The GA 38th Infantry Regiment was a part of the Lawton - Gordon - Evans brigade made up of the 13th, 26th, 31st, 38th, 60th, & 61st Georgia Regiments and the 12th Georgia Light Artillery Battalion. It fought in many conflicts from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor, then moved with Early to the Shenandoah Valley and was active around Appomattox. The unit lost 54 killed and 118 wounded at Gaines' Mill and sixty-two percent of the 123 engaged at Sharpsburg. In the fight at Fredericksburg there were 10 killed and 91 wounded, and of the 341 at Gettysburg, more than thirty-five percent were disabled. It surrendered with 112, of which 73 were armed.
The 51st Regiment, Tennessee Infantry was organized at Henderson Station, Tennessee, in January, 1862. The 52nd was also organized at the same time with men from Tipton, Fayette, Shelby, Madison, and Jackson counties. A detachment of the 52nd was captured at Fort Donelson, then in October it was active in the fight at Perryville. Later the unit was assigned to D.S. Donelson's, M.J. Wright's, Vaughan's, and Palmer's Brigade. During April, 1862, it was consolidated with the 52nd Regiment and called the 51st Consolidated. However, the consolidation was declared illegal and during April, 1863, it was reorganized as the 51st and 52nd Consolidated Regiment and each unit kept separate records. It participated in many battles of the Army of Tennessee from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, returned to Tennessee with Hood, and was involved in the North Carolina Campaign.
The 38th Alabama Infantry Regiment was organized at Mobile in May 1862, and it remained at the defenses in the vicinity of that city until February 1863. It then proceeded to Tullahoma and was there placed in the brigade of General Henry D. Clayton of Barbour, with the 18th, 36th, and 58th Alabama regiments. The regiment was first under fire with slight loss at Hoover's Gap, and lost heavily in killed and wounded at Chickamauga (37% casualties out of 490 engaged). At Missionary Ridge, the 38th was again engaged at close quarters, and a large number were captured. The 38th continued through the Atlanta campaign. From Marietta to the close, General James T. Holtzclaw of Montgomery commanded the brigade. It fought around the latter city, and at Jonesboro. During the Tennessee campaign of General John Bell Hood, the regiment participated at Nashville in December 1864, and it was in the rear guard of the retreat. Placed in the defenses at Mobile, the regiment went through the ordeal at Spanish Fort where it again suffered severely. With the army, it was surrendered at Meridian, Mississippi, about 80 strong. Companies Of The AL 38th Infantry Regiment Co. "A" (Clarke County): William Jefferson Hearin (promoted); Daniel Lee Co. "B" (Wilcox County): William R. Welsh (KIA, Chickamauga); George W. Welch Co. "C," Dixie Rifles (Washington County): James L. Lenoir (resigned, 13 Aug 186?); A. G. Moore (resigned, 12 Dec 1863); B. F. Crowell (resigned, 25 Oct 1864); Lt. E. A. Holt Co. "D" [also called Co. "G"] (Clarke County): G. W. Files (resigned, 29 Oct 1862); John J. R. Jenkins (resigned); Benjamin Anderson (wounded, Missionary Ridge) Co. "E" (Conecuh County): E. W. Martin (retired, 20 July 1864); Lt. Samuel W. Landrum Co. "F" (Fayette County): John J. Winston (promoted, Adjutant, 18th AL Regt); Albert Embree (died in service, 19 March 1864); W. H. Wright (wounded, Missionary Ridge, and captured) Co. "G" (Mobile County): John B. Perkins (KIA, Chickamauga); George H. Cleveland (resigned, 5 April 1864) Co. "H" (Wilcox County): John A. Jackson (captured, Missionary Ridge; died as POW, 25 Dec 1863); Robert J. Young Co. "I" (Clarke County): Augustus R. Lankford (promoted); Charles E. Bussey (wounded, Chickamauga) Co. "K" (Mobile County): Ben Lane Posey (captured, Missionary Ridge; wounded, Kennesaw; dropped from roll, 17 Feb 1865)
The 20th Georgia Infantry was formed at Columbus in May 1861. They served in the Army of Northern Virginia throughout most of its campaigns. They were attached to Early's Brigade in September of 1861 and transferred to the brigades of Generals Toombs and Benning in April 1862. The 20th fought with the army from the Seven Days Battles to Cold Harbor. They went with General Longstreet to fight at Suffolk, Chickamauga, and operations in east Tennessee including Chattanooga and Knoxville, then returned to Virginia in time for the spring campaign of 1864, enduring the hardships of the Petersburg trenches south and north of the James River. Companies Of The GA 20th Infantry Regiment Company A: Bibb County Company B: Muscogee County. Company C: Jefferson County. Company D: Polk County. Company E: Harris County Company F: Fulton County. Company G: Muscogee County. Company H: Telfair County. Company I: Muscogee County. Company K: Richmond County.
The revised and updated groundbreaking study of the most extensive military operation of the Civil War—from the author of Bloody Roads South. The Petersburg campaign began on June 9, 1864, and ended on April 3, 1865, when Federal troops at last entered the city. It was the longest and most costly siege ever to take place on North American soil, yet it has been overshadowed by other actions that occurred at the same time period, most notably Sherman’s famous “March to the Sea,” and Sheridan’s celebrated Shenandoah Valley campaign. The ten-month Petersburg affair witnessed many more combat actions than the other two combined, and involved an average of 170,000 soldiers, not to mention thousands of civilians who were also caught up in the maelstrom. By its bloody end, the Petersburg campaign would add more than 70,000 casualties to the war’s total. With the same dogged determination that had seen him through the terrible Overland Campaign, Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant fixed his sights on the capture of Petersburg. Grant’s opponent, General Robert E. Lee, was equally determined that the “Cockade City” would not fall. Trudeau crafts this dramatic and moving story largely through the words of the men and women who were there, including officers, common soldiers, and the residents of Petersburg. What emerges is an epic account rich in human incident and adventure. Based on exhaustive research into official records and unpublished memoirs, letters, and diaries, as well as published recollections and regimental histories, The Last Citadel also includes twenty-three maps and a choice selection of drawings by on-the-spot combat artists.
After a series of victories through Mississippi early in the spring of 1863, General Ulysses S. Grant’s Army of the Tennessee had reached the critical point in its campaign to capture Vicksburg. Taking the city on the hill would allow the Union to control the Mississippi River and would divide the Confederacy in half. Confederate morale was low, and a Union victory in the war appeared close before the start of Grant’s assault against General John C. Pemberton’s Army of Mississippi. But due to difficult terrain, strong defenses, and uncoordinated movements, the quick triumph Grant desired was unattainable. On the afternoon of May 19, with little rest, preparation, or reconnaissance, Union forces charged the Confederate lines only to be repulsed. A respite between the assaults allowed both sides to reinforce their positions. Early on May 22 the Union artillery sought to soften the stronghold’s defenses before the general attack, but despite the Union forces’ preparation, the fighting proved even more disorganized and vicious. Again Grant failed to move Pemberton. Not wanting to risk more soldiers in a third attack, Grant conceded to the necessity of laying siege. Confederate morale climbed as the Southerners realized they had held their ground against an overwhelming force. Editors Steven E. Woodworth and Charles D. Grear have assembled five captivating essays that examine Grant’s unsuccessful assaults against Confederate defensive lines around Vicksburg. Ranging from military to social history, the essays further historical debates on prominent topics, such as the reactions of Midwesterners to the first failures of Grant’s Vicksburg campaign. Two essays from opposing sides analyze the controversial decisions surrounding the Railroad Redoubt, the site of the bloodiest fighting on May 22. Another investigates how the tenacity of Texan reinforcements forced Union soldiers to abandon their gains. Peppered with first-hand observations and bolstered by an impressive depth of research, this anthology is an invitingly written account and comprehensive assessment. By zeroing in on the two assaults, the contributors offer essential clarity and understanding of these important events within the larger scope of the Civil War’s Vicksburg Campaign.
