George Paul Harrison , Sr . George Paul Harrison , Sr . ( October 19 , 1813 – May 14 , 1888 ) was a brigadier general in the Georgia militia in 1856 – 1861 , commander of the 1st Brigade in the Georgia State Troops and a colonel in Georgia ' s First Military District in 1864 – 1865 during the American Civil War ( Civil War ) . He was a prisoner of war for several months near the end of the war . George P . Harrison , Sr . was a rice planter , brigadier general in the Georgia militia and member of the Georgia House of Representatives before the Civil War . After the war , Harrison was a state representative in 1865 – 1866 , a delegate to the state constitutional convention , a clerk of the city court of Savannah , Georgia and clerk of the superior court of Chatham County , Georgia . He was the father of George Paul Harrison , Jr . , a Confederate States Army colonel , who commanded a brigade late in the war and was later an Alabama State Senator and a two - term member of the United States House of Representatives from Alabama . Early life . George Paul Harrison , Sr . was born in Effingham County , Georgia on October 19 , 1813 . He was the son of Colonel William Harrison , a colonel of Georgia militia in the War of 1812 and Mary ( Keller ) Harrison . Harrison was the father of George Paul Harrison , Jr . , a Confederate States Army colonel who commanded a brigade near the end of the Civil War and later was an Alabama state senator and a U . S . Representative from Alabama . Harrison was a rice planter on his Savannah River plantation , Monteith , now a location within Port Wentworth , Georgia , which is within the Savannah metropolitan area . Before the Civil War , Harrison was a representative for Chatham County in the Georgia House of Representatives in 1842 , 1849 – 1850 , 1853 – 1854 ; and 1857 – 1860 . He also became a brigadier general in the Georgia militia . He was a delegate to Democrat state party conventions in 1858 and 1860 . American Civil War . After the outbreak of the Civil War , Georgia Governor Joseph E . Brown appointed Harrison a brigadier general of state troops to rank from September 14 , 1861 . Harrison was assigned to establish a training camp near Savannah and to organize the regiments for the new troops . Harrison did this , and led a force guarding the Georgia coast , during the winter of 1861 – 1862 , after which his command was terminated . Under a new militia law in 1864 , Harrison was appointed colonel in charge of Georgia ' s First Military District with the duties of destroying whiskey still s and tracking down deserters . Soon , Harrison ' s command was required to opposed Sherman ' s March to the Sea . When they reached the Savannah area , Sherman ' s men pillaged Harrison ' s home and property at Montieth . In December 1864 , Harrison was taken prisoner while visiting his devastated property . Harrison was released from prison before the end of the war but refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United States government . Later life . After the Civil War , Harrison returned to the Savannah area . He was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives for 1865 – 1866 and served as a delegate to the Georgia constitutional convention . He was elected court clerk of the City Court of Savannah , Georgia and clerk of the Superior Court of Chatham County , Georgia . George Paul Harrison , Sr . died at his home on his farm in Chatham County , Georgia near Savannah , Georgia on May 14 , 1888 . He is buried at Laurel Grove Cemetery , Savannah , Georgia .