John Green Hall enlisted as a private in Company C, 35th Regiment North Carolina Troops on September 12, 1861. He served with the Thirty-Fifth until May 31, 1864, when he transferred to Company G, 51st Regiment NCT. On the day that Private Hall wrote this letter, Confederate troops were pushing Benjamin Butler’s men out of… Continue reading Private John G. Hall’s Account of the Fight at Drewry’s Bluff (Hall Letters #1)
Category: 51st North Carolina
If at First You Don’t Succeed…
Private Payton P. Mathis Payton P. Mathis enlisted as a private in Company C, 51st Regiment North Carolina Troops on March 28, 1862. The 22-year-old farmer stood five feet, eleven inches tall. He was fair-complected with dark hair and brown eyes. Private Mathis served with Company C until he was wounded in the hand at… Continue reading If at First You Don’t Succeed…
We Want Our Shoemaker Back!
Note: James C. Rogers is listed in North Carolina Troops and in his NARA compiled service record as J. E. Rodgers. Background James C. Rogers was a 46-year-old shoemaker living in Sampson County. He managed to avoid military service until October 16, 1864. On that date, he enlisted at the Conscript Camp in Raleigh. Upon… Continue reading We Want Our Shoemaker Back!
Equipping the New Companies
Equipment Requisitions I have located the initial equipment requisitions for seven of the 51st North Carolina’s ten companies. The documents reveal a lot about the process for equipping an infantry company. Here’s what I learned. Equipment Required by an Infantry Company There appears to have been no standard guidelines for what and how much clothing… Continue reading Equipping the New Companies
What’s for Dinner? Feeding a Regiment
In late June 1862, the 51st North Carolina moved to Fort Johnston, near Southport. Conditions at the fort were much better than those at the camps the regiment had previously occupied. The men were housed in barracks. They had a ready supply of good drinking water. All the regiment needed to do was feed the… Continue reading What’s for Dinner? Feeding a Regiment
Private Alman T. Jackson of Company I Remembers the War
Alman T Jackson enlisted as a private in Company I of the 51st North Carolina on February 10, 1863. He fought with the regiment at Battery Wagner and New Bern. Private Jackson was captured at Drewry’s Bluff. He was imprisoned at Point Lookout for nine months before being paroled in March, 1865. In January 1905,… Continue reading Private Alman T. Jackson of Company I Remembers the War
Colonel Cantwell’s Requisition for Rifles
When the 51st North Carolina organized on April 30, 1862, the regiment was almost fully equipped. Training camps had been established the previous year, and the army had adequate supplies of food. The volunteer companies comprising the regiment brought enough clothing with them to make do until the soldiers were issued uniforms. The most critical… Continue reading Colonel Cantwell’s Requisition for Rifles
Colonel McKethan’s Dispatches from Charleston, July 1863
On July 10, 1863, Union troops seized the southern tip of Morris Island. The island was crucial to the defense of Charleston Harbor. General Beauregard, commanding the port city’s defenses, made a frantic call for reinforcements. Clingman’s Brigade was ordered to proceed to Charleston immediately. The 51st North Carolina was the first of Clingman’s regiments… Continue reading Colonel McKethan’s Dispatches from Charleston, July 1863
Chaos in Command, Part 3: The New Field Officers
In an earlier post, “Feuding in the Officers’ Ranks,” I described the squabbling among the Fifty-First’s officers that left the regiment with only one field officer for almost four months. In this three-part series I add further details gleaned from documents contained in the NARA compiled service records of some of the officers involved during… Continue reading Chaos in Command, Part 3: The New Field Officers
Chaos in Command, Part 2: Lt. Col. Allen Resigns
In an earlier post, “Feuding in the Officers’ Ranks,” I described the squabbling among the Fifty-First’s officers that left the regiment with only one field officer for almost four months. In this three-part series I add further details gleaned from documents contained in the NARA compiled service records of some of the officers involved during… Continue reading Chaos in Command, Part 2: Lt. Col. Allen Resigns