The 11th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment 1861–1865

A Biographical Roster

Richard Michael Allen

• Publisher: Savas Publishing
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781611214277
• eBook ISBN:
  9781940669878
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: 19th Century History
• Index: History

The 7th, 8th, 9th, and 11th Georgia volunteer infantry regiments spent most of the Civil War fighting under Brig. Gen. George Thomas "Tige" Anderson in Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. Until now, no biographical roster of their members has ever been published. These Georgians saw it all, from the bloody battle of First Manassas through the ferocious combat of Second Manassas, Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and the long siege of Petersburg. They finally furled their banners at Appomattox. Nearly 5,000 men passed through these four Georgia regiments. These rosters offer a long overdue record of these men. Each roster is organized by company in a simple and easy to use format. Entries feature full names (if known), promotions, demotions, casualties, transfers, and resignations for every rank—an unprecedented look into men and the structure and evolution of these organizations. They include the most comprehensive examination of the personnel originally enlisted and their subsequent service histories within these units in chronological order for the first time. Compiler and author Richard Allen has spent nearly two decades researching scores of archives and other sources to prepare these rosters. He utilized primary sources such as the Official Records, Compiled Service Records, newspaper accounts, diaries, letters, census information, burial records, and a variety of documents from both published sources and private collections. Students of the Civil War, genealogists, and enthusiasts of Georgia history will find these rosters invaluable. Everyone who uses them owes Rick Allen a hearty, and heartfelt, thank you.

About the Author

A 1990 graduate of the Maryland Institute of Art, Richard Michael Allen is a lifelong student of the American Civil War. A Maryland native, Rick was fortunate to spend a large part of his youth roaming the Eastern Theater battlefields and has remained a student of that conflict ever since. He has spent the last fifteen years researching and identifying the men, their history, and the composition of these four Georgia infantry regiments who served in Brig. Gen. George T. Anderson’s brigade.

Notes

1 Alternately described as “dashing”, “always finely mounted" and “a splendid horseman” it is regrettable that no picture of this talented young colonel has ever come to light.

2 GO No. 17, paragraph I, establishes a court of inquiry to investigate certain charges touching on the conduct of Major George, Chief Quartermaster of Hood’s Division, pertaining to the disposal of army supplies and will have Colonel Little as one of its board members. G.O. 18 confirms Little as one of three board members on the court.

3 This document shows Col. Jack Brown of the 59th Georgia as commanding brigade as of February 24, 1865.

4 President of the Georgia Senate from 1858-1860.

5 Also shown as SO 251 but this may be due to sloppy handwriting of the 7.

6 More likely May 6 though the Compiled Service Record (CSR) says May 7.

7 Also shown as July 4 in some records.

8 Guthrie, once appointed to captain and assistant quartermaster, also seems to have functioned as, and is referred to as “Acting QM" and “QM”. For that reason, perhaps improperly, the authors have included him here in both positions.

9 Appears on voter registration card in San Francisco dated 1871. No later record.

10 Was only acting assistant quartermaster, never assigned permanently to this rank as far as the CSR indicates.

11 Date of death also shown as July 25, 1863.

12 Also shown as Feb 11, 1863.

13 This information regarding his promotion to 2nd lieutenant on April 30, 1864 is not specifically confirmed within the CSR.

14 Listed as 1st lieutenant on Appomattox parole card within the CSR. While it is possible that S. G. Tuck was elected 1st lieutenant very late in the War, the balance of the CSR does not support this contention, and he is shown here with his final rank of 2nd lieutenant and regimental ensign as shown within the CSR. Issue unresolved.

15 Poor night vision, or a loss of night vision.

16 Spelling for this engagement has been changed from “Sayler’s” to “Sailor’s” per research conducted by Chris Calkins, Park Manager of the Sailor’s Creek Battlefield Historical State Park.

17 Other dates for this promotion are September 1 and September 30, 1861.

18 This section only lists those noted within the records as having served as color bearers of the regiment and does not represent every person to have ever done so in battle.

19 Listed as 1st lieutenant on Appomattox parole card within the CSR. While it is possible that S. G. Tuck was elected 1st lieutenant very late in the war, the balance of the CSR does not support this contention, and he is shown here with his final rank of 2nd lieutenant and regimental ensign as shown within the CSR.

20 Letter of recommendation to the rank of ensign dated April 1864 states that ‘Sergeant Tuck has borne the regimental colors for the last ten months through countless engagements’.

21 This company formed in April 1861 but was not sworn into Confederate States service until July 3, 1861. A few additional comments about this company are in order. Many of the descriptions contained herein are seemingly impossibly identical. The proportion of people who are listed as having grey eyes, auburn hair and light complexions is uncanny; almost as if somebody was just writing nearly the same thing for almost anyone. The heights and ages differ, but not this many people could possibly have auburn hair. Still, the author left the physical descriptions as the cards indicated. For this company at least, one should be wary of trusting the physical descriptions. Also, in the first few months of the war, every person in this company left equipment behind them (e.g., canteens, haversacks, screwdrivers, bayonets, knapsacks—everything). The author had never encountered this before in all the companies in the brigade that were researched. What happened, or why they all had to leave their equipment behind them is a mystery.

22 Mitchell was Court-martialed in early 1862 but received no judgment in the case; and as of May 1862, assuming his judgement was lost in some operational muddle, he was writing to Adjutant General Samuel Cooper to find out what was going on with the decision in his case and requesting to be returned to duty.

23 This 1863 date is believed to be correct, but it is only a best guess based on existing records within the CSR. The possible range in dates is from August 62 to March 64.

24 Also known as Deep Bottom.

25 Also shown in CSR as May 26 and June 24, 1864.

26 Discharge date also shown as October 28.

27 Brother of A. L. Keith.

28 Inflammation of the tonsils most commonly caused by viral or bacterial infection.

29 Also shown in CSR as May 26 and June 24, 1864.

30 Also known as a chest cold, a short-term inflammation of the bronchi of the lungs.

31 Confederate state pension application shows birth date of October 14, 1844.

32 Possibly wounded again in May 1864; missing records in the CSR make it difficult to be certain.

33 Sometimes shown as a sergeant in and after March 1862, but handwritten documents in the CSR from the period of 1862 show him to have remained a private until his death.

34 Full name and burial information was taken from local burial records and may not be correct. The information shown matched well however and was consistent with his correct age and had him living next to Hall County.

35 Alternate information in CSR shows him as captured and paroled in October 1864 at Bermuda Hundred, Va. If this is so, and after the time Prisoner Exchanges were suspended, excepting an extremely late w...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Brig. Gen. George T. Anderson
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• The Organization of the Roster
• Acknowledgements
• Foreword
• 11th Georgia Infantry: A Brief History
• 11th Georgia Infantry Regiment Field, Staff and Band
• Company A: “The Gainesville Light Infantry” (Hall County)
• Company B: “The Lee Volunteers” (Lee County)
• Company C: “The Murray Rifle Company” (Murray County)
• Company D: “The Gilmer Boys” (Gilmer County)
• Company E: “The Fannin Young Riflemen” (Fannin County)
• Company F: “Mrs. Joe Brown’s Boys” (Gilmer County)
• Company G: “The Beauregard Rifles” (Catoosa County)
• Company H: “The Walton Infantry” (Walton County)
• Company I: “The Quitman Greys” (Quitman County)
• Company K: “The Houston Volunteers” (Houston County)
• Possible Additional Members of the 7th Georgia Infantry
• About the Author