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Photo Gallery: "The Orphan Brigade"
For pictures of the cemetery and memorial site in which this
sign appears, see the sign labeled "Confederate Cemetery" for this county.
Sign text:
At Bear Creek Station (Hampton), on Sept. 4, 1864, Brig.
Gen. Joseph H. Lewis' famous "Orphan Brigade" (2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 9th
Kentucky Infantry) was relieved from assignment to Bate's division, Hardee's
corps, Army of Tennessee, in which it had served with conspicuous gallantry
all through Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's classic retreat from his exposed
position at Dalton to the strong lines surrounding Atlanta and, later,
through Gen. John B. Hood's failure to hold that vitally important city.
The "Orphan Brigade," "orphaned" because the secession
movement had failed in Kentucky, leaving them with no "home state" in the
Confederacy, was then assigned to Jackson's division, Wheeler's cavalry
corps and ordered to Griffin for the purpose of being mounted, partly on
horses surrendered by Maj. Gen. Geo. Stoneman, USA, to Brig. Gen. Alfred
Iverson, Jr., CSA, at Sunshine Church (19 miles NE of Macon) on July 31,
1864.
In its new role as "mounted infantry," the Orphans served in
Wheeler's corps all through the last winter of the Confederacy actively
opposing Gen. Sherman's destructive March to the Sea and his subsequent
campaign through the Carolinas. When, at last, the gallant Army of Tennessee
was surrendered at Durham Station, North Carolina, on April 26, 1865, the
Orphans had added fresh laurels to the already great name which four years
of glorious achievements had earned.
126-14 Georgia Historical Commission 1957
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