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The company organized under state authority on Aug. 20, 1863, Carnesville GA. Officers and men appear to have been Franklin County residents exempt from Confederate military service for one reason or another, usually age. Gov. Brown called the company into service on Sept. 15, 1863. The company's area of duty was defined as the 6th and 9th Congressional Districts; Lincoln, Wilkes, Columbia, Warren and Richmond Counties. After camping near Savannah for a few months, members were released from duty on Jan. 31, 1864.
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My relative John Poe was in this company. To my knowledge he was fit and able to serve and was about 25 years old in 1861. What were some of the reasons a man would have been exempted from service? I have census information that shows him as a blacksmith later in life. Would some blacksmiths have been exempted to keep shops running back home?