Bolivar Hopkins Gee was commissioned a Captain of Company A, 7th Georgia State Troops and enlisted on March 3rd, 1862 at Bainbridge, Georgia. By May, the regiment was redesigned as the 59th Georgia Infantry, and Bolivar’s company became Company A. The 59th Georgia would then be sent to the Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida by the summer of 1862, and by the fall of 1862, it was transferred once more to the Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia. On December 22nd, 1862, Bolivar was promoted from captain of Company A to major of the regiment. After joining Lee’s Confederate Army of Northern Virginia, the 59th Georgia’s baptism of fire was at the Battle of Gettysburg on July 2nd, 1863. It made three charges in the Wheatfield, and during one of these, Bolivar was stunned by an artillery shell. He recovered, and shortly after the Battle of Gettysburg, Bolivar was promoted to lieutenant colonel. He continued to serve in this capacity until he was wounded severely in the arm and elbow at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House on May 12th, 1864. By August 1864, Bolivar was back with the 59th Georgia after his furlough home to recuperate, and served with the regiment in all of their engagements until Lee’s surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox Court House on April 9th, 1865. The 59th Georgia surrendered 15 officers and 251 men.

In this photograph captured in 1861, Bolivar is seated with his wife, Margrette Susan McElveen, and their two daughters Martha Agnes “Mattie” Gee and Nancy Ella Gee.