Notes and Queries

NOTES AND QUERIES Edited by Boyd B. Stutler 517 Main Street Charleston, West Virginia This department is designed as an open forum for researchers into Civil War themes and for readers of Civil War History in general. It is open for questions on, and discussions of, phases of the Great Conflict and its personnel. Also, we welcome notes on newly discovered, little known, or other sidelights of the war. Contributions are invited; address Notes and Queries Editor, 517 Main St., Charleston, West Virginia. QUERIES No. 73—16th Georgia Infantry Regiment: In the course of compiling a history of the 16th Georgia Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Battalion, Georgia Sharpshooters (many of whose members were drawn from the 16th Georgia), I find that I am seriously handicapped for sources other than the Official Records, personal letters of the Cobb family, and service records of individual soldiers on file in the National Archives. Query: Can anyone supply information about these outfits or the whereabouts of original letters, diaries, etc., dealing with the trials and tribulations of these Georgia troops? Dan M. Byrd, Jr. No. 74—LeMat Revolver from Co. A, 18th Georgia: In the September, I960, issue I was especially interested in the little article on "Lost Confederate Graves in Baltimore Cemetery," particularly because ofreferences to Companies A and B, 18th Georgia Battalion. My interest in Company A is that I have owned for a number of years a LeMat nine-shot percussion revolver that was made in France under Confederate government contract and brought to the South by blockade -runners. This particular revolver has a tiny german silver star set into the right grip and underneath the star is a crescent-shaped silver plate with "Co. A 18 Ga" engraved on it. I have been at a loss to know 86 whether it stood for 18th Georgia Regiment or Battalion. Mention of the battalion in the Virginia theater made me think that perhaps my LeMat was carried by a member of that unit. Query: Can you give me any information on Company A, 18th Georgia Battalion, or refer me to any source where this information can be obtained? Samuel E. Smith Answer: Reader Smith's query is somewhat complicated by the fact that there were two 18th Georgia outfits—the 18th Georgia Volunteer Infantry and the 18th Georgia Battalion—both of which served in the Virginia theater. Colonel Allen P. Julian, Atlanta (Georgia) Historical Society, responded with a brief outline history of the two organizations and, so far as is possible at this late date, fixes former ownership of the revolver. Colonel Julian writes: The 18th Georgia Volunteer Infantry (a regiment) was organized in April, 1861, and sent to Virginia where it was assigned to Wigfall's Brigade, which was later known as Hood's Texas Brigade, composed of the 1st, 4th, and 5th Texas, and 18th Georgia. It was with this organization that Hood's Texas Brigade gained its greatest fame. In November, 1862, the 18th was brigaded with other Georgia regiments to form Woffard's Brigade; Colonel William T. Woffard was commander of the 18th Georgia. Company A was a Cobb County unit, recruited in and around the town of Acworth and designated the "Acworth Infantry." J. B. O'Neal commanded Company A from April 1, 1861, until March 5, 1863, when he resigned. The 18th Georgia regiment spent the whole four years of war in the Virginia theater. The 18th Georgia Battalion was made up from the old Savannah Volunteer Guards, one of the "crack" commands of the state before the war when such organizations played a large part in the social and recreational life of the communities. It served along the coast in Georgia and South Carolina until it was consolidated with the 12th Battalion to form the 63rd Infantry (regiment). This arrangement appears to have been temporary, however, since both these battalions were sent to Virginia in 1864, where they served under their original designations. The 18th Battalion lost its colors at Saylor's Creek and, at the time of Lee's surrender, was a part of Evans' Division of Gordon's Corps. It appears to be far more likely to me that the LeMat was...