Editing Robert Toombs (section)

===Army general===
Within months of his cabinet appointment, a frustrated Toombs resigned to join the [[Confederate States Army]] (CSA). He was commissioned as a [[History of Confederate States Army Generals#Brigadier general|brigadier general]] on July 19, 1861, and served first as a brigade commander in the (Confederate) [[Army of the Potomac (Confederate)|Army of the Potomac]], and then in [[David Rumph Jones|David R. Jones]]' [[division (military)|division]] of the [[Army of Northern Virginia]]. He commanded troops through the [[Peninsula Campaign]], [[Seven Days Battles]], [[Northern Virginia Campaign]], and [[Maryland Campaign]]. He was wounded in the hand at the [[Battle of Antietam]], where he commanded the defense of [[Burnside's Bridge]].

Toombs resigned his CSA commission on March 3, 1863. He returned to Georgia, where he became [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] of the 3rd Cavalry of the [[Georgia Militia]]. He subsequently served as a brigadier general and adjutant and inspector-general of General [[Gustavus Woodson Smith|Gustavus W. Smith]]'s division of the Georgia Militia. He strongly criticized Davis and the Confederate government, opposing conscription and the suspension of [[habeas corpus]]. Newspapers warned that he verged on treason. At the [[Battle of Columbus (1865)|Battle of Columbus]] in 1865, Toombs commanded the defense of the upper bridge.

When the war ended, Davis was arrested at [[Irwinville, Georgia]], on May 10, 1865. On May 14, Union soldiers appeared at Toombs' home in Washington, Georgia, and demanded his appearance. He escaped into Alabama, thence by boat to New Orleans and by steam to Europe. He reached Paris, France, early in July 1865 along with [[P.G.T. Beauregard]] and Julia Colquitt, wife of another Confederate general. They were seeking to avoid arrest and trial as leaders of the Confederacy.<ref>Chesson 2000</ref>