This Day in Georgia History
April 26, 1826
“Ranse” Wright Born
Confederate general Ambrose Ransom “Ranse” Wright was born in Louisville, Georgia. He left school at age 15 to read law, married at 16, and subsequently was admitted to the bar. Wright practiced law in Dooly County, but in 1850 returned to Louisville, where he developed a successful practice. After unsuccessful races for the General Assembly and Congress, Wright moved to Augusta, where he practiced law until the outbreak of the Civil War. In April 1861, he enlisted as a private in the Confederate Light Guards in the 3rd Georgia. Members of the unit soon elected him to serve as colonel. In June 1862, Wright was promoted to brigadier general and commanded his own brigade at the battles of Second Manassas, Sharpsburg (where he was wounded), Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Wilderness, Spotsvylvania, and Cold Harbor, and Petersburg. In November 1864, Wright was promoted to major general and commanded a division under Gen. Hardee duriang the Carolinas Campaign. After the war, Wright resumed the practice of law in Augusta. In March 1866, he became editor of the Augusta Chronicle and Sentinel, where he became an outspoken opponent of Radical Reconstruction. In 1872, Wright was elected to Congress as a “New Departure” Democrat but died in Augusta on Dec. 21 before taking office. After his death, he was interred in Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta, Georgia.
