This rotund Georgia firebrand who was well-spoken and well-liked developed a flare for rhetoric early in his life. He attended the University of Georgia at Athens, but was dismissed, continuing his education at Union College, then studying law at the University of Virginia.

As early as 1850, serving in the House of Representatives, Toombs was a force with which to be reckoned, angrily attacking the Northern Cabal that was intent on destroying life in Toombs' beloved South. He was an outspoken supporter of the South's "right" to own slaves. Early in his career he remained pro-Union (supporting the Georgia Platform of 1850), only becoming an outspoken advocate of secession after exhausting all avenues of union, believing that Congress had no right to limit, restrain or impair slavery. Toombs was proven wrong on this assumption which lacked legal precedent.

Once he changed to a pro-secession stance, Toombs was at the forefront of Georgia's move to secede and joined the Jeff Davis administration as Secretary of State. He quickly realized that he had no say in the government and quit.

In the War Between the States, Robert Toombs is most noted for his defense of the Lower Bridge at Sharpsburg (Antietam). With significantly less than 1,000 men, Toombs and his Georgia's held off four divisions of Ambrose Burnside's IX Corps. A group of Union soldiers, finding a place to ford Antietam Creek, outflanked the unsuspecting Georgians. Under attack from two sides and outnumbered, the line crumbled and General Toombs was severely wounded.