A Civil War Biography
Ambrose Ransom Wright
Wright was born 26 April 1826 in Louisville, Georgia. After studying
the law and being admitted to the bar he took an interest in
politics and joined the Democratic party. Following his unsuccessful
candidacy as a Democrat for presidential elector representing
Georgia in the election of 1856 he switched to the Know-Nothing
party. He supported the Bell and Everett ticket in the election of
1860. After the election Wright became an ardent supporter of
secession. He was sent as a commissioner by Georgia's secession
convention to induce Maryland to join the secession movement.
Once the Southern Confederacy was formed Wright enlisted as a
private in the new nation's army. He helped raise the 3rd Georgia
infantry regiment and was commissioned its colonel on 8 May 1861. On
15 October 1861 he became colonel of the 38th Georgia infantry. He
saw action early in the war in North Carolina and Georgia. He was
promoted to brigadier general on 3 June 1862 and transferred to the
Army of Northern Virginia. He commanded a brigade in Benjamin
Huger's division during the Seven Days. Wright commanded a brigade
in Richard H. "Fighting Dick" Anderson's division at Second
Manassas, Sharpsburg where he was wounded, Fredericksburg,
Chancellorsville, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, and Cold Harbor.
Wright commanded a brigade in William Mahone's division at
Petersburg. Mahone had succeeded to division command when Anderson
was named Corps commander. Wright was elected to the Georgia state
senate in 1863. He was promoted to major general on 26 November 1864
and assigned to his home state where he remained until the end of
the war. He ran unsuccessfully
After the war ended Wright returned to the practice of law. In 1866
he became editor of the "Chronicle and Sentinel" a local newspaper
in Augusta, Georgia. He ran unsuccessfully for the US Senate in 1871
and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1872. He
was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1872 but he died
in Augusta on 21 December 1872 before he could take his seat in the
US Congress.
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