"When war broke out in 1861 Governor Brown went to work to build a State Army for Georgia and the 4th State Brigade was organized at Camp McDonald in May 1861. One of the two heavy infantry regiments included in this brigade was commanded by State Colonel William T Wofford. In Company #1 of the regiment (The McDonald Guards), J M Johnson is listed as it's Captain on a roll dated May 12th 1861. "

"Captain Wofford helped to organize the First Regiment of Infantry which became the 18th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Recruitment of volunteers began in earnest in April 1861. The men joining the newly forming regiment were sent to Camp Brown where Wofford was elected colonel. Camp Brown was located five miles below Marietta on the Smyrna campgrounds. In June 1861, Colonel Wofford with his regiment went to the newly formed training area called Camp McDonald, where the camp was organized on June 11. The regiment is shown in a drawing the new training camp as the “First Reg. Infantry” with W. T. Wofford as Colonel and S. Z. Ruff as Lt. Colonel. Camp McDonald was located west of the Big Shanty (Kennesaw) railroad depot. The regiment was a part of General Phillips’ 4th Brigade until was turned over the Confederacy by Governor Brown in August 1861."

Alan< i'm not going to beat a dea horse, but some things from Lyle'ssource don't jibe with the above fm the same site. If eh "McDonald Guards" were at CAmp McDonald in May, and Col. Wofford's command was still in Camp Brown until June, it doesn't seem that they could have been his "#1" company. Co. A was the Acworth Infantry. Another site list only thre desertions before August, when the Regiment went to Va., and one death. Maybe the McDonald Guards were a home guard unit to start with. The 18th had a Major Jefferson Johnson; obviously a differet guy. Incidentally, S.Z. Ruff was a professor at the military academyin Marietta, where the other Johnson, James, was a student. I guess we'll never know all the details. Stan