High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! On January 18, 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union during the American Civil War but kept the name "State of Georgia", and joined the newly formed Confederacy in February. During the war, Georgia sent nearly 100,000 soldiers to battle, mostly to the armies in Virginia. The state switched from cotton to food production, but severe transportation difficulties eventually restricted supplies. Early in the war, the state`s 1,400 miles of railroad tracks provided a frequently used means of moving supplies and men but, by the middle of 1864, much of these lay in ruins or in Union hands.