ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Grave of General Alfred H. Colquitt, Georgia
ExploreSouthernHistory.com - Grave of General Alfred H. Colquitt, Georgia
Grave of General Alfred H. Colquitt
A hero of the War Between the States, General
Colquitt also served in the U.S. Senate, U.S. House
of Representatives and as Governor of Georgia.
Gen. Alfred Holt Colquitt
A hard fighting Southern
leader, Colquitt rose to the
rank of Major General in the
Confederate army.
Georgia's Hero of Olustee
A historical marker at the
grave notes Colquitt's fame
as the "Hero of Olustee"
among his fellow Georgians.
Grave of General Alfred H. Colquitt - Macon, Georgia
Georgia's Hero of Olustee
A General at Peace
A simple monument marks
General Colquitt's grave at
Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon,
Georgia.
Copyright 2010 by Dale Cox
All rights reserved.
Atop a terrace in Macon's Rose Hill Cemetery
can be found the grave of Georgia's famed
Civil War general, Alfred Holt Colquitt.

The commander of the famed Colquitt's
Brigade, he led Confederate troops in some
of the most desperate fighting of the war. Part
of Stonewall Jackson's command, Colquitt
and his men fought at the Battles of South
Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg and
Chancellorsville. Sent south to defend the
Carolina's, Colquitt's Brigade rapidly moved
south to reinforce Southern forces in Florida
fighting against an invasion by Union troops.

It was in Florida on February 20, 1864, that
he was given field command of the roughly
5,000 Confederate troops that terribly mauled
a Union army led by General Truman
Seymour at the Battle of Olustee, Florida
(also called the Battle of Ocean Pond).

It is a little known fact that based on the
number of troops involved, Olustee was the
bloodiest major defeat for the Union during
the entire War Between the States.

As word of the victory in the Florida pine
woods spread across the South, Colquitt
was hailed by the people of his home state
as "The Hero of Olustee." A historical marker
standing by his grave notes this distinction (

Floridians, it should be noted, consider that
state's General Joseph Finegan to be "The
Hero of Olustee." On the battlefield, in fact,
two almost identical markers pay tribute to
the two generals, one placed by Georgians
and the other by Floridians.

In truth, both men can rightly be called the
Heroes of Olustee, as can the thousands of
men who fought under their command.

Alfred H. Colquitt was born in Walton County,
Georgia, on April 20, 1824. A graduate of
Princeton College, he was admitted to the
Georgia Bar in 1846 and practiced law in his
hometown of Monroe. He served as a staff
officer during the Mexican War and rose to
the rank of Major during that conflict.

After returning home from Mexico, Colquitt
was elected to a single term in the United
States House of Representatives, but did not
seek reelection. Instead he served in the
Georgia legislature and was a delegate to
the state's Secession Convention.

Casting his lot with the Confederacy, Colquitt
reentered the military service, first as a
captain in the Sixth Georgia Infantry. Word of
his ability spread as he rose through the
ranks, fighting in the Peninsula Campaign
and at the Battle of Seven Pines. He was
promoted to Brigadier General in 1862. He
eventually attained the rank of Major General.
Following his surrender in North Carolina at
the end of the war, General Colquitt returned
home to Georgia where he became a fierce
opponent of the Reconstruction era policies
that were inflicted upon the South.

He was elected Governor of Georgia in 1876,
spearheading a movement by the Democrat
Party to regain control of the state. He was
reelected to a two-year term in 1880 after his
party achieved dominance and drafted a new
constitution.

General Colquitt was elected to the United
States Senate in 1883 and served in that
body until his death on March 26, 1894, at the
age of 69.

A patriot to the South, his home state and the
nation, Alfred Holt Colquitt was mourned by
friends and former enemies alike. He was
buried at Rose Hill Cemetery in Macon,
Georgia, where his body remains at rest
today.

Rose Hill Cemetery is located in downtown
Macon at 1091Riverside Drive.  The cemetery
is the final resting place for Colquitt and
hundreds of other Confederate soldiers, as
well as famed Southern musicians Duane
Allman and Berry Oakley of the Allman
Brothers Band.