Below is a brief bibliography on the 56th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. The 56th was a sister regiment to the 39th Georgia (i.e. they served in the same brigade) so therefore their service was, with the exception of the about three months in their existence, was parallel. Below my name is a link to my website on the 39th Georgia.

Below is a brief bibliography on the 56th Georgia.

Confederate Military History, Extended Edition. Vol 7: Georgia. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot, 1987. pp. 127.

Crute, Joseph H. Jr. Units of the Confederate States Army. Midlothian, VA: Derwent Books, 1987. Ref. p. 113-114.

Cantrell, Oscar A. Sketches of the First Regiment Georgia Volunteers: Together with the history of the 56th Regiment Georgia Volunteers to January 1, 1864. Atlanta, Georgia: Intelligencer Steam Power Press, 1864.

Cuttino, George Peddy, ed. Saddle Bag and Spinning Wheel: Being the Civil War Letters of George W. Peddy, M.D. Surgeon, 56th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment, C.S.A. and his wife Kate Featherson Peddy. Macon, Georgia: Mercer University Press, 1981.

Davis, Martin J. Military History Institute Manuscript Archive, Civil War Misc Collection. Carlisle Barracks, PA.

Henderson, Lillian. Roster of the Soldiers Confederate States of Georgia, 1861-1865, Volume 5. Hapeville, GA: Longino & Porter, 1959. p 836-917.

Jones, Charles E. Georgia in the War, 1861-1866. Atlanta, GA: Foot & Davies, 1909. p. 33.

O'Mary, Scott. O'Mary Letters. Scott O'Mary Ancestry.com Genealogy Homepage, accessed December 25, 2008; available at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~somary/letters.html; Internet.

Sifakis, Stewart. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: Georgia Volume. NY: Facts on File, 1995. pp. 270-271.

Supplement to the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume 7. Janet B. Hewett, Noah Andre Trudeau, Bryce A. Suderow; editors. Gary Gallagher; contributing editor. Wilmington, NC: Broadfoot Publishing Company, 1995. p. 89-93.

You ancestor does not appear to have a Compiled Service Record (CSR). This is the material you normally get through the National Archives. I scanned several of the members of Company H, 56th Georgia it looks like many of the records of that company were incomplete or missing. I am interested in what the two Muse men had to say about his service start and ending dates. There are also was a William L. Norman. I assume this man was related so you may want to cross check your genealogy to confirm or deny.

The companies of the 56th Georgia were from as follows:

Companies A and I: Campbell and Coweta Counties.
Companies B, C, H: Carroll County.
Company D: Hall County.
Company E: Fulton County.
Companies F and G: Cobb County.
Company K: Heard County.

I assume your ancestor was from Carroll County since his two witnesses and the other Norman soldier was in Company H. You may want to visit Carroll County and also visit the Georgia State Library and Archives in Morrow. Don't plan on doing both of these in one day.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
M.A. Military History - Civil War Concentration
War Between the States Historian
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment

I just recently confirmed that my great grandfather James H. Norman was in this unit. I got his pension records from the state of Texas. I would like to know more about this unit. How can I find out more? I have a picture of a Civil War Reunion that he attended as an old man. I know northing about it. In his pension application, two men, Z.W. Muse and T. P. Muse were interrogated as to whether they knew him or not
I am planning a trip to GA and SC in the next 2 weeks and wanted to do some geneaology work re his Civil War service. Where should I go?