★★★ Olmstead, Charles Hart

Charles Hart Olmstead
:CSA1stNat:
Colonel Olmstead.jpg


Born: April 2, 1837

Birthplace: Savannah, Georgia

Father: Jonathan Olmstead 1793 – 1854
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​

Mother: Eliza Hart 1803 – 1881
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​

Wife: Florence Lucinda Williams 1837 – 1909
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​

Children:

Sarah Morris Olmstead Adams 1862 – 1950​
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​
Charles Williams Olmstead 1864 – 1865​
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​
Florence Neely Olmstead 1867 – 1868​
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​
Susan Jones Olmstead 1869 – 1960​
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​
John Hopkins Olmstead 1872 – 1880​
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​
Florence Williams Olmstead 1875 – 1955​
(Buried: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia)​

Education:

Graduated from Georgia Military Institute​

Occupation before War:

Cashier in Mercantile House in Savannah, Georgia​

Civil War Career:

1861: Adjutant of 1st​ Georgia Infantry Regiment​
1861: Major of 1st​ Georgia Infantry Regiment​
1861 – 1865: Colonel of 1st​ Georgia Infantry Regiment​
1862: Commander of Fort Pulaski in Savannah, Georgia​
1862: Captured and Exchanged on September 20, 1862 at Fort Pulaski​
1864: Commander of Mercer's Georgia Infantry Brigade​
1864: Wounded during the Battle of Atlanta, Georgia​
1865: Paroled by Union Army on May 1, 1865 in Greensboro, North Carolina​

Occupation after War:

Merchant in Savannah, Georgia​
Banker in Savannah, Georgia​

Died: August 17, 1926

Place of Death: Savannah, Georgia

Age at time of Death: 89 years old

Burial Place: North Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia
 
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Georgia Telegraph (Macon, Ga.) Sept. 26, 1862

Fort Pulaski Prisoners Coming
Mobile, Ala., Sept. 21 -- Col. Charles Olmstead, Capt F. W. Sims, Lt. Henry Freeman and 22 others of the Fort Pulaski prisoners arrived here today via Vicksburg and leave for home this evening.
 
Olmstead certainly had the accumen for command, even at such a young age. However, it seems that he wasn't up to snuff for important field commands. When his brigade (Mercer had been in command before stepping down) joined Cleburne's division, the brigade he commanded was seen as being of poorer quality to the rest of the veteran division; Cleburne himself wrote negatively of Olmstead's ability to command.
"Cleburne was also disappointed by his newest brigade commander, warning Hardee that if he expected Mercer's Brigade 'to do any good, a brigade commander is immediately necessary. Its present commander [Olmstead] is not efficient'." (Symonds, Craig L. Stonewall of the West, 231)
 
He relinquished command of "his" regiment to General J. A.Smith after the fall of Atlanta and after he led it into Tennessee. Smith took over command of Cleburne's division at Franklin and Olmstead again took over his old brigade but missed the battle of Franklin because it was detached guarding a supply train.Plus the brigade missed Nashville. Confused?
 
He relinquished command of "his" regiment to General J. A.Smith after the fall of Atlanta and after he led it into Tennessee. Smith took over command of Cleburne's division at Franklin and Olmstead again took over his old brigade but missed the battle of Franklin because it was detached guarding a supply train.Plus the brigade missed Nashville. Confused?
Yeah, I get the feeling the brigade was specifically sidelined from the rest of the division due to the lack of comraderie and whatnot. From what I've gathered, most soldiers of the 3 other brigades wrote quite derisively of the new unit.
James Argyle Smith had just returned to command after his second wounding as a brigade commander. Due to his seniority, he was chosen to command the remnants of Cleburne's division after the Irishman's death.
 
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