One soldier’s account of the Bermuda Hundred Campaign was published in the Wilmington Journal on June 2, 1864. HEADQ’RS BEAUREGARD’S ARMY, Near Drewry’s Bluff, May 25th, 1864. Messrs. Editors: As our Regiment (the 51st NC) was made up in the Cape Fear District, a few lines relative to its whereabouts and conditions may not… Continue reading The Order Was Given to Forward, and We “Forwarded.”
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We Began the Fight Just One Month Today…
Casualty Lists North Carolina’s regiments occasionally sent casualty lists to their hometown newspapers. The lists kept the folks at home up to date on how their boys were doing. After a major battle, the papers would be full of the names of the killed and wounded. The list below was written by Company E’s acting… Continue reading We Began the Fight Just One Month Today…
Katherine Theodosia Cantwell: One Name, Four Different Women
John Cantwell Colonel John Lucas Paul Cantwell, the first commander of the 51st Regiment North Carolina Troops, was born in Charleston in 1828. He served with South Carolina’s Palmetto Regiment during the Mexican War. After the war, he lived for a while in New Orleans then relocated to Wilmington in 1851. In Wilmington, he worked… Continue reading Katherine Theodosia Cantwell: One Name, Four Different Women
War of Words: The Surgeon vs. the General
Background The 51st North Carolina arrived in Charleston on July 11, 1863. The next day, the regiment was ferried across the harbor to Morris Island, where the soldiers garrisoned Battery Wagner. Six days later, on the 18th of July, the Fifty-First fought off a furious Federal assault on the small fort. The Tar Heels left… Continue reading War of Words: The Surgeon vs. the General
Private Joel P. Atwood: A Brave Boy and a True Patriot
On June 23, 1864, the Wilmington Journal printed the following heartfelt tribute from “One Who Loved Him” to Private Joel P. Atwood, Company C, 51st Regiment North Carolina Troops: “Young and ardent, impelled by no motive but honor and zeal for the Southern cause, he has fallen, like many other noble spirits of the day,… Continue reading Private Joel P. Atwood: A Brave Boy and a True Patriot
Miss Mary Ann Buie, The Soldier’s Friend
Miss Mary Ann Buie was one of the North Carolina troops’ most tireless supporters. She energetically solicited donations of cash, clothing, medicine, and other goods from local citizens and businesses for support of the state’s soldiers. Most of her donations went to military hospitals in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia, but at times she… Continue reading Miss Mary Ann Buie, The Soldier’s Friend
Mary Eliza Mincey, the Fifty-First Regiment’s Last Widow
Private George Mincey enlisted in Company F, 51st Regiment NCT on March 10, 1862. He only served with the regiment for three months before he was discharged for an unspecified reason. In June 1893, George married his second wife, Mary Eliza Floyd, at Galivants Ferry, SC. “Liza” was only 24 when she married the 53-year-old… Continue reading Mary Eliza Mincey, the Fifty-First Regiment’s Last Widow
A Soldier’s Letter from Cold Harbor
The following letter was sent to the Fayetteville Observer by a soldier serving in the 51st North Carolina. The regiment suffered heavy casualties during an engagement with Yankee cavalry on May 31, 1864. The next day, the Fifty-First was almost completely surrounded, and 122 men were captured. McKethan’s boys were placed in reserve and didn’t… Continue reading A Soldier’s Letter from Cold Harbor
What Happened to Samson Hawley?
Sergeant Samson Hawley, Company K, didn’t return from the war. Comrades told his wife, Winiford, that Samson was killed near Malvern Hill (Cold Harbor). In 1885, the North Carolina legislature passed a new law granting widows of Civil War veterans a pension. Winiford applied for her pension right away, but the State put her application… Continue reading What Happened to Samson Hawley?
Feuding in the Officers’ Ranks
Background When the 51st Regiment North Carolina Troops organized on April 30, 1862, John L. Cantwell was elected as commander of the regiment. Along with Colonel Cantwell, the company officers elected William Allen as Lieutenant Colonel and Hector McKethan as Major. Colonel Cantwell only commanded the regiment a few months. On October 10, 1862, while… Continue reading Feuding in the Officers’ Ranks