In 1861, northeast Georgians were the driving force into secession and war. In 1865, Confederate president Jefferson Davis, his government collapsing and himself a wanted man, brought the reality of the war to the region's doorstep. Governor Joseph Brown, U.S. senator Robert Toombs and the politically influential Howell Cobb of Athens and his brother Thomas R.R. Cobb all fought passionately for Southern independence. The region epitomized the reasons for which the South waged and supported the war, yet it was spared the destruction seen in other places. Even Sherman's Union army touched only the region's fringes. Author Ray Chandler brings to light the final act of the Confederacy in the Peach State's northeast and the lasting impact it had on Georgians.
Ray Chandler is a journalist and freelance writer from Elberton, Georgia. His work has appeared in the Athens Banner-Herald, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and various magazines, including Georgia Backroads. For the last ten years he has been a correspondent with Scripps News, covering politics, legal matters and crime. American and British history, and especially the history of Georgia, have been lifelong passions.