|
"When one totals the North Carolinians that died in World War I, World War II, Korea
and Vietnam, it is far less than North
Carolina's American Civil War death toll."
"In the agitation that pervaded the South previous to secession,
North Carolina preserved its usual conservative calmness of action."
The people of North Carolina, although profoundly stirred and keenly
alive to the gravity of the impending crisis, were loath to leave the Union cemented by the blood of their fathers. That retrospectiveness
which has always been one of their marked characteristics, did not desert them then. Even after seven of her sister States
had adopted ordinances of secession, "her people solemnly declared" -- by the election of the 28th of February, 1861,
-- "that they desired no convention even to consider the propriety of secession."
But after the newly-elected
President's Springfield speech, after the widespread belief that the Federal government had attempted to reinforce Fort Sumter
in the face of a promise to evacuate it, and especially after President Lincoln's requisition on the governor to furnish troops
(Governor John Willis Ellis: A Reply to President Lincoln) for what Governor Magoffin, of Kentucky, called "the wicked
purpose of subduing sister Southern States," -- a requisition that, Governor Jackson, of Missouri, in
a superflux of unlethargic adjectives, denounced as "illegal, unconstitutional, revolutionary, inhuman, diabolical" -- there
was a rapid change in the feelings of the people of North Carolina. Strong union sentiment was changed to a fixed determination
to resist coercion by arms if necessary. So rapid was the movement of public events, and so rapid was the revolution in public
sentiment, that "just three months after the State had refused even to consider the question
of secession, a convention composed of almost entirely of men who thought it was the imperative duty of their State to
withdraw from the Union was in secession in Raleigh."
On May 20th, a day sacred to
her citizens in that it marked the eighty-six anniversary of the colonial Declaration of Independence of England, the
fateful ordinance that severed relations with the Union was adopted:
AN ORDINANCE TO DISSOLVE THE UNION BETWEEN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
AND THE OTHER STATES UNITED WITH HER UNDER THE COMPACT OF GOVERNMENT ENTITLED THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES.
We, the people of the State of North Carolina, in Convention assembled,
do declare and ordain, and it is hereby declared and ordained, That the ordinance adopted
by the State of North Carolina in the Convention of 1789, whereby the Constitution of the United States was ratified and adopted, and also, all acts and parts of acts of the General Assembly, ratifying and adopting amendments
to the said Constitution, are hereby repealed, rescinded and abrogated.
We do further declare and ordain, That
the union now subsisting between the State of North Carolina and the other States under the title of the United States of
America, is hereby dissolved, and that the State of North Carolina is in the full possession and exercise of all those rights
of sovereignty which belong and appertain to a free and independent State. [Ratified the 20th day of May, 1861.]
North Carolina in the American Civil War: Overview
| North Carolina (Shaded in Red) |
|
| North Carolina Map |
In 1860 there were 69,000
farms in North Carolina. 46,000 of these, or 71%, were less than 100 acres in size. In 1860 there were only 300
plantations of 1,000 acres or more in the state. The 1860 census listed 121 planters and 85,198 farmers. North Carolina has
a long history of small farm size. Cattle and hogs were on free range, and livestock was fenced out of fields. Cutting
trees for fence rails was a major cause of forest destruction. The production of turpentine, primarily for use in shipping,
was the largest manufacturing industry in North Carolina. Two-thirds of the nation’s output of turpentine was from North
Carolina. Most turpentine distilleries were located in Bladen, Cumberland, and New Hanover Counties. In 1860, North Carolina had
39 cotton mills and 9 woolen mills in operation. Industry grew in the state; however, North Carolina remained essentially
rural. Wilmington, the state’s largest and most cosmopolitan city had only 9,542 inhabitants. The number of common schools
was 2,854, with a statewide enrollment of 118,000 white students. Illiteracy among whites had dropped from 30 percent in 1840
to 23 percent in 1960.
| 1861 North Carolina Flag |
|
| (1861 NC Flag) |
And in 1861, 71% of North Carolina's slave population resided in the Coastal Plain Region, with the Southern Appalachian Mountains considered the poorest region of North Carolina (North Carolina Regions). Consequently, the Reconstruction witnessed many bankrupted industries in North Carolina, including
agriculture. (North Carolina: American Civil War Reconstruction to World War
One.) During
the American Civil War, houses were stripped of draperies and carpets to provide clothing and shelter for North Carolina's
troops. Even donated church bells were melted down and recast as cannon. Parched corn was substituted for coffee, and spinning
wheels once more competed with power looms. Yet opportunistic merchants and unscrupulous blockade runners continued to sell
their goods at the highest prices the market would bear. Bacon soared from $.33 to $7.50 per pound, wheat went from $3 to
$50 a bushel, and coffee was selling at $100 per pound. While at least 125,000 Tar Heels served in service of the Confederate
States of America, almost eight times that number remained at home. Confronted with scarcities, exorbitant prices, and
depreciating currency, farm wives and plantation mistresses, old men and small children, free blacks and domestic servants
strove to make ends meet.
North Carolina and the War Between the States
| NC Governor Zebulon Vance |
|
| "The War Governor" |
On April
13, 1861, Fort Sumter fell to South Carolina troops. President Lincoln, consequently, called
for 75,000 troops to coerce and subdue the seceded states. On April 15 the Lincoln
administration demanded that North Carolina furnish two
regiments for this undertaking.
On April
15, North Carolina Governor John Ellis promptly replied by telegram to President Abraham Lincoln and stated that "Your dispatch is received, and if genuine, which its extraordinary character leads me to doubt,
I have to say in reply, that I regard the levy of troops made by the administration for the purpose of subjugating the states
of the South, as a violation of the Constitution, and as a gross usurption of power. I can be no party to this wicked violation
of the laws of the country and to this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina."
Zebulon Vance (right) arrived in Washington at the age 28 and was the youngest member of Congress
and one of the strongest Southern supporters of the Union. In March of 1861, however, when indications reflected that the
North Carolina legislature was going to vote for secession, Vance resigned his seat and returned home. Vance was soon elected as North Carolina's governor in 1862 and reelected
in 1864. (North Carolina Governors.) The young Vance was known throughout the Southern states as the "War Governor of
the South," not because he was a war hawk, but because of his ability to wisely manage the state even during its most tumultuous
hour. Many believed that the most remarkable Vance policy was his insistence of the rule of law in the midst of the devastation
and confusion of Civil War. Vance had previously commanded the valiant 26th North Carolina Infantry.
"General Robert E. Lee was fearful
that General Ambrose Burnside would find out the defenseless condition of North Carolina and move forward. Every night General
Lee telegraphed: 'Any movement of the enemy in your front to-day?'"
At
the close of the 1862, only two regiments of infantry were left in North Carolina, the Fiftieth and Fifty-first, and the Union
forces on the coast could, had they been apprised of the heavy movement of troops, "have swept without opposition over all
the State. A people less brave and less patriotic would never have consented to incur such a risk with so strong an enemy
at its doors. The governor exposed his own capital to save that of the Confederacy." At the close of the Civil War, consequently,
North Carolina had "forty regiments in Virginia."
North Carolina: American
Civil War Military Contributions
The total white population of
the eleven seceding states was 5,441,320 – North Carolina’s
was 629,942, and it was third in white population. North Carolina,
however, provided more troops to the Confederacy than any other Southern state.
On November 19, 1864, Adjutant-General
R. C. Gatlin, a most careful and systematic officer, made an official report to the governor on this subject. The following
figures, compiled from that report by Mr. John Neathery, give the specific information:
--Number of troops transferred
to the Confederate service, according to original rolls on file in this office: 64,636
--Number of conscripts between
ages of 18 and 45, as per report of Commandant of Conscripts, dated September 30, 1864: 18,585
--Number of recruits that have
volunteered in the different companies since date of original rolls (compiled): 21,608
--Number of troops in unattached
companies and serving in regiments from other states: 3,103
--Number of regular troops in
State service: 3,203
Total offensive troops: 111,135
--To these must be added: Junior
reserves: 4,217
--Senior reserves: 5,686
Total troops in active service:
121,038
--Then, organized and subject
to emergency service in the State, Home Guard, and Militia: 3,962
Total troops, armed, equipped
and mustered into State or Confederate service: 125,000
Remarkable proof of the
State’s brave devotion to the Confederacy is noteworthy in this connection. As shown by the 1860 census, the total number
of men in North Carolina between the ages of 20 and 60,
the extreme limits of military service, was 128,889. Subtract the 125,000 troops furnished, and it reveals the extraordinary
fact that there were only 3,889 men subject to military duty who were not in some form of military service. Most of these
3,889 were exempted because they were serving the State in the following civil capacities: magistrates, county officers, dispensers
of public food, etc. So, practically, every man in the State was serving the State or the Confederacy.
Recommended Reading: Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865. Description: The author, Prof. D. H. Hill, Jr., was the son of Lieutenant
General Daniel Harvey Hill (North Carolina produced only
two lieutenant generals and it was the second highest rank in the army) and his mother was General “Stonewall”
Jackson’s wife's sister. In Confederate Military History Of North Carolina,
Hill discusses North Carolina’s massive task of preparing and mobilizing for the conflict; the many regiments and battalions
recruited from the Old North State; as well as the state's numerous contributions during the war. Continued below...
During Hill's Tar Heel State
study, the reader begins with interesting and thought-provoking statistical data regarding the 125,000 "Old North State"
soldiers that fought during the course of the war and the 40,000 that perished. Hill advances with the Tar Heels to the first
battle at Bethel, through numerous bloody campaigns and battles--including North
Carolina’s contributions at the "High Watermark" at Gettysburg--and concludes
with Lee's surrender at Appomattox. (Lt. Gen. D. H. Hill is in
the photograph directly below.)
North Carolina
and the Confederate Army
| General James Green Martin |
|
| Tintype photograph courtesy LOC |
For the North
Carolina troops that so freely offered themselves there were no arms, except for those that the State had seized in the Fayetteville
arsenal. These, according to President Jefferson Davis, consisted of merely 2,000 Enfield rifles and 25,000 old style, smooth-bore
guns that had been changed from flint-and-steel to percussion. After these had been issued, the organizing regiments
found it impossible for some time to get proper arms. The Thirty-first North
Carolina, for example, went to the front with sporting rifles and fowling-pieces, while others, such as the Second battalion,
supplemented their arms by borrowing, from the governor of Virginia, 350 veritable flint-and-steel guns that nobody else would
have. Some of North Carolina’s units organized and drilled until the battles of Manassas (Bull Run) and Seven Pines,
and were then supplied with the excellent captured rifles of the enemy. However, after the fall of 1862 there was no difficulty
in getting fairly effective small arms.
As the first winter
of war drew on, a serious question that confronted the State authorities was how to clothe and shoe the forty regiments in
the field; for it was evident the Confederacy could not do it.
The
legislature directed General James Green Martin,
late in September, to provide winter clothing, shoes, etc., for the troops. The time was short and it was no small task, but
he went about it with his usual energy. He organized a clothing factory in Raleigh,
under the leadership of Captain Garrett; every mill in the State was made to furnish every yard of cloth that was possible;
Captain A. Myers was sent through North Carolina, South Carolina and as far south as Savannah, Georgia, purchasing everything
that was available for clothing the troops. The ladies came nobly to their assistance and furnished blankets, quilts, and
whatever they could. Many carpets were torn up, and by the combined efforts of the ladies and the officers, these were lined
with cotton and made into quilts. The troops of North Carolina were clothed the first winter of the war, if not exactly according
to military regulations, at least in such a manner as to prevent much suffering. After this winter the State was in better
condition to supply the wants of the troops.
27% of North Carolina's generals were killed-in-action; the generals truly led by example and they epitomized the adage
and embodied the motto: "I shall never request my men do what I, myself, would not."
| Lt. Gen. D. H. Hill |
|
| Library of Congress |
During the American Civil War, North Carolina provided at least 125,000 soldiers to the Confederacy, and the Tar Heel State recruited more soldiers than any Southern state. More than 620,000 died in the Civil War and approximately 40,000 were North Carolinians. The Old North State provided 69 infantry regiments and 4 infantry battalions; 9 cavalry
regiments and 9 cavalry battalions; 2 heavy artillery battalions, 4 artillery regiments, 3 light artillery
battalions, and 4 light artillery batteries. Several North Carolina infantry regiments mustered 1,500 soldiers,
while few regiments mustered as many as 1,800.
Furthermore, North Carolina's sole legion, Thomas' Legion, mustered more than 2,500 soldiers, while the average Civil War regiment mustered 1,100
soldiers. Approximately 10,000 white North Carolinians served the United States during the war, while more than 5,000
North Carolina African Americans joined the Union Army. These free blacks and escaped slaves served in segregated
regiments led by white officers.
North Carolina's Sacrifice at Gettysburg: "Those Tar Heels!"
| North Carolina Monument |
|
| (Gettysburg NMP) |
At Gettysburg, this North
Carolina Monument is dedicated to the Tar Heel State's forty-two regiments and batteries which fought at the Battle of Gettysburg. The North Carolina legislature appointed a special commission of veterans
to visit the battlefield park in 1913 and return with a design proposal for a state monument to be place there, but the advent
of World War I put the state's plans on hold. It was not until 1927 when the plan was rekindled by the North Carolina Chapter
of the United Daughters of the Confederacy and Governor Angus McLean. The state appropriated $50,000 to purchase the site,
contract with an artist for the design and manufacture, and provide landscape features as an appropriate setting.
Dedicated on July 3, 1929, the North Carolina Monument is the work of world
re-known sculptor Gutzon Borglum (1867-1941) whose most famous work is the four presidents on Mount Rushmore. The monument
represents a group of North Carolina soldiers in "Pickett's Charge". Fifteen North Carolina infantry regiments, all of which had suffered
heavily during the first day's battle, participated in the attack. The monument is accompanied by dogwoods, which is the state
tree, and a stone monolith that lists the North Carolina commands present at
Gettysburg.
Two regiments were especially hard hit at that pivotal battle
known as Gettysburg -- the 24th Michigan Infantry (70% casualties) and the 26th North Carolina Infantry (80% casualties). Twenty one year-old
Colonel Henry Burgwyn Jr., commanding the 26th North Carolina, was mortally wounded while leading one
of the last charges against the 24th Michigan. Shot, through both lungs, Burgwyn fell with the Twenty-sixth Regimental Flag
wrapped around him. He was the youngest commanding colonel in Lee's army.
North Carolina:
The Price in Blood
| Battle of Fort Fisher, North Carolina |
|
| Kurz and Allison, 1890 |
North Carolina furnished roughly one-sixth of the entire Confederate
Army. And at the surrender at Appomattox, one-half of the muskets stacked were from North Carolina. The last charge of the Army of Northern Virginia under Lee was made by North Carolina troops. The Old North State sent at least 125,000 soldiers into combat and more than 40,000
perished, which is roughly 1-in-3 or one-third of North Carolina’s
army. North Carolina deaths
were more than twice the percentage sustained by the soldiers from any other state. Roughly 6.5% of the total killed during the Civil
War hailed from the Tar Heel State. North Carolina soldiers totaled a staggering 22%
of all Confederate combat deaths (killed-in-action and mortally wounded). The South lost 25%
of its military aged men, however, about 32% of North Carolina's combatants died. For every soldier killed in
combat two died from disease. 12.5% of the entire Confederate Army that died from disease hailed
from the Old North State. While 33 generals were North Carolinians, 9 were killed in battle (roughly 27% of the
state's generals were killed-in-action). An estimated three-and-a-half million men (3,500,000) fought in the American Civil War and 620,000
perished, which is more than all of America's combined combat fatalities (includes combat statistics and fatalities for all American conflicts and wars). Diseases and Napoleonic Linear Tactics, consequently, were the contributing factors for the high casualties during the American Civil
War.
Recommended Reading: The
Civil War in North Carolina. Description: Numerous battles and skirmishes
were fought in North Carolina during the Civil War, and the campaigns and battles themselves were crucial
in the grand strategy of the conflict and involved some of the most famous generals of the war. John Barrett presents the
complete story of military engagements across the state, including the classical pitched battle of Bentonville--involving
Generals Johnston and Sherman--the siege of Fort Fisher, the amphibious campaigns on the coast, and cavalry sweeps such as General
Stoneman's Raid. Also available in hardcover: The Civil War in North Carolina .
("Old North State" and "Tar Heel State")
Map Source: National Park Service; Library of Congress
| Map of North Carolina Civil War Battles |
|
| (Includes the State's Major Battles and Battlefields) |
North Carolina American Civil War Fatalities*
Killed in Action
| STATE |
Killed
(Officers) |
Killed
(Enlisted) |
Total |
Died of Wounds
(Officers) |
Died of Wounds
(Enlisted) |
Total |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| North Carolina |
677 |
13,845 |
14,522 |
330 |
4,821 |
5,151 |
Died from Diseases
| STATE |
Officers |
Enlisted |
Total |
|
|
|
|
| North Carolina |
541 |
20,061 |
20,602 |
Death Total
| KIA |
Wounds |
Diseases |
Total |
| 14,522 |
5151 |
20,602 |
40,275 |
|
|
|
|
*Fatalities
Equal Dead; Casualty Does Not Equal Dead
Casualties include three categories: 1) dead (aka fatalities, killed-in-action
and mortally wounded); 2) wounded; and 3) missing or captured. In general terms, casualties of Civil War battles included
20% dead and 80% wounded. Of the soldiers who were wounded, about one out of seven died from his wounds. Over 2/3 of the estimated
620,000 men who gave their lives in the Civil War died from disease, not from battle.
North Carolina War Deaths (Fatality
Total)
The following numbers reflect deaths (excluding wounded and missing)
Source: North Carolina Museum of History
| Civil War |
992,622 (1860) |
40,275 (CSA) |
| World War I |
2,206,287 (1910) |
2,375 |
| World War II |
3,571,623 (1940) |
7,000 |
| Korean War |
4,061,929 (1950) |
876 |
| Vietnam War |
4,556,155 (1960) |
1,572 |
American Civil War Fatalities, aka Casualties
When one totals the Americans that died in the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, Mexican American War,
Spanish American War, World War One, World War Two, Korean War and Vietnam War, it is comparable to the total American Civil War casualties (Includes Casualty Totals, Killed, Dead, and Total Casualties.)
.
Union Fatality Estimates:
Battle Deaths: 110,070
Disease, etc.: 250,152
Total Deaths: 360,222
Confederate Estimated
Losses (Fatalities):
Battle Deaths: 94,000
Disease, etc.: 164,000
Total Deaths: 258,000
"I
apprehend that if all living Union soldiers were summoned to the witness stand, every one of them would testify that it was
the preservation of the American Union and not the destruction of Southern slavery that induced him to volunteer at the call
of his Country. As for the South, it is enough to say that perhaps eighty percent of her armies were neither slave-holders, nor had the remotest interest in the institution...both sides fought and suffered for liberty as bequeathed by the Fathers--the
one for liberty in the union of the States, the other for liberty in the independence of the States." Reminiscences of
the Civil War, by John B. Gordon, Maj. Gen. CSA (General Gordon was shot 5 times during the Battle of Antietam but did not die until January 9, 1904. Regarding General John Gordon, President Theodore Roosevelt
stated, "A more gallant, generous, and fearless gentleman and soldier has not been seen by our Country.")
Recommended
Reading: The Flags of Civil War North Carolina. Description: Compiled and written by
educator and Civil War expert Glenn Dedmondt, The Flags Of Civil War North Carolina is a very
straightforward reference presenting photographs, color illustrations, descriptions and history of the titular flags that
flew over North Carolina when it seceded from the Union.
Each page or two-page spread features the different flags of the various North Carolina
regiments. A meticulously detailed resource offering very specific information for history and civil war buffs, The Flags
Of Civil War North Carolina is a welcome contribution to the growing library of Civil War Studies and could well serve as
a template for similar volumes for the other Confederate as well as Union states. Great photos and illustrations! Continued
below...
Flags stir powerful emotions,
and few objects evoke such a sense of duty and love for the homeland. In April 1861, the first flag of a new republic flew
over North
Carolina. The state had just seceded from the union, and its citizens would soon have to fight for
their homes, their families, and their way of life. Each flag is meticulously detailed and scaled to perfection. The Flags
of Civil War North Carolina is the history of this short-lived
republic (which later joined the Confederacy), told through the banners that flew over its government, cavalry, and navy.
From the hand-painted flag of the Guilford Greys to the flag of the Buncombe Riflemen--made from the dresses
of the ladies of Asheville--this collection is an exceptional
tribute to the valiant men who bore these banners and to their ill-fated crusade for independence. About
the Author: Glenn Dedmondt, a lifelong resident of the Carolinas and member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, shares
his passion for the past as a teacher of South Carolina
history. Dedmondt has also been published in Confederate Veteran magazine.
Recommended
Reading: The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865.
Volume 2: The Mountains (Civil War in North Carolina)
(Hardcover). Description: As with The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters
and Diaries, 1861-1865. Vol. 1: The Piedmont, this work presents letters and diary entries (and a few other documents) that tell the experiences of soldiers and
civilians from the mountain counties of North Carolina during
the Civil War. The counties included are Alleghany, Ashe, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee,
Clay, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon,
Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Transylvania,
Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey. The book is arranged chronologically, 1861 through 1865. Before each letter or diary entry, background
information is provided about the writer. Continued below...
The Civil War
in North Carolina: Soldiers'
and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865 (Volume 2): The Mountains, is the soldier's story. It is an A-to-Z compilation
of what the "rank and file soldier" experienced during the American Civil War. The Western
North Carolina soldiers express their hearts to their loved ones and friends, thus allowing the reader
the most intimate and personal view of the war. From triumph to tragedy, the "soldiers' letters" express what few authors
or writers can achieve--realism. According to cartographic and demographic studies, Southern
Appalachia comprised a unique indigenous people, and by isolating these rare letters it allows the
reader the most detailed insight to their experiences. The soldier experienced various traumatic stressors in the conflict:
such as witnessing death or dismemberment, handling dead bodies, traumatic loss of comrades, realizing imminent death, killing
others and being helpless to prevent others' deaths. Plain, raw and to the point: The
reader will witness the most detailed insight to the so-called American Civil War. Intimate and personal: diseases, privation,
wounds, loneliness, exhaustion, heartache, and death are all explored. This book includes a lot of information about: Western North Carolina Civil
War History (North Carolina mountain troops), soldiers' photos (some
tintype photographs too), and rare pictures. For example, on page 143, there is a photo of Gov. Zeb Vance's brother,
Robert, at Fort Delaware Prisoner of War Camp; he had been captured by Pennsylvania cavalry in East Tennessee. You may see
a rare photo or letter of an ancestor. The maps, which reflect the region, have keys which place each regiment
to each respective western county (where the troops were raised). The soldiers - collectively - also
present a detailed North Carolina Civil War History. By reading the letters, you will easily form a timeline that is
filled with first-hand facts. To be very candid, it is not only filled with primary accounts of the war, but it is one
of the best books to read about the war...Creates an indispensable historical timeline of the life, times, and events of
the brave men from the Old North State.
Recommended
Reading: Ironclads and Columbiads:
The Coast (The Civil War in North Carolina)
(456 pages). Description: Ironclads and Columbiads
covers some of the most important battles and campaigns in the state. In January 1862, Union forces began in earnest to occupy
crucial points on the North Carolina coast. Within six months,
Union army and naval forces effectively controlled coastal North Carolina from the Virginia line south to present-day Morehead
City. Continued below...
Union setbacks
in Virginia, however, led to the withdrawal of many federal soldiers from North Carolina, leaving only enough Union troops
to hold a few coastal strongholds—the vital ports and railroad junctions. The South during the Civil War, moreover,
hotly contested the North’s ability to maintain its grip on these key coastal strongholds.
Recommended
Reading: Bushwhackers, The Civil War
in North Carolina: The Mountains (338 pages). Description: Trotter's
book (which could have been titled "Murder, Mayhem, and Mountain Madness") is an epic backdrop for the most horrific
murdering, plundering and pillaging of the mountain communities of western North Carolina during the state’s darkest
hour—the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as Southern Appalachia, the North Carolina
and East Tennessee mountains witnessed divided loyalties in its bushwhackers and guerrilla
units. These so-called “bushwhackers” even used the conflict to settle old feuds and scores, which, in some cases,
continued well after the war ended. Continued below...
Some bushwhackers
were highly organized ‘fighting guerrilla units’ while others were a motley group of deserters and outliers,
and, since most of them were residents of the region, they were familiar with the terrain and made for a “very formidable
foe.” In this work, Trotter does a great job on covering the many facets of the bushwhackers, including their: battles,
skirmishes, raids, activities, motives, the outcome, and even the aftermath. This book is also a great source for tracing
ancestors during the Civil War; a must have for the family researcher of Southern Appalachia.
Recommended
Reading: Touring the Carolina's
Civil War Sites (Touring the Backroads Series). Description:
Touring the Carolina's Civil War Sites helps travelers find the Carolinas'
famous Civil War battlefields, forts, and memorials, as well as the lesser skirmish sites, homes, and towns that also played
a significant role in the war. The book's 19 tours, which cover the 'entire Carolinas,' combine riveting history with clear,
concise directions and maps, creating a book that is as fascinating to the armchair reader as it is to the person interested
in heritage travel. Below are some examples from this outstanding book:
1. Fort Fisher - the largest sea fort in the war that protected the
vital town of Wilmington N.C., and the blockade runners so important for supplying Lee's Army of Northern Virginia.
2. Charleston
- where the whole shootin' match started.
3. Bentonville - the last large scale battle of the war.
4. Outer Banks - early Union victories here were vital to capturing many parts of Eastern North Carolina from which the
Union could launch several offensives.
5. Sherman's
March - the destruction of certain towns in both Carolinas (particularly South Carolina)
further weakened the South's will to continue the struggle.
I also enjoyed reading about the locations of various gravesites
of Confederate generals and their Civil War service. Indeed, if not for this book, this native North Carolinian and long-time
Civil War buff may never have learned of, and visited, the locations of some of the lesser-known sites other than those mentioned
above.
Johnson's writing style is smooth--without being overly simplistic--and contains several anecdotes (some humorous
ones too) of the interesting events which took place during the Civil War years. Highly recommended!
North Carolina: American Civil
War Sources
Walter Clark,
Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865; D. H. Hill, Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War,
1861-1865; Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis H. Manarin, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865; North Carolina Office of Archives and History; North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources;
North Carolina Museum of History; State Library of North Carolina; North Carolina Department of Agriculture; University Library,
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; National Park Service: American Civil War; National Park Service: Soldiers
and Sailors System; Library of Congress; Official Records
of the Union and Confederate Armies; National Archives and Records Administration; United States Department
of Veterans Affairs; Library of Congress: American War Casualty Lists and Statistics; William F. Fox, Regimental Losses in
the American Civil War; Gettysburg National Military Park.
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