The South, like the rest of the country, was forever altered by the dramatic events of the Civil War Few states, however, were more central to the outcome of the conflict than Georgia, which provided an estimated , soldiers for the Confederacy.
In addition, several hundred white and 3, Black Georgians enlisted for the Union cause. Some of the most important battles of the war were fought on Georgia soil, including Chickamauga , Resaca , and Kennesaw Mountain , while the battles of Peachtree Creek, Bald Hill Atlanta , Ezra Church, and Jonesboro were significant turning points during the Atlanta campaign of The Georgia legislature , however, following a directive from Governor Joseph E.
Bartow , Henry L. Cobb , Wilson Lumpkin , Eugenius A. Nisbet , and Robert Toombs , advocated secession. Despite the best efforts of such antisecessionists as Alexander Stephens and Benjamin Hill , the die was cast.
The secession convention vote on January 19, , took Georgia out of the Union as expected, though by a closer vote than many had anticipated.
Infantry regiments were authorized, and the convention appointed Bartow, the Cobb brothers, Nisbet, Toombs, Stephens, and four others as delegates to a convention of other seceded states to meet in Montgomery, Alabama, on February 4. At Montgomery, the delegates organized the Confederate States of America, and Georgians played an important role in creating the provisional Confederate government. Howell Cobb served as president of the convention, and Thomas R.
