Unit History
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The History of the 49th North Carolina Troops
Organized:
The 49th North Carolina Infantry Regiment was mustered in March, 1862, at Garysburg, North Carolina. Its companies were recruited in the following counties: McDowell, Cleveland, Iredell, Moore, Mecklenburg, Gaston, Catawba, and Lincoln.
Many of the recruits were members that had listed earlier in the war, but for lack of weapons were not able to be mustered into service. The rank and file contained a population wholly of volunteers second to none for self-reliance, integrity, just respect for authority and modest worth and courage. Many of them were decendents of the people who made the Hornets Nest of North Carolina a fortress of independence and terror to invaders during the Revolutionary War.
Pvt. Henry McKinney's gravesite, Company A,
49th NCT, at Yellow Mountain Cemetery, Avery County.
The 49th NC Troops was placed under the command of Colonel (future General) Stephen Dodson Ramseur, a rising star in the Confederacy and whose exploits were well known to all the people in North Carolina. After a short time of drill and instruction the 49th NCT was sent to Richmond where they participated in the Seven Days Battles.
General Stephen D. Ramseur
The 49th NC Regiment was placed in General Robert Ransom's Brigade and under Ramseur's leadership fought well and advanced the fartherest at Malvern Hill, taking heavy casualties including Col. Ramseur, who was gravely wounded in the arm.
Colonel LeRoy (Lee) M. McAfee
Sharpsburg (Antietam) - Burnside's bridge
After some time resting they were ordered to support the attack along with the rest of the brigade and had the honor or retaking and holding the famous "West Woods"!
General Robert Ransom, Jr
Returning to Virginia, the 49th was posted in Fredericksburg where they were subject to terrific cannon fire and fighting - suffering heavy casualties during that battle. The 49th participated in the battle there being posted on Marye's Heights.
General Ramson's Brigrade was recalled to Eastern North Carolina. The 49th served in the New Bern area and near the Chowan River in North Carolina.
Their main purpose was protecting the Petersburg/Weldon/Wilmington Railroad. This railroad was General Lee's most important supply line and with Eastern North Carolina occupied by Federal troops it was essential to keep the railroad open. During this period in 1863 the brigrade drilled almost at a constant pace so that by May of 1864 when the brigrade was transferred to the command of General P.G.T. Beauregard, it was probable that there wasn't any brigrade containing more effective, well-trained soldiers in the South.
NC State Flag during Civil War
The NC State Flag design provided by William Jarl Browne and adopted by the Convention was described as having a red field with two bars making up the fly; the top one blue and the bottom bar white. Centered on the red field was a white five pointed star. Above the star, in a semi-circular mold, was the date May 20, 1775 representing the much questioned "Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence." Below the star was the date, May 20, 1861 representing the date of North Carolina's secession from the Union.
positions in the trenches south of the James River at Petersburg for a 9 month seige by the Union.
During this period the men of the 49th were subject to the elements of the unyielding weather of the region - storms, both heat and cold, coupled with scant food, and insufficient supplies. But the 49th, failthful to the end - never faltered in the performance of duty and never failed to meet and resist their foe.
49th NCT Battle Flag
This 49th North Carolina Troops battle flag was captured at Battle of the Crater during the seige of Petersburg, Virginia on July, 1864 by Union forces. This flag evidences extensive battle damage, including a missing upper right corner. The hand-sewn flag of wool, cotton, and canvas was the standard for the 49th North Carolina Infantry. The 49th NCT was posted adjacent to the Union mine that exploded on the morning on July 30, 1864, opening up a huge crater in the ground that was soon swarming with Union troops. The 49th North Carolina held its position at the edge of the Crater until reinforcements could arrive. One of the units officers later wrote, "Our troops were clinging to the works with the tenacity of despair and fighting with the fury of madmen." Today this flag is at the Museum of the Confederacy in Richmond, Virgina.
The 49th NCT also participated in the ill fated attack on Fort Steadman and this defeat signed the beginning of the end for the South.
General Robert E. Lee ordered a retreat on April 9, 1865. During the retreat the 49th was surrounded and many were captured or scattered the Battle of Five Forks. The 49th NCT was there till the end....seeing their final action in and around Appomattox until the final surrender by General Lee that ended the war.
According to government records, 11 officers, 95 NCO's and privates for a total of 106 brave men from the 49th NCT eventually registered on the "parole" records at Appomattox.
Casualties:
This regiment lost 14 killed, 75 wounded, and 16 missing at Malvern Hill at the Seven Days Battle, 16 killed and 61 wounded during the Maryland Campaign, and 9 wounded at Fredericksburg . Many were also disabled at Battle of Sayler's Creek.
Commanding Officers:
Colonels LeRoy (Lee) M. McAfee and Stephen D. Ramseur; Lieutenant Colonels James T. David, William A. Eliason, and John A. Flemming; and Majors Pinckney B. Chambers and Charles Q. Petty.
For more interesting reading on the 49th NCT, click on the links below:
(Click on flag)
"The Proud 49" by Ron Lamberth
A song and video on YouTube to honor the men
of the 49th North Carolina Troops!
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The History of NORTH CAROLINA in the American Civil War
General Hoke's HQ Flag
A native of Lincolnton, NC,
General Robert F. Hoke rose to the rank of major general during the Civil War. This flag marked Hoke's headquarters during his brilliant victory at Plymouth, North Carolina on April 20, 1864.
General Robert F. Hoke
march from Atlanta. Fought in the Spring of 1865, this was the last major battle fought during the Civil War, covering 6,000 acres of farmland with over 80,000 troops engaged.
While North Carolina was the last of the 11 Southern states to secede, it sent more troops and materials and suffered more losses than any other Southern state.
Around 40,000 North Carolinians were killed over the course of the war.
The largest surrender of Confederate troops occurred at
Bennett Place in Durham. With General Lee's surrender at Appomattox, this completely disbanded the Confederate troops.
When Fort Anderson (Brunswick County, Cape Fear River) fell, an Indiana unit took home the garrison flag as a war trophy and presented it to the governor of the state, a close political friend of President Abraham Lincoln. The governor invited President Lincoln to change his schedule in Washington at the last minute to attend a ceremony involving this garrison flag. Lincoln made the change and thus avoided a kidnap plan set in motion by John Wilkes Booth. Did Fort Anderson's flag cost Lincoln his life?
The January 1865 combined land and sea action against Fort Fisher was the largest waterborne assault on a mainland target until the allied invasion of Normandy during WWII.
There was opposition to secession in several areas of the state. A Peace Party organized conferences, speeches and street riots in the Piedmont. More than 125,000 men from North Carolina served in the Confederate Army. The state also had as many as 15,000 black and white troops in Federal (Union) regiments.
stands on Academy Green, perhaps the only one in the South.
soldiers buried side by side.
The Quaker Belt consisted of the counties of Guilford, Forsyth, Randolph and Davidson, with pockets in some of the surrounding counties. The Quakers opposed slavery, resisted service in the Confederate Army and participated in the Underground Railroad.
Whenever possible, the state quartermaster gave contracts to widows or wives of soldiers to sew uniforms. This was an important and new source of revenue for women, most of who had never worked outside the home, to provide income for their families.
North Carolina was an important supplier of cloth for military purposes during the war because of the large concentration of textile mills. It has been said that North Carolina clad its soldiers better than any other state in the Confederacy.
Military goods manufactured within the state included flags, buttons, gunpowder, swords, ammunition and leather goods. Pottery was also an important industry, with many potters supplying storage vessels to the military.
(Click on link above)
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The History of the 21st MASSACHUSETTS Infantry Regiment
Organized:
General Ambrose Burnside
Colonel William Clarke
The 21st Massachusetts was then attached to the Army of the Potomac and participated in several of the largest battles of the Civil War, including the Second Battle of Bull Run, the Battle of Antietam, and the Battle of Fredericksburg.
From March 1863 to January 1864, the 21st served with Burnside in the Department of Ohio, seeing action in Kentucky and eastern Tennessee. In May 1864, the regiment rejoined the Army of the Potomac, participating in General Ulysses Grant’s "Overland Campaign" and the Siege of Petersburg.
The regiment was a favorite of Clara Barton, the famed battlefield nurse, who was also from Worcester County, Massachusetts (and who would later organize the American Red Cross). More than 40 of them had been her students when she was a teacher before the war. She therefore took an acute interest in their welfare.
During the Maryland Campaign, she visited frequently with the regiment and cared for its wounded during the Battle of Antietam. Sgt. Thomas Plunkett, the color bearer of the 21st Massachusetts, who suffered grievous wounds during the Battle of Fredericksburg, credited Nurse Barton with saving his life. For his actions during the battle, Plunkett received the Medal of Honor. Sgt. Thomas Plunkett
Barton declared the 21st Massachusetts her favorite regiment and, in turn, the men of the 21st voted her a "daughter" of the regiment.
At Chantilly, in Ferrero's Brigade, Reno's Division, the 21st Massachusetts encountered the hardest fighting in its experience. Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph P. Rice was killed, and the total of casualties amounted to 22 killed, 98 wounded, and 26 captured, out of less than 400 men present in action.
At Fredericksburg, Ferrero's Brigade, Sturgis's Division, the 21st Mass. rendered efficient service by the skill with which from an advanced position and good marksmanship, it kept down the enemy's fire. In this action two color bearers were killed, and others were wounded, one of the latter losing both arms.
21st Mass. Inf. Reg. Flag
Under Leasure's Brigade the 21st Massachusetts distinguished itself particularly in the battle of the Wilderness, where it swept down the line, across and opposite Hancock's front. It was a daring charge, and accomplished with a remarkably small loss.
By the end of its three years of service, the 21st Mass. had been reduced from 1,000 men to fewer than 100. Of these losses, 152 were killed in action or died from wounds received in action, approximately 400 were discharged due to wounds, 69 were taken prisoner, and approximately 300 were discharged due to disease, resignation, or desertion.
The 21st Massachusetts was mustered out in October, 1864; the men remaining in the field were transferred to the 36th Massachusetts.
For more informatiom on the 21st Massachusetts click on photo.
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