A Demographic View of the Georgia Continental Line and Militia: 1775–1783
Originally published in the Journal of the American Revolution on February 22, 2022
To complement my two studies of the North Carolina Continental Line and militia/state troops, I’ve researched the demographics of the Georgia Continental Line and militia using Federal pension applications.[1]
The colony of Georgia at the beginning of the Revolutionary War consisted only of a series of counties along the Savannah River running from the Atlantic coast northwest to the frontier town of Augusta. In 1770 the colony had an estimated population of only 23,375 people, the fewest of the original thirteen colonies. By 1780, the population had increased two-fold placing the state ahead of the populations of Rhode Island and Delaware.[2]
Georgia’s first Continental regiment was formed in November 1775.[3] By February 1776, Lachlan McIntosh was commissioned colonel and began recruiting men for a single regiment. This first regiment of four small companies required more men than could be raised in the colony.[4] Despite Georgia’s rapid population increase only 3,000 military-aged males lived in the state at the time.[5] To provide the necessary men, Maj. Gen. Charles Lee, then commander of the Southern Department, supported the idea of raising six regiments from neighboring states for service in Georgia.[6] Three additional regiments were subsequently raised largely from men in the Carolinas and Virginia from mid to late 1776.[7] Also raised that year was a Continental regiment of Georgia Light Horse (or Rangers). This unit only loosely served under Continental control. One source notes them as nothing more than “vigilantes” operating independently on the border frontiers of the state.[8] Even with the influx of men from South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, the Georgia Line never numbered more than 1,423 men.[9] Georgia militia and state troops were not very numerous either, never amounting to more than 3,200 men, the apex of which occurred in 1778.[10]
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