The Civil War in Milledgeville

In 1803, an act of the Georgia legislature called for the location and survey of a town to be called Milledgeville, in honor of the current governor, John Milledge.  The land immediately west of the Oconee River had just been opened up by the Treaty of Fort Wilkinson, (1802), in which the Creek leaders, hard pressed by debts to white traders, agreed to yet another cession of their land. The restless white population of Georgia was pressing west and south in search of new farmland, and the town of Milledgeville was carved out of the Oconee wilderness to help accommodate their needs. A strong local tradition described the arrival of the legislative commissioners charged with locating the site.  After a tiring journey they found a large oak in a lush carpeted grove of hickory and oak.  Their leader, John Clarke, sampled the water of a gushing nearby spring (later called Jarrett Springs), mixed it with some whiskey, thrust his cane into the ground and announced "This is it!"  The area was surveyed and a town plat of 500 squares was divided into 84 four-acre squares. 

In 1807, fifteen troop-escorted wagons left Louisville, the former capital, carrying the treasury and public records of the state.

Milledgeville's status as the political and social center of Georgia was epitomized in the coming years by two events. The first was the visit to the capital in 1825 of the Revolutionary War hero, the Marquis de Lafayette. The receptions, barbeque, formal dinner and grand ball for this veteran apostle of liberty seemed to mark Milledgeville's coming of age.  The second event was the construction (1837-1839) of the Governor's Mansion, which one architectural historian has called "...the most important residence in America, bringing the Palladian villa format into the Greek Revival period."

On January 19, 1861, Georgia Convention delegates passed the Ordinance of Secession and the "republic of Georgia" joined the Confederate States of America, to the accompaniment of wild celebrations, bonfires, and illuminations on the Statehouse Square.  Three years later, on a bitterly cold November day, General William T. Sherman and 30,000 Federal troops marched in Milledgeville. When they left, a few days later, the Statehouse had been ransacked, the state arsenal and powder magazine destroyed, the Penitentiary, the Central Depot, and Oconee ridge burned and the surrounding country side devastated.  Three years later, during Reconstruction rule, the capital was moved to Atlanta, Georgia - a city emerging as the symbol of the New South, where Milledgeville symbolized the Old South. 

HISTORY OF MILLEDGEVILLE/BALDWIN COUNTY

The site for Milledgeville was chosen for its central location in the state and its ample water supply.  Located on the fall line of the Oconee River, Milledgeville is the only city in the U.S., with the exception of Washington D.C., actually designed to be a capital city. 

With the removal of the capital to Atlanta during reconstruction, Milledgeville experienced an economic downturn. By the late 19th and 20th century, improved lighting, streets, telephones, and water supply encouraged new building and commerce. The results of a slow growing economy contributed to a wealth of well-preserved federal style architecture enhanced by noteworthy Greek Revival, Victorian and Classic Revival houses that inhabit the city still today.   

Explore Milledgeville's historied past.  Plan a visit to the Georgia's Old Capital Museum or the Old Governor's Mansion.  Both give you a look into our past. Also check out Milledgeville's Msueum District.  In celebration of the Civil War's Sesquicentennial, or the 150th anniversary of the start of the War, Milledgeville will offer many events.  Browse our events calendar and search by the Civil War category.

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