George Paul Harrison Sr.
Born(1813-10-19)October 19, 1813
Effingham County, Georgia
DiedMay 14, 1888(1888-05-14) (aged 74)
Chatham County, Georgia
Buried
Savannah, Georgia
Allegiance Confederate States of America
Service/branch Georgia militia
Years of service1861–1862; 1864–1865
RankBrigadier General
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War
Other workGeorgia State representative, court clerk

George Paul Harrison Sr. (October 19, 1813 – May 14, 1888) was a brigadier general in the Georgia militia from 1856–1861,[1] commander of the 1st Brigade in the Georgia State Troops[1] and a colonel in Georgia's First Military District in 1864–1865 during the American Civil War (Civil War). He was a prisoner of war for several months near the end of the war.

George P. Harrison Sr. was a rice planter, brigadier general in the Georgia militia and member of the Georgia House of Representatives before the Civil War. After the war, Harrison was a state representative in 1865–1866, a delegate to the state constitutional convention, a clerk of the city court of Savannah, Georgia and clerk of the superior court of Chatham County, Georgia.

He was the father of George Paul Harrison Jr., a Confederate States Army colonel, who commanded a brigade late in the war and was later an Alabama State Senator and a two-term member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama.[2][3][4]

Early life

George Paul Harrison Sr. was born in Effingham County, Georgia on October 19, 1813.[2][5][6] He was the son of Colonel William Harrison, a colonel of Georgia militia in the War of 1812 and Mary (Keller) Harrison.[5][7] Harrison was the father of George Paul Harrison Jr., a Confederate States Army colonel who commanded a brigade near the end of the Civil War and later was an Alabama state senator and a U.S. Representative from Alabama.[2][3][4]

Harrison was a rice planter on his Savannah River plantation, Monteith, now a location within Port Wentworth, Georgia, which is within the Savannah metropolitan area.[5][8] Before the Civil War, Harrison was a representative for Chatham County in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1842, 1849–1850, 1853–1854; and 1857–1860.[5] He also became a brigadier general in the Georgia militia.[9] He was a delegate to Democrat state party conventions in 1858 and 1860.[3]

American Civil War

After the outbreak of the Civil War, Georgia Governor Joseph E. Brown appointed Harrison a brigadier general of state troops to rank from September 14, 1861.[2][3][10] Harrison was assigned to establish a training camp near Savannah and to organize the regiments for the new troops.[3] Harrison did this, and led a force guarding the Georgia coast, during the winter of 1861–1862, after which his command was terminated.[3]

Under a new militia law in 1864, Harrison was appointed colonel in charge of Georgia's First Military District with the duties of destroying whiskey stills and tracking down deserters.[2][3] Soon, Harrison's command was required to oppose Sherman's March to the Sea.[3] When they reached the Savannah area, Sherman's men pillaged Harrison's home and property at Montieth.[3] In December 1864, Harrison was taken prisoner while visiting his devastated property.[2][3] Harrison was released from prison before the end of the war but refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States government.[3]

Later life

After the Civil War, Harrison returned to the Savannah area.[3] He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives for 1865–1866 and served as a delegate to the Georgia constitutional convention.[3] He was elected court clerk of the City Court of Savannah, Georgia and clerk of the Superior Court of Chatham County, Georgia.[2][3]

George Paul Harrison Sr. died at his home on his farm in Chatham County, Georgia near Savannah, Georgia on May 14, 1888.[3] He is buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery, Savannah, Georgia.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 Smith, p. 303
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3. p. 283.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Allardice, Bruce S. More Generals in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8071-3148-2 (pbk.). Retrieved September 16, 2012. p. 125.
  4. 1 2 Allardice, Bruce S. Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4. pp. 184–185.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Allardice, 1995. p. 124.
  6. ↑ Allardice, 1995, p. 125, states that another source which gives Harrison's birth year as 1814 contradicts a newspaper article in the Savannah Morning News, May 17, 1888, which gave his age as consistent with an 1813 birth year.
  7. ↑ Allardice states that despite statements that Harrison was related to President William Henry Harrison, he could find no source that shows a relationship to the Harrison family of Virginia.
  8. ↑ 'Monteith map'. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ Allardice, 1995, pp. 124–125.
  10. ↑ Eicher, 2001, p. 283 shows Harrison as a major general of Georgia militia before his appointment as a Confederate brigadier general of state militia.

References

  • Allardice, Bruce S. Confederate Colonels: A Biographical Register. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 2008. ISBN 978-0-8262-1809-4.
  • Allardice, Bruce S. More Generals in Gray. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1995. ISBN 0-8071-3148-2 (pbk.).
  • Eicher, John H., and David J. Eicher, Civil War High Commands. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8047-3641-3.
  • 'Monteith map'. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  • Smith, Gordon Burns, History of the Georgia Militia, 1783-1861, Volume One, Campaigns and Generals, Boyd Publishing, 2000.
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