George Pierce Doles was a Georgia

Georgia (U.S. state)

Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

 businessman and Confederate

Confederate States Army

The Confederate States Army was the army of the Confederate States of America while the Confederacy existed during the American Civil War. On February 8, 1861, delegates from the seven Deep South states which had already declared their secession from the United States of America adopted the...

 general during the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. His men played a key role on the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg

Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War, it is often described as the war's turning point. Union Maj. Gen. George Gordon Meade's Army of the Potomac...

 in driving back the Union

Union Army

The Union Army was the land force that fought for the Union during the American Civil War. It was also known as the Federal Army, the U.S. Army, the Northern Army and the National Army...

 XI Corps.

Early life

Doles was born in Milledgeville, Georgia

Milledgeville, Georgia

Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...

, the son of Josiah and Martha (Pierce) Doles. His father was a tailor by occupation. Doles was educated in the town's common schools. At the age of 16, Doles loaded a stagecoach with his brother, bound to join the Army in the Mexican-American War, but he was intercepted by his father before the coach could depart. He became a successful businessman in Milledgeville and was elected captain of the "Baldwin Blues," a local militia

Militia

The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...

 company.

Civil War

With the secession

Secession

Secession is the act of withdrawing from an organization, union, or especially a political entity. Threats of secession also can be a strategy for achieving more limited goals.-Secession theory:...

 of Georgia and the start of the Civil War in 1861, Doles enlisted in the Confederate Army along with most of his militia unit and they were incorporated as Company H in the 4th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment. They were mustered into service on April 26, 1861 in Milledgeville and left for Augusta the next day. On May 9, 1861, he was appointed colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 of the regiment

Regiment

A regiment is a major tactical military unit, composed of variable numbers of batteries, squadrons or battalions, commanded by a colonel or lieutenant colonel...

 and led it during the Peninsula Campaign

Peninsula Campaign

The Peninsula Campaign of the American Civil War was a major Union operation launched in southeastern Virginia from March through July 1862, the first large-scale offensive in the Eastern Theater. The operation, commanded by Maj. Gen. George B...

 as a part of the Army of Northern Virginia

Army of Northern Virginia

The Army of Northern Virginia was the primary military force of the Confederate States of America in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War, as well as the primary command structure of the Department of Northern Virginia. It was most often arrayed against the Union Army of the Potomac...

. He was wounded at the Battle of Malvern Hill

Battle of Malvern Hill

The Battle of Malvern Hill, also known as the Battle of Poindexter's Farm, took place on July 1, 1862, in Henrico County, Virginia, on the seventh and last day of the Seven Days Battles of the American Civil War. Gen. Robert E. Lee launched a series of disjointed assaults on the nearly impregnable...

.

During the 1862 Maryland Campaign

Maryland Campaign

The Maryland Campaign, or the Antietam Campaign is widely considered one of the major turning points of the American Civil War. Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's first invasion of the North was repulsed by Maj. Gen. George B...

, his regiment was a part of Ripley's Brigade

Brigade

A brigade is a major tactical military formation that is typically composed of two to five battalions, plus supporting elements depending on the era and nationality of a given army and could be perceived as an enlarged/reinforced regiment...

 in D. H. Hill's Division. It helped in the defense of South Mountain

Battle of South Mountain

The Battle of South Mountain was fought September 14, 1862, as part of the Maryland Campaign of the American Civil War. Three pitched battles were fought for possession of three South Mountain passes: Crampton's, Turner's, and Fox's Gaps. Maj. Gen. George B...

 before withdrawing towards Sharpsburg, Maryland

Sharpsburg, Maryland

Sharpsburg is a town in Washington County, Maryland, United States, approximately south of Hagerstown. The population was 691 at the 2000 census....

. When General Roswell Ripley fell with a wound at the Battle of Antietam

Battle of Antietam

The Battle of Antietam , fought on September 17, 1862, near Sharpsburg, Maryland, and Antietam Creek, as part of the Maryland Campaign, was the first major battle in the American Civil War to take place on Northern soil. It was the bloodiest single-day battle in American history, with about 23,000...

 defending Mumma's Farm, Doles assumed temporary command of the brigade and led it in an assault into the southern end of the Miller cornfield. Doles's command of the brigade was made official on November 1, 1862 with his promotion to brigadier general. He led the brigade with efficiency during the battles of Fredericksburg

Battle of Fredericksburg

The Battle of Fredericksburg was fought December 11–15, 1862, in and around Fredericksburg, Virginia, between General Robert E. Lee's Confederate Army of Northern Virginia and the Union Army of the Potomac, commanded by Maj. Gen. Ambrose E. Burnside...

 and Chancellorsville

Battle of Chancellorsville

The Battle of Chancellorsville was a major battle of the American Civil War, and the principal engagement of the Chancellorsville Campaign. It was fought from April 30 to May 6, 1863, in Spotsylvania County, Virginia, near the village of Chancellorsville. Two related battles were fought nearby on...

.

On January 19, 1863, before the Battle of Chancellorsville in May, several brigades of the Army of Northern Virginia were rearranged to contain regiments from the same states. On this date, the 1st and 3rd North Carolina Infantry Regiments were transferred out of Doles's Brigade and the 12th and 21st Georgia Infantry Regiments were transferred into Doles' Brigade. Thus, from that date, Doles's Brigade consisted of the 4th Georgia Infantry, 12th Georgia Infantry, 21st Georgia Infantry and the 44th Georgia Infantry

44th Georgia Volunteer Infantry

The 44th Georgia Volunteer Infantry was an infantry regiment in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War.-History:The 44th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment was entered into service in the Confederate States Army on March 11, 1862 at Camp Stephens near Griffin, Georgia...

 Regiments.

During the 1863 Gettysburg Campaign

Gettysburg Campaign

The Gettysburg Campaign was a series of battles fought in June and July 1863, during the American Civil War. After his victory in the Battle of Chancellorsville, Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia moved north for offensive operations in Maryland and Pennsylvania. The...

, Doles's Brigade, 1,300 strong, formed part of Robert E. Rodes

Robert E. Rodes

Robert Emmett Rodes was a railroad civil engineer and a promising young Confederate general in the American Civil War, killed in battle in the Shenandoah Valley.-Education, antebellum career:...

's Division. On July 1, 1863, Doles attacked the line of the Union XI Corps in fields near Rock Creek north of Gettysburg, driving their adversaries back over a mile. Pressure from Doles, as well as from fellow Georgian John B. Gordon and other brigades, eventually forced much of the XI Corps to collapse and retire to Cemetery Hill

Cemetery Hill

Cemetery Hill is a Gettysburg Battlefield landform which had 1863 military engagements each day of the July 1–3 Battle of Gettysburg. The northernmost part of the Army of the Potomac defensive "fish-hook" line, the hill is gently sloped and provided a site for American Civil War artillery...

. The brigade suffered 219 casualties at Gettysburg—46 killed, 106 wounded, and 67 captured—a loss of 16.6% of its strength. Doles's men did not see any significant action on the second or third day of the battle, nor in the subsequent Bristoe

Bristoe Campaign

The Bristoe Campaign was a series of minor battles fought in Virginia during October and November 1863, in the American Civil War. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade, commanding the Union Army of the Potomac, began to maneuver in an unsuccessful attempt to defeat Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern...

 or Mine Run Campaigns.

In 1864, Doles led his brigade during the Overland Campaign

Overland Campaign

The Overland Campaign, also known as Grant's Overland Campaign and the Wilderness Campaign, was a series of battles fought in Virginia during May and June 1864, in the American Civil War. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, general-in-chief of all Union armies, directed the actions of the Army of the...

, fighting in the Wilderness

Battle of the Wilderness

The Battle of the Wilderness, fought May 5–7, 1864, was the first battle of Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Virginia Overland Campaign against Gen. Robert E. Lee and the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia. Both armies suffered heavy casualties, a harbinger of a bloody war of attrition by...

 and at Spotsylvania Court House

Battle of Spotsylvania Court House

The Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, sometimes simply referred to as the Battle of Spotsylvania , was the second major battle in Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's 1864 Overland Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the bloody but inconclusive Battle of the Wilderness, Grant's army disengaged...

, where the brigade was attacked by an overwhelming force and overrun at the "Mule Shoe" salient

Salients, re-entrants and pockets

A salient is a battlefield feature that projects into enemy territory. The salient is surrounded by the enemy on three sides, making the troops occupying the salient vulnerable. The enemy's line facing a salient is referred to as a re-entrant...

 on May 10, suffering about 650 casualties, of which about 350 were captured. Doles himself escaped capture by falling down to the ground and playing dead until a counterattack materialized. With the assistance of other brigades, the lost entrenchments were eventually recaptured. During the Battle of Cold Harbor

Battle of Cold Harbor

The Battle of Cold Harbor was fought from May 31 to June 12, 1864 . It was one of the final battles of Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Overland Campaign during the American Civil War, and is remembered as one of American history's bloodiest, most lopsided battles...

 in June, a Union sharpshooter shot Doles in the left breast as he was inspecting the Confederate entrenchments near Bethesda Church, Virginia. He died instantly. Command of the brigade passed to Colonel (later Brigadier General) Phillip Cook

Phillip Cook

Philip Cook was a general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a postbellum member of the United States Congress.-Biography:...

 of the 4th Georgia Infantry.

Doles was buried in Memory Hill Cemetery

Memory Hill Cemetery

Memory Hill Cemetery is an American cemetery in Milledgeville, Georgia. The cemetery opened in 1804.-Notable Interments:*Thomas Petters Carnes, United States Representative for Georgia and state court judge....

in Milledgeville, Georgia.