The above picture is a photograph of the Fireside Defenders taken in 1895 in Lindale, GA. The photograph was furnished by Ann Swisher Wiley of Dalton. Ms Wiley's great grandfather, T. N. Vincent, is the gentleman standing in the back row, third from the right. Ms Wiley's great granduncle, W. J. Vincent, is the gentleman seated on the far right with the crutches. W. J. Vincent also wrote an article in the Jan. 1921 The Veteran telling about William Brock Judkins. The first 14 names in the following list are names of members of the Fireside Defenders. According to Ms Wiley, "The Reunion picture has 15 people. My list for those present has 14 names. I also have an old, badly typed copy of a History of the 22nd written by Mountcastle, and handed in by Sharpe. T. N Vincent was only 16 when the war started, so he did not enlist until 1863. W. J. Vincent enlisted in Aug. of 1861. If you know someone who has a copy of the article W.J. Vincent wrote for The Veteran in Jan. 1921, I really would like to have a copy. W.J. Vincent was wounded and captured at Gettysburg, and was also wounded at the Crater. After he was discharged at Appomattox, he walked home to Rome. Their father, James, also joined in 1863. He was in company F, Floyd Legion".
If anyone can identify any more of the above Fireside Defenders, please contact us.
-
On 12/02/01 Deirdre Nelson gave information that the gentleman seated in the front row on the far left is probably her great-grandfather, the Reverend Harrison Clay Trammell, Co B, 1st Ga.
-
On 10/02/02 John H Cobb, JR of The Roswell Mills SCV Camp 1547 gave information saying 'I am fairly certain that Col Robert Harris Jones, my g-g-grandfather, is in the front row, seated second from right.' He goes on to say 'By the time of this reunion, Col Jones was a Methodist preacher and highly regarded buggy maker in Cartersville, GA. He died two years after this reunion and is buried in Oak Hill Cemetery in Cartersville.'
-
The following information was acquired from Hustler of Rome on Thurs., Aug 15, 1895
Reunion of Co. G, 22nd Ga. at Lindale, Aug.14, 1895
present:
|
Col. R. H. Jones, 67 |
Lt. W. J. Hall, 60 |
|
Orderly Sgt. John S. Black, 56 |
2nd Lt. Geo. Kinney, 72 |
| Privates | |
|
W. R. Mountcastle, 55 |
W. J. Vincent, 52 |
|
Jos. N. Sharp, 50 |
B. Morris, 58 |
|
B. B. Burkhalter, 60 |
T. N. Vincent, 50 |
|
J. M. Burkhalter, 51 |
I. N. Teat, 50 |
|
Alfred Johnson, 66 |
J. M. Compton 54 |
The memoir of William Brock Judkins, who served in Company G, 22nd Regiment, Georgia Volunteer Infantry, Army of Northern Virginia, Confederate States of America, is an insightful, honest view of everyday life for the Confederate soldier.
Flag Presentation at Silver Creek
The following article appeared in The Rome Courier, Sep 10, 1861
August 14, 1861 The fourteenth day of August assembled many patriotic hearts on Silver Creek, to witness the presentation of a Confederate Flag, by the Ladies of Silver Creek and vicinity, to the Fireside Defenders. Col. Woods was invited to the chair, and Mrs. Dr. Reese selected, in behalf of the ladies, to present the flag to the Fireside Defenders, which she did with honor to herself, and rendered proud the hearts she represented. Wesley Jones, though a youth in age, received the banner, in behalf of the company, with a manliness that would have honored one of age and experience. At the hour appointed, the chairman arose, and after a few short remarks, introduced to the audience Mrs. Dr. Reese, bearing in her hand our beloved Confederate Flag; and with that warmth of patriotism common to woman, addressed the company as follows: "Soldiers of the Fireside Defenders: In behalf of the ladies of Silver Creek and vicinity, I am before you to ask your acceptance of this flag. You are all aware that every nation on earth has its ensign. This, my brave friends is the ensign of the "Southern Confederate States of America." It is needless for me to retrospect the history of this nation; to tell you why the "Flag of the Union" no longer floats over our land of "sunshine and flowers;" or why the clashing of musketry and the booming of cannon, is heard in our border states. Suffice it to say, our cause is a just, a righteous and a godly one; and in presenting these colors to you, you have a testimony of the spirit which governs the women of the South. Be assured we distain as much as yourselves the idea of becoming slaves to the oppressors of our land; and, should it become necessary, there is not a free woman in the Southern Confederacy who will not dispute the ground inch by inch, and who will not die in the cause of liberty and justice? To you, as the first agents, in the hands of an all wise Father, we consign these colors. Never! Never! My friends, permit it to "trail in the dust." Never lower this flag in servile submission to the ruthless invaders of our homes, our liberties and our most sacred rights! Never furl these ample folds until Liberty shall be perched upon this banner! There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations. He it is who will give might to your arms in the deadly strife. The battle is not to the strong in numbers alone; it is to the just, the right and the true. Oh! do not permit our enemies to forge chains to bind in degredation our posterity; but, with "Hearts within and God o'erheard," press onward! High and higher wave these colors; and may that God, in whom we trust, permit every soldier of the "Fireside Defenders" to return under the protection of his banner! Our prayers to God shall rise incessantly in your behalf, and we entreat you to yield your hearts and lives unto His charge; and, if it be your doom, as it has been of many near and dear to us, to meet death upon the battlefield, in a nation's heart shall be written your epitaph. History shall prolong, and posterity shall bless the valiant arms and noble spirits who fought, bled and died, to purchase liberty and freedom! "Oh! Flag of the South! still thy way Undimmed thro' ages untold, O'er earth's proud realms thy stars display, Like morning's radiant cloud's unroll'd Oh! Flag of the South! still peerless shine, O'er earth's remotest bounds expand, Till every heart and and entwine To sweep oppresion from our glorious land ." Mr. Jones then received the banner in behalf of the company and said: Respected Madam: Allow me in behalf of the company to return to you, and through you, to the ladies of this community, the sincere and heart-felt graditude, of the members of this company, for their regard and appreciation of this company, and the cause in which they have engaged, which you so nobly and beautifully manifested on this occasion, by presenting us with this beautiful banner - the flag of our country, the flag of the Confederate States of America, the flag of the eleven immortal States, which have thrown off the yoke of tyranny, and whose bright stars glitter upon its folds, sending forth their refulgent rays with all the beauty of noon day's sun. This is indeed the freeman's flag, under which equal rights and equal priveliges are meeted out to each and every one. Wherever that banner has been unfurled to the breeze, upon the field of conflict, victory has been its trophy. It is this banner that now proudly floats over the walls of Sumpter. It was this flag that was crowned with victory at Bethel, and it ws this beautiful emblem that was victoriously carried by the brave army of our soldiers over the plains of Manassas, on the 21st day of July. This flag was in the grasp of the gallant, the noble, the immortal Bartow, when he fell in that great struggle, and I assure you, if we shall ever have the opportunity of unfurling to the breeze its ample folds in the face of the enemy, I pledge you, it shall be preserved as pure and inviolate, as it now comes from your fair hands. Before it shall be dishonored, before it shall be found trailing in the dust, the last man that now composes this company shall be found cold in death upon the field of strife; the last man who survives shall make this beautiful banner his winding sheet. Let me beg of you ladies to continue to encourage our soldiery, for, I assure you, if woman shall frown upon the efforts now being made to obtain our rights and independence, the stoutest heart would fail, and the stoutest arm would become completely unnerved! But so long as woman smiles, and God permits, we will bid defiance to the hypocritical old Governmant, that hails as its chief, the name of that ignorant and diabolical old hypocrite, Abraham Lincoln. Although we may be far away in the tented field, surrounded by the difficulties and dangers, when we shall gaze upon this beautiful banner, our hearts will be animated with new vigor, and our arms strengthened with redoubled strength. When we behold these glowing colors, we shall ever remember, with feelings of the highest regard and esteem, the fair donors." A committee of three, as follows, was then appointed to request the publication of the proceedings of the meeting and the speeches in the Rome papers. J. W. P. Ware S. B. Chambers Larkin Barnett.