- Collection:
- America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia
- Title:
- Samuel G. French and John Corse Civil War correspondence, October 1864
- Creator:
- French, Samuel Gibbs, 1818-1910
- Date of Original:
- 1864-10
- Subject:
- Corse, John M., 1835-1893
French, Samuel Gibbs, 1818-1910
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Campaigns
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Personal narratives
Allatoona Pass, Battle of, Ga., 1864 - Location:
- United States, Georgia, Bartow County, 34.23786, -84.8405
United States, Georgia, Cherokee County, Allatoona Pass, 34.1151, -84.59938 - Medium:
- letters (correspondence)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- image/x-djvu
application/pdf - Description:
- This collection contains two letters dated October 5, 1864 that pertain to the Battle of Allatoona Pass. One letter is from Major General S. G. French of the Confederate States of America demanding the commanding Union officer to surrender his troops. The other letter is a reply to Major General S.G. French from Brigadier General John W. Corse in which he refuses to surrender.
Processing Information: collection reprocessed in 2008
Samuel Gibbs French (1818-1893) was born on November 22, 1818 in New Jersey to Samuel and Rebecca Clark French. He graduated from the U. S. Military Academy in 1843. He married twice, first to E. Matilda Roberts in 1853 and then to Mary Fontaine Abercrombie in 1865. He had four children from these marriages. French was an artillery officer under Zachary Taylor during the Mexican War. Gibbs was running a plantation in Mississippi when the state seceded from the Union in 861. He joined the Confederate Army as a major of artillery. He was eventually promoted to major general in 1862 and his division fought in the battles of Kennesaw Mountain and Nashville. At the end of the war, he returned to Mississippi. In 1876 he moved to Columbus, Georgia and in 1881 he moved to Winter Park, Florida where he grew oranges. Before his death on April 20, 1910, he published his autobiography, Two Wars.
John M. Corse (1835-1893) was born on April 27, 1835 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He began studying at West Point Military Academy but left before graduation to pursue a law career. He entered the Federal Service in 1861 as a major of the 6th Iowa Regiment. He served with Major General John Charles Fremont in Missouri and then was made lieutenant colonel and transferred to General William T. Sherman's division. He was promoted again in 1863 to brigadier general and was best known for holding his position against great odds in the Battle of Allatoona Pass. The Battle of Allatoona Pass took place in Allatoona, Georgia in early October, 1864. The battle was a decisive Union victory despite a much larger attacking Confederate force. At the end of the war, French led a campaign against the Indians of the northwest. Following his campaign in the northwest, he was involved in railroad construction, and he served as post-master of Boston. He died in Winchester, Massachusetts on April 27, 1893.
America's Turning Point: Documenting the Civil War Experience in Georgia received support from a Digitizing Historical Records grant awarded to the Atlanta History Center, Georgia Historical Society, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, and the Digital Library of Georgia by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission. - External Identifiers:
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_turningpoint_ahc0026f-001
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/ahc/turningpoint/do:ahc0026f-001
- Language:
- eng
- Bibliographic Citation (Cite As):
- Cite as: [identification of item(s)], Samuel G. French and John Corse Civil War correspondence, MSS 26F, Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center, as presented in the Digital Library of Georgia.
- Holding Institution:
- Atlanta History Center
- Rights:
-
