — March 2009
- 35webCountiesDigital Library of Georgia — 2017
- 36webACTS AND RESOLUTIONS OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA 1935Georgia Legislative Documents — 28 March 1935
- 37bookCivil War Sites in GeorgiaJim Miles — Thomas Nelson Incorporated — 2001