The Georgia Militia existed from 1733 to 1879. It was originally planned by General

James Oglethorpe James Edward Oglethorpe (22 December 1696 – 30 June 1785) was a British soldier, Member of Parliament, and philanthropist, as well as the founder of the colony of Georgia in what was then British America. As a social reformer, he hoped to r ...

prior to the founding of the

Province of Georgia A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colony that would become the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. One reason for the founding of the

colony In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the '' metropolitan state' ...

was to act as a buffer between the Spanish settlements in Florida and the British colonies to the north. For background with respect to the region's Native Americans, see the

Yamasee War The Yamasee War (also spelled Yamassee or Yemassee) was a conflict fought in South Carolina from 1715 to 1717 between British settlers from the Province of Carolina and the Yamasee and a number of other allied Native American peoples, incl ...

(1715–1717) and

Cherokee–American wars The Cherokee–American wars, also known as the Chickamauga Wars, were a series of raids, campaigns, ambushes, minor skirmishes, and several full-scale frontier battles in the Old Southwest from 1776 to 1794 between the Cherokee and American se ...

(1776–1795). Gordon Smith states, "'ante-bellum' Georgia was in an almost constant swirl of 'war or rumors of war'." This was due to the presence of Tories, Indians, bandits, privateers and border disputes with France and Spain. "Central to the American concept of a republican democracy, composed as it was of citizen-soldiers, the militia system was essential to the political and social structure. The basic building blocks at the bottom of the Georgia Militia pyramid were the general militia districts. Formally established pursuant to the Militia Act of 1784, these theoretically contained one company of at least sixty-three men … the governor as commander-in-chief. ... "The General Militia Acts of 1803, 1807, and 1818 directed that all district male residents from eighteen to forty-five years old, except those exempted by laws such as ministers, enrol in their district company and perform regularly scheduled drills, at the designated unit muster ground." Campaigns included the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, 1775–1783, the

Oconee War The Oconee War was a military conflict in the 1780s and 1790s between European Colonists and the Creek Indians known as the Oconee, who lived in an area between the Apalachee and North Oconee rivers in the state of Georgia. The struggle arose from ...

s, 1787–1797, The Embargo Wars, 1807–1812, the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States, United States of America and its Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom ...

, 1812–1815, the

First Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...

, 1817–1819, the Second Seminole War, 1835–1843, the

Creek War of 1836 The Creek War of 1836, also known as the Second Creek War or Creek Alabama Uprising, was a conflict in Alabama at the time of Indian Removal between the Muscogee Creek people and non-native land speculators and squatters. Although the Creek ...

, 1836–1837, the Cherokee Disturbances and

Cherokee Removal Cherokee removal, part of the Trail of Tears, refers to the forced relocation between 1836 and 1839 of an estimated 16,000 members of the Cherokee Nation and 1,000–2,000 of their slaves; from their lands in Georgia, South Carolina, North Caroli ...

, 1836–1838, and the

Mexican–American War The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...

, 1846–1848. Three brigades of Georgia militia under the command of

Brigadier General Brigadier general or Brigade general is a military rank used in many countries. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries. The rank is usually above a colonel, and below a major general or divisional general. When appointed ...

Pleasant J. Philips engaged Union forces on November 22, 1864, near Macon, Georgia, in the Battle of Griswoldville, the first battle of

Sherman's March to the Sea Sherman's March to the Sea (also known as the Savannah campaign or simply Sherman's March) was a military campaign of the American Civil War conducted through Georgia from November 15 until December 21, 1864, by William Tecumseh Sherman, maj ...

. On April 16, 1865, in response to

Wilson's Raid Wilson's Raid was a cavalry operation through Alabama and Georgia in March–April 1865, late in the American Civil War. Brig. Gen. James H. Wilson led his Union Army Cavalry Corps to destroy Southern manufacturing facilities and was opposed ...

through Alabama, Georgia forces under the command of Brigadier General Robert C. Tyler engaged union force in the Battle of West Point. The desperate

Battle of Columbus (1865) The Battle of Columbus, Georgia (April 16, 1865), was the last conflict in the Union campaign through Alabama and Georgia, known as Wilson's Raid, in the final full month of the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. James H. Wilson had been ordere ...

, fought the same day, would prove to be one of the last battles of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

east of the Mississippi River.

Notable generals

* George T. Anderson, 11th Division, 1848–1850. * Allen S. Cutts, 2nd Brigade, 1861, future mayor of Americus. * Allen Daniel Jr., (1807 -1817) Promoted to Major General of the 4th Division on Nov. 9, 1812.

Speaker of the Georgia House of Representatives The Georgia House of Representatives is the lower house of the Georgia General Assembly (the state legislature) of the U.S. state of Georgia. There are currently 180 elected members. Republicans have had a majority in the chamber since 2005. ...

(1822), State Senator, namesake of Danielsville and Fort Daniel (1813) * Robert Milner Echols, 11th Division, 1833. *

Samuel Elbert Samuel Elbert (1740November 1, 1788) was an American merchant, soldier, and politician from Savannah, Georgia. Elbert fought in the Revolutionary War, commanding the victorious American colonial forces in a naval battle near St. Simons Island, ...

, 1782, Georgia State Navy, future governor. *

William Ezzard William E. Ezzard (June 12, 1799March 24, 1887) was a Southern United States politician who served as the 11th, 13th and 19th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, in the 19th century. Ezzard was born in Abbeville, South Carolina. He moved to Georgia and l ...

, 1st Brigade of the 11th Division, 1830–1840, future mayor of Atlanta. *

Charles Rinaldo Floyd Charles Rinaldo Floyd (October 14, 1797 – March 22, 1845) was an American planter, politician and military leader most famous for his leading the Trail of Tears out of Georgia and for his Okefenokee Campaign during the Second Seminole War. He wr ...

, 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, 1829. * John Floyd (Georgia politician), 1st Brigade of 1st Division and then 1st Division, 1806–1829, future US Representative, and father of Charles Rinaldo Floyd. *

Ira Roe Foster Ira Roe Foster (January 9, 1811 – November 19, 1885) was a teacher, medical doctor, attorney, soldier, businessman, and politician from South Carolina. During the 1840s, Foster served as brigadier general in the Georgia Militia. With the ...

, 2nd Brigade of the 7th Division, 1845–1851. * Thomas Glascock (I), 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division, 1792, and father of Thomas Glascock (II). * Thomas Glascock (II), 1st Brigade of the 2nd Division, 1816–1822, future US Representative. *

James Gunn (senator) James Gunn (March 13, 1753 – July 30, 1801) was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States Senator from Georgia. Early life Gunn was born in Virginia to Thomas and Sarah Gunn and became a lawyer. Gunn served in the 1st Con ...

, 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, 1792–1801, future US Senator. * Hugh A. Haralson, 9th Division, 1838, future US Representative, and father-in-law of

John Brown Gordon John Brown Gordon () was an attorney, a slaveholding plantation owner, general in the Confederate States Army, and politician in the postwar years. By the end of the Civil War, he had become "one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted generals." Af ...

. * Jeptha Vining Harris, promoted to major general of the 4th Division on 9 November 1829, resigning his commission in 1845. * George Paul Harrison Sr., 1st Brigade, 1856–1861. *

Jared Irwin Jared Irwin (1750 – March 1, 1818) served twice as elected Governor of Georgia (1796–1798) and (1806–1809). He first was elected to office as a reformer based on public outrage about the Yazoo land scandal. He signed a bill that nullifi ...

, 2nd Brigade of the 2nd Division, 1792, future governor. * James Jackson (politician), 1st Brigade, 1786, future US Representative, US Senator, and governor. * David Meriwether, 3rd Division, September 21, 1797 commission, future

David Brydie Mitchell David Brydie Mitchell (October 22, 1766 – April 22, 1837) was an American politician in Georgia who was elected in 1809 as governor of the state, serving two terms. He was elected again in 1815 for one term. Mitchell moved to Georgia at ...

, 1st Brigade of the 1st Division, 1803, future mayor of Savannah and governor. *

Daniel Newnan Daniel Newnan (1780 – January 16, 1851) was an American politician and military commander in North Carolina and Georgia. Early years and education Born in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1780, Newnan attended the University of North Carolina ...

, 3rd Division, 1817–1825, future US Representative. * John C. Nicholls, 2nd Brigade of the 6th Division, 1861, future US Representative. * Charles Phillips, 1st Brigade of the 5th Division, 1825–1828. Member of the Georgia House of Representatives in 1821 and 1822 and the Georgia Senate in 1823. General Phillips and his wife Anne (Nicks) Phillips, were the parents of Pleasant J. Philips and Elizabeth Y. Phillips. Elizabeth married Colonel Reuben J. Crews in 1828 and their first child was

C.C. Crews Charles Constantine Crews (September 3, 1829 – November 14, 1887) was an attorney, physician, railroad executive and Confederate Colonel in the American Civil War. Between 1862 and 1865, he participated in most of the Western Theater ca ...

. * John W. A. Sanford, 3rd Division, 1832–1850, future US Representative. * Paul Jones Semmes, 1st Brigade of the 4th Division, 1837-1840. * Daniel Stewart * Benjamin Taliaferro, 3rd Division, 1795, future US Representative. * Josiah Tattnall, 1st Regiment, 1801, future US Senator and governor. *

Jett Thomas Jett Thomas (May 13, 1776 – January 6, 1817) was an American military officer, politician, and builder who served as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives and participated in the early construction of the University of Georgia. Ea ...

, 3rd Division, 1816. *

Wiley Thompson Wiley Thompson (September 23, 1781 – December 28, 1835) was a United States representative from Georgia. Born in Amelia County, Virginia, Thompson moved to Elberton, Georgia, and served as a commissioner of the Elbert County Academy in 1808. He ...

, 4th Division, 1817, future US Representative.Smith, p. 346–347

Notes

References

* *

External links

Digital Library of Georgia
{{Georgia in the Civil War Military in Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia (U.S. state) in the American Civil War

Notable generals

Notes

References

See also

External links