George Alfred McDaniel, son of William Terry McDaniel and Martha Gaston Wells was born July 30 1838 and died August 23, 1864. His parents owned a farm in Itawamba County, Mississippi, about five miles east of Fulton, the county seat. George was the third of thirteen children. His parents moved to Mississippi from their native state of Georgia, where the McDaniel family was reasonably prominent. Martha Wells McDaniel's family had strong ties to the Methodist Church in that she was the granddaughter of Nicholas Watters. Nicholas's brother William was the first American-born Methodist minister in America, converting his entire family to that faith. Nicholas also became a prominent, early Methodist minister, moving from church to church throughout the southeast every year after his conversion, until his death in Charleston, South Carolina in 1804.
After the Civil war began, George Alfred McDaniel joined Capt. W. L. Clayton's Company (Dixie Boys), 4th Regiment Mississippi Volunteers, 60-day Troops, along with his older brother, John Marion McDaniel. This company subsequently became Company A, 2nd (Davidson's) Regiment Mississippi Infantry-Army of 10,000. At the rank of Private, his name appears on a roll dated December 1, 1861 in Corinth, Mississippi. On January 4, 1862 he was promoted to 2nd Sergeant and he is shown at that rank on a roll dated January 20, 1862. He was discharged at the end of the 60 day enlistment and on March 19, 1862 he was enlisted as 1st Sergeant by Captain E. J. Betts at Fulton, Mississippi in a different unit, Company P of the 10 Regiment Mississippi Infantry Volunteers. This company subsequently became the "new" Company G of the 10th Regiment Mississippi Infantry. He received a bounty of $50 upon enlistment. Enlisting in the same company as 4th Sergeant was his younger brother, William Terry McDaniel Jr., known to the family as Terry. Three weeks later, the company fought in the Battle of Shiloh. Almost eighty years later, his much younger brother Philip recalled his two brothers visiting the family shortly after the battle, the two young men giving the family a vivid description of the fighting in which they participated near the famous Shiloh "Hornet's Nest".
George McDaniel and his brother saw combat at Munfordville, in which the regimental commander, Col Smith, was killed, along with several other members of the regiment. The McDaniel brothers saw more severe combat at the Battle of Murfreesboro on December 31, 1862. On June 20, 1863, George was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and in September 1, 1863 he was raised to 1st Lieutenant. At this point, he was commanding the company since Captain Betts was medically disabled and resigned his commission. On August 18, 1863 George McDaniel signed a requisition for clothing and other company supplies at Taylor Store, Alabama as company commanding officer. On September 15th 1863 he signed another requisition for company clothing at Lafayette, Georgia as company commanding officer. George McDaniel commanded Company "G" in the Battles of Chickamauga on 19-20 September, 1863 and Missionary Ridge on November 30, 1963. After Missionary Ridge, he was granted a 22 day leave, during which he most likely returned to Itawamba County, Mississippi to visit his family. On December 28, 1863 he received $180 for two months' pay.
On April 2, 1864 he was examined by a promotion board at Camp Cleburne, Georgia. The board recommended his promotion to Captain, rating him satisfactory for Knowledge of Tactics, Competency to Command and Sobriety. His promotion was passed up the chain of command to be approved by Lieutenant General John Bell Hood, in temporary command of the Department of Tennessee, at Dalton Georgia on April 6, 1864. His commission as a Captain was "back dated" to the date Captain Betts' resignation, October 30, 1863.
The summer campaign season saw Sherman's Army invade Georgia. Captain McDaniel and his company were involved throughout the campaign. As Sherman's Army approached Atlanta, the new Confederate Army Commander, John Bell Hood, went on the offensive. During Hood's attack on July 22, 1864 (the "Battle of Atlanta") the 10th Mississippi helped break the Union lines near the Troup-Hurt House at a nearby railroad cut, later to be driven back by Union counter attacks. Finally, on July 28, 1864, Hood sent his troops to block the Union Army as they attempted to outflank the Confederates by moving west of Atlanta. In the resulting Battle of Ezra Church, George McDaniel was severely wounded in the leg by Union canister. His brother Terry was severely wounded in the abdomen from a similar weapon and was left on the field to die as the company retreated under heavy fire. George's men took him to an emergency medical treatment facility where the surgeon prepared to amputate the damaged leg. George refused to allow the amputation, saying he would not allow a drunken surgeon to work on him. He was transferred to a Confederate Hospital at Griffin, Georgia where he died on August 23, 1864. George and Terry McDaniel's official records are mute on their fate, stating George was wounded on July 28, 1864 and was sent to a hospital, while Terry's record only states he was severely wounded and missing. Veterans of the company told the family details of their fate after the war. The family received a receipt for George's effects from the Griffin Hospital, a document younger brother Philip had in his possession eighty years later.