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Eastern North Carolina
The Struggle for Victory
In Victory and In Defeat
Prison Life
Despite the loss of much of eastern North Carolina by the spring of 1862, North Carolina soldiers remained confident of victory over the main Federal army in Virginia. In engagement after engagement, Confederate soldiers sacrificed themselves to win on the battlefield.
A Year of Carnage
I ran across the road under a hail storm of shot.
—Brigadier General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch on the Second Battle of Manassas, August 1862
The experience of North Carolinian Lawrence O'Bryan Branch at Second Manassas in Virginia reflected the intensity of the battles fought in 1862 and early 1863. On many occasions, North Carolina troops helped turn near-disasters into victories for the Confederacy. But the cost to the Old North State was tremendous. Thousands of Tar Heel soldiers were killed (including General Branch) or wounded for these battlefield victories. Almost half of North Carolina's field troops were killed or wounded or died from disease during the war. These losses left communities devastated.
John W. Dunham
Lieutenant John W. Dunham was a nineteen-year-old Wilson County native who was wounded in the left thigh at the Battle of Seven Pines, Virginia, on May 31, 1862. In the battle, his regiment lost more than 60 percent of its men. Because of his wound, Dunham had to resign from the army.
Duncan C. Haywood
Lieutenant Duncan C. Haywood, a twenty-four-year-old from Wake County, died leading an attack at Gaines Mill on June 27, 1862. When Haywood was shot, he was carrying the regimental flag, which came out of the attack with thirty-two bullet holes.
Francis W. Bond
In the attack at Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, Lieutenant Francis W. Bond received a severe wound when a bullet shattered his right shoulder blade. Bond, a twenty-four-year-old Chowan County native, never returned to the army because of the disabling injury.
Dixon G. Conn
Sergeant Dixon G. Conn, a twenty-one-year-old Franklin County native, was wounded in the left shoulder, left hip, left thigh, and left leg during the attack on Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862. His coat has bullet holes in several places. Conn was permanently disabled by his wounds.
Gaston Meares
Colonel Gaston Meares was a New Hanover County native and Mexican War veteran. During the Battle of Malvern Hill on July 1, 1862, Colonel Meares moved forward to survey the Federal positions with his field glasses. He was struck in the head and killed by an artillery shell fragment.
Richard W. Singletary
Lieutenant Colonel Richard W. Singletary, a Pitt County native and veteran of many battles, was severely wounded at Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862. He resigned because of his injuries but reenlisted in 1863 and fought until wounded again at Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia, on May 10, 1864.
Charles C. Tew
Colonel Charles C. Tew was the former commandant of the Hillsborough Military Academy in Orange County. While defending the Bloody Lane at the Battle of Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862, Tew was shot through the head. After capturing the road, Federals found Colonel Tew sitting against a bank still holding his sword. He died grasping the weapon as they pulled it away from him.
Lawrence O'Bryan Branch
Halifax County native General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch was a United States congressman and secessionist in 1861. As an infantry brigade commander, he soon ranked among the state's senior army officers. In the Battle of Sharpsburg on September 17, 1862, Branch was shot through the head and died instantly as he led his brigade in an attack.
William R. Cox
Colonel William R. Cox, from Edgecombe County, volunteered in 1861. On May 3, 1863, at the Battle of Chancellorsville, Colonel Cox was shot five times while leading an attack. A doctor cut open Cox's jacket and vest to reach wounds in his stomach and left arm. Colonel Cox returned to fight until the end of the war, surviving a total of eleven wounds.
Thomas F. Toon
Colonel Thomas F. Toon, a Columbus County farmer, volunteered in 1861 and was wounded twice in 1862. At the Battle of Chancellorsville, May 3, 1863, he was shot three times while leading his regiment through what he later described as "a perfect storm of shells and a mist of minie balls." He later returned to duty and sustained wounds twice more before the end of the war.
John P. Young
At the age of sixteen, John P. Young enlisted with his father in 1861. They served together in 1862. The father resigned in January 1863, and in March John was promoted to captain. On May 3, 1863, he died leading his company in an attack on the Federal lines at Chancellorsville.
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