History of Georgia (U.S. State) - Civil War

Civil War

On January 18, 1861 Georgia seceded from the Union, keeping the name "State of Georgia" and joining the newly formed Confederacy in February. White solidarity was strong in 1861-63, as the planters in the Black Belt formed a common cause with upcountry yeomen farmers in defense of the Confederacy against the Yankees. However disillusionment set in by 1863, with class tensions becoming more serious, with food riots, desertions, and growing Unionist activity in the northern mountain region. Governor Joseph E. Brown tried to divert attention by blaming the Confederate officials in Richmond, especially President Jefferson Davis, and insisting that many Georgia troops be kept at home. Brown was by the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, an influential weekly newspaper that repeatedly attacked the Davis administration, especially after the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus on 15 February 1864.