47th Georgia Infantry Regiment

The 47th Georgia Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

History

The regiment was first organized during the winter of 1861-1862 with men recruited from Mitchell, Randolph, Bulloch, Chatham, Screven, Tattnall, Appling, Bryan, Liberty, and Dodge counties. It was reorganized on May 12, 1862, when the 11th Battalion Georgia Infantry was merged into it. Until that time, the soldiers had spent most of their time guarding the Georgia coast. However, sometime in May, after the new 47th was organized, they were ordered to Charleston, South Carolina. They fought in their first engagement of the Battle of Secessionville on June 10, 1862, at James Island, where forty out of seventy men were killed or wounded.
They then served in North Carolina until May 1863 when the regiment was ordered to Vicksburg, Mississippi, as a part of General John C. Breckinridge’s division under Joe Johnston. The regiment saw action at the Siege of Jackson. Three months later, in August, they were sent to serve with General Braxton Bragg in the Army of Tennessee, fighting in such battles as Kennesaw Mountain, Resaca, Missionary Ridge and Chickamauga before returning to the East to defend Savannah, Georgia.
In 1865, the 47th Infantry participated in the Carolinas campaign. The remaining men surrendered to William T. Sherman on April 26, 1865, and were paroled.
The field officers during the war were Colonels A.C. Edwards and G.W.M. Williams, Lieutenant Colonels Joseph S. Cone and William S. Phillips, and Major James G. Cone.