Augustus Romaldus Wright

Augustus Romaldus Wright (June 16, 1813 – March 31, 1891) was an American politician and lawyer, as well as a colonel in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.

Augustus Romaldus Wright
Born	June 16, 1813 Wrightsboro, Georgia
Died	March 31, 1891 (aged 77) Rome, Georgia
Place of burial	Myrtle Hill Cemetery
Allegiance	Confederate States of America
Service/branch	Confederate States Army
Years of service	1861–1865
Rank	Colonel
Unit	Army of Northern Virginia
Commands held	Georgia 38th Infantry Regiment
Battles/wars	American Civil War

Early life

Augustus Wright was born in Wrightsboro, Georgia and attended public school in Appling. Wright attended the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the founding college of the University of Georgia in Athens where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society. Wright studied law at the Litchfield Law School[1] in Connecticut and was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1835—becoming a practicing attorney in Crawfordville, Georgia,[1] the same year.[2] From 1842 until 1849, Wright served as judge of the superior court of the Cherokee circuit and from 1855 to 1857 as a judge of the superior court of Georgia.[1]

Political career

In 1856, Augustus Wright was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served one term from 1857 to 1859.[1] He later served as a delegate to the Georgia Secession Convention and the Confederate Secession Convention.[2]

President Abraham Lincoln offered Wright the position of provisional governor of Georgia but Wright declined.[2] Wright subsequently served in the First Confederate Congress.[3] Augustus Wright organized "Wright’s Legion" of Georgia volunteers and served as a colonel[4] in the Georgia 38th Infantry Regiment for the Confederate States Army in the Army of Northern Virginia.[5]

After the war, Wright served as a member of the Georgia constitutional convention in 1877. He died in 1891 at his home near Rome, Georgia, and was buried in Rome's Myrtle Hill Cemetery.[2]

References

1. Augustus Romaldus Wright. litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
2. WRIGHT, Augustus Romaldus, (1813 - 1891). congress.gov. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
3. Dixon, David T. (2010). "Augustus R. Wright and the Loyalty of the Heart". Georgia Historical Quarterly. 94 (3): 342–371. Retrieved 14 February 2018.
4. Col. Augustus Wright - Commander. 38thga.com. Retrieved July 22, 2013.
5. Georgia 38th Infantry Regiment. researchonline.net. Retrieved July 22, 2013.

See also

• Confederate States of America, causes of secession, "Died of states' rights"
• List of signers of the Georgia Ordinance of Secession