1868 ROLL OF THE OGLETHORPE LIGHT INFANTRY – CO. B, 8TH GEORGIA VOLUNTEERS

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An outstanding, informative roster of men who served in the company during the Civil War. It measures approx. 14” x 17” on a heavy paper. Some light soiling throughout; the spots you see in the photos above are mostly on the glass in the accompanying frame. All writing legible throughout. One small area of paper loss along the top edge measuring approx. 1” x ¼”, otherwise in very fine condition. The frame does need some repairs.  If preferred we can ship the item without the frame.

The history of the company from the roster is as follows:

“ROLL OF THE OGLETHORPE LIGHT INFANTRY / Company “A” Savannah, GA”. Known throughout the war as Company “B,” 8th Regiment Georgia Volunteers, Anderson’s Brigade, Hood’s Division, Longstreet’s Army Corps, Amry Northern Virginia.

This Company was mustered into the service of the Confederate States on the 21st day of May, 1861, and served throughout the war – surrendering at Appomattox C.H. on the 10th of April, 1865.

It was the first Company that offered its services to President Davis for the war, and was mustered in as above stated. Previous to that time it did service as State troops at Fort Pulaski and Savannah, though it was reorganized before going to Virginia.

Besides being engaged in all the important battles in Virginia, it was with Longstreet’s Corps when it made its celebrated circuit of the Confederacy, and was engaged in the battle of Knoxville.”

The list of names on the roll are broken down into the following categories: Commissioned Officers; Noncommissioned Officers; Privates; Members who joined after the Battle of Manassas. The final two names served with the company in Virginia but were promoted while on duty as State volunteers at Savannah and previous to its enlistement in the CSA. Those names with an asterisk in front where wounded; those with a cross symbol surrendered at Appomattox.

Types of information provided with each name includes being wounded or killed in action (including at Gettysburg), promotions, transfers, post-war occupations and place of residence.

 

At the bottom of the roster is the date July 21, 1868 and “Presented by J. H. ESTILL.”, Savannah News and Herald Print. Estill served as a private in the company. John Holbrook Estill was born on October 28, 1840, in Charleston, South Carolina, to William Estill, a bookbinder and printer. One of eleven children, he was named for John Edwards Holbrook, naturalist, medical professor, and friend of Estill’s father. In 1851, the Estill family moved to Savannah, and at the age of eleven, he began working in the office of the Evening Journal. In 1856, Estill returned to Charleston where he apprenticed for three years in the printing house of Walker, Evans & Coggsville.

 

In 1859, he joined the Oglethorpe Light Infantry and was stationed at Fort Pulaski in January 1861. After the Oglethorpe Light Infantry became Company B, 8th Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Confederate States of America, he was sent to Virginia where he was severely wounded in the First Battle of Manassas. After being discharged in 1862 due to his injuries, he returned to Savannah. He returned to Savannah and became a volunteer of Screven's Battalion opposing Sherman's March to the Sea campaign. Following the Civil War, he maintained an active role in the local militias, including with Company F, 1st Regiment, Georgia Infantry, the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, the Georgia Hussars, the Georgia Cadets, and the Savannah Volunteer Guards. He was retired in 1895 with the rank of lieutenant colonel, from which his affectionate title of “Colonel” originated.

 

Upon returning to Savannah from Manassas, he became a pressman for the Savannah News and Herald, established “Estill’s News Deport,” and a job printing office. In 1866, he purchased a small printing plant and left the News and Herald, only to return in June 1867 when he purchased one-half interest in the newspaper. In June 1868, he acquired the remaining half. Renamed the Savannah Morning News, Estill owned the paper for forty years (1867-1907). Estill erected the first Morning News building on Bay Street in 1876. For twenty years, he served as president of the Georgia Press Association. Estill was highly thought of in the newspaper world, as evidenced by the Rome Commercial’s description of him in 1871 as “accomplished, energetic and talented; he has built up the best newspaper in the state, if not in the south…”

 

From the introduction to the book produced in 1894 entitled: THE Oglethorpe Light Infantry

OF SAVANNAH, IN PEACE AND IN WAR. A BRIEF SKETCH — OF — ITS TWO COMPANIES:

"A" COMPANY, KNOWN IN THE CONFEDERATE STATES ARMY AS CO. B., 8th REGT. GA. VOLS., AND "B" COMPANY, KNOWN AS CO. H., 1st VOLUNTEER REGT. OF GA.

 

“More than thirty-three years have passed away since the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, one hundred

and one men in the aggregate, Captain Francis S. Bartow in command, left Savannah to join the Con- federate States Army, then assembling at Richmond. They were the first Confederate troops enlisted for the war; they were also the only company from Savannah that fought in Virginia from the start to the finish. For four long years, without shelter, poorly clad and with scanty food, they faced the elements alike .in summer's heat and winter's cold, and for the same period they breasted the tide of invasion pouring over their native land. They left their dead and wounded on every battle-field from Manassas to Appomattox wherever Longstreet's corps was engaged, and they made a brilliant record, equaled by few and surpassed by none, of which this community from whence they came have al- ways felt most justly proud. The few survivors in these stirring scenes are passing gradually away; ere long none will remain to tell us of the hardships they endured and the dangers they faced, and that those who come after us to march beneath the ban-ner inscribed with the name of Oglethorpe may know the history and war record of their gallant corps it is now proposed to collate whatever of interest is at present attainable, and. hand it down in enduring form for their information and benefit. “

 

An interesting and informative document related to a hard-fought unit that served throughout the course of the Civil War. [ld][ph:L]

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