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2nd Georgia Infantry

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this regiment’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Muster In: Organized May 7, 18611
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Lieutenant Colonel William S. Shepherd
Commander Image

Captain Thomas Chaffin
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s DivisionFirst Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army3

  • Commander: Unknown4
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s DivisionFirst Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army5

  • Commander: Unknown6
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army7

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Colonel William S. Shepherd (in the hospital at least July 22-28, 1864)8
    • ? (July 22-28, 1864)9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army10

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army15,16

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Colonel William S. Shepherd (at least on September 8, 19, and 29, 1864)(wounded September 29, 1864)17,18,19,20,21
  • ? (September 29-30, 1864)22

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army29

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army30,31

  • Commander: Sergeant (Captain) Thomas Chaffin, Jr. (appointed Captain on November 17, 1864) (November & December 1864)32,33
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army34,35,36,37,38

  • Commander:
    • Captain Thomas Chaffin, Jr. (January 1865)39,40
    • None listed. (February 1865)41
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Benning’s Brigade | Field’s Division | First Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army42,43

  • Commander:
    • Captain Thomas Chaffin, Jr. (at least April 2, 1865)44
  • Unit Strength: ~100 officers and men PFD (April 2, 1865)45
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles46:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Chaffin’s Farm (September 29, 1864)
  • Fort Harrison (September 29-30, 1864)
  • Fort Gilmer (September 29-30, 1864)
  • Williamsburg Road (October 27, 1864)
  • Petersburg Final Assault (April 2, 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

Sources:

  1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pages 181-182
  2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pages 181-182
  3. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 110
  4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 110
  5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 110
  6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 110
  7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 120
  8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 120
  9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 120
  10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 129
  11. Confederate Inspection Report P-13: Benning’s Brigade, August 9, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
  12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 129
  13. Confederate Inspection Report P-13: Benning’s Brigade, August 9, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: 18 officers + 154 enlisted men = 172 PFD
  14. Confederate Inspection Report P-13: Benning’s Brigade, August 9, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
  15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 137
  16. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1311.
  17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 137
  18. Confederate Inspection Report P-12: Benning’s Brigade, September 8, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
  19. Confederate Inspection Report P-15: Benning’s Brigade, September 19, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
  20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138: Sibley indicates Moore definitely only commanded a battalion of the 17th Georgia.  He may or may not have commanded the entire regiment at some point in September 1864.
  21. Moore, James B. “The Attack of Fort Harrison.” Confederate Veteran, Volume 13, Number 9, pp. 418-420.: “The 2d Georgia Regiment, under the command of the gallant (Lt.) Col. W(illiam). S. Shepherd, being pressed by the enemy from Fort Harrison, now in their possession, took position in a small redoubt on the line of works about one half a mile to the left of Fort Harrison.”
  22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginiaby F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138
  23. Confederate Inspection Report P-12: Benning’s Brigade, September 8, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: 19 officers + 126 enlisted men = 145 PFD
  24. Confederate Inspection Report P-15: Benning’s Brigade, September 19, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.: 19 officers + 125 enlisted men = 144 PFD
  25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 138: Sibley indicates Moore definitely only commanded a battalion of the 17th Georgia.  He may or may not have commanded the entire regiment at some point in September 1864.
  26. Moore, James B. “The Attack of Fort Harrison.” Confederate Veteran, Volume 13, Number 9, pp. 418-420.: “The 2d Georgia Regiment, under the command of the gallant (Lt.) Col. W(illiam). S. Shepherd, being pressed by the enemy from Fort Harrison, now in their possession, took position in a small redoubt on the line of works about one half a mile to the left of Fort Harrison. His command, numbering less than one hundred men, made a most gallant fight.”
  27. Confederate Inspection Report P-12: Benning’s Brigade, September 8, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
  28. Confederate Inspection Report P-15: Benning’s Brigade, September 19, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C.
  29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 146
  30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 154
  31. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 162
  32. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 154
  33. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 162
  34. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172
  35. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1171: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General R. E. Lee, January 31, 1865”; This list contains many commanders who were not there.  They were the “official” commanders but may have been gone on leave.  I have used none of the leaders from this list as a result.
  36. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1179: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame.
  37. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 181
  38. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1269: “Organization of the Infantry and Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, February 28, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from February 28, 1865.  However, leaders listed are from January.  I’ve chosen to ignore the leaders and just use this source for the organization of the order of battle.
  39. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 172
  40. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1179: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame.
  41. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 181
  42. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 190
  43. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 200
  44. Benning, H.L.. “Notes on the Final Campaign of April, 1865.” Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 7, p. 194
  45. Benning, H.L.. “Notes on the Final Campaign of April, 1865.” Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 7, p. 194
  46. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: South Carolina and Georgia by Stewart Sifakis, pages 181-182
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