Mr. Soles,

No.

Gatewood and his organization was not sanctioned by the state of Georgia (or any other state) or Confederate government. It appears by all accounts that it would gather and disperse and surge numbers when needed. It was made up of deserters, draft dodgers, and other criminals.

His group's main focus was the McLemore's Cove & north Chattooga County area but they radiated out as far as Bradley County, Tennessee and into Alabama. I have done some indepth research on some of the atrocities he and his men perpetrated and if I had my wish I wished he could have been captured and executed. His actions can be compared to the Taliban and ISIS and thoroughly violated the Laws of Land Warfare then and now.

Respectfully,

Gerald D. Hodge, Jr.
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired)
M.A. Military History - Civil War Concentration
Research - Preservation
Historian: 39th Georgia Volunteer Infantry Regiment
http://39thgavolinfrgt.homestead.com/39thHomepage.html
Athens, Tennessee