The Museum of Southern History

The 19^th Georgia was organized with men from Henry, Heard, Jackson, Douglas, Coweta, Carroll, Mitchell and Bartow counties during the summer of 1861. The Unit was sent to Virginia and placed in the Potomac District. It served under the command of Generals Wade Hampton, James Jay Archer and Alfred Colquitt. The 19^th fought in many battles from Seven Pines to Chancellorsville and then was moved to Charleston, SC. In January 1864 anticipating the invasion of Savannah, General Alfred Holt Colquitt’s Brigade was ordered to Savannah. After receiving word from General Joseph Finegan on 7 February 1864 that the Federal troops had landed in Jacksonville, General Pierre Gustave Toutant Beauregard ordered General Colquitt and all of his Georgia Brigade to Florida. There being no rail between Georgia and Florida, they traveled on the Savannah, Albany and Gulf Railroad for about 160 miles southwesterly to Waycross to Valdosta where they began a long march to Madison, FL where they could again take the Florida, Atlantic and Gulf Railroad back to join General Finegan at Lake City, FL. They arrived just in time for the Battle of Olustee where they played a major role. Following the Battle at Olustee, General Colquitt’s Brigade was ordered back to South Carolina and then to North Carolina and again to Virginia and continued the fight at Drewry’s Bluff, Cold Harbor and in the Petersburg Siege in the lines south and north of the James River as well as at the Crater on 30 July 1864. The 19^th Georgia fought at Ft. Harrison, VA on 29-30 September 1864 and Ft. Fisher, Wilmington, NC on 13 – 15 January. After this, the Unit participated in the Carolina Campaign and finally surrendered with the Army of Tennessee under General Joseph Johnston.

The original flag of the 19^th Georgia displayed here has seen a lot and if it could only talk and tell of the horrors of war it witnessed. If one looks at the battles that this flag participated in, you can not help but reflect on how these men held up to these demanding events. The 19^th Georgia truly saw it all.

One of the field officers of the 19^th Georgia was Major Charles W. Mabry. He was born in Greene Co., GA August 22, 1819 and by 1860, he had moved to Franklin, GA in Heard Co. where he was a practicing attorney. When the call to war came, he organized the Heard County Volunteers on May 15, 1861. They became Co. E of the 19^th Georgia and he was immediately elected their Captain. In the fall of 1863 he was promoted to regimental major. Major Mabry was a very interesting man. On 5 November 1863 he was elected to the Georgia Legislature as Senator of the 37^th Senatorial District. This exempted him from further military service. Indeed, most lawyers that were elected to the Legislature used this to avoid any further exposure to the dangers of the war. What did our good Major do? He wrote his Commanding General and the Secretary of War requesting a leave of absence each year when the Georgia Senate was in session. The Legislature met for a short time in the fall of the year, usually in November, following which, he would return to the war. Major Mabry had barely returned to his regiment stationed in Charleston, South Carolina after the Fall 1863 legislative session when the 19^th Georgia was ordered first to Savannah and then to Florida on 7 February 1864.  Major Mabry was with the 19^th Georgia at Olustee and on back to Virginia and ultimately to North Carolina where he surrendered with the 19^th Georgia with General Joseph E. Johnston’s Army of Tennessee. After the surrender, Major Mabry returned to Franklin, GA taking the battle worn flag back with him. The flag was kept hidden at his home as it would have been immediately confiscated by any of the occupying troops or officials with serious consequences to follow. Following the war, Mabry decided he could be of more value to this state by moving to the more important area of LaGrange where he moved prior to 1870 and continued to serve in the Georgia Senate until his death in 1886. The flag was passed down to Major Mabry’s youngest son, Woodford James Mabry. By 1900, Woodford had moved to Chattanooga and married Daisy Collins. From Chattanooga Woodford moved to Jacksonville with his family in about 1920. They had a son named for Woodford’s brother Parham who in turn had a son that he named for his father Woodford. It was this Woodford, great grandson of Major Mabry, that came by the museum one day saying he had been a member of the museum for many years and had followed our work and felt the Museum of Southern History would be the ideal place to display his great grandfather’s battle flag. We had apparently made an impression on him with our work and he rewarded us with this wonderful gift. Woodford Mabry passed away in 2008.

It is interesting that the State Capitol in Atlanta has a very large collection of Georgia battle flags. Most of the Georgia units are represented and there is a flag for the 19^th Georgia on display. If one were to read the fine print on the display, it will tell you that the flag on display is probably the flag of the 14^th Tennessee and that the real flag of the 19^th Georgia is on display in Jacksonville, FL.