site logo
Confederate flag

Confederate Regiment

2nd Georgia Infantry

Organized: Brunswick, GA; mustered in 06/1861
Disbanded/Mustered out: Appomattox Courthouse, VA 04/09/1865

 

Commanding Officers on the Sharpsburg Campaign:
  LCol. William R. Holmes
  Maj. William T. Harris
  Capt. Abner McC. Lewis

 

This Regiment's Chain of Command:
  Army - Army of Northern Virginia
  Corps - Longstreet's Command
  Division - Jones' Division
  Brigade - Toombs' Brigade


Unit history

The 2nd Regiment was organized at Brunswick, Georgia in June 1861, recruiting troops chiefly from Banks, Bibb, Burke, Jackson, Marion, Muscogee, and Stewart Counties.1

On the Sharpsburg Campaign

The Regiment was posted on the bluff and in the pits overlooking and to the right of what became known as Burnside's Bridge on September 16th and 17th. Their commander, Colonel Holmes, was killed in action there on the morning of the 17th.

Theodore T. Fogle, Company G, later wrote of the battle:

"At a bridge on the Antietam Creek our Regiment and the 20th Ga., in all amounting to not over 300 muskets held them in check for four hours and a half and then we fell back only because our ammunition was exhausted, but we suffered badly, eight cannon just 500 yards off were pouring grape shot, shell and cannister into us and our artillery could not silence them. We held our post until Major William Harris ordered us to fall back. Our Col. (Col. Holmes) . . . was killed about half an hour before. . . ."

"We went into the fight with only 89 muskets and had eight officers and 35 men killed and wounded. So many of the men were shot down that the officers filled their places and loaded and fired their guns."2

Captain Lewis, Company B, wrote the Regiment's after-action report.

Statistics

Initial Strength: 107; Killed in Action (KIA): 6; Wounded (WIA): 28; Captured (POW): 8;
Losses, % of Initial Strength: 39.3%

Maps Showing this Unit

Battlefield Tablets for this Unit

Tablet #303: Longstreet's Command - 14 Sep, 9 PM to 15 Sep, 12 PM
Tablet #322: Jones' Division, Longstreet's Command - 14 Sep, 9 PM to 16 Sep, 9 PM
Tablet #345: Toombs' Brigade, Jones' Division - 15 Sep, 6 PM to 17 Sep, 5 PM
Tablet #368: Jones' Division, Longstreet's Command - 15 Sep, 9 AM to 16 Sep, 9 PM
Tablet #369, cont: Jones' Division, Longstreet's Command - 17 Sep, 3 PM to 18 Sep, 9 PM
Tablet #321: Jones' Division, Longstreet's Command - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 17 Sep, 3 PM
Tablet #373: Toombs' Brigade, Jones' Division - 17 Sep, 6 AM to 18 Sep, 9 PM
Tablet #304: Longstreet's Command - 17 Sep, 7 AM to 17 Sep, 3 PM
Tablet #369: Jones' Division, Longstreet's Command - 17 Sep, 7 AM to 17 Sep, 3 PM
Tablet #366: 2nd, 20th, and 50th Georgia Infantry - 17 Sep, 8 AM to 17 Sep, 2 PM

After the Sharpsburg Campaign

The Regiment was with the Army of Northern Virginia for most of its campaigns, except when it was detached to Longstreet in the West (Chickamauga, and Knoxville) in 1864. They were at Petersburg for the siege of 1864-5, and surrendered at Appomattox with 12 officers and 146 men present. 1

We have 31 individuals in the AotW database who were on the Maryland Campaign with this unit:

 

Co. Rank Name Casualty? Details*
APvtPeak, G AWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
BPvtBussey, Samuel H.POW   09/17     We have some details for this person
BCaptLewis, Abner McCoy        We have some details for this person
BLtLewis, James F.        We have some details for this person
BSgtRadney, James S.WIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
CLtHill, Isaac Thomas        We have some details for this person
CCaptShepherd, William S.        We have some details for this person
DSgtBurton, James G.WIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
DPvtCox, William R.WIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
DPvtHarper, J. EWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
DLtHurst, G. W.WIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
DLtPerry, Henean H.        We have some details for this person
DPvtQuinney, William C.WIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
ELtClaiborne, John L.KIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
EPvtGosnell, George W.MWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
ESgtKincaid, Benjamin FranklinWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
ELtTrammell, John B.        We have some details for this person
ECorpWilliams, P. K.MWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
FPvtFinch, Ivy A.WIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
GPvtBailey, C. Armstrong        We have some details for this person
GPvtFogle, Theodore Turner        We have some details for this person
GPvtSlade, J. H.MWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
GPvtSpivey, John C.MWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
HPvtDedmon, Thomas Henry Crofford        We have some details for this person
HPvtLacy, Elijah MWIA   09/00     We have some details for this person
KPvtArd, George Washington LafayetteWIA/POW   09/17     We have some details for this person
KLtBeall, Samuel         We have some details for this person
KLtBoynton, William W.KIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
F&SColHarris, James Alpheus Skidmore        We have a picture for this person We have some details for this person
F&SMajHarris, William TerrellWIA   09/17     We have some details for this person
F&SLColHolmes, William R.KIA   09/17     We have some details for this person

 

* If there's a symbol in the Details column ...

We have a picture for this person - We have a picture for this person
We have further details for this person - We have details beyond name and rank
Click on their last name to see more

Notes

1   Crute, Joseph H. Jr., Units of the Confederate States Army, Midlothian, VA: Derwent Books, 1987, pg. 83  [AotW citation 95]

2   A summary of the collection and biographical information about Fogle is online from Emory. The Fogle quote has been transcribed online on the ANB website.
Fogle, Theodore Turner, Letters (1851-65), Robert W. Woodruff Library, Emory University, Atlanta: Emory University  [AotW citation 97]