Edmund was sent to the Georgia Military Institute for military
training and graduated in 1856 at the age of 21. This education
made him one of the few people in his part of the state who
knew how to drill raw troops or move a military unit from one
point to another.
Consequently when War broke out in 1861, despite his youth,
he became Adjutant of the 13th Georgia Regiment made up of
militia companies from Southeastern Georgia Counties. Upon
its reorganization the regiment was designated the 26th Georgia
Regiment and Edmund was elected its Colonel. His Colonel's
commission dated from May 10, 1862.
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The Georgia 26th Infantry Regiment [also called 13th Regiment] completed its organization in
October, 1861, at Brunswick, Georgia. Its companies were recruited in the counties of Charlton,
Berrien, Glynn, Twiggs, Clinch, Ware, Coffee, and Wayne. After serving in the Department of
Georgia at St. Simons Island and Savannah, the unit moved to Virginia where it was brigaded
under Generals Lawton, John B. Gordon, and C.A. Evans. The 26th participated in the campaigns
of the Army of Northern Virginia from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor, fought with Early
in the Shenandoah Valley, and ended the war at Appomattox. This regiment came to Virginia
with 1,100 officers and men. On April 9, 1865, it surrendered 85 men, of which 4 officers and 34
men were armed.
The History of the Brunswick Riflemen in the War of Northern Aggression
