November 22, 1754

1754 Educator and politician Abraham Baldwin was born in North Guilford, Connecticut. Raised in New England, he attended and taught at Yale College, studying both theology and law. In 1779 he joined the American Revolutionary army as a chaplain. While serving in New York and New Jersey he befriended George Washington and Nathaniel Greene, among other revolutionary leaders. Yale tried to re-hire him after the war, but Baldwin had decided to pursue a life outside the ministry. His friend Nathaniel Greene had been given land in Georgia confiscated from a Loyalist, and convinced Baldwin to come south as well. Baldwin moved to Savannah in 1783 and adopted Georgia as his home.

Baldwin was immediately accepted into Georgia society and began practicing law. But his leadership qualities soon led him to a political career, which began in the Georgia legislature. There, in 1784, he was appointed to a board of trustees to establish and maintain forty thousand acres of land for a "college or seminary of learning." Baldwin wrote the charter for this institution, which was adopted in 1785 (making the University of Georgia the first state-chartered university in the country). A war with the Creek Indians prevented the university from being established immediately, but in 1801 a sight overlooking the Oconee River was selected for its home. Here, not only would a university be built but but the town of Athens, named to recall the classical culture of ancient Greece. For the University’s first president Baldwin recommended a former fellow-Yale student, Josiah Meigs.

Baldwin’s contributions were not limited to the Georgia legislature and the University of Georgia. In 1787, he was selected as one of Georgia’s delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. At one point, with the convention on the verge of dissolving over the matter of equal versus proportional representation in Congress, Baldwin strategically cast a vote that caused a tie over the issue and led to the convention’s adjournment while a compromise could be found. The result of his vote was the Great Compromise creating a bicameral Congress with equal representation of states in one house (the Senate) and proportional representation in the other (the House of Representatives). In 1798, the Georgia General Assembly elected Baldwin to the United States Senate, where he served until his death in Washington, DC on March 4, 1807. In 1803, the Georgia General Assembly created a new county named in his honor.

November 22, 1864

1864 This was an eventful day in Georgia arising from Sherman’s March to the Sea.

Ten miles northeast of Macon, the Battle of Griswoldville -- the first and only major battle during the March to the Sea -- was fought. Part of Sherman’s plan had been to confuse Confederate forces on his strategy by making it appear that Macon and Augusta were among the targets of his march. Toward this end, as the 15th Corps continued its march toward Gordon, Gen. Charles Walcutt took a brigade of seasoned infantry and cavalry to feign an attack on Macon. After burning much of Griswoldville, Union forces fortified themselves nearby on Duncan’s farm and waited for an expected Confederate attack. As it turned out, the 1st division of the Georgia Militia (a force of about 3,000 irregulars -- mainly young boys and old men -- under Brig. Gen. Pleasant J. Phillips) had been ordered to Augusta, which Confederates believed was Sherman’s real target. Apparently by accident, Phillips’ Georgia Militia encountered the waiting Union. Though instructed to avoid a direct battle, Phillips decided otherwise. Though the Union force was outnumbered, the battle was no even match. They were veterans, entrenched, and had repeating rifles. Through three infantry advances, the inexperienced Confederate militia wilted in the face of heavy Union fire. Finally, Phillips ordered a retreat to Macon. Afterwards, a Union officer present described the scene, "Old, gray-haired men and weakly looking men and little boys not over 15 years old lay dead or writhing in pain. I did pity those boys." Though there are no official records of Confederate loses, the Macon newspaper reported Confederate loses at 1,500 casualties. One Union officer reported that up to one-half of the entire Confederate militia force was killed, wounded, or captured. The National Park Service, however, estimates 625 Confederate casualties versus 62 for the Union forces. Recent studies of the battle indicate that the Confederates had 50 killed and 472 wounded, while Union losses were 13 dead and 79 wounded.
Sherman and the 14th Corps spent the evening at Howell Cobb’s plantation about ten miles northeast of Milledgeville. Realizing whose property it was, Sherman gave the order to "spare nothing," as he later wrote:
"Of course, we confiscated his property . . . . I sent word back to General Davis to explain whose plantation it was and instructed him to spare nothing. That night huge bonfires consumed the fence-rails, kept our soldiers warm, and the teamsters and men, as well as the slaves, carried off an immense quantity of corn and provisions of all sorts."

The 20th Corps entered Milledgeville, Georgia’s state capital.

November 22, 1899

1899 Hoagy Carmichael, composer of Georgia’s official state song -- "Georgia" -- was born in Bloomington, Indiana. He died Dec. 27, 1981 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

November 22, 1930

1930 Elijah Muhammad, born in Sandersville, Ga. in , founded the Nation of Islam in Detroit, Michigan.

November 22, 1939

1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt arrived in Warm Springs, Ga. for his thirty-sixth visit to his "second home."

November 22, 1963

1963 Across the state, flags were lowered to half-staff as Georgians heard with disbelief that Pres. John Kennedy had been assassinated in Dallas and the nation had a new president -- Lyndon B. Johnson.