In June 1861, the city of Dahlonega sent their second group of volunteers to the Civil War front under the command of Joseph Hamilton. The unit was organized as Company E, Phillip’s Legion Infantry- The Blue Ridge Rifles. In 1864, the time for which the Rifles' enlistment expired, they did not disband, but re-enlisted for the remainder of the war. Following the war all units of the Confederacy were disbanded. The members of the Blue Ridge Rifles continued to meet on a social basis.
In 1950, a drill platoon was formed for use in Spring parades at North Georgia College. The team was named the Honor Platoon. The name was later changed to the Drill Platoon. In 1958, the Drill Platoon was renamed the Blue Ridge Rifles in honor of the Dahlonega volunteer unit.
Since its early beginnings, the Blue Ridge Rifles Drill Team has earned state and national recognition. The Rifles became recognized in 1971 with their winning First Place in the Eastern Tennessee State University (E.T.S.U.) Drill Meet in Tennessee, and have since won First Place honors at the nationally recognized Mardi Gras Invitational Drill Meet in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Blue Ridge Rifles are the 2001 and 2002 National Champion Precision Drill Team.
Blue and Gray All the Way
The Rifle Motto
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy, Campus Crime Statistics Act and the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008 require higher education institutions to provide an annual security report and annual fire safety report that contain crime statistics and fire statistics for the three most recently completed calendar years, institutional policies or procedures for reporting crimes and current policies concerning the security of, and access to, campus facilities and residencies, as well as security considerations in the maintenance of campus facilities.
A print copy of the most recent report is available upon request, email clery@ung.edu.
