author
George Little
1838–1924
A Civil War veteran and geologist, he wrote with the eye of both a scientist and a witness. His best-known work preserves the story of Lumsden’s Battery in vivid, firsthand detail.
1 Audiobook
A history of Lumsden's Battery, C.S.A.
by George Little, James Robert Maxwell
About the author
Born in Tuscaloosa in 1838, George Little studied at the University of Alabama and later earned a doctorate from the University of Göttingen. He built a career in science and education, serving as a geology professor at the University of Mississippi and later as state geologist of Mississippi and Georgia.
During the Civil War, he served in the Confederate Army with Lumsden’s Battery. That experience shaped the historical writing he is most closely linked with today, especially A History of Lumsden’s Battery, C.S.A., written with James R. Maxwell. The book stands out as a personal and detailed account of a military unit’s service.
After years of scientific work, public service, and writing, he returned to Alabama and remained active in geological reporting well into the 20th century. He died on May 15, 1924, leaving behind a legacy that connects Southern history, memoir, and early American geology.