Francis S . Bartow Francis Stebbins Bartow ( September 6 , 1816 – July 21 , 1861 ) was a licensed attorney turned politician , serving two terms in the United States House of Representatives and becoming a political leader of the Confederate States of America . Bartow was also a colonel in the Georgia Militia commanding the 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry during the early months of the American Civil War . Bartow was a delegate from Georgia ' s 1st congressional district to the Southern Convention in Montgomery , Alabama becoming an inaugurating member of the Confederate Provisional Congress — leading efforts to prepare defensive forces for an impending federal invasion which did occur , protracting into The American Civil War of 1861 – 65 . Colonel Bartow was killed at the First Battle of Manassas , becoming the first brigade commander of the Confederate States Army to die in combat . Early life and career . Francis Bartow was born September 6 , 1816 in Chatham County , Georgia , near the county seat of Savannah ( " formerly Georgia ' s state capital " ) , to Dr . Theodosius Bartow and Frances Lloyd ( Stebbins ) Bartow . He studied law at the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences in Athens ( " the founding college of the University of Georgia " ) . While at Franklin , Bartow was a member of the Phi Kappa Literary Society and was mentored by John M . Berrien , a U . S . senator and former Attorney General in Andrew Jackson ' s administration . Bartow graduated cum laude in 1835 at age 19 . Bartow was an intern under the tutelage of Messrs . Berrien & Law at their Savannah law office . Bartow obtained his postgraduate education at Yale Law School in Connecticut , returning to Savannah in 1837 . Bartow was subsequently employed by the Bryan Superior Court and admitted to the State Bar of Georgia soon after his return to Savannah . He joined the locally known law firm of Law & Lovell , becoming a partner and forming Law , Bartow and Lovell , Bartow became regarded for his skills , handling difficult criminal cases . In 1840 , the 24 - year - old Bartow campaigned for William Henry Harrison , the Whig candidate for President . In 1841 , he began his own political career by serving the first of two consecutive terms in the Georgia House of Representatives , followed by one term in the Georgia Senate . In 1844 , Bartow married Louisa Greene Berrien , the daughter of one of his previous professional tutors , Sen . John Berrien . In 1856 , Bartow was a candidate for the U . S . Congress , but was defeated . The following year , he was elected as captain of Savannah ' s 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry , a reserve guard company that had been formed in 1856 . He served as an instructor to the volunteers , many of which were young scions of established families in local society . As the national controversy over slavery intensified , Bartow became concerned for Georgia ' s destiny if war became a reality . In 1860 , after Abraham Lincoln ' s election , he spurned the Union to advocate the right of secession . Civil War . Secession and Fort Pulaski . The Georgia General Assembly summoned delegates to a Secession Convention in Milledgeville which began January 16 , 1861 — with Bartow nominated for Chatham County ' s delegation . On May 28 , 1861 , elections were held to select representatives to the convention , and Bartow emerged as a delegate , along with John W . Anderson and A . S . Jones . Bartow however , was on military duty that day as Governor Joseph E . Brown had previously given orders to retake Fort Pulaski ( located near the mouth of the Savannah River ) — recently seized by Federal military forces . Brown entrusted the task to Bartow and the Oglethorpe Light Infantry . Bartow ' s expedition successfully recaptured the fort on June 15 , largely due to his artillery under Col . Alexander Lawton . At the convention , Bartow stood out as one of the most fervent secessionists . Demanding an immediate withdrawal from the Union , he helped align Georgia among the pro - secessionist states . On January 19 , 1861 , delegates voted to secede from the Union by a vote of 208 to 89 . Bartow was a delegate in favor of secession , voting to sign Georgia ' s Ordinance of Secession on that day . The actual signing of the ordinance occurred on January 21 , 1861 when the delegates ceremoniously signed the document in the public square outside of the state capitol in Milledgeville . Bartow was subsequently chosen to represent Georgia in the Confederate Provisional Congress at Montgomery , Alabama , starting February 4 , 1861 . On the second day of the Congress , Bartow became chairman of the Military Committee . He pushed insistently for fast , drastic actions to counter the imminent threat of Northern retaliation . He helped select the color and style of the initial Confederate gray uniforms . During a later session , Bartow announced that he would depart for the battlefront , taking his Oglethorpe Light Infantry up to Virginia . As he explained later on : Dispute with Governor Brown . Bartow telegraphed the news to his Georgia troops , arranging a prompt rally . However , his plans were blocked by Governor Brown , who had already decided to concentrate the state ' s armed forces strictly for the defense of Georgia . Bartow appealed personally to the Confederate President , Jefferson Davis , using a new law authored by Louis T . Wigfall of Texas that authorized any citizen to offer any voluntary military force directly , without state mediation , to the Confederate President , who would also determine its military leader . Davis immediately approved Bartow ' s plan and designated him the commander of the new Confederate force , making Bartow ' s Oglethorpe Light Infantry the first company to officially contribute its services to the Confederacy ' s national war effort . An angry Governor Brown countered by publishing an aggressively tough letter in all Georgia newspapers on May 21 , 1861 . Among other things , he alleged that Bartow was seeking his own glory by assuring a high command and aspiring to a promotion to colonel . To him , Bartow was actually deserting the war " to serve the common cause in a more pleasant summer climate . " He wrote that the muskets Bartow ' s men had carried to Virginia were exclusively for " local " " public service , " and that the Governor had the power of disarming the local military companies arbitrarily . He also alleged that Bartow had written the law beforehand , tailoring it for his own plans and forcing Davis to ignore the authority of the Confederacy ' s " independent " states . In Brown ' s opinion , the governor was Bartow ' s unique officer by the Confederate Constitution . He argued that the Congress was encroaching Georgia ' s rights . Nonetheless , Bartow arrived in Savannah on May 21 to assemble his 106 soldiers and to arrange for a train to take them to Virginia ' s battlefront . A great rally of cheerful citizens congregated at the station , accompanied by the remaining local militia , which fired an artillery salute in Bartow ' s honor . Before departing , Bartow pronounced to the crowd his most celebrated phrase : " I go to illustrate Georgia . " On June 14 , from Camp Defiance in Harper ' s Ferry , Bartow wrote his response to the " insolent missive " of Brown , who " thought proper to publish [ it ] in [ Bartow ' s ] absence " . The response was published in the " Savannah Morning News " . Bartow defended himself vehemently , countering each of the personalized attacks and stating that he had undertaken the current campaign under the sole command of Jefferson Davis . His recurring argument was that the " Confederate Government is alone chargeable with questions of peace and war and has the exclusive right , excepting in the case of invasion , to raise and maintain armies " while the Governors are not " empowered to raise these armies " . Brown would have been committing , " here again , [ his ] common error , of supposing that [ he was ] the State of Georgia . . . a mistake in which I do not participate . " Manassas . Bartow ' s 21st Oglethorpe Light Infantry finally arrived in Richmond , Virginia , with the objective of protecting the region from any Union attack . On June 1 , 1861 , Bartow was promoted to Colonel of the 8th Georgia Infantry , which had been formed in Virginia from companies that had been arriving from different Georgia counties . Later that day , he mustered the regiment for the first time at Camp Bartow in Howard ' s Grove in Richmond . The regiment was initially assigned to the Shenandoah Valley . Crossing the Virginia Piedmont , it arrived in Winchester , near the northern end of the valley . Once settled , Bartow incorporated some local forces from the 2nd Brigade of the Army of the Shenandoah . Late in June 1861 , Bartow received orders to move his troops to the outskirts of Manassas to support General P . G . T . Beauregard . They departed on June 19 , fording the Shenandoah River with their " luggage tied on the ends of [ their ] fixed bayonets . " After reaching the Piedmont station , the regiment was transported to Manassas by train . Bartow commanded the 7th & 8th Georgia Regiments — the 9th Georgia Regiment , Pope ' s and Duncan ' s Kentucky Battalions Infantry remained at Piedmont Station and were not present on July 21 , 1861 . He addressed his troops , " . . . but remember , boys , that battle and fighting mean death , and probably before sunrise some of us will be dead . " Early the next morning , Bartow had the 7th and 8th Georgia march to the left flank of the army . After the fighting had started , the two regiments reached Henry House Hill , where they were joined by Bartow , after one of his soldiers confirmed that it was his regiment : " Boys , what Regiment is this ? " The response came , " 8th Georgia . " He answered , " My God , boys , I am mighty glad to see you . " He deployed his brigade on the hill alongside Brig . Gen . Barnard Bee ' s brigade . Bee then decided to go forward to support Evan ' s brigade on Matthew Hill as Evans had rejected his suggestion to fall back to Henry Hill . Bartow deployed the 7th and 8th Georgia into line of battle to support the right flank of Bee ' s Brigade . As the hours went on , Bartow ' s soldiers were gradually worn down by the enemy . At times , they found themselves completely encircled , the target of a spate of bullets . One of the survivors later wrote , " Practically half of the Eighth ' s 1 , 000 Georgians fell dead or wounded , or were captured or lost . . . Bartow led his men to an exposed eminence which was too hot to hold . " Bartow ( now with less than 400 men ) was forced to retreat about noontime back to his original deployment site . There , he asked General Beauregard , " What shall now be done ? Tell me , and if human efforts can avail , I will do it . " Waving at the enemy position on the Stone Bridge , Beauregard replied , " That battery should be silenced . " Bartow gathered the remainder of the 7th Regiment and launched another attack . Around Henry House Hill , Bartow ' s horse was shot out from under him and a bullet wounded him slightly . Nonetheless , he grabbed another horse and continued the attack . At one point , he harangued his troops to follow him toward the enemy by cheering " Boys , follow me ! " and waving his cap frantically over his head . Just then , another projectile perforated his chest , fatally lodging in his heart . Some of his soldiers gathered around him , witnessing his last words : " Boys , they have killed me , but never give up the field . " Lying on the ground and wrapped in Col . Lucius Gartrell ' s arms , Francis Bartow died . He was the first brigade commander to be killed in action during the Civil War . ( The first general officer to be killed in the war was Confederate Brig . Gen . Robert S . Garnett at Corrick ' s Ford , July 13 , 1861 . ) Amos Rucker and his brother Moses Bentley , two body servants from the 7th Regiment , carried Bartow off the battlefield . The renowned surgeon H . V . M . Miller attended him , but without success . The rest of Bartow ' s 7th Georgia continued to obey his last command to attack . The Union forces were beginning to show fatigue , due to their having been weakened during Bartow ' s morning attack . The Confederates sustained their attack until finally destroying the enemy battery at Stone Bridge . General Beauregard declared , " You Georgians saved me , " though the Georgia " Rome Weekly Courier " newspaper commented , " Col . Bartow ' s fine Regiment of Georgians were nearly annihilated " . When notified of Bartow ' s death , the Confederate Congress adjourned its sessions " in testimony of [ its ] respect for his memory " , as expressed by its spokesman , Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb . The chamber felt an " unfeigned sorrow " due to the " heavy loss sustained by the Confederacy in the death of one of her most efficient counselors . " They did confirm Bartow ' s posthumous rank of acting brigadier general . On July 27 , 1861 , Bartow ' s corpse returned to Chatham County , Georgia . Accompanied by an extensive popular rally , Bartow was buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery with a military ceremony . Louisa Berrien received a consoling letter from Mrs . Jefferson Davis . His granite monument has two of his historical phrases engraved under a wreath and a saber : " I go to illustrate Georgia " and " They have killed me , boys , but never give up . " Memorialization . Manassas battlefield . After the battle , on the approximate spot where Bartow was killed , Confederate soldiers placed a small stone landmark ( engraved in Savannah ) which quoted his last words : " My God , boys , they have got me , but never give up the field . " This memorial stone was later removed by Union forces during one of their raids . ( Two markers survive on that same site in the present - day National Battlefield — an older one placed by veterans of the 7th Georgia in 1903 , and a newer bronze marker erected in the 20th century . ) On September 4 , 1861 , before a crowd of 1 , 000 people , the first Confederate - dedicated monument was inaugurated at Manassas , honoring Francis Bartow . An obelisk made of marble , it was mysteriously stolen in 1862 . In 1936 , in an attempt to repair this vandalism , a new marker was placed at the same site by the Georgia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy . A new monument of Bartow exists nearby , several feet from the original one . Savannah ' s monument . After years of postponement due to the war and its effects , on February 7 , 1890 , the Savannah City Council approved erecting a memorial recognizing native sons Francis Bartow and Lafayette McLaws . Unveiled in 1902 , their two bronze busts were mounted on stone pedestals at Chippewa Square . Bartow ' s faced south towards Perry Street , while McLaws ' faced north . About 1910 , the council decided to build the Oglethorpe Monument at Chippewa Square . Both generals ' busts were therefore relocated to the Confederate Monument at Forsyth Park . Bartow is buried in Savannah ' s Laurel Grove Cemetery . Bartow namesakes . During the Civil War , several Georgia companies carried Bartow ' s name : The Francis S . Bartow Camp No . 93 of the Sons of Confederate Veterans . The Georgia General Assembly recently acknowledged the work of this organization , citing them " for their role in protecting and preserving Confederate heritage " ( LC 21 7026 , House Resolution 1524 ) .