History of the Macon Volunteers, 1825-2025: Early History

By Major William Carraway

Historian, Georgia National Guard

 

Establishment of the Macon Volunteers

The Macon Volunteers as a military organization has a history almost as old as that of its namesake city. Among the first Macon men admitted to its ranks at t the company’s first muster were those who had been present for the Macon’s incorporation.[1]

In March 1825, Lafayette, the last surviving major general of the American Revolution visited Georgia as part of his tour of the United States. On reaching Savannah March 19, Lafayette was received by the governor and an escort of the militia companies of Savannah. Reaching Macon March 30, Lafayette made a tremendous impression on the citizens of the young city, and “what was wanting in style in honor to accomplished French scholar, philanthropist and soldier was supplied with patriotic ardor and genuine hospitality.”[2] Within weeks, that patriotic ardor would contribute to the organization of a military company to rival those who had marched out to welcome Lafayette to Savannah.

 

April 20,1825: Georgia Journal and Messenger

On Wednesday, April 20, 1825, a notice, printed in the Georgia Journal and Messenger of Macon advised that an election of officers to command an independent company of volunteers would take place at Commissioner’s Hall in Macon, Ga. Saturday, April 23, 1925, at 4:00.[3] At the appointed time, leading citizens of Macon assembled, swore a pledge of fidelity, and were mustered in as the Macon Volunteers.[4] A partial roster of the original Macon Volunteers follows:[5]

 

Wright, Edward W., Captain

Dannelly, William J., 1^st Lieutenant

Birdsong, Robert L., 2^nd Lieutenant

Chain, John, Ensign

Coolidge, Samuel J., Orderly Sergeant

Rose, Simri, Clerk

Bryan, George

Childers, John

Chisolm, Murdoch

Corbett, John

Cumming, William

Gillespie, Samuel

Gillis, Angus

Lamar, John T.

McClesky, Thomas J

McLaughlin, Alexander

Newcomb, Samuel

Norman, W. S.

Poe, Washington

Ross, Henry G.

Slade, Marmaduke J.

Smith, Jerry

Tyland, Keeland

Wallis, M.R.

Wardlaw, George B.

Washington, Charles

Washington, Robert

 

In addition to their leadership roles in the Macon Volunteers, Wright, Dannelly, and Birdsong served as city commissioners.[6] Upon organization, the Volunteers moved swiftly to adopt a set of bylaws establishing criteria for membership and decorum expected of all those invited to join what was to be the elite military formation of Macon.

 

Drill and Ceremony

The first drill of the Macon Volunteers took place May 28 when the company was called to appear in formation at the Market House appareled in blue coat, white pantaloons, and vest, with black cravats and boots. Over the years, the uniform would become more ornate adding white-plumed shakos and tailcoats with officers distinguished by white epaulets and crimson sashes. Membership in the Volunteers was by invitation only and admission required unanimous consent. Those accepted into the Macon Volunteers were required to pay their one-dollar initiation fee the day before drill, whereupon they were issued their muskets and certificates of membership.[7]

 

Returning to the Market House June 10, with orders to bring “six blank cartridges,” the Volunteers conducted battalion drill and parade.[8]

Georgia Journal and Messenger June 29, 1825.

 

First Mobilization

Barely two months passed before the Volunteers were called out for their first of
many mobilizations. On Wednesday, June 29, 1825, Governor George Troup ordered militia companies to assemble to form regiments for defense due to increasing tensions with the Creeks. Captain Edward Wright’s Macon Volunteers was among the units that mobilized to Perry, Ga. July 6 following the murder of Gen. William McIntosh at Broken Arrow.[9] The Volunteers formed part of two regiments raised for the contingency though ultimately, military action was not required.

 

Returning to Macon, the Volunteers set about a quarterly drill schedule in which members assembled for business, training, and marksmanship competitions. On February 22, 1826, the Macon Volunteers’ drill culminated with a shooting competition firing at targets at a range of 70 yards, an admirable distance for musket fire.[10]

 

The Macon Volunteers assembled in full summer uniform with knapsacks in front of the Market House April 1, 1826, for inspection and for the recording of a muster roll for the governor.[11] The Volunteer’s convened April 29 in celebration of the unit’s first muster.[12] The May drill was held May 25 at the courthouse. The meeting convened promptly at 7:00 pm.[13]

 

New Leadership and Challenges

With the promotion of Capt. Wright to major, the Macon Volunteers elected William J. Dannelly as their new commander. Dannelly received a captain’s commission on May 29, 1826, and led the Volunteers for five years.[14]

 

July 1826 was a busy month for the Macon Volunteers. The company drilled July 1 and led a procession through Macon on July 4. [15]^,[16] One week later, the Volunteers convened for business and again gathered on July 22 for an election of company non-commissioned officers.[17]

 

The Soldiers received their notices to assemble through advertisements placed in the local paper. These notices encouraged punctual attendance with meeting times varying from 7:00 pm to “candlelight.” If called to form under arms, the Soldiers were advised how many cartridges they should bring as they were responsible for their own ordnance. On the occasion of the October 23, 1826, assembly the Soldiers were ordered to report, fully equipped, at 10:00 am with three ball cartridges where they would “contend for the plume,” that is, hold a marksmanship competition.[18]

 

The Volunteers paraded and fired a salute in honor of George Washinton’s birthday February 22, 1827.[19] That month, in response to the federal government’s refusal to enforce the Treaty of Indian Springs, the Macon Volunteers were among the units ordered to be prepared “to repel any hostile invasion of the territory of this State.”[20] The Volunteers dutifully pledged to “stand by arms,” but were not called to service.

 

For the next three years, the Volunteers mustered, trained, and attended to social events. In celebration of their second birthday, the Soldiers mustered at the courthouse April 23, 1827, where they were celebrated by an oration and gathering of citizens. Attendance was strictly enforced with Capt. Danelly ordering fines of five dollars for any commissioned officer not in attendance while noncommissioned officers and privates were subject to fines of three dollars and one dollar for nonattendance.[21]

 

The Volunteers became fixtures at celebrations marking Georgia Washington’s Birthday and Independence Day. The birthday of the Macon Volunteers was marked by speeches and grand balls attended by Macon’s residents.

 

Dannelly died in command June 27, 1831. The Volunteers did not initially hold an election to replace him. A reorganization of the Volunteers October 8, 1831, brought new leadership with Capt. Lamuel Newcomb assuming command.[22] Later that month, the Volunteers, 80 strong, procured new muskets from the state arsenal at Milledgeville.[23]

 

The January 7, 1832, drill of the Macon Volunteers culminated with a shooting competition with George W. Price taking first place. He received a gold medal which was produced in Macon for the occasion.[24]

 

The Emergence of Annual Training Camps

In May 1831, the Monroe Musketeers held the first summer military training camp in Georgia. The camp provided the opportunity for the unit to conduct military training in a field setting without town distractions. Learning of the camp, The Macon Volunteers proposed to host a meeting of militia units for joint training the following year. The unit dispatched invitations to nearby units and were joined by the Georgia Guards of Milledgeville and the Monroe Musketeers for an encampment May 8, 1832. The training site was named Camp Newcomb after Capt. Lemuel Newcomb, in honor of the host city’s military unit commander.[25] The camp, which lasted four days, was visited by Governor Wilson Lumpkin.[26]

 

The 1832 encampment was so well received that the units resolved to conduct a second encampment the following year. In May 1833, the Macon Volunteers joined the Washington Guards and Georgia Guards at an encampment near Milledgeville. The training at Camp Cuthbert ended on May 18, with those in attendance resolved to continue the practice of annual collective training.[27] That resolution came to pass with the 1834 encampment which was held in May 1834.

 

The Macon Volunteers marched to Saundersville, Ga. for encampment in May 1835. On the fifth day of training, Private West of the Macon Volunteers won the marksmanship competition featuring shooters from the Georgia Guards and Washington Guards. The Volunteers returned to Macon May 11, 1835, escorted by the Bibb Cavalry.[28]

 

With the success of the annual encampments of 1832-1835, the Georgia Militia drew up plans for a camp of instruction in 1836. These plans never came to fruition due to mobilization of the Macon Volunteers for the Second Seminole War.

---

[1] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon, (Macon GA: J. W. Buke, 1879), I80.

 

[2] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon, (Macon GA: J. W. Buke, 1879), 87.

 

[3] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, April 20, 1825, 3.

 

[4] Edge R. Reid, “Macon Volunteers to Celebrate Birthday with Anniversary Ball,” The Macon News, Sunday, March 25, 1928, 15.

 

[5] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 4: The Companies, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2001), 227.

 

[6] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon, (Macon GA: J. W. Buke, 1879),

 

[7] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, May 25, 1825, 3.

 

[8] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, June 8, 1825, 3.

 

[9] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, June 29, 1825, 3.

 

[10] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, February 15, 1826, 3.

 

[11] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, March 29, 1826, 3.

 

[12] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, April 26, 1826, 3

 

[13] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, May 24, 1826, 3.

 

[14] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 4: The Companies, Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2001), 228.

 

[15] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Wednesday, June 21, 1826, 3.

 

[16] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, Tuesday, July 11, 1826, 2.

 

[17] Georgia Journal and Messenger Macon, Georgia, Tuesday, July 11, 1826, 3.

 

[18] Georgia Journal and Messenger Macon, Georgia, October 17, 1826, 3.

[19] The Weekly Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, March 5, 1827, 3.

 

[20] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 4: The Companies, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2001), 219.

 

[21] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, April 10, 1827, 3.

 

[22] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, October 22, 1831, 3.

 

[23] The Weekly Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, October 29, 1831, 2.

[24] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, January 14, 1832, 3.

 

[25] John Butler Campbell, "Historical record of Macon and central Georgia, containing many interesting and valuable reminiscences connected with the whole state, including numerous incidents and facts never before published and of great historical value / by John C. Butler." 1879. November 17, 2024. https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/georgiabooks/do-pdf:gb0025, 109.

[26] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, May 05, 1832, 3.

 

[27] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, May 23, 1833, 3.

 

[28] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, May 14, 1835, 3.

History of the Macon Volunteers 1825-2025: The Second Seminole War

By Major William Carraway

Historian, Georgia National Guard

 

Crest of the Macon Volunteers with Macon Volunteers, National Guard heritage painting by Jackson Walker.

Mobilization

On January 13, 1836, Georgia Governor William Schley, in anticipation of hostile actions by a combined force Creeks in Alabama and Seminoles in Florida, issued a proclamation for volunteer companies to be prepared to serve in defense of their state.[1] On February 5, 1836, the Macon Volunteers, 92 strong, assembled under the command of Capt. Isaac G. Seymour in Macon. [2] An 1825 graduate of Yale University, Seymour was a lawyer and editor of the Georgia Messenger.[3]

 

Captain Isaac Seymour's service record in the Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the Indian Wars, National Archives.

The Volunteers were one of five companies assigned to the 1^st Georgia Battalion commanded by Maj. Mark Anthony Cooper.[4] In addition to the Macon Volunteers, the battalion was comprised of the Morgan County Guard, Monroe Musketeers, State Fencibles and Hancock Blues.[5] Governor William Schley addressed the assembled troops before the Soldiers departed by boat travelling down the Ocmulgee River.[6]

 

The battalion travelled to Florida by way of Darien, Ga. and was mustered into federal service February 18, 1836, at Picolata, Fla. With an aggregate strength of approximately 380 Soldiers, the 1^st Battalion was assigned to the federal division of Brig. Gen. Duncan L. Clinch.[7] The overall commander of the operation against the Seminoles was Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott.

 

The Campaign Begins

On March 26, 1836, Clinch, accompanied by Scott, marched his units from Fort Drane in present-day Marion County, Fla. with a force of more than 3,000 troops including 1,248 militia. His objective, as defined by Scott, was to threaten the Seminole stronghold in the Cove of the Withlacoochee. This area presented foreboding terrain for the advance with dense pine forests and swamps.

 

After marching ten miles on the first day the Soldiers made camp. A detail was dispatched to help retrieve two baggage wagons that had become stuck along the route of march from Fort Drane. Part of the detail included Pvts. Turner Bryan, E. B. Cotton, A. J. Mitchell, and J. W. Thompson of the Macon Volunteers.[8]

 

Reaching the wagons, the detachment of Soldiers was attacked by Seminoles. Two of the Volunteers escaped on horseback while the other two survived by concealing themselves behind fallen logs before returning to camp.[9]

 

On March 29, the Seminoles struck Clinch’s column while the troops were crossing a stream. Acting as the advance guard for the crossing the Macon Volunteers were swiftly taken under fire. Three Soldiers of the Macon Volunteers; Pvt. James L. Williams, Pvt. James M. Danelly, and Pvt. James T. Lewellen, were wounded before the Seminoles withdrew.[10]

 

The Bravest Man in the Army

Clinch column continued on for another 30 miles enroute to Fort Brook in Tampa, but its progress was slowed by the requirements of the wounded and the need to care for sick men. During one tense evening, one of many in which the Soldiers expected the Seminoles to fall on them without warning, pickets posted on sentinel duty raised the alarm that an attack was in progress. The entire camp sprang to alert only to find that there was no enemy force, but one Macon Volunteer, Cpl. Eliphalet Edgerton Brown. Brown had been too ill to accompany the Volunteers when they left Picolata with Clinch’s Column on March 26 and had been left behind. Yet there he stood, like an apparition in the moonlight. Taken to headquarters, Brown presented Gen. Scott with urgent dispatches. When these documents had arrived at Picolata, Brown volunteered to ride 90 miles alone through enemy territory to deliver them. Scott promptly offered Brown a drink from his flask and proclaimed Brown the “bravest man in the Army.”[11]

 

Corporal Eliphalet Brown's service record in the Records of Soldiers Who Served in Volunteer Organizations During the Indian Wars, National Archives.

Fort Cooper

Upon reaching a site with fresh water, Clinch detached the 1^st Georgia Battalion including the Macon Volunteers to protect the wounded and sick while he continued on with the bulk of his force. Cooper directed the erection of fortifications, and the Volunteers labored to establish the fort on a bluff overlooking Holathikaha Lake. While constructing Fort Cooper, the Soldiers were under constant fire from the Seminoles who surrounded and lay siege to the fortification. The Georgians and Seminoles exchanged fire though the vegetation was so thick in places that combatants could scarcely see each other. The Seminoles also targeted the Soldier’s provisions killing cattle during the night and preventing forage during the day. With supplies dwindling, Cooper was compelled to kill his horse to supply meat for the wounded. For more than three weeks, the Soldiers withstood Seminole attacks on Fort Cooper before being relieved April 27.[12]

 

Following their engagement, the longest of the Second Seminole War, The Georgia Battalion and Macon Volunteers returned to Fort Drane and were mustered out of federal service May 15, 1836. [13]

 

Welcome Home

Returning to Macon, the Volunteers were received by the city with a grand dinner. Marching in procession from the Central Hotel, the Volunteers followed their colors, recently pierced by enemy projectiles, to a warehouse which had been converted to a massive dining hall complete with a double row of tables. Speakers recounted the hardships and sacrifices endured by the Volunteers on campaign and toasts were raised to honor Macon’s military heroes. Newspaper accounts of the reception reported that “no lack of provisions or liquors (were) found.[14]

Eliphalet Edgerton Brown, whom Gen. Scott had lauded as the “bravest man in the Army” was elected magistrate upon his return, serving for 18 years and was subsequently elected alderman. For decades, he was a successful hotel owner and operator. In 1880 he built the Edgerton Hotel. When he died June 12, 1886, he was one of only seven remaining Macon Volunteer veterans of the Second Seminole War. His funeral was attended en masse by the Macon Volunteers.[15]

Roster of Seymour’s Company, Macon Volunteers, Second Seminole War[16]

 

Seymour, Isaac Gurdun. - Captain

Connor, Zephaniah Turner. - 1^st Lieutenant

Council, J. T. -2^nd Lieutenant

Ellsworth, John - Ensign

Holmes, Isaac - 1^st Sergeant

Shelton, E. L. - 2^nd Sergeant

Rowland, W. P. - 3^rd Sergeant

Lewis, F. F. - 4^th Sergeant

Reid, David - 5^th Sergeant

Brown, E. E. - 1^st Corporal

Ross, B. F. - 2^nd Corporal

Holmes, William, - 3^rd Corporal

Robinson, R. P. - 4^th Corporal

Carver, Robert - 5^th Corporal

Butler, John - Drummer

Almon, B. W.

Barrow, David

Bassett, Richard

Bell, A. W. – enlisted in Fry’s Company Illinois Mounted Volunteers. Transferred

Bennett, J. R.

Berrecke, C.

Bereck, Cosnard

Blunt, (Blount) Thomas– enlisted in Allen’s Company Georgia Mounted Volunteers. Transferred

Bourke, (Burke) Philip

Boyce, J. J.

Boyle, J. J.

Brumberlow, C.

Brown, A. D.

Bryan, Turner

Buckley, (Bulkey) E. C.

Burdine, John

Burr, A. P.

Cain, James C.

Caspers, W. C.

Church, R. E.

Clarke, J. C. F.

Cotton, E. B.

Cunningham, James– enlisted in Rogers Company Alabama Mounted Volunteers. Transferred

Daniel, Amariah

Dannelly, James M.

Delanny, James L.

Earle, R. G.

Edmund

Ellis, James M.

Field, John M.

Finnighan, Solomon

Fitch, Horace

Fort, J. E.

Foster, A. H.

Hansel, Joiner

Harvey, W. H.

Hickman, R. S.

Hill, H. B

Hodgkins, Daniel

Howland, C. L.

Huey A. S.

Hughes, W. H.

Huson, F. A.

Lamar, J. B.

Lewellen, James T.

Mallory, George W.

McCarty, F. W.

McCarty, Francis

McCarty, R. E.

McCarty, R. S.

Mills, H. T.

Mitchell, A. J.

Mitchell, Jesse

Nixon, H. D.

Oliver John– enlisted in Keener’s Company Alabama Mounted Volunteers. Transferred

Pendleton, P. C.

Redding, H. P.

Robert

Rodgers, D. R.

Rodgers, M.W.

Rodgers, Wiley

Scott, John M.

Sewell, (Sewal) Layton

Sinclair, R.

Smith, J. P.

Stanley, S. H. *listed twice

Saulsberry, J. L.

Saulsberry, T. J.

Thompson, J. W.

Thompson, William– enlisted in Blount’s Company Alabama Militia Volunteers. Transferred

Tison, W. H.

Toris, F. A.

Warner, B. R.

Wells, Joseph E.

White, Joseph A.

William

Williams, E. D.

Williams, James– enlisted in Coffey’s Company Alabama Mounted Volunteers. Transferred

Williams, James L.

Wimberly, T. D.

Wood, George

Wright, W. L.

Wyche, C.C.

---

[1] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga. J. W. Burke & Co., 1879), 124.

 

[2] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga. J. W. Burke & Co., 1879), 125.

 

[3] “Isaac Gurden Seymour,” https://ledger.litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org/ledger/students/2271

 

[4] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and Generals, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000), 179.

 

[5] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and Generals, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000), 183.

 

[6] George M. Sparks, Same Spirit To Do and Dare Now as of Yore is in Breasts of Volunteers,” Macon Telegraph, July 2, 1916, 30.

[7] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and Generals, (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000), 179.

 

[8] “From Florida,” The Weekly Telegraph, May 5, 1836, 5.

 

[9] “On Tampa Bay, April 6^th 1836,” Georgia Journal and Messenger, May 5, 1836, 5.

 

[10] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga. J. W. Burke & Co, 1879), 129.

[11] George M. Sparks, Same Spirit To Do and Dare Now as of Yore is in Breasts of Volunteers,” Macon Telegraph, July 2, 1916, 30.

 

[12] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and Generals, Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000, 180.

 [13] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 1: Campaigns and Generals. (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000), 183.

 

[14] The Weekly Telegraph, June 2, 1836, 3. 

 

[15] “Death of Judge E. E. Brown,” Macon Telegraph, June 13, 1886, 7. 

[16] National Archives, US Indian War Service Records index, 1815-1858.

 

The Macon Volunteers: 1825-2025: The Macon Volunteers, Macon Guards, and the Mexican American War, 1836-1847

By Major William Carraway

Historian, Georgia National Guard

 

Prelude

With their battle laurels earned in Florida in 1836, the Georgia Militia resumed the practice of annual training encampments. The Macon Volunteers and Bibb Cavalry encamped May 24-27, 1838, on an elevation west of Macon known as Encampment Hill.[1] From May 7-11, 1839, the Macon Volunteers encamped at Garrett Springs near Milledgeville, Ga.[2]

 

The 1840 encampment was held in Savannah, Ga. from April 30-May 5. The Volunteers were joined in camp by the Clinch Riflemen, Augusta Artillery Guards, Metropolitan Greys, and Liberty Independent Troop. Savannah-based units included the Republican Blues, Volunteer Guards, Phoenix Riflemen, Chatham Artillery and Georgia Hussars.[3]

 

After traveling by rail on May 22, 1843, to attend a training camp in Savannah, the Macon Volunteers were received by the Savannah Volunteer Guards. Joining the companies already in Savannah, the Volunteers paraded through the city. The Savannah Republic was prompted to observe that the Volunteers “in their light and elegant uniforms and white drooping plumes, carried themselves admirably. Their military deportment and good discipline reflect high honor upon them.”[4]

 

The deportment and honor of the Volunteers would soon be put to the test. The American annexation of Texas in 1845 would swiftly lead the Volunteers to war.

 

From Macon Volunteers to Macon Guards

Roster of the Macon Guards (Volunteers),
Weekly Columbus Enquirer, July 7, 1846, 1.

During their September 7, 1845, drill, the Macon Volunteers unanimously approved a
resolution officering their services should the United States declare war on Mexico. Captain Isaac Holmes, commander of the Macon Volunteers, communicated the company’s resolve to the Secretary of War.[5]

 

Holmes was born in Liberty County in 1814. He served as first sergeant of the Macon Volunteers in 1836. In 1846 he was elected Mayor of Macon, becoming the fourth Macon Volunteer to serve as the city’s chief executive following Robert Birdsong, W. J. Dannelly and Isaac Seymour.[6]

 

Following a series of cross border engagements with Mexican forces, the United States declared War on Mexico on May 13, 1846. Accordingly, the War Department called on states to fill allotments of volunteer troops. Whereas the Volunteers tendered their services for six months of service, the War Department required 12-month enlistments. Meeting to discuss the matter, the Volunteers found that while the plurality were prepared to serve for 12 months, there were those who, due to family or business considerations, could not commit to the longer enlistment period. Rather than allow those members to suffer the discomfort of watching their company march off without them, the Soldiers resolved to form a new company for the purpose of mobilization for Mexican War service.[7] Resigning as mayor, Capt. Holmes assumed command of the new company, designated the Macon Guards, with Elisha Shelton and Edmund Rogers as lieutenants.[8] The plurality of the Volunteers immediately joined the ranks of the Guards while those who could not do so would remain behind, effectively as a rear detachment.

 

The Macon Guards were among the first ten companies of Georgia Militia to meet the enlistment stipulations of the War Department.[9]

 

On To Texas

Assembling in Columbus, Ga. June 20, 1846, the companies, with an aggregate strength of 910 Soldiers, were assembled into two battalions of five companies each forming the 1^st Regiment of Georgia Volunteers. The Soldiers elected Capt. Henry Rootes Jackson of the Savannah-based Irish Jasper Greens to serve as colonel of the new regiment.[10] Captain Isaac Holmes, served as first sergeant of the Macon Volunteers during the Second Seminole War, finished second in the election with 298 votes just 12 short of the 310 votes tendered for Jackson.[11]

 

The Macon Guards were assigned as Company C, 1^st Battalion, 1^st Georgia Regiment with the Columbus Guards, Richmond Blues, Canton Volunteers and Crawford Guards. [12] The 2^nd Battalion consisted of the Georgia Light Infantry, Fanin Avengers, Kennesaw Rangers, Sumter County Volunteers and Jasper Greens.

 

The 1st Regiment marched from Columbus to Chehaw, Ala. where they entrained for Montgomery. Proceeding to Mobile, the Soldiers embarked on the steamer James L Day July 9, bound for Brazos Island, Texas at the mouth of the Rio Grande.[13] After bivouacking for two weeks, the regiment marched to Camp Belknap east of Brownsville. Its ranks thinned by debility and hardship, the regiment proceeded west and crossed the border into Mexico before encamping at Carmargo where the Soldiers suffered from disease and temperatures soaring above 100 degrees. By the first day of August, 160 men were sick or debilitated due to dysentery and exposure. Just two months later, at Camp Allen near Monterrey, only 600 of the 910 Soldiers who set out from Columbus were fit for duty. Among the seventy Soldiers lost to disease at Monterrey was Capt. Isaac Holmes, who died December 1, 1846.[14] He was eulogized by a resolution adopted by the officers of the Georgia Regiment at Camp Allen December 13, 1946.[15]

 

That the loss of Captain Holmes, the Georgia Regiment has sustained a blow from which it cannot hope to recover – the accomplished officer, the fascinating gentlemen, the gallant soldier – ever prompt in the discharge of duty and full of all the lofty impulses which lead to distinction – enlightening all around him by the display of military knowledge, and diffusing the sunshine of a most amiable character over our social horizon, death has selected him as a most conspicuous victim.

 

The Macon Guards and the 1^st Georgia Regiment were deployed along the Mexican coast as part of the volunteer division of Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson. Colonel Jackson, commanding the 1^st Georgia Regiment, was placed in command of a brigade which included his former regiment. Patterson’s Volunteers marched to Tampico and onward to Vera Cruz with Jackson’s Brigade last in the line of march.[16] Arriving, they were placed in the lines confronting Vera Cruz, but were not engaged during the siege.

 

Map of the Siege of Vera Cruz drawn by Capt. George B. McClellan, 1847. Library of Congress.

The regiment was next dispatched to Alvarado, but the Mexican forces there retreated without an engagement. The Georgians then marched to Cerro Gordo but did not arrive until the battle was over. Despite travelling nearly 800 miles across Mexico, the Georgia Regiment’s only casualties thus far had been to disease.

 

Demobilization

While encamped at Jalapa May 5, 1847, the 1^st Georgia received orders to prepare to return to the United States. The regiment would march to Vera Cruz and embark for New Orleans.[17] Returning to Georgia at the expiration of their 12-month enlistment term in June 1847, the 1^st Regiment, Georgia Volunteers mustered 450 Soldiers out of service having lost 145 to disease and 315 to discharge.[18] Welcoming the Macon Guards home June 17, the city of Macon held a banquet in honor of their Soldiers.[19]

 

Seymour, by then a major, remained in Mexico after the departure of the Georgia Regiment.[20] Promoted to lieutenant colonel in October, he was placed in command of a battalion of Georgia volunteer companies that been raised after the initial muster of the 1^st Georgia Regiment. In December 1847, following a terrifying 72-hour passage through a typhoon aboard the steamer Easton, Seymour landed with his troops near Perote, Mexico where he served as the military governor of Castle Perote in which General Santa Anna was imprisoned.[21]

---

[1] Weekly Columbus Enquirer, Columbus, Georgia, May 31, 1838, 2.

 

[2] The Weekly Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, May 14, 1839, 3.

 

[3] Georgia Journal and Messenger, Macon, Georgia, May 7, 1840, 3.

 

[4] The Weekly Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, May 30, 1843, 3.

  [5] The Weekly Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, September 9, 1845, 2.

 

[6] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga. J. W. Burke & Co, 1879), 95, 98, 338.

 

[7] The Weekly Telegraph, Macon, Georgia, June 09, 1846, 3.

 

[8] Gordon Burns Smith, History of the Georgia Militia: 1783-1861 Volume 2: Counties and Commanders Part 1. (Milledgeville, GA: Boyd Publishing, 2000), 264.

 

 [9] Wilbur G. Kurtz, “The First Regiment of Georgia Volunteers in the Mexican War,” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 27, no. 4 (1943): 301–323, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40576901, 307.

[10] Wilbur G Kurtz, “The First Regiment of Georgia Volunteers in the Mexican War,” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 27, no. 4 (1943): 301–323. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40576901, 308.

 

[11] “Georgia Regiment,” Weekly Columbus Enquirer, June 24, 1846, 2.

 

[12] “Georgia Regiment,” Daily Constitutionalist and Republic, January 6, 1847, 2.

 

[13] Weekly Telegraph, July 14, 1846, 2.

 

[14] Wilbur G. Kurtz, “The First Regiment of Georgia Volunteers in the Mexican War,” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 27, no. 4 (1943): 301–323. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40576901, 311.

[15] “[Communicated]” Weekly Telegraph, February 9, 1847, 3.

 

[16] Charles P. Hervey, Adjutant, Georgia Regiment of Volunteers, “8^th July, 1847,” Weekly Columbus Enquirer, July 13, 1847.

[17] Maj. Gen. Robert Patterson, Orders No. 17, May 5, 1847.

 

[18] Wilbur G. Kurtz, “The First Regiment of Georgia Volunteers in the Mexican War,” The Georgia Historical Quarterly 27, no. 4 (1943): 301–323. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40576901, 312.

 

[19] John C. Butler, Historical Record of Macon and Central Georgia, (Macon, Ga. J. W. Burke & Co.), 176.

 

[20] “Return of the Military, Georgia Journal and Messenger, June 16, 1847, 2.

 

[21] “Letter from Col. Seymour,” Georgia Journal and Messenger, January 26, 1848, 2.