26th Georgia Infantry Battalion

[Luke Freet]

I am looking up units which took part in the Atlanta Campaign. One I can find almost no solid information on is the 26th Georgia Battalion. It served with Stevens' Brigade (25th,29th,30th, and 66th Georgia) at the outset of the Campaign, before departing some time before the army got to Atlanta. From what I've gathered, the unit was sent to guard Andersonville, and was involved in engagements during the March to the Sea and Cavalry raids towards Athens and Augusta (or around Columbus opposing Wilson's raid; I can't remember the source which mentioned them).
Also, it appears the unit was commanded by a Major John W. Nisbet, a relative of J. Cooper Nisbet of the 66th Georgia, may have been recruited at the same time as his regiment and may be the offshoots of that regiment; I remember reading Chastel in his book on the Atlanta Campaign saying the regiment numbered 1000 men, but most other sources (namely nps and ranger95's database on the regiment, saying the unit counted 513 men and 419 guns in December of '63 when it joined the army.
If anyone can glean more details on this unit, I would appreciate it.

 

[danny]

66th Ga Infy

This Regt was composed primarily of conscripts taken from the Camps of Instruction at Decatur, Ga., & Macon, Ga. The Co's appear to have been organized at various times in Aug & Sept, 1863, & formed into a Regt on Oct 13, 1863. For a time the Regt was at Camp Cobb, Quincy, Fl, but was made a part of Gen Johnston's Army of Tenn soon thereafter & served with this command to the end of the war. In Feb or March 1865, the Regt merged into the newly organized 1st Bn CS Infy, of which only fragmentary records exist.

Of the 66th Ga Regt, the following officers are all of whom a record has been obtained: Col J. C. Nisbet; Capt's A. H. Reid, Co F; G. V. Hall, Co G, & J. Thornton, Co I. But Capt Thomas L. Langston is mentioned in the reports of July & Aug, 1864, as ranking Capt in command. This Regt served in the Atlanta & Tenn campaigns, losing heavily in the battle of July 22d, at Atlanta, & again in the battle of Nashville, where with the 1st Ga Confederate it was led by Lt-Col James C. Gordon. In the spring of 1865 these two Regts were consolidated with the 1st Bn sharpshooters & the 25th, 29th & 30th Regts, under the name of the 1st Ga Confederate Bn. under Gen Johnston it participated in the campaign of the Carolinas, laying down its arms near Goldsboro, April 26, 1865.

66th Infy Regt [also called 65th Regt] was organized at Atlanta during the summer of 1863. It was assigned to Wilson's, C.H. Stevens', & H.R. Jackson's Bgde, participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tenn from Atlanta to Nashville, & ended the war in North Carolina. In December, 1863, this Regt contained 513 men & 419 arms but was greatly reduced when it surrendered on April 26, 1865. Its commanders were Colonel J. Cooper Nisbet, Lieutenant Colonel A.S. Hamilton, & Major R. Newton Hull.





Organized at Tattnall Square, Macon on Oct 13, 1863-Field consolidation with the 1st

Confederate Infy Regt from Sept 1864 to April 9, 1865. Consolidated with the

1st Confederate Infy Regt, the 1st Ga Sharpshooters Bn, & the 25th,

29th, & 30th Ga Infy Regts & designated as the 1st Ga (Confederate)

Infy Bn Consolidated at Smithfield, NC on April 9, 1865.

First cdr: James Cooper Nisbet (Col)
Capt of Co H, 21st Regt Ga Infy, July 2, 1861. Wounded at Cold Harbor, Va., June 27,

1862; Sharpsburg, Md., Sept 17, 1862. Reported absent without leave Apr. 3, 1863-
Charges were preferred against him for deserting his Regt in battle, assisting a Pvt in his Regt to desert, & moral conduct unbecoming an officer, Apr. 4, 1863. Not arrested or court marshaled, however because of being absent without leave in Ga. Granted permission by Gen Howell Cobb to raise a Regt to serve with him in Fla in 1863

Resigned as Capt of Co H, 21st Regt Ga Infy, in order to assume colonelcy of the 66th

Regt Ga Infy, Aug. 11, 1863. Commissioned Col Oct. 8, 1863.-Arrested Oct. 8, 1863-

Captured at Decatur Ga., July 22, 1864, & sent to Johnson's Island, O., prison. Released there July 25, 1865

Field Officers: John F. Andrews (Major)
Algernon S. Hamilton (Lt Col)
Robert N. Hull (Major)
Assignments:
Wilson's - Stevens' Bgde, Walker's Div, 1st Corps, Army of Tenn (Nov 1863 - July 1864)
Stevens' - H. R. Jackson's Bgde, Bates Div, 1st Corps, Army of Tenn (July - Dec 1864)
H. R. Jackson's Bgde, Clayton's Div, 2nd Corps, Army of Tenn (March - April 1865)
Battles:
Chattanooga (Nov 23-25, 1863)
Atlanta Campaign (May-Sept 1864)
Resaca (May 9, 1864)
Resaca (May 14-15, 1864)
Peach Tree Creek (July 20, 1864)
Atlanta Siege (July 22, 1864)
Jonesboro (Aug 31-Sept 1, 1864)
Franklin (Nov 30, 1864)
Nashville (Dec)
Carolina Campaign (Feb-April 1865)
Binnaker's Bridge (Feb 9, 1865)
Bentonville (March 19-21, 1865)

Further Reading: Nisbet, James C., 4 Years on the Firing Line


Ga 26th Infy Bn organized with 3 Co's that were originally intended for the Ga 66th Infy Regt at Tamall Square, Macon, Ga in late 1863 - captured at Columbus in April 1865.
First cdr: Maj John W. Nisbet
Assignment: Wilson's-Stevens' Bgde, Walker's Div, 1st Corps, Army of TN - Nov 1863-June 1864
Battles:
Chattanooga Siege - Sept-Nov 1863
Chattanooga - 11/23-25/1863
Atlanta Campaign - May-Sept 1864
Resaca - 5/9/1864

26th Bn, Ga Infy (Reserve Corps)

Wilson's Bgde, Walker's Div, Hill's Corps.
Organized: on 11/1/63 by Capt John B. Fair in Macon-Mustered Out: 4/1/65. Surrendered at Columbus, Ga

Major John W. Nesbit



------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Raised & commanded by early-war veteran James Cooper Nisbet, the 66th assembled at Macon in summer 1863, suffered through a winter of discontent in Dalton, charged into enemy fire at Peach Tree Creek & Atlanta, & slogged through the rain & mud of Franklin & Nashville before surrendering. LAST TO JOIN THE FIGHT chronicles the service of this penultimate Ga Confederate unit.

The most fascinating part of Cone's presentation, Darden said, will be in showing the marked differences between the first Regts raised in the Confederacy & the last. "The 'typical' 66th Ga soldier was either a teenager or a 35-45-year-old farmer of very limited means who owned no assets, human or otherwise."

Recruited & organized in the summer of 1863, the 66th Ga was commanded by Col James C. Nisbet, who, having served as a junior officer in the eastern theater, was the most experienced man in the Regt. Cone's research into the background of the officers & NCOs discovered little that might inspire confidence in the unit's subsequent performance, Nesbit having failed in his mission to obtain a cadre of proven fighting men to built his command around. On the other hand, recruit numbers were not a problem. After an initial hiccup, through a combination of volunteering & conscription the 66th rapidly achieved full strength, with enough manpower left over to fill an extra Bn.

A common belief, then & now, pertaining to late war recruits is that they were less patriotic or willing to sacrifice than early volunteers, but Cone discovered no evidence from inside or outside the Regt that 66th Ga desertion numbers were unusually high. On the other hand, the author was never able to find an adequate explanation for the extreme attrition experienced by the Regt once it entered active service. Suffering from very few combat casualties & disease deaths/discharges up to that point, the Regt was able to field less than 200 bayonets at Peachtree Creek. Undoubtedly, the high percentage of older recruits & teen soldiers likely physically compromised after being raised in want over the prior three years of war had something to do with it.