4th North Carolina Infantry

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Enlisted 2.jpg

Three unidentified enlisted men in the 4th North Carolina Infantry.

The Fourth Regiment of North Carolina State Troops was organized at Camp Hill, near Garysburg, NC, in May 1861, and was mustered into service there in June. The men were mostly recruited from Iredell, Rowan, Wayne, Beaufort, Wilson, and Davie counties - mainly from central and western North Carolina. The regiment's first major battle was at Seven Pines, in which they took part in the attack on Casey's Redoubt, losing 369 men and officers out of 678 engaged, or 54%. In June 1862, the Fourth was placed in an all-North Carolina brigade under their former colonel and now brigadier general George B. Anderson, consisting of the 2nd, 4th, 14th, and 30th North Carolina Infantry Regiments. They would see action throughout most of the major battles in the Eastern Theater, among them Gaines' Mill and Malvern Hill, the Sunken Road at Antietam, May 1-3 at Chancellorsville, Oak Ridge at Gettysburg, the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania, the 1864 Valley Campaign, and the Siege of Petersburg. Only 8 officers and 101 men were present when surrendered at Appomattox.


Initial organization:

Col. George B. Anderson

Lt. Col. John A. Young

Maj. Bryan Grimes


Company A - Iredell Blues, Iredell County, Capt. A. K. Simonton

Company B - Scotch Ireland Grays, Rowan County, Capt. James H. Wood

Company C - Saltillo Boys, Iredell County, Capt. John B. Andrews

Company D - Goldsboro Volunteers, Wayne County, Capt. J. B. Whittaker

Company E - Southern Guards, Beaufort County, Capt. David M. Carter

Company F - Wilson Light Infantry, Wilson County, Capt. Jesse S. Barnes

Company G - Davie Sweep Stakes, Davie County, Capt. William G. Kelley

Company H - Hunting Creek Guards or Iredell Independent Grays, Iredell County, Capt. Edwin Augustus Osborne

Company I - Pamlico Rifles, Beaufort County, Capt. W. T. Marsh

Company K - Rowan Rifle Guard or Rowan Rifles, Rowan County, Capt. F. Y. McNeely


Colonels:

George B. Anderson - Served as colonel until promoted to brigadier general on June 9, 1862. He was mortally wounded in the Sunken Road at Antietam.

Bryan Grimes - Promoted to colonel on June 19, 1862, Grimes led the regiment until promoted to brigadier general on May 19, 1864, taking command of Junius Daniel's NC Brigade. Later assuming command of a division, he was promoted to major general Feb. 15, 1865, the last man appointed to that rank in Lee's army.

James H. Wood - Originally captain of Company B, Wood rose through the ranks til promoted to colonel after Grimes' promotion. He was killed July 18, 1864, in the battle of Cool Spring during the 1864 Valley Campaign.

Edwin A. Osborne - Also rising through the ranks from captain of Company H, Osborne was promoted to colonel after Wood's death. Wounded several times throughout the war, his final wound - shot through the right hand at Spotsylvania, May 19, 1864 - was unable to heal properly and kept him from active service from then on.


The 4th North Carolina Infantry served in G.B. Anderson's/Ramseur's/Cox's North Carolina Brigade, D.H. Hill's/Rodes' Division, Second Corps, Army of Northern Virginia.

Anderson's/Ramseur's/Cox's North Carolina Brigade gained a reputation in the Army of Northern Virginia as one of the army's best. Well commanded and drilled, their actions particularly stood out at Antietam, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania. After their performance at Chancellorsville, Gen. Lee sent a letter to Gov. Zebulon Vance concerning Ramseur's Brigade, in which he stated that, "I consider its brigade and regimental commanders as among the best of their respective grades in the army...." In a well-known incident in the last days of the war, when the army was on its retreat from Petersburg, Gen. Lee noticed a small but very orderly-looking brigade marching past and asked a nearby aide just what brigade that was. The reply was "Cox's North Carolina Brigade." "God bless gallant old North Carolina." said Gen. Lee, removing his hat and bowing his head.


See Col. E. A. Osborne's history of the 4th North Carolina here:
http://www.archive.org/stream/cu31924092908536#page/n269/mode/2up

And Brig. Gen. William R. Cox's history of the Anderson-Ramseur-Cox Brigade: https://archive.org/stream/01300611.3317.emory.edu/01300611_3317#page/n495/mode/2up

Roster: https://civilwarindex.com/armync/soldiers/4th_nc_infantry_soldiers.pdf
 
Bibliography of the 4th North Carolina Infantry. Those linked in blue can be read online.

Battle, Mrs. Jesse Mercer (née Laura Elizabeth Lee). Forget-Me-Nots of the Civil War: A Romance, Containing Reminiscences and Original Letters of Two Confederate Soldiers. (St. Louis, MO: Fleming Printing Co., 1909). Excellent series of letters from George and Walter Battle, two brothers of Company F, 4th NC.

Chambers, Henry Alexander. Diary of Captain Henry A. Chambers. ed. T. H. Pearce. (Wendell, NC: Broadfoot’s Bookmark, 1983).

Cox, William R, "The Anderson-Ramseur-Cox Brigade." in Walter Clark, ed., Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions..., Vol. 4. (Goldsboro, NC: Nash Brothers, 1901).

Gallagher, Gary W. Stephen Dodson Ramseur: Lee's Gallant General. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985.)

Grimes, Bryan. Extracts of Letters of Major General Bryan Grimes to his Wife....; Compiled from Original Manuscripts by Pulaski Cowper. (Raleigh, NC: Edwards Broughton and Co., 1883).

Harrell, Allen T. Lee's Last Major General: Bryan Grimes of North Carolina. (Mason City, IA: Savas, 1999).

Osborne, E. A. "Fourth Regiment" in Walter Clark, ed., Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions..., Vol. 1. (Raleigh, NC: 1901).

Ramseur, Stephen Dodson. The Bravest of the Brave: The Correspondence of Stephen Dodson Ramseur, ed. George W. Kundahl (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010)

Raymer, Jacob Nathaniel. Confederate Correspondent: Civil War Reports of Jacob Nathaniel Raymer, Fourth North Carolina, ed. E. B. Munson (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2009).
 
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Battle Flags of the 4th North Carolina Infantry.

4th North Carolina, Silk Issue.jpg

This flag was presented to the 4th North Carolina at Manassas on December 8, 1861. It appears to be what is known today as the Silk Issue, the first Confederate Battle Flags issued to regiments in the Eastern Theater, constructed from dress silk by Richmond sewing circles. It has faded to an almost white color, but many of these flags were originally a pinkish hue, there being a lack of red silk in Richmond. It is bordered with yellow silk and the hoist and cross are blue. This flag may have been carried by the Fourth in the battle of Seven Pines; however, according to a letter by a regimental staff officer to Governor Henry T. Clark, the 4th NC carried a state flag into the battle:

Raleigh, June 20th, 1862.

His Excellency, Gov. Clark, Sir: I have the honor to return the Flag given by North Carolina to the 4th Regiment State Troops when it entered the service of the Confederacy, twelve months ago.

It is returned on account of the damage it sustained in the engagement with the enemy at the Seven Pines, on the 31st ultimo, by which it is rendered unfit for further service. I embrace this occasion to express the wish of the Regiment and its commanders, that you will furnish another State Flag, by which they may be specially identified with their native State, while defending their common country.

You will perceive that this has been pierced by thirty-seven balls, and the staff shivered in two places. Its many honorable scars testify that it waved where the battle raged hottest. Seven brave standard-bearers were shot down while advancing upon and charging the enemies fortifications, but their places were so instantly supplied by another and another, that it can scarcely be said to have fallen. Once it was seized in its fall by the gallant Maj. B. Grimes, now Lieut. Col. who commanded the Regiment in the action; and borne onward amid the heaviest of the enemies’ fire, until private Steele, of Co. B, sprang forward and asked permission to relieve him, and it was by him planted upon the enemies redoubt.

I know, Sir, that you participated in the general gratification of our State, at the gallant manner in which this Regiment bore itself in its first battle, and which was one of the most stubbornly contested of the war, and as we know it will ever be the pride of the 4th to bear the banner of our State in the front rank of our country’s defenders, it is most desirable that another should be furnished at an early day.

I remain, Sir,

Very respectfully, yours,

JNO. A. YOUNG.

- Weekly Raleigh Register, July 9, 1862

It's possible that both flags were used. The silk Confederate flag was later donated to the North Carolina Hall of History (today the North Carolina Museum of History) by Maj. Gen. Bryan Grimes' widow.

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The 4th North Carolina's Richmond Depot Second Wool Bunting Issue battle flag. It was issued to the regiment in June 1862 and carried throughout the Seven Days battles, the Maryland Campaign, and Fredericksburg. It was later captured at Chancellorsville by 7th Ohio Infantry in the ferocious fighting on May 3, 1863. That day Ramsuer's Brigade made a voluntary charge that broke through the Union lines at Fairview Heights; the flag was probably captured in the close quarters fighting over the earthworks. The Fourth lost its entire color-guard in the battle, as well as 260 of the 327 men carried into action. The flag is currently held by the American Civil War Museum in Richmond, Va.

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The 4th North Carolina's Richmond Depot Third Bunting Issue. It was issued to the regiment after they had lost their Second Bunting battle flag at Chancellorsville. This flag was carried through Gettysburg, the Overland Campaign, and into the 1864 Valley Campaign, where it was captured at Third Winchester by Capt. John Seltzer of the 1st West Virginia Cavalry. Returned to the state in 1937 by one of Seltzer's ancestors, today it is located at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, NC.

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The 4th North Carolina's late war Sixth Bunting Issue, issued to the regiment in early 1865 to replace the flag they lost at Third Winchester. This flag was later captured in the battle of Sailor's Creek by Pvt. Asel Haggerty of the 61st New York Infantry. It was returned to the state in 1905 and today it is also held by the North Carolina Museum of History.

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Color-bearer John Alexander Stikeleather, Company A, 4th North Carolina Infantry.

Resided in Iredell County where he enlisted on April 20, 1861. Mustered in as Private and appointed Corporal on March 20, 1863. Promoted to Sergeant in November-December, 1863. Recommended for promotion to Ensign on April 11, 1864, by reason of his having borne the flag of this regiment most gallantly in all the fights in which his command has participated since the Battle of Seven Pines, having volunteered in that battle to become standard bearer after seven of the previous bearers had been killed or wounded. Appointed Ensign (1st Lieutenant) on April 21, 1864, and permanently assigned to the Field and Staff. Wounded at Cedar Creek, Virginia, October 19, 1864.

(North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865, A Roster, Vol. IV, Infantry, 4th-8th Regiments.)


The following is a excerpt from former Col. Bryan Grimes' reminiscences, describing their charge on Casey's Redoubt at Seven Pines:

I attacked the fort and redoubt where my horse's head was blown off, and falling so suddenly as to catch my foot and leg under the horse. The regiment seeing me fall, supposed I was killed or wounded, and began to falter and waver, when I, still penned to the earth by the weight of my horse, waved my sword and shouted forward! forward! Whereupon some of my men came to my assistance and pulled the horse off, when seeing the flag upon the ground, the flagbearer and all the color-guard being killed or wounded, I grasped it and called upon them to charge! which they did, and together with others captured the fortifications. Here John Stikeleather, from Iredell, (Company K, 4th N. C. State Troops), came up and requested to be allowed to become the standard-bearer, promising to bear it with credit to himself and the regiment so long as strength and life lasted.


John A. Stikeleather's memorial on Find A Grave: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=33842607

His memoirs can be read here: http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/ref/collection/p15012coll8/id/12479
 
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Colonel George B. Anderson.jpg

Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson, the 4th North Carolina's first colonel.

George Burgwyn Anderson, the oldest son of planter William E. Anderson and Frances Eliza Burgwyn, was born near Hillsboro, North Carolina, on April 12, 1831. Anderson was also notably the second cousin of Col. Henry K. Burgwyn of the 26th North Carolina.

A West Point graduate and having seen service with the 2nd U.S. Dragoons in the 1850's, Anderson resigned his commission in the U.S. Army with the outbreak of the Civil War and returned to his home state. He was appointed colonel of the 4th North Carolina Infantry on July 16, 1861, and commanded the regiment until promoted to brigadier general on June 9, 1862. After his promotion, Anderson was assigned command of an all-North Carolina brigade in Maj. Gen. D.H. Hill's Division. The 4th North Carolina was transferred to this brigade, along with the 2nd, 14th, and 30th North Carolina.

After recovering from a wound in the hand suffered at Malvern Hill, Anderson returned to his command for the Maryland Campaign. As his North Carolinians held the Sunken Road at Antietam, Anderson was struck by a bullet in the ankle while standing in the road, shattering it and rendering him unable to walk. Accompanied by his brother, Lt. Robert Walker Anderson, he was transported in a wagon up the valley to Staunton, Virginia, thence by rail to Raleigh, North Carolina. At the residence of another brother, Wm. E. Anderson, Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson died on October 16 following surgery to amputate his foot. He was laid to rest at Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh.

In Col. Edwin A. Osborne's history of the regiment, he says of Anderson:

He was a remarkable man. He had a handsome figure, was a fine horseman; a splendid tactician; had a clear, musical voice; a mild blue-gray eye; a fine golden beard, long and flowing, and a very commanding presence. His discipline was mild, but firm; and his courage and patriotism of the very highest order. He was a firm believer in God and a devout Churchman.
Here is Anderson's Find A Grave page: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/...ll&GSst=29&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=9852&df=all&
 
Colonel Bryan Grimes.jpg

Colonel (later Major General) Bryan Grimes. In this photo he is a brigadier general.

Bryan Grimes, Jr. was born November 2, 1828, on the ancestral family plantation, "Grimesland Plantation," in Pitt County, North Carolina. His father was a prosperous planter and his mother, Nancy Grist, was the daughter of a prominent general from Georgia. Bryan Grimes graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1848. In 1849, his father gave him the Grimesland estate, along with its 100 slaves. On April 9, 1851, he married Elizabeth Hilliard Davis; they had four children, however Elizabeth would die only six years later. Grief-stricken over his wife's death, Grimes later traveled to Europe.

Upon his return to the United States, Grimes was elected as a delegate to North Carolina's secession convention. He resigned from the commission after the passage of the Ordinance of Secession and joined the Confederate Army as major of the newly formed 4th North Carolina Infantry on May 16, 1861. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel on May 1, 1862, and commanded the Fourth at Seven Pines, in which he led the regiment capably and from the front, rallying the men in their charge on Casey's Redoubt.

With the promotion of Col. G. B. Anderson, Grimes was promoted to colonel of the regiment on June 19. He participated in the Seven Days battles, however he missed the Maryland Campaign due to a severe leg injury. After Anderson's mortal wounding at Antietam, Brig. Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur of the 49th North Carolina was given command of the brigade; however, Col. Grimes was acting brigade commander during the Fredericksburg Campaign while Ramseur still heeled from wounds suffered at Malvern Hill.

In a desperate, voluntary charge made by Ramseur's Brigade at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863, Grimes led the 4th North Carolina through a hail of of lead. In his reminiscences he recalls, "In this charge my sword was severed by a ball, my clothes perforated in many places, and a ball embedded in my sword belt and the scabbard, and I received a very severe contusion on the foot; and upon reaching the earthwork from which we had first started, I had only sufficient strength to get over, and lost consciousness from exhaustion and pain."

Col. Grimes continued to command the Fourth in the Gettysburg Campaign. The brigade was only engaged on July 1 at Gettysburg, in the attacks on Oak Ridge. Grimes luckily made it through unscathed, and on September 15, 1863, he married his second wife, Charlotte Emily Bryan. Together they would have ten children.

Ramseur's Tar Heels were in the thick of the action yet again at Spotsylvania C.H., driving the Federal troops back out of the Bloody Angle and holding the position throughout the day. Gen. Ramseur was wounded in their initial charge to recapture the works, so Col. Grimes assumed temporary command of the brigade. Grimes quickly ordered a second charge which successfully recaptured that portion of the line for the time being. Later, according to Grimes, "Gen. Lee rode down in person to thank the Brigade for its gallantry, saying, 'we deserved the thanks of the country, we had saved his army.'"

Col. Grimes was promoted to brigadier general on May 19, 1864, and was given command of another brigade of North Carolinians - Junius Daniel's after he was mortally wounded at Spotsylvania. So Grimes left his old 4th North Carolina, though he still served in Robert E. Rodes' Division. Grimes commanded his new brigade throughout the 1864 Valley Campaign. After Rodes was mortally wounded at Third Winchester, Ramseur was then given command of his division; and after Ramseur was killed at Cedar Creek, Grimes later assumed command of the division on December 9, 1864, leading it for the remainder of the war. He was promoted to major general on February 15, 1865, the last man appointed to that rank in the Army of Northern Virginia. After Petersburg and the march to Appomattox, Grimes surrendered with the rest of Lee's army. After the surrender he rode over to what was left of his old Fourth and shook hands with every man. One old veteran grasped his hand and replied, "Goodbye, General; God bless you; we will go home; make three more crops and then try them again."

Grimes returned home to North Carolina and settled briefly in Releigh, but he later moved back to Grimesland in January 1867 where he took up planting again, becoming one of the most successful planters in the state. He contributed a portion of his earning to the University of North Carolina and was appointed a trustee in 1877.

On August 14, 1880, while riding home in a buggy after attending the the Beaufort County political convention, Grimes was shot and killed in Pitt County, North Carolina. Alleged assassin William Parker was arrested but later acquitted at his trial. The reason for his assassination is not clear; it is believed to have been either to prevent Grimes from testifying in court about a criminal matter or because Grimes had taken part in an attempt to deport immigrants. Seven years later, Parker returned to the area drunk and boasted of his killing Grimes but winning acquittal. He was arrested, and that night a mob entered the jail house, grabbed Parker and lynched him. Nobody was ever tried for the act. Grimes was buried in the family cemetery on his plantation, Grimesland, about five miles northwest of Chocowinity, North Carolina. A monument to Grimes stands in Trinity Churchyard Cemetery located in the village of Chocowinity.

Col. Edwin A. Osborne says in his regimental history:

Colonel Bryan Grimes was a soldier of a very high order. His coolness and unwavering courage, as well as his judgment and skill, commanded the confidence and respect of all who knew him, and he was widely known. He was a most conscientious, man, and a firm believer in the Gospel of Christ.

Portions of the letters written home by Grimes during the war along with some of his postwar memoirs were published after his death in 1883. They can be read here: http://www.docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/grimes/grimes.html

Grimes' Find A Grave page: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/...Sdyrel=all&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=8955&df=all&
 
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Captain Jessee Sharpe Barnes.jpg

Captain Jesse Sharpe Barnes, Co. F "Wilson Light Infantry", 4th North Carolina Infantry

The following is from his memorial on Find A Grave:

Birth: Jun. 18, 1838​
Edgecombe County​
North Carolina, USA​
Death: May 31, 1862​
Seven Pines​
Henrico County​
Virginia, USA​
Jesse was the fourth child and third son of Elias and Mahala Emma Sharpe Barnes. After he was born, the couple had six more children who reached adulthood. Growing up on the family's plantation, Jesse was well educated locally before attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He started university at age 16 and graduated just before he turned 20 in 1858. By 1860, he worked as an attorney at law in Wilson, North Carolina, near his family home. His older brother Benjamin, also a lawyer, served as the city's mayor that year.​
Politically ambitious, Jesse was a staunch supporter of secession. He helped recruit members for the Wilson Light Infantry in the spring of 1861, before North Carolina actually seceded. This militia unit eventually became Company F of the 4th North Carolina Infantry with Jesse serving as the company's captain.​
After spending the months after First Manassas until March 1862 at Camp Pickens in Manassas, the regiment saw its first major action at the Battle of Seven Pines. Here they successfully attacked Casey's redoubt, a Union stronghold. Leading his men up the breastworks, Jesse was killed in action. The regiment's commanding officer Bryan Grimes mentioned in his report that "no braver man was killed that day than Captain Jesse Barnes of Company F."​
As requested in his will, that he had made out only six weeks earlier, Jesse's body was returned home and he was buried in the family cemetery, next to his father Elias.​
Jesse's younger brother William remained in the 4th North Carolina, later transferring to Field and Staff as adjutant and then aide de camp for Bryan Grimes. He survived the war.​
After the war, the Wilson camp of Confederate Veterans, later Sons of Confederate Veterans, was named for Captain Barnes. He is also named in the memorial for the war dead of the University of North Carolina.​

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=71828665


Also a good article on him in Military Images Magazine here:
https://militaryimages.atavist.com/glory-to-stand-upon-some-lofty-pinnacle-autumn-2015


Captain Jesse S. Barnes was killed at Seven Pines. He was a splendid young officer of great promise; a most intelligent, genial and promising man; a man of education, young and talented; a good soldier, and very highly esteemed in the regiment.
- Col. E. A. Osborne's comments on Capt. Barnes in his regimental history.


William Sharpe Barnes.jpg

William Sharpe Barnes, the younger brother of Jesse.

William was born April 8, 1843. Like Jesse, William was well educated and would most likely have attended UNC like two of his older brothers. Rather, at 18 years of age, William enlisted in Company F "Wilson Light Infantry" of the 4th North Carolina Infantry on June 28, 1861. In late 1861 he was promoted to sergeant. He later became adjutant (first lieutenant) on March 14, 1863, and transferred to the regimental staff of Colonel Bryan Grimes.

William survived the war and returned home to Wilson County, where in 1865 the 22-year old veteran married 23-year old Madeline Maude Crenshaw. They had four children together. William was employed as a teacher and book keeper, and later became an optometrist. He died July 20, 1924.

William's Find A Grave memorial: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=46267013
 
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Captain Absalom K. Simonton.jpg

Captain Absalom K. Simonton, Co. A "Iredell Blues", 4th North Carolina Infantry. Photo ca. 1856.

Captain Simonton was killed in the attack on Casey's Redoubt at Seven Pines. Col. Grimes wrote in his report of the battle:

After allowing my men time to recover from their fatigue, just then I saw my third color-bearer shot down. Captain Simonton and myself rushed up to raise the colors. Captain Simonton, reaching them first, placed them in my hands, raising them aloft, calling upon my men to rally around their standard. It was done with alacrity, and, together with several other regiments, we reached the redoubt, the enemy fleeing.

Grimes later says that Simonton was "killed instantly" after moving past the redoubt.


He was a prominent figure in the regiment, and gave promise of a most brilliant career. He was a soldier by nature, and a gentleman in every sense of the word.
- Col. Osborne's comments on Capt. Simonton in his regimental history.


http://civilwartalk.com/threads/cap...n-iredell-blues-4th-north-carolina-inf.90693/

Simonton's Find A Grave memorial: https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/...Sst=29&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=16912046&df=all&
 
Beaufort County has a prominent place in my wife's family history. Her grandmother was born Ruth Eborn outside of Washington, N.C. (Little Washington), in about 1900. The Eborns were a large and prominent family in the county going back to the Colonial era. There were undoubtedly members of the Eborn clan in the 4th NC Infantry.

The family's military claim to fame was that one of the ancestors was an officer in the Revolutionary army. The connection was even mentioned in one of Ruth Eborn's wedding announcements in the local newspapers.
 
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Here are a couple officers in Company I "Pamlico Rifles" which was also recruited in Beaufort County. Courtesy of Greg Mast's State Troops and Volunteers FB page.

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Captain Edward Stanley Marsh, Company I (the "Pamlico Rifles"), 4th Regiment N.C. State Troops

Edward Stanley Marsh farmed with his elder brother, William T. Marsh, in the South Creek district of Beaufort County. The brothers were well-to-do, with real property valued at $6000. and they owned more than twenty slaves. When the “Pamlico Rifles” (subsequently Company I, 4th Regiment N.C. State Troops) organized in June 1861, William became captain and Edward the first sergeant. Edward was promoted to second lieutenant in early September but then resigned for unspecified reasons on September 20, 1861.

Edward Marsh apparently was not in service for more than a year after his resignation, but was appointed first lieutenant of Company I on September 11, 1862. Casualties among the officers of the 4th North Carolina during 1862 were quite severe, and included Edward’s brother William, who was mortally wounded in action at the Battle of Sharpsburg, and died of his wounds on September 24. Edward was promoted to captain to rank from the same date.

Edward sustained a very serious wound on at Chancellorsville on May 3, 1863. According to the inscription on his tombstone, “A minnie ball penetrated his left shoulder, passed through both lungs and made its exit knocking the scapula off his right shoulder.” Edward made sporadic attempts to return to duty: he was hospitalized in Richmond in July 1863 and August 1864, on both occasions suffering from the effects of the gunshot wound and from debility. It appears, however, that the wound prevented very much active duty.

Edward resigned on December 22, 1864, offering not only his disability as a reason but also “being anxious to remain upon my farms in the County of Beaufort which require attention. I consider it much more dangerous to do so while I am connected with the Army.” He resigned with the rank of major in the 4th North Carolina, an appointment which he received in May 1864 but which may never have been officially confirmed. His resignation was accepted on February 9, 1865.

Edward (October 9, 1838-October 20, 1906) is buried in the Odd Fellow’s Cemetery, Belhaven, Beaufort County.
https://www.facebook.com/3216892013...1689201335430/401943343310015/?type=3&theater

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Second Lieutenant Bryan Trippe Bonner, Company I (the "Pamlico Rifles"), 4th Regiment N.C. State Troops

This image of Second Lieutenant Bryan Trippe Bonner, Company I (the “Pamlico Rifles”), 4th Regiment N.C. State Troops, is a painting, based upon an original ambrotype or ferrotype. The artist tried to remain faithful to the painting’s details, so much so that he rendered the “4” inside the infantry bugle on Bonner’s hat in reverse mirror, as it appeared on the original image.

Bonner farmed in the Durham’s Creek district of Beaufort County with his wife, four small children, and ten slaves. He enlisted in the “Rifles” on June 25, 1861, and was appointed second lieutenant.

Bonner was frequently ill during his service, particularly during early 1862. He submitted a resignation in May 1862, which was returned by his division commander, Major General D.H. Hill, with the sarcastic notation that “Battle discloses many infirmities of mind and body.” Bonner submitted a second resignation on June 18, endorsed by a physician who diagnosed him with “Chronic Enteritis, in consequence of which there is much emaciation and prostration of strength,” and that “he is in my opinion unfit for duty.” In a lengthy endorsement of the second resignation, Captain William T. Marsh of Company I observed, after examining the company’s morning reports, that Bonner had reported for duty on only forty of the previous 176 days. Marsh further observed that “my knowledge of his general ill health and the character of the man –indeed [illegible] me to believe that possibly he does not deserve the imputation cast upon him.” General Hill endorsed the second resignation without comment, and the resignation was accepted on July 14, 1862. There are no further military records for Bonner.

Bryan Trippe Bonner (December 17, 1825-December 7, 1889) is buried in the Bonner Cemetery, south side of the Pamlico River, Beaufort County.
https://www.facebook.com/3216892013...1689201335430/396265070544509/?type=3&theater
 
Here's a Moses P. Eborn in Company E of the Fourth which was out of Beaufort County: https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search...oldierId=F8A63599-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A

In Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg he is listed as having been captured 4th or 5th of July 1863 and having joined the U.S. Army at Point Lookout 19 April 1864. He was a 23-year-old resident of Beaufort County and enlisted 3 June 1861 at Washington.

Moses P. Eborn is likely a distant relative. I tried to trace Ruth Eborn's direct paternal line to see if there were any Confederates there but came up empty. She was born in 1899 so her father was too young for war service and it appears that her grandfather was too old. Her great great grandfather, by the way, was Col. John Eborn of the Continental Army and a veteran of the Battle of Guilford Court House.

I have an Eborn genealogy book somewhere around the house. I'll find it later and see what it says about Moses Eborn.

I should have mentioned that my wife carries the family name. She was christened Carol Eborn Taylor in 1963.
 
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Captain William F. McRorie.jpg

Second Lieutenant (later Captain) William F. McRorie of Co. A "Iredell Blues", 4th North Carolina Infantry.

McRorie enlisted at 18 years old on April 20, 1861 and mustered in as Corporal. He was promoted to Sergeant on July 10, 1861 and 1st Sgt. Sept. 30, 1861. Appointed 2nd Lieutenant Feb. 21, 1862. Roll of Honor indicates that he was wounded slightly in the knee at Seven Pines, Virginia, May 31, 1862. Promoted to 1st Lieutenant December 23, 1862. Wounded at Chancellorsville, Virginia, May 1-3, 1863. Promoted to Captain on May 3, 1863. Present or accounted for until killed in Battle of Spotsylvania Courthouse, Virginia.

https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=9795989
 
Iredell Blues.jpg

Prewar photograph of the Iredell Blues standing outside Stockton Hall in the town square of Statesville, North Carolina.

The “Iredell Blues,” organized in 1842, was one of two volunteer militia companies in Iredell County. The identification of this company as the “Blues” is based upon a contemporary description of its uniform. Volunteer militia companies were affiliated with the local militia regiments, and on April 20, 1861, “Captain Absalom K. Simonton’s Company, 52nd Regiment N.C. Volunteer Militia” enlisted for twelve months service. The company then moved to Fort Caswell, Brunswick County.

After the firing on Fort Sumter and North Carolina’s defiant refusal to provide troops to the Federal government, the state began accepting two kinds of units. “Volunteer” companies enlisted for twelve months service (one regiment and a few other companies enlisted for six months) while “State Troops” companies committed to three years service or the duration of the war. (Thus the title of this Facebook page.)

The “Iredell Blues” was unique among the twelve-month volunteer companies in that, after just one month’s service, the men enlisted again, this time for three years. That act enabled them to join one of the new State Troops regiments, and in June 1861 the company was designated Company A, 4th Regiment N.C. State Troops (and remained known, informally, as the “Iredell Blues”).

During its nearly four years service 171 men enlisted in the “Iredell Blues,” 106 of them in 1861. Of that number eighty two died: forty men were killed or mortally wounded in action, and forty-two more died of disease or unknown causes, a mortality rate of forty-eight percent.
https://www.facebook.com/3216892013...1689201335430/380208292150187/?type=3&theater
 
Here's a Moses P. Eborn in Company E of the Fourth which was out of Beaufort County: https://www.nps.gov/civilwar/search...oldierId=F8A63599-DC7A-DF11-BF36-B8AC6F5D926A

In Confederate Casualties at Gettysburg he is listed as having been captured 4th or 5th of July 1863 and having joined the U.S. Army at Point Lookout 19 April 1864. He was a 23-year-old resident of Beaufort County and enlisted 3 June 1861 at Washington.

Unfortunately, my edition of The Eborns of Matchapungo, Hyde and Beaufort Counties North Carolina, and Allied Families (Compiled by Betty Hicks Cutting, 1987) adds no useful information.

The only entry for Moses Eborn states a man with that name died sometime around 1825 and was involved in some significant land transactions around 1810. There was no information available about a wife (or wives) or any children. It's possible that he could be the grandfather of Moses P. Eborn of the 4th NC Infantry, but more research would be needed.

It's also possible that it is an entirely different branch of the family, which was quite large. The Civil War Soldiers and Sailors database lists thirteen different Confederate servicemen from NC with the surname Eborn.
 
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I like your regimental snapshots very much. I'm looking forward to see what you do with the 3rd.
I'll invite you to do one on the 3rd NC if you want, Bruce; you certainly know more about them than I do. As far as Tar Heel regiments go I've done the most research on the Anderson-Ramseur-Cox Brigade and the 4th NC in particular. The story of the photo of Capt. Jesse Sharpe Barnes (previous thread on that here) is what first got me interested in this regiment, as well as Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur. Though I am interested in reading about any and all units.
 
I'll invite you to do one on the 3rd NC if you want, Bruce; you certainly know more about them than I do. As far as Tar Heel regiments go I've done the most research on the Anderson-Ramseur-Cox Brigade and the 4th NC in particular. The story of the photo of Capt. Jesse Sharpe Barnes (previous thread on that here) is what first got me interested in this regiment, as well as Gen. Stephen Dodson Ramseur. Though I am interested in reading about any and all units.

That's a good idea. I'll have to take some time to think up some new angles, as a quick run-down would be very repetitive of your work on the 4th. The two regiments were in most of the same battles together and were even united in Cox's Brigade in the last 10 months of the war.

What's your source for the wonderful portrait photos? Mast's book?
 
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