By Maj. William Carraway
Historian,
Georgia Army National Guard
Note: This
article is an excerpt of a history of the Macon Volunteers currently in
progress.
Logo of the Macon Volunteers and Map of the Actions of Anderson's Division July 2, 1863 by Hal Jespersen
Gettysburg
In the reorganization
of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia following Chancellorsville, the
Division of Brig. Gen. Robert H. Anderson was assigned to the newly created 3rd
Corps under Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill. The Macon Volunteers, as part of the 2nd
Georgia Battalion were assigned to the brigade of Brig. Gen. Ambrose Wright,
Anderson’s Division.
Array of forces July 2, 1863. LOC
In support of
Gen. Lee’s second attempt to take the war to the North, the Macon Volunteers
took up the march on June 14 1863 and entered Pennsylvania on June 26.[1] Alerted to the presence of
Federal forces at Gettysburg July 1, Anderson’s Division, then in Cashtown,
marched to the battlefield and assembled on Herr Ridge by 5:00 that evening.[2]
On the
morning of July 2, Hill ordered Anderson to advance and occupy positions on
Seminary Ridge preparatory to an assault on Federal lines. The Confederate
assault proceeded en echelon from the right as Longstreet’s 1st
Corps initiated the assault with an artillery barrage at 2:00 pm. It would take
more than three hours for the units to the right of Anderson’s Division to be
committed.
With the
advance of Maj. Gen. Lafayette McLaws immediately to his right, Anderson ordered
his brigades forward.[3] Wright positioned his regiments
with the 28th on the right adjacent to the 2nd Florida of
Lang’s Brigade. The 3rd advanced in the center with the 48th
Georgia to their left. Wright ordered the 2nd Georgia Battalion to
advance forward of the brigade as skirmishers. Rushing forward, the battalion
posted behind a split rail fence northwest of the Codori Farm and the
Emmitsburg Road.[4]
Two Federal regiments, the 82nd New York and 15th
Massachusetts were on the opposite side of the road supported by the Battery B,
1st Rhode Island Artillery commanded by Capt. Thomas Brown.
The fence bordering the Emmitsburg Road behind which the Macon Volunteers formed on July 2, 1863. Photo by Maj. William Carraway
The Macon
Volunteers and others of the battalion passed several tense minutes in their
forward exposed position before Wright’s regiments reached them. Whereas the 2nd
Battalion was supposed to fall into the marching order on the left of the 48th,
Ga. its soldiers were disrupted as the brigade passed through its ranks and the
Volunteers were compelled to fall in with the advancing regiments. Though
undulating terrain and tall grass obscured their early advance, the Georgians
were exposed to a galling fire from three brigades of infantry and three
artillery batteries as they approached the Emmitsburg Road. Nevertheless,
Wright’s advance was so swift that by the time Brown observed them he scarcely
had time bring two of his sections to bear. Unleashing a devastating volley
that sent “scores of Wright’s men sprawling in the grass,”[5] the New Yorkers realized
with horror that Wright’s line, three regiment’s wide, would presently envelop
their left flank. Reading the tactical situation, the veterans of the 82nd
N.Y. began to withdraw and with them followed the 15th Mass. As its
infantry support melted away, Brown’s battery was engulfed by the 48th
Georgia which captured the guns and mortally wounded Brown. Seizing the
opportunity afforded by the fleeing Federals, the 22nd and 3rd
Georgia, supported by elements of the 2nd Battalion swiftly advanced
as the Federal units to their front could not fire for fear of hitting their
own men. Wright regarded this opportunity while casting fleeting glimpses to
his left. Posey’s brigade had failed to match the advance of Wright’s Georgians
leaving their left flank exposed. Into this flank 1st Lt. Alonzo
Cushing’s Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery, poured a murderous fire of
grapeshot and cannister. In the maelstrom of combat, Capt. George S. Jones,
commanding Macon Volunteers, was desperately wounded in the face, side and arm
and collapsed to the ground. He was captured and sent to Johnson’s Island.
Subsequently exchanged, Jones rejoined the Volunteers and fought on until the
surrender at Appomattox Court House.[6]
Command of the Macon Volunteers devolved to 1st Lt.
Edward Grannis, but he scarce had time to execute command before he fell
mortally wounded not far from his captain. He died the following day. Second
Lieutenant Thomas Kennedy Campbell, the sole remaining officer of the Macon
Volunteers was shot through the lower abdomen by cannister fire. He was
captured, treated at a Federal field hospital, and dispatched to Fort McHenry,
Md.[7]
The Codori Farm viewed from the position of Cushing's Battery. The Macon Volunteers passed over this ground July 2, 1863. Photo by William Carraway
Wright’s
Georgians had penetrated the Federal line and advanced farther than any
Confederate troops that day, farther indeed than any of the soldiers who would
cross over the same fields the next day as part of Maj. Gen. George’s Pickett’s
doomed charge. Nevertheless, surveying the murderous scene, Wright realized
that his gains were unsustainable. Seething at the absence of support from
adjacent units, Wright ordered his troops to withdraw to their pre-assault
position on Seminary Ridge where they remained until called forward to help
cover the retreat of Pickett’s shattered units the next day. On the evening of
July 4, the 87th anniversary of the independence of the United
States, Wright’s Brigade, and what remained of the Macon Volunteers quietly
marched away From Gettysburg. Ten days later, they crossed the Potomac with
half the men they had taken north just 19 days earlier.[8]
In his report
on the Gettysburg Campaign, Wright bitterly lamented the sacrifice his troops
had made for naught. He credited his troops with capturing 25 artillery pieces,
noting that the 2nd Battalion had accounted for “as many as 5 or 6
pieces.”[9] The cannons came at a high
price. Wright reported 688 killed or wounded and a casualty rate of nearly 51
percent. Three of Wright’s four regimental and battalion commanders fell
including Maj. George Ross of the 2nd Battalion who was mortally
wounded and captured at the crest of Cemetery Ridge.[10] The 2nd
Battalion lost 82 out of 173 who went into action.[11]
Analysis of
the Macon Volunteers service records finds that of an aggregate strength of 52,
16 were killed, wounded or captured including all the company’s officers. In a
rear-guard action at Manassas Gap, July 23, 1863, the company lost five of its
remaining 36 Solders to a superior Federal force.[12]
Postscript
On Aug. 4, 1864, more than one year after being shot through the
bowels by cannister at Gettysburg, and long after other prisoners from
Gettysburg had been exchanged, Lt. Thomas Campbell of the Macon Volunteers
penned the following letter to Col. William Hoffman, commissary general of
prisoners from his cell at Fort McHenry hospital:
Sir,
I
have the honor to submit my care to you for your human consideration. I was
wounded at the battle of Gettysburg July 2, 1863. Ball entering the left side
of the bowel, passing through making its exit near the spinal column. I have
been confined to the bed ever since... I feel quite sure from the condition I
am in at this time that my stay upon the earth will be short. My only desire is
to be permitted to return to my home and spend the few days left me in this
life in the bosom of my family where their kind attention may soothe my journey
to the grave. Hoping this application may meet with your approval and early
considerations.
I
am, colonel, your most obt. svt.
Thos.
K Campbell
Lt.
Co. B 2nd Ga Batt[13]
Lieutenant Campbell died from the effects of his wound Sept, 23,
1864 at Fort McHenry. He was 31 years old.
![]() |
The headstone of 2nd Lt. Thomas K. Campbell in Rose Hill Cemetery, Macon, Ga. Photo by Jimmy Allen. |
[1] U.S. War Department. The
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. (Washington, D.C.:
Government Printing Office, 1889) 613.
[2] U.S. War Department. The
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and
Confederate Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 622.
[3] U.S. War Department. The
War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 614.
[4] Bradley M. Gottfried, The Maps of Gettysburg: An
Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3-July 13, 1863 (New York: Savas
Beatie, 2010), 204-205.
[5] Bradley M. Gottfried, The Maps of Gettysburg: An
Atlas of the Gettysburg Campaign, June 3-July 13, 1863, 206.
----
[6]
National Archives Microfilm Publications
Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who
Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The Second Battalion
Infantry. Roll 159-162.
[7]
National Archives Microfilm Publications
Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who
Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The Second Battalion Infantry.
Roll 159-162.
[8]
U.S. War Department. The War of the
Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate
Armies, 1 / v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 615.
[9] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A
Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1
/ v. 27, Part 2: Reports. 624.
[10] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A
Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, 1 / v.
27, Part 2: Reports. 625.
[11] J. David. Petruzzi and Steven Stanley, The
Gettysburg Campaign in Numbers and Losses: Synopses, Orders of Battle,
Strengths, Casualties, and Maps, June 9-July 14, 1863 (El Dorado Hills, CA:
Savas Beatie, 2013) 130.
[12]
National Archives
Microfilm Publications Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of
Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The
Second Battalion Infantry. Roll 159-162.
[13]
National Archives Microfilm Publications
Microcopy No. 266. Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who
Served in Organizations from the State of Georgia. The Second Battalion
Infantry. Thomas Campbell.
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