George Augustus Smith II (1824 - 1864)

Born 4 Nov 1824 in Darien, Georgia

Ancestors

Husband of Adelphia Ann Loving (Cook) Smith — married 25 Sep 1845 in Christ Church by the Reverend F. S. Bragg, Macon, Bibb Co., Georgia

Descendants

Died 30 Nov 1864 at age 40 in Battle of Franklin, Franklin, Tennessee

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<1> Written by his daughter "GEORGE A SMITH Geo A Smith bom in Darien Mcintosh county Ga on the 5th of November 1824 passed in Macon Ga a very quiet and uneventful life up to the period of the Civil War He was always deeply interested in the politics of his country and during the Presidential campaign of 1860 possessed such a clear appreciation of the spirit the times that even at that early day he began to devote all his spare moments to the study of Military Tactics In the first months of 1861 lie organized and drilled a company of volunteers which was mustered into the Stale service by Governor Brown some lime in March This company was called in honor of Georgia's Governor Brown's Infantry and with other Georgia compauies forming the 1st battalion of Georgia volunteers left Macon April 5th 1861 for Peusacola Fla Here the com mand remained without entering into any engagement until the bombardment of the 22d and 23d of November in the same year At the time it was said that this encounter was the first wherein the Confederate batteries had successfully engaged the Federal ships However this may be Capt Smith and his company manned a water battery without the walls of Fort McRae und did their duty The company received pennis mission to have the name and date of the battle stamped upon their flag and their Captain upon the official recommendation of Gen Bragg was appointed and commissioned Lieutenant Colonel in the Provisional Army of the Confederacy In January 1862 Lt Col Smith obtained a furlough for ten days seven of which were spent in Macon with his family As soon as he returned to the army he was ordered to Mobile where ho soon went about the work of raising a full regiment upon the nuck us of the battalion to which he had belonged This done he received a commission as full Colonel his regiment being styled the 30th Georgia and afterwards when their term ot service as State troops had expired the 1st Confederate Georgia regiment Col Smith remained stationed at Mobile until the early part of 1864 during all which time he was nevei absent from his post an hour He had command of Fort Gaines nominally and ranked only as Colonel but throughout the greater part of his two years stay at Mobile performed the duties of a Brigadier General having charge of the three forts Morgan Games and Pillow Only once was there an engagement and then a light one but the commander's duty called him from one fort to another by which bis life was in danger as well from the stormy waters of the gulf as the enemy's missiles Early in 1864 Col Smith and his regiment were sent to join Gen Johnston 6 army then in upper Georgia and during that whole tedious and trying retreat lie never flinched from his duty Near Atlanta on the 22d of July while commanding in battle the brigade to which he belonged he was wounded and then for the first lime since January 1862 returned to Iub home on a sixty days leave of absence Before this season had expired however he was recalled to his regiment to remedy some disorders which had arisen during his absence Again he was compelled by unhealed wounds to leave the army but in October finally rejoined it on its way to Tennessee He fell in the battle of Franklin November 30th 1864 while charging upon the second line of the enemy's entrenchments Col Smith was very much loved by the soldiers whom he commanded and by strict attention to duty always secured the esteem and respect of superior officers His regiment bore the reputation of being excellently drilled and disciplined and though it performed post duly during the greater part of tbe war height as gallantly at any w hen on the field"

<2> The 36th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was commanded by Colonel Charles Broyle’s and was known as the 36th (Broyle’s) Georgia. This regiment was the regiment that was one of the regiments that was in Cumming’s Brigade, Stevenson’s Division. The regiment would be surrendered at Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 4, 1862 but was paroled with the rest of the Confederate forces and would return to service in October 1863 with the Army of Tennessee. I do not have a muster roll of this regiment posted on my website, just the 39th Georgia. This 36th Georgia was formed in the spring of 1862 and was given this numerical designation.

George Augustus Smith’s 36th Georgia began as the 1st (a.k.a. Larey’s and as Villepigue’s) Battalion Georgia Volunteers was organized with five companies, A to E, by General Order No. 19, Headquarters Troops, Confederate States, dated April 16, 1861. It was increased to a regiment in October 1861 and known as the Georgia and Mississippi Regiment but it was officially recognized by the Adjutant & Inspector General’s Office as the 36th Georgia Regiment. This designation was changed to the 1st Regiment Confederate Infantry by Special Order Number 25, Adjutant & Inspector General’s Office, dated January 31, 1862. In the Official Records (commonly referred to as the “O.R.”) you will see it referenced as “1st Georgia Confederate,” “1st Confederate Georgia Regiment,” and “1st Georgia (Confederate).”

The 1st Confederate Infantry Regiment was first involved in the bombardment of Pensacola, Florida. It later fought at Fort McRae and Corinth, then joined the Army of Tennessee for the Atlanta Campaign. The 1st Confederates went with Hood into Tennessee and participated in the battles of Nashville and Franklin where many were disabled. The few that remained returned to South Carolina in January of 1865 and participated in the Carolina’s campaign against Sherman. Only a handful surrendered in April 1865. Companies of the 1st Confederate Infantry:

Company A – Independent Volunteers – Bibb County Georgia; Company B – Ringgold Volunteers – Catoosa County Georgia; First Company C – Brown Infantry – Bibb County Georgia; Second Company C – Fulton County Georgia; First Company D – Fulton County Georgia; Second Company D – Catoosa and Walker Counties Georgia; First Company E – Etowah Infantry - Bartow County Georgia; Second Company E – Bartow County Georgia; First Company F – Richmond County Georgia; Second Company F – Power Springs Guards – Cobb County Georgia; First Company G – Floyd County Georgia; Second Company G – Floyd County Georgia; First Company H; Second Company H; Second Company I – Catoosa County Georgia; Second Company K;

During the Nashville Campaign the 1st Confederate Infantry Regiment was in Jackson’s Brigade, Bate’s Division. On December 10, 1864 the regiment was shown as having been consolidated with the 66th Georgia and was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James C. Gordon. The order of battle (April 30, 1864) for the Atlanta Campaign shows that Colonel George A. Smith was in command of the regiment.

George Augustus Smith has two compiled military service records (CMSR) (those are the records you find at the National Archives). The first will be in the 36th (Villepigue’s) Georgia and the second in the 1st Confederate Infantry. He had a horse killed underneath him at the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864. He was wounded at the Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia and went on medical furlough for 30 days. His CMSR for the 1st Confederate Infantry does show that he was killed in action on November 30, 1864 at the Battle of Franklin, Tennessee.

His widow, Adelphia A. Smith, filed for a Georgia Confederate Indigent Widow’s Pension Application on April 6, 1891 and she signed her name (meaning she was likely literate). She was a resident of Bibb County.

Sources: <1> Scott's Monthly Magazine, Volumes 5-6 page 204[1] <2> Correspondence about the 36th Georgia / 1st Confederate Infantry Unit with Lt. Col. Hodge who maintains the website on the 36th Georgia. <3> CMSR on Fold3.com <4> the Georgia Confederate Indigent Widow’s Pension Application on Ancestry.com. - see images