George W Warthen

(1835 - ?)
Home State: Georgia
Command Billet: Commanding Regiment
Branch of Service: Infantry
Unit: 28th Georgia Infantry

Before the Antietam Campaign:
In 1860 he was a 25 year old teacher living on his father's farm in Washington County, Georgia.1 When War broke out, he enlisted and was appointed 3rd Sergeant, Company K, of the 15th Georgia Infantry on 15 July 1861. A week later he was appointed 5th Sergeant, Company F, in the 28th Georgia Regiment. He was elected 1st Lieutenant of his Company in the reorganization of April 1862. He may have been serving as Captain on the Maryland Campaign - his date of rank, however, was 3 November 1862. 2

In the Antietam Campaign:
He succeeded to command of the Regiment as senior officer present in action at Sharpsburg on September 17th after his predecessors were wounded.

The remainder of the War:
He surrendered with his Regiment at Greensboro, NC on 26 April 1865.2

References, Sources, and other notes:
A group of his war-time letters to Georgia lawyer James Thomas (d. 1866) are in the manuscript collection of the Hargrett Library, University of Georgia. In them, he describes "a skirmish on Morris Island (S.C.), life in the army, his wounds, and his stay in the hospital".

Warthen, Georgia, is a small community in Washington County between Sparta and Sandersville.

Birth State: GA

Notes

1 Federal Census for Washington County, Georgia, 1860.
US Census Bureau, and USGenWeb volunteers, transcribers, USGenWeb Census Project, Published 1998-, first accessed 01 July 2005, <http://www.us-census.org/>, Source page: /ga/washington/1860/pg00180.txt [AotW citation 513]

2 From a roster of the 15th Georgia Infantry, Co. K.
Eastern Digital Resources, The Civil War in Georgia, Published 2000, first accessed 30 June 2005, <http://www.researchonline.net/gacw/>, Source page: /rosters/15thcomk.htm [AotW citation 514]

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