This was a reserve unit to the Georgia 1st Cavalry Battalion, mostly made up of older men and young boys. It saw similar service, but was not merged into the Georgia 5th Cavalry Regiment when it was formed, but was a distinct unit during the March to the Sea and the Carolinas Campaign. The National Archives Index shows 674 names on the roster where the Georgia 1st Cavalry Battalion shows 758. These men were primarily older men and young boys who were "honorably" a part of the 1st Battalion in peace time, but unfit for service when the war came. When the 1864 State Militia census was performed, many of these names appear. ... In 1861 actual hostilities began, & early in the summer all volunteer companies seeing the necessity for active preparation, the Troops went into an encampment at Hester's Bluff, near Sunbury in the month of August 1861] for the purpose of drilling, & doing picket duty on the coast. The reserve units were called out in advance of Sherman's invasion in 1864 and they are named often in the battles around Atlanta, Stoneman's Raid, Griswoldville, Waynesboro, Savannah, and the Carolina's Campaign. Many of these records are quite spotty and the particular units are not identified, but it is clear that they served arduous duty for that last year and a half of the war and they surrendered with Johnston in North Carolina in April, 1865. Companies Of The Georgia 1st Cavalry Battalion Reserves Sifikas states that this battalion consisted of four companies. The men were from the counties of Effingham, Screven, Liberty, Bulloch, Lamar, and McIntosh.