Grave of Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt - Macon, Georgia

Grave of Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt

Near the northern edge of Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon, a historical marker points out the final resting place of one of Georgia's greatest heroes of the Civil War.

General Alfred H. Colquitt was born in Walton County, Georgia, on April 20, 1824, and went on to graduate from Princeton College before achieving distinction as a staff officer during the Mexican War. Rising to the rank of major by the time the war ended, he returned home to Georgia and continued his law career until the outbreak of the War Between the States in 1861.

Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt

Colquitt served a single term in the U.S. House of Representatives prior to the war, but did not seek reelection, opting instead to serve in the Georgia State Legislature until 1861 when he became a delegate to the state's Secession Convention.

Entering the Confederate service, he rose rapidly in rank due to courage under fire and became a brigadier general in 1862 after performing noteworthy service during the Peninsula Campaign. On February 20, 1864, he commanded the main battle line at the Battle of Olustee, Florida, which ended in a dramatic Confederate victory and achieved note as the bloodiest battle of the war for the Union (based on the number of men engaged). Georgians still remember him as the "Hero of Olustee."

A fierce opponent of the North's Reconstruction policies after the war, he was elected Governor of Georgia in 1876. He went on to serve in the United States Senate until his death in 1894 at the age of 69.

To learn more about Colquitt's remarkable life, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/colquittgrave.