Soldier Boy
When he first joined the army, Pemberton made lieutenant. He defended the city of Columbus as a founding member of the Third Georgia Cavalry Battalion, and as a result, he became a lieutenant colonel. On Easter in 1865, Union troops under General James Wilson’s command made it to Columbus, and Pemberton was in direct line of fire and nearly died.
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Although he survived, the battle significantly impacted the rest of his life. It eventually leads to his greatest success and his subsequent morphine addiction. He only turned to the drugs after the war because of his severe injuries. But as it turns out, it ultimately led Pemberton to the invention of Coca-Cola.