Family ties 6: Your Civil War stories

The Picket is sharing readers' accounts of their ancestors who served or were affected by the Civil War. We encourage you to get involved by e-mailing us at pgastjr@comcast.net. David Walker, of Canton, Ga., here provides his second submission.

My great-great-great grandfather was Augustus B. Culberson, born December 1822 in what is now called Troup County. As a young man he moved to LaFayette, in Walker Co. to study law. In 1847 he married Margaret H. Caldwell of Morgan Co. and the couple settled in LaFayette, where it is recorded in 1850, with two young sons, Ovid and Gerald.

With the War of Northern Aggression in its third year, he was appointed commander of the 6th Battalion Georgia Cavalry, State Guards (Culberson’s Battalion) at the rank of Lt. Colonel. The battalion was formed in August 1863 to serve only six months as a local defense in the northwest section of the state. The battalion was comprised of horse soldiers from Chattooga and Walker counties.

The only engagement with the enemy is noted on January 22, 1864, as the “Battle of Subligna” in Chattooga County.

After the war he moved his family to the “West End” of Atlanta in Fulton County where he was appointed to the Fulton County Bar Association in 1869 and later represented Walker County in the Georgia Legislature.

Grandfather Culberson passed away at his home in West End Atlanta, February 24, 1889, and is buried in Oakland Cemetery, Atlanta. A sign of the times in the late 1800s was bestowed on him with a street named after the Culberson family. Culberson Street in West End Atlanta can still be found today.

In 1918 Lt. Col. A.B. Culberson was awarded the Southern Cross of Honor, which was presented to his son Hubert L. Culberson. Also A.B. Culberson along with his nephews Augustus L. Culberson and Eugenius L. Culberson and his wife’s younger brothers Joseph E. Caldwell and Robert H. Caldwell can be found on the “Wall of Honor” located along with the Marsh House and the John B. Gordon Hall in LaFayette.