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Color bearer Garland Ryals 4th Virginia Cavalry

Memoirs of Georgia, volumes I and II (Atlanta, GA: The Southern Historical Association, 1895) can be found online. These two volumes contain some unique biographies of soldiers found nowhere else, especially from commands on which information can be scarce, notably Semmes, Wofford and Benning's brigades. Of course the soldiers had some connection with Georgia, yet there are a considerable number who served with Alabama and other state commands. Among the latter is Garland Mitchell Ryals (vol. II, p. 408), who left Cumberland Court House in Virginia as color sergeant, bearing a set of colors made by the women of Amelia County. Arriving in Ashland, just north of Richmond, he was mustered in as second sergeant of the Cumberland Troop, Fourth Virginia Cavalry. He served in both the eastern and western theaters, made captain, and was personally recognized by John B. Gordon and JEB Stuart; the entry even includes a postwar note from Robert E. Lee.

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Color bearer Garland Ryals 4th Virginia Cavalry
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