The 2nd Georgia Regiment, or as it was also known, the 2nd Georgia, was a regiment of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

, which formed part of the

Georgia Line The Georgia Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Georgia Line" referred to the quota of one infantry regiment which was assigned to Georgia at various times by the Continental Congress. The term also included the three inf ...

. Due to bad recruitment and horrible discipline, the 2nd-4th Georgia regiments were all later disbanded, and personnel joined the (1st) Georgia Regiment.

History

On 5 July 1776, as part of the 1776 quotas, the 2nd Georgia Regiment was formed as part of the

and subsequently assigned to the Southern Department. The regiment was organised in the fall and winter of 1776 in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. It had a population of 15,425 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern par ...

, consisting of eight companies, and recruited primarily in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. On 23 December 1777 the regiment was assigned to the new formed Georgia Brigade which contained the 1st-3rd Georgian regiments, an element in the Southern Department.Wright, p. 313.Knight, pp. 7, 9, 10. By March 1780, the regiment moved into the

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

garrison, and captured there by the British Southern Army on 12 May 1780. The regiment was officially disbanded following the 1781 quotas on 1 January 1781, and personnel joined the Georgia Regiment.Berg, pp. 46.Smith, Kiley, and Black, pp. 79, 90, 99, 107, 111. There is very little information on the uniform of the regiment, but the norm seems to have been hunting shirts and gaiter trousers.

Engagements

Engagements which the regiment took part in were: * First Florida Expedition (1776) * Second Florida Expedition (1778) * Siege of Savannah (1779) * Siege of Charleston (1780)

Commanding Officers

Commanding officers of the regiment were: * 5 July 1778–????,

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Samuel Elbert Samuel Elbert (1740November 1, 1788) was an American merchant, soldier, slave owner, and politician from Savannah, Georgia. Elbert fought in the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War, commanding the victorious American colonial forces ...

Footnotes

References

* Robert K. Wright Jr., ''The Continental Army'', 2006

United States Army Center of Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Arm ...

, Washington District of Columbia, United States of America. *

Lucian Lamar Knight Lucian Lamar Knight (February 9, 1868 – November 19, 1933) was an American journalist, editor, author, and historian. He was the founder of the Georgia Archives. In 1919, in recognition of his work in history, he was made a Fellow of the Royal ...

, ''Georgia's Roster of the Revolution'', 1920 Index Printing Company, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America. * Frank Berg, ''Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units Battalions, Regiments, and Independent Corps'', 1972 Stackpole Company, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States of America. . *

Digby Smith Digby George Smith (1 January 1935 – 9 January 2024), who also used the pseudonym Otto von Pivka, was a British military historian. The son of a British career soldier, he was born in Hampshire, England, but spent several years in India and P ...

, Kevin E. Kiley, and Jeremy Black, ''An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of the American War of Independence'', 2017 Lorenz Books, London, United Kingdom. {{ISBN, 978-0-7548-1761-1. 2nd Georgia regiment Military units and formations established in 1776 Military units and formations disestablished in 1780