The 61st Georgia Volunteer Infantry was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 in the Confederate States Army

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

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History

Part of the Lawton-Gordon

John Brown Gordon

John Brown Gordon was one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted Confederate generals during the American Civil War. After the war, he was a strong opponent of Reconstruction and is thought by some to have been the titular leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia during the late 1860s. A member of the...

-Evans

Clement A. Evans

Clement Anselm Evans was a Confederate infantry general in the American Civil War. He was also a noted politician, preacher, historian and prolific author....

 Brigade, the 61st Georgia Volunteer Infantry was mustered in South Carolina

South Carolina

South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...

 in May 1862. Its service included the Battle of Gaines' Mill

Battle of Gaines' Mill

The Battle of Gaines's Mill, sometimes known as the First Battle of Cold Harbor or the Battle of Chickahominy River, took place on June 27, 1862, in Hanover County, Virginia, as the third of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War...

 (27 June 1862), Second Manassas (29-30 August 1862), the Battle of Chancellorsville

Battle of Chancellorsville

The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...

 (29 April – 5 May 1863) and the Battle of Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

 (1-3 July 1863) among many other battles. Along with the rest of Gordon's brigade, the 61st was among the first Confederate troops to reach the Susquehanna River

Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...

 during the Gettysburg Campaign

Gettysburg Campaign

The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for offensive operations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The...

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George Washington Nichols, in his autobiographical account, A Soldier's Story of His Regiment, depicts life in the 61st Georgia Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War.

Staff

Colonel

• John H. Lamar

Lieutenant Colonels

• James McDonald
• Charles W. McArthur
• James Y. McDuffie

Majors

• Peter Brenan
• Archibald P. McRae
• Henry Tillman
• James D. Van Valkenburg.

Captains

• G.D. Wilcox
• D.R.A. Johnson
• Daniel McDonald
• S.H. Kennedy
• Charles W. McArthur
• Peter Brennan
• W. Fannin
• J.M. Dasher
• James D. Van Valkenburg
• E.F. Sharpe
• T.M. McRae
• J.A. Edmondson
• T.T. Colley.

Adjutants

• G.W. Lamar
• G.C. Conner.

Assistant Quartermaster

• George Higgins.

Companies

• A - "Irwin Cowboys" (Irwin County, Captains Wilcox & McDuffie)
• B - "Tattnall Rangers" (Tattnall County, Captains Johnson & A.P. McRae)
• C - "Brooks Rifles" and "Wiregrass Riflemen" (Brooks and Thomas Counties, Captains McDonald & Edmonson)
• D - "DeKalb Guards" (Bulloch County, Captains Kennedy & Tillman)
• E - "Montgomery Sharpshooters" (Montgomery County, Captains McArthur & T.M. McRae)
• F - "The Stark/Starke Guards"
• G - "Wilkes Guards" (Wilkes County, Captains Fannin & Colley)
• H - "Tattnall Volunteers" (Tattnall County, Captain Dasher)
• I - "Thompson Guards" (Macon and Bibb County, Captain Van Valkenburg)
• K - formed with volunteers from Companies A-I (Captain Sharpe)

External links

• The 61st Georgia Volunteer Infantry