What do you think?
Rate this book
The Last Days of the Confederacy in Northeast Georgia
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.
- GenresHistory
131 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 6, 2015
4 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 13, 2015
The Last Days of the Confederacy in Northeast Georgia
By Ray Chandler
Reviewed by J. Keith Jones
Ray Chandler has been a writer in many forms for a number of years, but this is his first book. “The Last Days of the Confederacy in Northeast Georgia” is a book I read with great interest. As a fellow native of Northeast Georgia, let me first clear up a misconception I frequently deal with in people from other states. Northeast Georgia is a separate and distinct region from North Georgia. North Georgia contains the mountain counties bordering North Carolina and Tennessee. Northeast Georgia constitutes the counties in the sprawling Piedmont region below the mountains meandering along the Savannah River down to around Augusta.
Naturally I grew up on many of these stories, but as history often is, they were of the often told oral history variety which contains pieces and parts of fact and myth and are often told out of order. This is the first coherent narrative of these stories backed up by source documents giving the true facts of these scattered histories in their full context. Chandler has done an excellent job of presenting these facts and telling them in as interesting a fashion as any of the many story tellers I have heard the pieces and parts from over the decades.
As is often the case, the people of Northeast Georgia have little idea of just how rich their history really is, as the histories of the so-called American Civil War tends to focus almost entirely on Virginia. Virginia, of course, played a central role in the life of the Confederate States of America, but few people realize just how many pivotal characters in this great drama of our nation's past were from this seemingly insignificant agrarian region. Northeast Georgia remains largely rural and agrarian, but the contributions it made in both people and experiences should not be overlooked. Ray Chandler does a wonderful job of presenting this story for all to read. I highly recommend this book to any who want to broaden their knowledge of Civil War history and maintain that it is now a must read for anyone who has ever called this area home.
By Ray Chandler
Reviewed by J. Keith Jones
Ray Chandler has been a writer in many forms for a number of years, but this is his first book. “The Last Days of the Confederacy in Northeast Georgia” is a book I read with great interest. As a fellow native of Northeast Georgia, let me first clear up a misconception I frequently deal with in people from other states. Northeast Georgia is a separate and distinct region from North Georgia. North Georgia contains the mountain counties bordering North Carolina and Tennessee. Northeast Georgia constitutes the counties in the sprawling Piedmont region below the mountains meandering along the Savannah River down to around Augusta.
Naturally I grew up on many of these stories, but as history often is, they were of the often told oral history variety which contains pieces and parts of fact and myth and are often told out of order. This is the first coherent narrative of these stories backed up by source documents giving the true facts of these scattered histories in their full context. Chandler has done an excellent job of presenting these facts and telling them in as interesting a fashion as any of the many story tellers I have heard the pieces and parts from over the decades.
As is often the case, the people of Northeast Georgia have little idea of just how rich their history really is, as the histories of the so-called American Civil War tends to focus almost entirely on Virginia. Virginia, of course, played a central role in the life of the Confederate States of America, but few people realize just how many pivotal characters in this great drama of our nation's past were from this seemingly insignificant agrarian region. Northeast Georgia remains largely rural and agrarian, but the contributions it made in both people and experiences should not be overlooked. Ray Chandler does a wonderful job of presenting this story for all to read. I highly recommend this book to any who want to broaden their knowledge of Civil War history and maintain that it is now a must read for anyone who has ever called this area home.
July 11, 2025
Excellent history of both the formative and last days of the Confederacy in Northeast Georgia. The author has an engaging writing style and also has personal connections and family history to many of the major players in this drama, which adds to the quality and interesting nature of this book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews