24th Georgia

[Papa Frinkle]

Hey I'm looking for a W.A. Hilton in the 24th (or possibly 20th) Georgia infantry. Any and all information that you guys can help me with is much appreciated, regimental muster rolls detailing where he was throughout the war would be a godsend.

And also does anybody happen to know what type of muskets they were issued?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bob Velke]

There was a Private W. A. Hilton in Co. A, 20th Georgia Infantry and he is merely cross-referenced in the service files with the one in Co. A, 24th Georgia Inf. There are 11 pages in the service file of the latter. He enlisted on 1 Sep 1862 in Hamer, GA. He was captured on 1 Jun 1864 at the Battle of Cold Harbor, transferred to Elmira, NY on 12 Jul 1864, and then transferred for parole/exchange on 20 Feb 1865.

 

[Bob Velke]

"24th Infantry Regiment, organized during the summer of 1861, recruited its members in White, Banks, Towns, Rabun, Gwinnett, Elbert, and Hall counties. After serving in the Department of North Carolina, the unit moved to Virginia where it was brigaded under Generals H. Cobb, T.R.R. Cobb, Wofford, and DuBose. It fought in the difficult campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days' Battles to Gettysburg, then moved to Georgia with Longstreet. The 24th was not engaged at Chickamauga, but did see action in the Knoxville Campaign. Returned to Virginia it participated in the conflicts at The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor, was active in the Shenandoah Valley, and ended the war at Appomattox. In April, 1862, this regiment totalled 660 effectives, lost forty-three percent of the 292 engaged at Crampton's Gap, and had 4 killed, 39 wounded, and 2 missing at Sharpsburg. It sustained 36 casualties at Fredericksburg, reported 14 killed and 73 wounded at Chancellorsville, and of the 303 at Gettysburg, seventeen percent were disabled. Many were captured at Sayler's Creek and only 4 officers and 56 men surrendered on April 9, 1865. The field officers were Colonels Robert McMillan and C.C. Sanders, Lieutenant Colonels Joseph N. Chandler and Thomas E. Winn, and Majors Robert E. McMillan and Frederick C. Smith. "
- "Units of the Confederate States Army" by Joseph H. Crute, Jr.

 

[Papa Frinkle]

There was a Private W. A. Hilton in Co. A, 20th Georgia Infantry and he is merely cross-referenced in the service files with the one in Co. A, 24th Georgia Inf. There are 11 pages in the service file of the latter. He enlisted on 1 Sep 1862 in Hamer, GA. He was captured on 1 Jun 1864 at the Battle of Cold Harbor, transferred to Elmira, NY on 12 Jul 1864, and then transferred for parole/exchange on 20 Feb 1865.

Thanks for the information! I was able to read a similar summary in the Roster of the Confederate Soldiers of Georgia. Do you have access to the whole 11 pages? I'd like to read that.

For anyone else who might be curious, I did find that the majority of the 24th was armed with 1842 Springfield smoothbore muskets, and a smaller number of Enfield and Springfield rifles that were issued to the flank companies, and as of mid 1862 they were actually requisitioning more smoothbores.