Comfort From Home

As with soldiers of all wars, the men of the First Georgia Volunteers quickly felt pangs of homesickness; longing for home and for correspondence from their loved ones.  Wanting to offer the troops from Washington County a bit of comfort and encouragement, an unnamed young lady penned a touching note to the men, replete with patriotic flourishes, which was printed in the Sandersville Central Georgian of May 15, 1861:

For the Central Georgian.

To the Washington Rifles, near Pensacola,

Florida.

“But few shall part where many meet,

The sand shall be their winding sheet,

And every turf beneath their feet

Shall prove a soldier’s sepulcher.”

            Thinking perhaps it would be interesting to you at camp to see something from home, I have concluded to write you a short communication, to let you know that you are not forgotten by us—notwithstanding I am aware of the fact, that nothing would be interesting from my pen, but from the fact it is from Home.

 

             Home?  How many pleasant memories linger around the word.

 

             It has been said that the three sweetest words in the English language are, Mother, Home, and Heaven.  No doubt all of you can realize more fully the meaning of those words since you left Old Washington—the birthplace of many of you, the adopted home of many others.  You have forsaken friends, Home, and many of the comforts and luxuries of life for the toils and hardships of peril and camp life.  You seem to be in great danger; but put your trust in the God of Battles.  “He will be with us in six troubles and in the seventh He will not forsake us.”

 

            We are rejoiced to hear you are holding prayer-meetings.  Neglect them not; call upon God to assist you in all your undertakings.  “If the Lord be for us, who can prevail against us.”  Pray for yourselves, and the prayers of Mothers, Sisters, Pastor and Friends, (whose homes and rights you have so gallantly gone forth to defend), will daily ascend the throne of grace in your behalf—for the preservation of your lives and health, and to spare us from the calamities of civil war—brother fighting against brother.

 

            We would not call you back though our heart-strings should burst asunder at parting.  We will say, Go! And may the God of our forefathers of the Revolutionary war go with you.  We pray God that he will bring you safely back to us: but if it is His will that you should fall “mid the clashing of steel and the roar of cannon,” we feel confident that you, the “Washington Rifles,” will never disgrace the honored name you represent, but will nobly defend by “Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation,” the beautiful flag you bear, and never suffer it to trail in the dust, or “Yield it to our country’s foes,” until your very heart blood is spilled in its defence.

 

            Rest assured that you will not be forgotten by those you have left behind you.  The remembrance of your loved forms, and the happy hours we have spent in your society, will ever be “green spots in our memories garden.”

 

            We unhesitatingly place in your keeping the honor of our noble Empire State, knowing you will defend the rights of our country, even at the point of the bayonet.

 

            In conclusion, we would say, we hope and pray for your safe return to your “Mothers and Homes;” and if it is not the will of God that you should return home, may we all meet in that eternal Home, Heaven, where parting is unknown.

 

A DAUGHTER OF WASHINGTON.

Witness To Suffering

On January 19, 1862, Lieutenant Evan P. Howell of the Washington Rifles wrote home to his uncle of the suffering his company had endured during the march from Winchester to Bath and then on to Romney.  The letter was published in the February 5 edition of the Sandersville Central Georgian.

3 MILES WEST OF ROMNEY, Va.,

January 19, 1862.

Dear Uncle:  I have had nothing of much importance to write up to the first of this month; and since then we have been moving from place to place so that I could not write.

On the 1st of January, as you have heard from the newspaper, we left Winchester, taking a western course.  Three days match, camping at night without tents or blankets on the snow-covered ground, brought us to Bath, where the celebrated Berkley Springs are.  Here there was quite a large force of the enemy, but on our approach they ran off, leaving their sick, a number of tents, provisions, stores, &c.  Our troops double quicked through the town in pursuit of them, but were unable to get but twenty prisoners.  These belonged to the 39th Illinois Regiment.  I saw them and was near by when one was captured.  I had charge of the Ordnance train on that day, and had gone forward to know what to do with it when a little fellow run down to the road and said there was a Yankee at his house, which was about two hundred yards distant.  We sent up some men who found the Yankee under the bed.  He appears very well satisfied with his situation.

At Bath our troops were divided,--Col. Rusk, of the 3rd Arkansas Regiment, took his Regiment and the 37th Virginia and went west of Bath towards the Capon Bridge with the object to burn this bridge, which is on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad while the balance of our troops went north toward Hancock, Maryland.  We arrived at that place in a short time—or more properly opposite it, for it is on the other side of the Potomac—stayed there for two days without anything to eat or a blanket to sleep on.  We shelled the town to our satisfaction, and Col. Rusk returning after having accomplished his object, we all turned back, having, I presume, done all we intended.  We came twelve miles from Bath where we camped three days to recruit our health.  After the experation of that time we took up our line of march for Romney, where there were 4,000 of the enemy under Gen. Kelly.  We reached Romney after a march of five days and found the Yankees had left just as soon as they heard we were advancing on them, notwithstanding they were strongly fortified.  We got a considerable lot or stores from them here but not as much as we got at Bath and Hancock.

Now I have told you what we have done I will next tell you what it has done for us.  Our Regiment left Winchester with seven hundred men and brought to Romney only two hundred and forty men.  The Washington Rifles left Winchester with sixty-two men and now have twenty-five.  Two-thirds of our Regiment are now sick enough to be in the Hospital.  I notice that the army correspondence from Manassas think it is hard for their sick to lay in the horrid Hospitals, and speak of the hardships their troops undergo in winter quarters.  But what would they think of our fix?  In the bleak climate of North Western Virginia, the ground covered one foot deep with snow, with the meager protection of a common tent and half the time not even that, traveling in the day over the rough frozen road, some men with their bare feet on the ground.  This is no exaggerated picture, we see it every day.  I marched day before yesterday seven miles with my toes on the icy road, having worn out the second pair of shoes since I left Winchester.

It would move the heart of any one who is not in the army (for all of us are used to it,) to go through this camp and hear the terrible coughing—some coughing until they vomit.  Yet we have no Hospital for our sick.  Few men at home have any idea what we are undergoing, nor is it possible to tell all we have stood.

Yours affectionately,
E. P. HOWELL.

Flag of the Washington Rifles

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in conference assembled, That the Secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized to deliver to the proper authorities of the respective States in which the regiments which bore these colors were organized certain Union and Confederate battle flags now in the custody of the War Department for such final disposition as the aforesaid proper authorities may determine.

This act, passed by the United States Congress in 1905, and signed by President Theodore Roosevelt, returned flags carried by Confederate troops to the Southern States. Among these banners was the First National pattern flag of the Washington Rifles, Company “E” of the First Georgia Volunteer Infantry. The colors were in poor condition, the fabric tattered and torn.

In 1861, forty-four years earlier, the banner’s silk shone brightly, and its canton proudly displayed the painted Georgia state coat of arms. The lovingly sown flag was presented to the Washington Rifles as they prepared to depart for Camp Oglethorpe in Macon. The scene was described in the April 3 edition of the Sandersville Central Georgian:

On Monday previous to their departure, the ladies of Sandersville, with their usually liberality and promptness, prepared a sumptuous dinner in the Court House for the benefit of the Rifles, but of which all were invited to partake. We were not present, but we have heard but one opinion expressed in regard to the manner in which the affair was conducted, and that one is highly creditable to the fair donors. The ladies of our town know how to get up these things, and in the present instance they more than excelled any former public occasion amongst us. After all who chose had partaken of the dinner, an abundance for several days’ subsistence was packed away to be carried with the company. The ladies during the day presented the company with a handsome flag of the Confederate States. Sustained by the hand, and encouraged by the smiles of fair woman, what would not man dare—what would he not achieve?

Business also prevented our hearing the address delivered by Col. J. S. Hook before the company and the public on this occasion. We are told, however, that it was the most felicitous and appropriate; that in patriotic and soul-stirring words he depicted the honor and glory of a life devoted to the defence of one’s country, and said, that while he was conscious it was unnecessary to so speak in this instance, he would exhort them never to permit the flag confided to their keeping by the angel band of women to be tarnished by one unpatriotic act, or soiled by the hand of a foe. The ceremonies were highly interesting, and very creditable to all engaged.

During the retreat of General Robert S. Garnett’s Army of the Northwest from Laurel Hill in July of 1861, many of the flags belonging to the various companies of the First Georgia were stored in wagons. Panicked teamsters jettisoned equipment from entangled wagons as the column worked its way through the Allegheny Mountains, and many wagons were simply abandoned when they became stuck. One such wagon was left behind at a river crossing just north of Kalers Ford, where Colonel Ramsey fought a rearguard action against pursuing Union troops, and where six companies were cut off from the army and forced to wander lost in the trackless wilderness. This wagon contained the banner of the Washington Rifles. As Federal troops crossed the river in pursuit of the Confederates, a soldier of the Ninth Indiana found the Rifles’ colors in the wagon. Climbing atop the wagon, he unfurled the colors and waved it, either to urge on his comrades, or possibly just to show off what he had discovered. The banner was sent north, where it remained in the War Department’s collection of captured flags. It was returned to Georgia as one of the returned battleflags.

The image at the top of this column is from a brochure titled “The Returned Battle Flags,” which was given as a souvenir during the United Confederate Veterans Reunion held in Louisville, Kentucky, in June of 1905. It shows the Washington Rifles flag as it looked when returned to Georgia. The banner, made of silk, continued to deteriorate, but was restored by conservators in recent years. The banner is now part of the collection of the Georgia Capitol Museum in Atlanta. The restored flag can be viewed here.

The War Goes On

After a period of time at home recuperating from their experiences over the past year, most of the officers and men of the old First Georgia prepared to leave their homes once more in defense of the Confederacy. It had been reported in several news accounts that Colonel James N. Ramsey had been appointed a brigadier general, but due to his ill health (caused mainly by the rigors of the Virginia campaigns) Ramsey did not serve further. Other officers attempted to raise new companies, as evidenced by advertisements in various newspapers.

The following advertisement was placed by former Lt. Colonel James O. Clarke, and appeared in the April 16, 1862, edition of the Augusta Chronicle & Sentinel:

DEFEND YOUR COUNTRY

I Desire to Raise a Company of Infantry for State Service, all wishing to join will meet at the Oglethorpe Infantry Drill Room on WEDNESDAY EVENING, at 5 o’clock.

JAMES O. CLARKE.

And again on April 30:

Another Company of Infantry,

I am authorised to raise a COMPANY OF VOLUNTEERS for three years, or the War. Each man will be allowed the lawful Bounty ($50) and Clothing Money. All interested are requested to meet at the Clinch Rifles’ Drill Room, THIS (Tuesday) EVENING, at 7 ½ o’clock.

JAMES O. CLARKE.

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In Atlanta, Lt. Colonel George H. Thompson also advertised for recruits. From the Atlanta Southern Confederacy for May 11, 1862:

Two Companies Wanted - I WANT two full Companies to complete a regiment, now being organized by authority of the War Department. Address GEORGE HARVEY THOMPSON, or D. S. PRINTUP, Atlanta, Ga.

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The rank and file of the former First Georgia were also rejoining the military. The members of Company “K” of the First reenlisted as a company in the Fifty-Third Georgia Infantry, retaining their name as the Quitman Guards. Joining a company organized in Stone Mountain, the Oglethorpe Infantry, Newnan Guards, Walker Light Infantry, and a portion of the Washington Rifles came together to form the Twelfth Battalion Georgia Light Artillery. Company “C” joined the Fourteenth Battalion Georgia Light Artillery as the Southern Rights Battery. Nearly all of the other survivors of the old First Georgia volunteered in other commands, serving the Confederacy until the end of the war.

The Final Casualty?

The men of the old First Georgia are home.  Many who did not return are mourned by their loved ones.  J. M. G. Medlock, editor of the Sandersville Central Georgian and former member of the Washington Rifles, poured out his grief in his newspaper:

WELCOME HOME.--The 1st Regiment Georgia Volunteers, having served out their term of enlistment, have been disbanded, (the order for them to go to Tennessee was countermanded) and the train from Augusta Monday evening last, brought back to their anxious friends, our brave boys of the Washington Rifles. The joy that was felt can only be realized by those who participated in it.

But this meeting was one of sorrow as well joy. There were those who looked in vain for the familiar faces of those beloved and whose return they had fondly anticipated.— [illegible] his own almost upon the eve of their starting for home. Pardon us reader, if we open afresh the wound that time had partially healed. We would not cause one pang of sorrow or awaken one sad thought. But we mourn a brother dead. For weeks and months had we looked forward to the return of the Rifles, for the HE would once again gladden our hearts by his presence. But the hand of disease feel heavily upon him. When the Regiment left Winchester he was confined to the hospital. He now sleeps his last sleep in that far off land. Yes EUGENE is dead! If we only knew that some friend was with him in his last moments to hear his last request; but if so we know not who that friend was, as the company were far on their way homeward. But he has given up his life in a noble cause, and we try to say “thy will be done.”

To William G. Robson, Esq., we owe a debt of gratitude, for his kind attention to our brother, which we can never repay. Heaven alone can reward him according to his desserts.

Some who did return to Georgia still suffer afflictions resulting from the harsh conditions they endured during their service.  The Augusta Daily Chronicle of March 15, 1862, recorded what may have the final casualty of the First Georgia Volunteer Infantry:

DEATH OF A GEORGIA VOLUNTEER.—Mr. William D. Lewis, of Washington county, Ga., and a member of Company E, First Georgia Regiment, died at this place [Augusta], at the house kept by the Rev. N. Graham, on Sunday night last. He was attended by Dr. Whitaker, a member of the same command who left with his remains on Monday night. The First Georgia, it will be recollected, participated in the fight which took place at Laurel Hill and Cheat Mountain, and has doubtless seen as much severe service as any Regiment which has participated in the war.

The unfortunate young man, whose death we record, was among those who made that long and fearful passage across the wild mountains of Western Virginia. He is said to have been a good and true soldier. The circumstances of his death are melancholy, (being upon his passage home to the bosom of loved ones after a long perilous service) but it should be consolation to his afflicted relatives to know, that, notwithstanding he was a stranger, he received every attention and kindness during his last hours; free of charge, from the family at whose house he died, and from others of our most respectable citizens. He was watched by them until dissolving, nature had made its struggle, and was then tenderly and decently prepared for the grave.

Dessention In Romney



Captain Evan P. Howell

 After the war, Evan P. Howell, formerly lieutenant in the Washington Rifles and later commander of an artillery battery, purchased a controlling share of the Atlanta Constitution, becoming it's editor-in-chief.  In 1905 an article was published in the Constitution described Howell's experiences during the Romney Campaign, and before long the article was picked up by several newspapers.  The version that follows is from the October 12, 1905, edition of the Cumberland (Maryland) Evening Times:

OLD STONEWALL AND THE BOYS

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How Capt. Howell and a Committee Advised Him

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LESSON TO YOUNG SOLDIERS

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Waited on the General With Solemn Instructions—Told Him What He Should Do—How They Were Received and Sent Away.

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A late issue of the Atlanta Constitution, of which Capt Evan Howell was editor, has the following good item of an experience with Stonewall Jackson:

Hon. Ben E. Russell, of Bainbridge, writes the Constitution retelling the following good story which Captain Howell used to tell at his own expense of the time he and a committee of soldiers “waited upon Stonewall Jackson to advise him what to do.” Mr. Russell writes,

“The following is the substance of a war story that the late Captain Evan P. Howell loved to tell. The writer was a member of the First Georgia Regiment, at Romney at the time, and was cognizant of the facts here related.

“Generals Loring and Stonewall Jackson, with the Confederate army, after a dreadful march unparalleled in the history of our war, arrived at Romney, Va., the enemy fleeing upong their approach. We pitched camp near the town, where we remained over two weeks, during which time we never saw the sun, owing to the awful weather of rain, snow and sleet alternately, and frequently all at the same time. The roads were knee-deep in muddy slush and ice making picket duty an almost unbearable hardship. The men got the blues and became discontented and began to inquire of each other, “What are we here for, anyhow?” Both officers and men were on the verge of mutiny.

“To add fuel to flame it was understood among the troops that General Loring and old Stonewall were in total disagreement over the situation. Then some wiseacres of the regiment proposed a mass meeting of the men and officers of the brigade to protest against the continuation of the campaign by resolutions and the sending of a committee to General Jackson with them. The mass meeting was held, the resolutions drawn and the committee appointed. Of those on the committee were Evan P. Howell of the Washington Rifles, and Samuel A. Crump, captain of the Walker Light Infantry, of Augusta.

“Armed with the resolutions the committee started out to find Stonewall Jackson’s headquarters. On the way Captain Crump, who had been through the Mexican war, said to Captain Howell, ‘Evan, do you know that this thing means death to this whole blamed committee, for it’s nothing less than mutiny!’

“ ‘Oh, well,’ says Captain Howell, ‘but we’ve got to go and see the general all the same.’ "
“General Jackson’s headquarters were found, occupying the second story of an old log house. The doughty committee climbed the stairway and entered the upper chamber with no little trepidation, Evan Howell in front. The resolutions in his trembling hands. Old Stonewall was sitting with his back to a very poor open fire with a table in front of him, on which was pread a military map of northern Virginia, surrounded by and dimly lighted with several tallow candles. The great commander looked up from his work and glanced at the committee as it filed before him. In reply to his question: ‘What can I do for you, gentlemen?’ Captain Howell shook out the famous resolution, which recited the grievances of the soldiers, and recommended the speedy evacuation of Romney, and a return to Winchester as the only way out of a bad scrape, reading them in a somewhat unsteady voice.

“During this scene General Jackson’s face never changed from its unusual mild expression. When the reading of the resolutions was over you could have ‘heard a pin drop.’

“The general assumed an attitude of deep thought for a moment—a moment when each committeeman’s knees smote each other—and then said in a rather weary voice, ‘You can return to your commands, gentlemen, and should I need your advice I will send for you.’

“ ‘Tis needless to add that our committee evaporated from those headquarters in a hurry. Captain Howell said, ‘We just moved off, the most relieved set of men you ever saw.’

“Probably these resolutions, coupled with the disagreements with General Loring, etc., caused the immortal Stonewall Jackson to tender his resignation about this time to President Davis. Mr. Davis refused to accept it, but immediately promoted him to the rank of major general, and thus saved to the southern cause the services of the greatest military genius that has astonished the world since Napoleon the Great.”

From the Homefront

Gone from their homes now for over a month, the soldiers of the First Georgia were beginning to feel the pangs of homesickness and longing for family and friends.  Lieutenant William O. Fleming of the Bainbridge Independents wrote to his wife constantly, many times scolding her for not writing as often as he felt she should. 

In a letter published in the May 15 edition of the Sandersville Central Georgian, one of the women left behind addressed the members of the Washington Rifles to assure them how proud the folks back home were.

To the Washington Rifles, near Pensacola, Florida.

“But few shall part where many meet,

The sand shall be their winding sheet,

And every turf beneath their feet

Shall prove a soldier’s sepulcher.”

Thinking perhaps it would be interesting to you at camp to see something from home, I have concluded to write you a short communication, to let you know that you are not forgotten by us—notwithstanding I am aware of the fact, that nothing would be interesting from my pen, but from the fact it is from Home.

Home? How many pleasant memories linger around the word.

It has been said that the three sweetest words in the English language are, Mother, Home, and Heaven. No doubt all of you can realize more fully the meaning of those words since you left Old Washington—the birthplace of many of you, the adopted home of many others. You have forsaken friends, Home, and many of the comforts and luxuries of life for the toils and hardships of peril and camp life. You seem to be in great danger; but put your trust in the God of Battles. “He will be with us in six troubles and in the seventh He will not forsake us.”

We are rejoiced to hear you are holding prayer-meetings. Neglect them not; call upon God to assist you in all your undertakings. “If the Lord be for us, who can prevail against us.” Pray for yourselves, and the prayers of Mothers, Sisters, Pastor and Friends, (whose homes and rights you have so gallantly gone forth to defend), will daily ascend the throne of grace in your behalf—for the preservation of your lives and health, and to spare us from the calamities of civil war—brother fighting against brother.

We would not call you back though our heart-strings should burst asunder at parting. We will say, Go! And may the God of our forefathers of the Revolutionary war go with you. We pray God that he will bring you safely back to us: but if it is His will that you should fall “mid the clashing of steel and the roar of cannon,” we feel confident that you, the “Washington Rifles,” will never disgrace the honored name you represent, but will nobly defend by “Wisdom, Justice, and Moderation,” the beautiful flag you bear, and never suffer it to trail in the dust, or “Yield it to our country’s foes,” until your very heart blood is spilled in its defence.

Rest assured that you will not be forgotten by those you have left behind you. The remembrance of your loved forms, and the happy hours we have spent in your society, will ever be “green spots in our memories garden.”

We unhesitatingly place in your keeping the honor of our noble Empire State, knowing you will defend the rights of our country, even at the point of the bayonet.

In conclusion, we would say, we hope and pray for your safe return to your “Mothers and Homes;” and if it is not the will of God that you should return home, may we all meet in that eternal Home, Heaven, where parting is unknown.

A DAUGHTER OF WASHINGTON.

Settling In

Entrance to Fort Barrancas, Florida

War has commenced, but active campaigning is still some time off. The men of the First Georgia Regiment, recently arrived in their camps close to Fort Barrancas, near Pensacola, are settling into the daily routine. The soldiers are eager for fighting to begin, as evidenced in their letters to home:

From a member of the Oglethorpe Infantry:

The Colonel says if there is any fighting to be done, the Oglethorpes shall have front seats in the Regiment. He also says that if we are a sample of city boys, we can out work country boys two to one. It is a fact, I never saw so much willingness in any company as has been displayed by the Oglethorpe Infantry—to perform any duty which they have been called upon to do—we have been called on to do mule duty, by pulling wagons and cars. We are all well, hearty and sun-burnt. We all keep clean, as the beach is only half mile, and we go down twice a day—after reveille and after regiment parade, six P. M. We have a mail daily, and received papers regularly.

From a member of the Southern Guard:

I am proud to say to you, that our soldiers are all perfectly contented and as loyal a body of men as have ever been congregated for any purpose. It does appear to me, after conversing with the soldiers freely, that every private here has been prompted by patriotism alone, and is willing to suffer anything that the body is capable of undergoing to gain our independence. With such material to use against the invading scoundrels of Fort Pickens, you may with all confidence expect to hear that we are victorious.

Sergeant James Medlock of the Washington Rifles writes:

What Gen. Bragg’s plans are, as a matter of course, I know not. But my impression is, from what I see and hear, that if Fort Pickens is not surrendered soon, it will be taken by force of arms—and that, too, within a few days. On this point, however, there is quite a diversity of opinion. We have several guns that I believe can do the work in a short time.

And from Lieutenant Chester A. Stone of the Gate City Guards:

Pensacola is a beautiful place—magnolias and flowers of all kinds in full bloom. Our company are all well and enjoying ourselves merrily. We are ready, at a moment’s notice, to meet the armies of the Rail-Splitter, and split them worse than he ever did rails.

Departure

The time is now at hand.  Orders have been received.  In communities across Georgia, the companies selected to become part of the First Georgia Volunteer Infantry are packing up their traps and making ready to depart their homes, families and friends as they begin the great adventure.  Newspapers cheer for their home-town troops and, betraying a hint of sadness, wish them Godspeed as they go.

Newnan Banner, March 29, 1861.

ORDERS TO MARCH.—The Newnan Guards have orders to march immediately and rendezvous at Macon. Destination Fort Pickens.—They will leave here on Monday next. The Guards will muster between sixty or seventy brave men, well officered, and all prepared to take a hand in the work of ridding Southern soil and forts of the presence of the old Federal Troops of Lincoln. If a fight is necessary and nothing else will satisfy the Black Republicans, we guarantee a good account from the Guards when the ball opens.

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Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, March 29, 1861.

Under Marching Orders.

It is doubtless well known to most of our citizens, that the Oglethorpe Infantry, Capt. J. O. Clarke and Walker Light Infantry, Capt. S. H. Crump, tendered their services in aid of the Confederate States, which tender was accepted, and they were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to march upon official notice. That notice was received by the two companies yesterday morning, and they have been ordered by Adj. Gen Wayne to rendezvous at Macon on Tuesday next. They will leave this city, therefore, on Monday, at half-past 2 P.M., on the Wayneboro train. Their destination has not been announced, but it is presumed that Pensacola is the post for which they are mustered.

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Columbus Daily Enquirer, April 2, 1861.

Departed—Company D, of the Southern Guards, Capt. Wilkins, took the afternoon train for Macon, the place of rendezvous of the Georgia troops, yesterday. They were escorted to the depot by all the other city companies, and platoon salutes fired on the eve of their departure. They are a fine looking body of men, well advanced in discipline for so short an organization, and will no doubt very creditably represent our city.

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Sandersville Central Georgian, April 3, 1861.

Gone to the Wars.

Our town wears an appearance of gloom. The “soul-stirring drum and ear-piercing fife” are no longer heard in our streets. Yesterday, the “Washington Rifles,” Capt. S. A. H. Jones, acting on orders received from the Executive of Georgia, took their departure for Macon, thence to Pensacola. The “Rifles” number eighty men. They are good citizens—gallant men and true, and if there is fighting to be done around and in Fort Pickens, we predict that this gallant corps will share largely in it.

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Atlanta Daily Intelligencer, March 26, 1861.

GATE CITY GUARDS,--We understand that this excellent company of citizen soldiery, has been called into the service of the Confederate States Government. They will probably leave this city about the last of this week for Pensacola. Military companies from Newnan and Forsyth will accompany the Guards to their destination.—The Gate City Guards, has always been one of the crack companies of Atlanta, and should they be called into actual service, to make a reputation at the cannon’s mouth, we have strong faith that they will acquit themselves with honor to Atlanta, the State of Georgia, and the Government of the Confederate States.