Chapter 6:
- Sketches of Georgia commands.
Here it will be appropriate to give a brief account of the commands not already sketched that were organized and put into service, the majority of them before the close of 1862.
The Thirty-first regiment Georgia volunteers was organized in the fall of 1861 with the following field and staff officers: Col. P. J. Phillips, Lieut.-Col. Daniel P. Hill, Maj. C. A. Evans, Adjt. J. H. Woodbridge, Commissary J. H. Sutton, Quartermaster A. B. Redding. The captains were Apollo Forrester (A), Rodolphus T. Pride (B), Archer Griffith (C), John T. Crowder (D), L. B. Redding (E), Warren D. Wood (F), J. H. Lowe (G), John W. Murphey (H), George W. Lewis (I), R. H. Fletcher (K). C. A. Evans soon became colonel of the regiment, then brigadier-general, and during the Appomattox campaign, as well as the preceding one, was in command of the division that made the last charge at Appomattox Court House. J. T. Crowder became lieutenant-colonel, J. H. Lowe, major, William M. Head, adjutant. Captain Forrester (killed) was succeeded by C. L. Shorter; Sanders by Archer Griffith; Crowder by Thomas B. Settle; Redding, by W. H. Harrison; Fletcher by S. W. Thornton. The Thirty-first participated in all the campaigns of the army of Northern Virginia except that of First Manassas, bearing a conspicuously active part.
At the organization of the Thirty-second regiment Georgia volunteers the field officers were: Col. George P. Harrison, Jr., Lieut.-Col. W. H. Pruden, Maj. E. H. [113] Bacon, Jr., Adjt. G. M. Blount; Capts. (A) W. Y. Holland, (B) J. B. McDowell, (C) S. J. Heath, (D) R. K. Hines, (E) S. A. H. Jones, (F) C. A. Willis, (G) J. A. Phillips, (H) S. D. Mobley, (I) J. F. Lewis, (K) F. G. Godbee. This regiment served for most of the war in the department of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, being engaged in much of the fierce fighting in the vicinity of Charleston in 1863, notably in the defense of Battery Wagner. It was also distinguished at the battle of Olustee, Fla., and served with credit in the campaign of the Carolinas in 1865, surrendering with Johnston April 26th. During its faithful career the following changes are recorded as having occurred among its officers: Maj. E. H. Bacon became lieutenant-colonel, and Captain Holland, major, while W. D. Cornwell succeeded him in command of his company. J. A. Hines became captain of Company D, P. R. Taliaferro of Company E, and J. L. McElmurry of Company K.
The Thirty-third Georgia regiment did not complete its organization, but became merged in other commands.
The Thirty-fourth regiment Georgia volunteers was officered as follows: Col. J. S. W. Johnson, Lieut.-Col. J. W. Bradley, Maj. Thomas T. Donough and later John M. Jackson, Adjt. I. G. McLendon; Capts. Caleb Chitwood (A), Thomas A. Veal (B), R. A. Jones (C), William E. Broch (D), Jordan Rowland (E), W. A. Walker (F), G. M. Blackwell (G), John M. Jackson (H), A. T. Bennett (I), A. P. Daniel (K). The regiment was sent into east Tennessee; served in the Kentucky campaign, afterward in the department of East Tennessee, in the Vicksburg campaign and at Missionary Ridge; went all through the Atlanta campaign, then participated in Hood's gallant but unsuccessful attempt to recover Tennessee for the Confederacy. Finally, after all the hardships and perils of the arduous service rendered to the Confederacy, being consolidated with the Thirty-ninth and part of the Fifty-sixth Georgia, it participated in the [114] campaign of the Carolinas that closed with the capitulation at Durham's Station, April 26, 1865. Of changes in this organization we have not been able to obtain any record.
The Thirty-fifth regiment Georgia volunteers at its organization had the following officers:
