Last updated on August 13, 2023. CLICK HERE for details about updates.
Overview
From this page, you can explore the 51st North Carolina’s service records. These records include all the information contained in North Carolina Troops: A Roster. The dataset also contains information about two soldiers that are not listed in North Carolina Troops. The two men, M. G. Laper and P. London, appeared in casualty lists printed in March 1865.
Most of the service records contain information beyond that presented in North Carolina Troops. The extra data results from years of research about the regiment. Sources include census records, pension applications, newspaper articles, family histories, and many others.
Notes for Using the Records
The time periods in the service records are often grouped in pairs of months, like May/Jun, 1863. Every two months, the regiment held inspection. The men were counted, paid, and the muster rolls were updated. If a soldier was reported missing during a period, he may have been gone just a few days. It’s impossible to know exact dates in the multi-month entries.
Many of the records contain long gaps in a soldier’s timeline. Laziness on my part created these gaps. If a soldier returned to duty, say in May 1863 and was present and accounted for in December 1864, he was present for the entire period. Rather than list each month the soldier was present, I only listed dates when an individual’s status changed.
Soldiers listed as transferring to the 51st North Carolina from Company D, 13th Battalion North Carolina Infantry actually transferred from Cantwell’s Company Wilmington Railroad Guards. The 13th Infantry Battalion did not exist until May 19, 1863.
The rank of Third Lieutenant (also called Junior Second Lieutenant) was the same paygrade as a Second Lieutenant. Third Lieutenant was a title indicating that the individual was subordinate to the Second Lieutenant, but the actual rank was Second Lieutenant.
Some of the records contain a number in brackets in their chronologies, such as [2]. The References field also contains one or more numbers. These numbers indicate the source of the information contained in the record. A complete list of references is contained HERE.
Each record’s chronology contains the place a soldier enlisted and his age at time of enlistment. If that information is missing, then those two data points are unknown.
There are undoubtedly errors in the service records. Please contact us if you have questions, find an error, or if you have additional information to share. CLICK HERE to go to the Contact page.
Service Records
Click on a letter below to see all the soldiers’ records whose last names begin with that letter.
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