Carried Into War
A Soldier's Life
Realities of War
The Home Front
Facing the Grim Reaper
Breaking the Blockade
The Last Campaigns
An Uncertain Future
Acknowledgments
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Who Were the People?
The Crisis of Secession
The Initial Response
In the spring and summer of 1861, thousands of North Carolina boys and men left their family farms for the army. The large numbers initially overwhelmed a state that had few resources to clothe, equip, and arm thousands of soldiers. Nevertheless, North Carolinians played important roles in early engagements at Bethel and Manassas in Virginia.
The Rush to Volunteer
We must show to the world that North Carolina will maintain her rights at all hazzards.
—Robert F. Hoke, Lincoln County, April 20, 1861
North Carolina was poorly prepared for war and faced a mammoth task in equipping and arming the thousands of men pouring into training camps across the state. Initially, recruits used their own hunting rifles or received obsolete weapons seized from the United States Arsenal at Fayetteville. Prewar volunteer companies reported for duty in a variety of uniforms. In response, North Carolina soon issued regulations for a distinct state uniform. The state sent agents throughout the South and to Europe to procure arms and military accoutrements. Many North Carolina officers in the United States Army resigned their commissions and hurried home to offer their services.
James G. Martin
A native of Elizabeth City, Pasquotank County, and an 1840 graduate of West Point, James G. Martin served with distinction in the Mexican War. At the Battle of Churubusco in Mexico, his right arm was shattered by grapeshot and had to be amputated. When North Carolina left the Union, Martin resigned his commission in the United States Army and offered his services to his native state. He served ably as state adjutant general in 1861-1862 and worked hard to arm and supply Tar Heel soldiers. By the end of the war, Martin had attained the rank of brigadier general.
William Dorsey Pender
An 1854 graduate of West Point, William Dorsey Pender was known as one of North Carolina's most capable soldiers. He served as colonel of the Third and Sixth Regiments North Carolina State Troops. In 1862 Pender was promoted to brigadier general and in 1863 to major general. He commanded a division at Gettysburg, where he suffered a mortal wound.
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A State Uniform
On May 23, 1861, Governor John W. Ellis appointed a board of officers to select a uniform for North Carolina's volunteer and state troops. General Order No. 1, issued on May 27, specified the regulations for the new uniform.
Regulation for the Uniform Dress and Equipment of the Volunteers and State Troops of North Carolina, May 27, 1861
The uniform coat for all enlisted men shall be a sack coat of gray cloth (of North Carolina Manufacture) extending half way down the thigh, and made loose, with falling collar, and an inside pocket on each breast, six coat buttons down the front, commencing at the throat; a strip of cloth sewed on each shoulder, extending from the base of the collar to the shoulder seam, an inch and a half wide at the base of the collar, and two inches wide at the shoulder; this strip will be of black cloth for Infantry, red for Artillery and yellow for Cavalry.
A State Flag
When North Carolina left the Union on May 20, 1861, Colonel John D. Whitford of Craven County became chairman of a committee to recommend an official state flag. After some consideration, the state convention approved a flag design on June 22, 1861. North Carolina soon began issuing flags to its regiments.
An Ordinance In Relation To A State Flag
Be it ordained by this Convention, and it is hereby ordained by the authority of the same, That the Flag of North Carolina shall consist of a red field with a white star in the centre, and with the inscription, above the star, in a semi-circular form of "May 20th, 1775," and below the star, in a semi-circular form, of "May 20th, 1861." That there shall be two bars of equal width, and the length of the field shall be equal to the bar, the width of the field being equal to both bars: the first bar shall be blue, and the second shall be white; and the length of the flag shall be one-third more than its width. [Ratified the 22d day of June 1861.]
First at Bethel
Our regiment behaved most gallantly, not a man shrunk from his post, or showed symptoms of fear.
—Colonel D. H. Hill, June 11, 1861
The First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers under the command of Colonel D. H. Hill was ordered to Yorktown, Virginia, to help defend the Virginia Peninsula. On the morning of June 10, 1861, the regiment marched out to meet advancing Union forces. At Big Bethel Church, a sharp engagement took place in which the North Carolina soldiers routed the Federals. Eighteen Union soldiers died during the struggle. Private Henry Lawson Wyatt of Tarboro was the only Confederate casualty and became the first North Carolinian to die in battle. The easy victory convinced many Confederates that Southern forces had the superior fighting ability and that the war would end within a few weeks.
D. H. Hill
Born July 12, 1821, Daniel Harvey Hill graduated from West Point in 1842. When war broke out, Hill headed the North Carolina Military Institute in Charlotte, Mecklenburg County. He was elected colonel of the First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers on May 11, 1861, and served as an outspoken and brave officer. Hill's commission promoting him from major general to lieutenant general never went to the Confederate Senate for confirmation because of a dispute with Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Hill served as a major general and division commander at Bentonville, Johnston County, near the end of the war.
Henry Lawson Wyatt
Born in Richmond, Virginia, Henry Lawson Wyatt moved with his family to Tarboro, Edgecombe County, in 1856. In April 1861 he enlisted in the Edgecombe Guards, which became Company A, First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers. At the Battle of Bethel, Wyatt was wounded and died on the evening of June 10, 1861.
Charles Betts Cook
Charles Betts Cook, a Cumberland County resident, enlisted in Company H (Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry), First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers on April 17, 1861, at the age of twenty-six and served at the Battle of Bethel. Later in the war, he joined Company A, Sixty-third Regiment North Carolina Troops (Fifth Regiment North Carolina Cavalry).
Charles Whitmore Broadfoot
A native of Cumberland County, Charles Whitmore Broadfoot served in Company H (Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry), First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers. Following his discharge, Broadfoot became a sergeant in the Forty-third Regiment North Carolina Troops and then a lieutenant colonel in the First Regiment North Carolina Junior Reserves (Seventieth Regiment North Carolina Troops).
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First Manassas
Our colonel [Charles F. Fisher] fell gallantly leading his men.
—Captain James A. Craige, Company G, Sixth Regiment North Carolina State Troops, July 23, 1861
Six weeks after the Battle of Bethel, Union and Confederate forces met again in the first major battle of the war, near a railroad station in Virginia outside Washington City (now Washington, D.C.) called Manassas Junction. Of the three North Carolina regiments present on July 21, 1861, only the Sixth Regiment North Carolina State Troops, under the command of Colonel Charles F. Fisher, saw extensive combat. Throughout the day, the battle seesawed back and forth, with victory uncertain until Union forces crumbled late in the afternoon and retreated to the safety of Washington. Of the 387 Confederate dead, twenty-four came from the Sixth North Carolina, including Colonel Fisher, hailed as one of the early heroes of the war.
Charles F. Fisher
Born in 1816 in Salisbury, Rowan County, Charles Frederick Fisher worked as a farmer, miner, journalist, and state senator before becoming president of the North Carolina Railroad in 1855. Elected colonel of the Sixth Regiment North Carolina State Troops, Fisher died while leading his men at Manassas on July 21, 1861. The large earthen fortification constructed in New Hanover County near Wilmington was named Fort Fisher in his honor.
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