North Carolina Sesquicentennial

If you have not had a chance yet, please check out the North Carolina Sesquicentennial web site. I am really looking forward to this celebration.

However, I do have two concerns. One, I hope that the Sesquicentennial events move beyond the hallowed halls of academia. We need events, local events, in every county of the state, in an effort to get local people interested in Civil War history in their city or community. Every spot within the state has some ties to the events that transpired between 1861 and 1865.

Second, I hope that the western portions of the state receive their fair coverage. So many times we in the western part of the state get shunned as pro-Unionist hillbillies. Folks seem to forget that in the western part of the state, enlistment in the Confederate army outpaced enlistment in other parts of the state during the first part of the war. Folks also seem to forget that two western North Carolinians, W. W. Avery and Thomas L. Clingman, played a large hand in taking North Carolina out of the Union. Also forgotten is that our most famous governor, Zebulon Baird Vance, was from the western part of the state, along with most of our most famous regiment, the 26th North Carolina. Lastly, folks seem to forget that Asheville was once considered for the capital of the Confederacy.

Our trip to Wake Forest was good. However, it rained all day Friday, so I got no sight seeing/cemetery crawling accomplished. On Saturday, we drove to Morganton for an author's festival, which went really well. Terrel Garren was there, author of Mountain Myth, along with Jerry Goodnight, co-author of The Tarheel Lincoln.

On Sunday afternoon, I had the chance to participate in a memorial service for Levi Franklin Jarrett, a member of Company B, 58th NorthCarolina Troops. The descendants of Jarrett placed a cenotaph next to the grave of his wife in the Lily Branch Cemetery in Mitchell County. Jarrett died in November 1863. His final resting place is unknown. He died of the measles, possibly in Atlanta, or Chattanooga, or maybe even in Newton, NC. There are good stories to back up each of those places.

There are seven other Confederates and one Federal soldier buried inthe Lily Branch cemetery.

Yesterday, I finished transcribing the Gettysburg section of the diary of Lt. Nathaniel Horton of Company B, 37th North Carolina Troops. I have edited the transcript, and made some remarks about Horton's service. Horton was wounded and captured on July 3, and was in prison until the end of March 1865.

Tonight, I'm off to App to continue my research into the 58th NCT.

Sorry for not posting more this week - been hard at work on the 58th NCT book. I’m off to Wake Forest today. My darling wife is presenting a paper at the Seminary’s C. S. Lewis conference tomorrow.

On Saturday, I’ll be signing books at the authors fair at the public library in Morganton. If you are in the area, stop by and say howdy!

Changing Theaters for a moment

Ok - time to change campaigns. I have this article about the 37th NCT at Gettysburg that I've been tinkering with on and off for about three years. I always get to this point and the article comes to a grinding halt. Here is the sticking point.

Lt. Thomas Norwood writes in July 16, 1863 letter: "I was taken prisoner when I was wounded. I was very near the batteries when I was shot..."

Norwood adds in his October 6, 1877 letter: "The cannoneers then left their guns. I rushed forward thinking the day was ours."

Whose artillery is Norwood talking about? The common interpretation is Egan's section, posted near the Bryan Farm. But Norwood makes no mention of being captured near the Bryan farm, or farm buildings. He was"very near the batteries..." Could it be that Norwood was captured nearArnold's remaining piece, before Weir comes up? I can also find no reference to Egan ever abandoning his section of artillery.

I am really interested in other folk's interpretation of these two statements.

At Chickamauga

After leaving Crow Valley Road, I drove a few miles north to visit the Chickamauga battlefield. I stopped by the information desk, and picked up some files to go through. Park Ranger Lee White was more than helpful, andI greatly enjoyed chatting with him. I did find a few good pieces of information that I did not have, and I was able to leave a few pieces that the park did not have.

While waiting for photocopies, I wandered through the museums. The weapons collection is one of the best, if not the best, in the country. I wonder how often they open those cases and clean all of those musketsand rifled-muskets.

There were five North Carolina regiments at the battle of Chickamauga. Instead of the infantry regiments being brigaded together into one Tar Heel brigade, the regiments were spread out.

6th North Carolina Cavalry - Davidson's Brigade, Armstrong's Division, Forrest's Corps
29th North Carolina Troops - Ector's Brigade, Walker's Division, Hill's Corps
39th North Carolina Troops - McNair's Brigade, Johnson's Division, Buckner's Corps
58th North Carolina Troops - Kelly's Brigade, Preston's Division, Buckner's Corps
60th North Carolina Troops - Stovall's Brigade, Breckinridge's Division, Hill's Corps

After leaving the museum, I headed to Snodgrass Hill. For some odd reason, which I am sure was logical at the time, I decided to trace the path of the 58th North Carolina in reverse. I started at Snodgrass Hill, looking for the monument of the 58th North Carolina. I had visited this site once before, in February, probably in 1999. It took several minutes to orient myself to the map that I had purchased.

By the way, when are the western theater battlefields going to get the map work of Fredericksburg or Spotsylvania?

After several minutes of searching, I found the monument to the 58th North Carolina. This is the only monument in existence to the regiment.

After taking a lot of photographs, I set out in search of the iron tablets to Kelly's brigade and Preston's Division. All three of these are not on the well-traveled path, each requiring a hike down some path through the woods. Two of these markers were not that far from Snodgrass Hill. The last was on the other side of the park, not far from where the brigade crossed over the Chickamauga River at Dalton's Ford.

I spent the rest of the evening photographing different monuments.

Gettysburg Magazine

Yesterday, I received a letter from Andy Turner, the newish editor ofGettysburg Magazine. Gettysburg Magazine is a publication devotedentirely to the study of the Gettysburg Campaign. I've been subscribing for about six or seven years, and I've had three articles, all about North Carolina, published in the magazine. Each issue of the magazine runs about 150 pages, has great maps and photographs, and no advertisements! It is released twice a year and is an incrediblere source. To be honest, it is more of a academic journal than amagazine.
In his letter, Andy writes:
The subscription rate has remained steady for many yars now at about 1,500. I find it hard to believe that in this entire country there are only 1,500 people who would want to subscribe to this magazine. This is where we can use your help. If every subscriber could get one new subscriber, it would go a long way to securing the future of the magazine. It could be a friend, a fellow Round Table member, or even the local library. Every subscription helps.
I would highly recommend anyone interested in the battle of Gettysburg to subscribe to this most worthy publication. For more information, please contact Andy at:

www.gettysburgmagazine.net
email: gettysburgmagazine@yahoo.com

Gettysburg Magazine
P.O. Box 1311
Dayton, Ohio 45401
(937) 667-6737

Now, if we could just get other such publications on other campaigns- like the Overland Campaign or North Georgia...

Busy weekend as usual. I was at the heritage festival in Spruce Pine on Saturday and had an enjoyable time. Yesterday, after church, I headed to ASU to continue to go through the 58th NCT’s compiled service records. I found a great letter, a petition to Colonel Palmer from the officers in the regiment asking for a chaplain for the regiment.

Tonight, I’m off to the Mitchell County Historical Society to give a talk. This upcoming Saturday, I’ll be in Wise County, Virginia, giving a talk for their local SCV Camp.

After leaving Tunnel Hill, I stopped and got some lunch. While I was eating, I pored over a map that I had gotten and found what I was looking for - Crow Valley Road. It was off this road that on May 4, 1864, twelve members of the 58th and 60th North Carolina Troops were executed for desertion. I do not know where these men are buried (yet).

It was in this area that the battle of Rocky Face Ridge was fought between May 7 and 13, 1864. I found this historical marker on the edge of some woods. The actual fighting would have taken place to the right of this marker. For some reason, I did not take a photograph of that area, which is odd for me. I took over three hundred photographs in three days.

Tomorrow - on to Chickamauga

One of the first places I visited on my trip was Tunnel Hill. I was at Tunnel Hill maybe eight years ago, before the museum and tunnel were opened. It was in September, and I was there for the reenactment. This time I was on the hunt for information.

One of the 58th NCT diarists reported being at Tunnel Hill from September 24 to October 9, 1863. I was hoping to run into someone whocould help me find the burial site of the Dalton executions. I had n oluck with that quest, but I did enjoy the museum and a walk in the historic tunnel. I did find the names of three North Carolina soldiers who died at Tunnel Hill during the war.

The first name on the list was Jesse C. Black. There were soldiers by this name in both the 58th NCT and the 60th NCT. The Jesse Black in the58th NCT died in Charlotte at the end of the war. I looked up the other Jesse Black, and according to the troop books, he was reported as sick in the hospital in March-April 1863, then died at Tunnel Hill on May 7,1863.

Next one the list was Martin V. Lankford. According to the troop books, Lankford served in Company K, 16th North Carolina Troops. He was from Polk County, and enlisted on April 20, 1861, at the age of 26. Lankford was discharged on October 12, 1862, by reason of "secondary syphilis." Just how he got to a hospital in Tunnel Hill, Georgia, is a mystery.

Last on the list was William F. Patton. There were several soldiers by this name who served in different North Carolina regiments. There were two, a William L. and a William S. in Company E, 62nd NCT. I'llneed to look these up at a later date.

All three of these, along with many others, were disinterred from the Citizens or Foster Cemetery in July 1869 and taken to Ringgold, then onto the Confederate Cemetery at Marietta, Georgia.

If you ever have a chance, stop by the Tunnel Hill Heritage Center. It is areally neat place.

We got back from our trip west late last night. I did not get to a third of the places that I wanted to or needed to visit. But, I had a great time nevertheless. Boy was it hot! I did not take this trip this past summer because of the heat. It was in the 90s the whole three days that I was gone. I will post more about the trip later.

This photograph was taken at Ft. McCook at Cumberland Gap.

I did pick up a couple of new books:

A Masterful Retreat: The Story of the 7th Division’s Retreat Across Eastern Kentucky from Sept.17 - Oct. 3 1862 by Lewis D. Nicholls (Avant Grade Publishing, 2006)

and

Capt. Ed Baxter and His Tenneessee Artillerymen, CSA (Baxter’s Company, Yennessee Light Artillery) by Dennis J. Lampley (Westview Book Publishing, 2007)

I’ll have a report on these in the near future.

Well, I’m off today for a trip to the battlefields of north Georgia. Some of these sites I’ve not visited in several years - probably a decade since I’ve been to Chickamauga/Chattanooga probably two decades since I’ve been to Kennasaw Mountain. I’ve never been in downtown Atlanta. I am really looking forward to this trip and the research that I’ll get done. I will not be posting while I’m gone, but should have good pictures when I get back.

That last post was my 100th - a small milestone. I do wish that it had been on a happier subject.

I finished chapter 5 of the 58th NCT book last night. The regiment has left Cumberland Gap and is on the way to Big Gap Creek.

When writing such a piece as a regimental history, you often come across things that just beg for more information. Sometimes, you are able to uncover what you need, and sometimes not. I mentioned this before, but I have a new example.

On Tuesday evening, I was transcribing a letter by Isaac Bailey, Company B. Bailey would go on to become Captain of Company B. This letter was written on October 2, 1862, from Cumberland Gap. I came across this sentence: "Tell Curtis that Palmer has not had me under arrest any more, But he has had all of the Commissioned officers under arrest." Earlier, I came across the resignation letter of Capt. Jacob Bowman, also of Company B. Bowman resigned on March 5, 1863, because of charges brought against him.

These two statements beg for more information. There is a story here, and maybe I'll get to tell it.

Some might say, well these two events are indicative of the conditions of the 58th NCT. That's true to some extent. They were unwilling volunteers or conscripts. Their personal freedoms, freedoms they had always exercised, had been replaced by a code of military discipline. Plus, for a colonel, they had an extremely intelligent, Northern-born commander.

That's not to say that almost all regiments did not have some of those same problems. I could pull numerous examples from my shelves of men saying the same things when they started to go to the war. And many histories agree that the part of the April 1862 Conscription Act that allowed men who reenlisted to reorganize their regiments with new officer elections was extremely damaging. This act replaced good men with a lot who valued discipline less.

Like I said, there is a story here and I hope I get to tell it. Anyone know if Kirby Smith had a judge advocate on staff? How about Braxton Bragg?

Stolen

We discovered last week that Yancey County’s last original iron cross, found on the grave of James T. Fox, a member of the 58th North Carolina Troops, has been stolen. This iron cross was located in the Holcombe-McCracken Cemetery. There is a Reward being offered for return of cross or information that leads to arrest and prosecution.

If you have information, please contact the Yancey County Sheriff’s Department at (828) 682-2124 or contact the Col. John B. Palmer Camp, Sons of Confederate Veterans at (828) 682-9152.

It is amazing how quickly time flies. Has it already been a week since I posted last? We (my family) spent this past Saturday at olde timey days in Burnsville. Our local SCV Camp set up a display, including information tents, a Confederate officer’s tent (mine), and a artillery piece - 12-pound iron Napoleon. We had a great time - it was one of those perfect fall days in the mountains - in the low 70s and not a cloud in the sky. The photo here is of me and my nine-month old daughter, Isabella.

58th NCT update and the last Confederate soldier from North Carolina.

Well, I finished chapter four last week, and I'm well into chapter five. The regiment has finally gotten out of the mountains and is inJohnson's Depot (now Johnson City), Tennessee.

Yesterday, I was in Caldwell County doing some research. I came across this article, dated April 1, 1947:

Only Six Confederate Veterans Still Remain in North Carolina

With the death in Los Angeles of Capt. Alden G. Howell, native ofHaywood County, there are only six Confederate veterans left in North Carolina. Captain Howell was believed to have been the only surviving commissioned officer in the Confederate Army.

The six remaining veteran members of the N. C. State Troops are G. W.Dickerson of Buncombe County, who served in Capt. Walter Bryson's Company; R. V. Collie of Franklin, Co. A, First Regiment; G. W. Benson, Mecklenburg, Co. H, 26th Regiment; Charles S. Riggan, Warren, Co. B, 39th Regiment; A. S. Cockerham, Surry, Co. F, 33rd Regiment; and S. M.Bennett of Yancey, member of the Black Mountain Regiment.

Only one body servant still lives in the state. He is Alfred Blackburn of Yadkin, who was with Capt. Blackburn.

The men draw a $72 monthly pension from the State.

The 21 remaining widows of Confederate veterans who are not incapacitated draw $18.33. There are 502 widows who are disabled, and they receive a pension of $35monthly.



Most people recognize S. M. Bennett, a.k.a., Samuel Bennett, as the last remaining Tar Heel soldier. He died in 1951. But there seem to be alot of holes in Bennett's story. He is listed, according to a pension record, as serving in Company K, 58th North Carolina Troops.

Another newspaper clipping that I found today, this one from Burke County, states that

The last surviving North Carolina Confederate Army veteran died in the mountains of Yancey County on Mar. 8, 1951. He was 100 years old. Samuel E. Bennett, age 13, enlisted in the Black Mountain Regiment of the Confederate Home Guards along with his grandfather and four unclesin 1864. Pvt. Bennett was wounded in a dynamite blast while digging trenches near Richmond, VA, but recovered and served until the war ending in1865. He was mustered out at the age of 14.

As many of you who have followed this blog along know, the 58th NCT was not digging trenches at Petersburg. They might have been digging trenches around Atlanta, but not Petersburg. Also, there was not a"Black Mountain Regiment." The writer was probably referring to the"Black Mountain Boys," i.e., Company C, 16th North Carolina Troops, in which Sam Bennett did have numerous relatives. I thought that I had a copy of an article discussing the problems with the Sam Bennett story, but I can not seem to locate it. If anyone has a copy of this article, could you drop me a line?

Flags of Lane's Brigade at Gettysburg

Keith Snipes wrote recently looking for more information regarding the battle flags of Lane’s brigade. Keith wrote:

Your writing of the missing state flag for the 37th North Carolina compels me to ask about another of the regiment's apparently missing banners - the 1863 Richmond Depot issue with the blue battle honors.

Mr. Glenn Dedmondt's The Flags of Civil War North Carolina doesn't mention such a banner existing. Yet, his book does confirm that each of Lane's other four regiments had carried such a flag. The only regimental standard discussed for the 37th North Carolina is the earlier issued Branch/Lane brigade banner.

I’ve given this subject matter a lot of thought and some debate. I usually get shot down on the debate end. But hey, what would the world be without a little debate.

A lot of folks say that Lane’s brigade (7th, 18th, 28th, 33rd, and 37th NCTs) got new Richmond Depot flags right before the battle of Gettysburg. These flags have the battle honors painted in blue, with the regimental desigantion in gold above and below the center star. Dedmont writes in his The Flags of Civil War North Carolina:

The 7th Regiment North Carolina State Troops received this flag as part of the June 1863 distribution of 3rd (bunting) issue flags to A. P. Hill’s Light Division.

Dedmondt goes on to say the same thing about flags issued to the 18th, 28th, and 33rd, but not the 37th. And please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not picking on Dedmondt. Others have said this; I just happen to have Dedmondt’s book here on my desk.

So, did the 37th NCT get one of these flags? You would think, that had this been a wholesale flag issue to the regiments in the Light Division, that there would be some mention of the 37th NCT’s flag. But alas, no mention what-so-ever of the flag being issued to the 37th NCT. Furthermore, there appears to be no record of another flag ever being issued to the 37th NCT. It would seem that they carried their December 1862 for the rest of the war, until it was captured on April 2, 1865, just outside of Petersburg.

Now for the problems. I’ll start with the 37th. I’ve spent considerable time standing in front of the display case (when at Pamplin Park) looking at the 37th NCT’s flag. While I know that the flag has been restored, it is still in remarkable shape for a flag that belonged to one of the hardest fighting regiments in the ANV. That flag would have seen the whistle of balls and the shriek of cannon at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Mine Run, the Wilderness, Spotsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, and a host of the battle during the Petersburg Campaign. While some patching of the flag is evident, one would think that it would be shot to shreds.

So, based upon this simple observation, I would think that there would be another 37th NCT battle flag out there somewhere. Maybe it was captured and some Yank took it home as a souvenir, or maybe it was taken home by a member of the regiment, or maybe it was tied to a rock and dumped into a river on the retreat.

Now for more problem with the flag of the 7th NCST captured at Gettysburg. Why does the flag issued to the 7th NCST and supposedly captured at Gettysburg have both the "Wilderness" and "Chancellorsville" painted on it? Some folks say that this represents two different actions during the battle of Chancellorsville. But why do none of the other regiments in A. P. Hill’s Division, who were involved in the same actions at Chancellorsville, have this same arrangement of battle honors?

Why is it that the 7th NCST was carrying this flag, while the 28th NCT was carrying their flag with the white battle honors, which they also lost on July 3. Is it possible that the flag of the 7th NCST captured at Gettysburg was also their first issued battle flag, of which only a fragment survives? Is it possible that the flag always attributed to being captured on day 3 was captured at a later date and mis-identified as the flag captured at Gettysburg?

Well, there we have it. As I said earlier, what’s the world without a little debate? Maybe some day I’ll post the reasons why Lee chose Wilcox over Lane to command the Light Division. No, it has nothing to do with Jackson.

Keith - I enjoyed the article in Gettysburg Magazine (Issue 37). As a side note, the brigade arrangement on page 119 is not correct. It was the 7th North Carolina and five companies of the 37th that broke away from the rest of the brigade. Also, the email you sent me some time ago, got accidently deleted the day after you sent it. I would love to talk to you more.

Civil War markers unveiled in Lexington

Found this article on my web crawl this morning. Good to see Chris is still out there working on preserving local history. I first met him when he was an undergrad at ASU. He used to come over and set on my porch and talk about the war. This is from the Lexington Dispatch


Civil War markers unveiled in Lexington
BY GLEN BAITY
The Dispatch


When local historian Chris Watford decided to take a closer look into Davidson County’s Civil War history in 2003, the multi-state Civil War Trail program hadn’t yet expanded into central North Carolina.

Within two years, the first two Davidson County markers on the trail were dedicated in Thomasville. A third in the Chair City followed in March of this year, commemorating a field hospital that treated union and confederate soldiers wounded in the Battle of Bentonville in Johnston County.

On Saturday, Watford, alongside tourism and history museum officials, unveiled two new markers in Lexington with a third to follow Sunday at Lake Thom-A-Lex. For Watford, the unveilings of the county’s fourth, fifth and sixth markers were a recognition of the role local people played in a pivotal moment in U.S. history.

“I came to realize, as a historian and a history buff, that these were some great stories that needed to be told,” Watford said.

The Saturday unveilings were performed amid a living history event that helped tell the story of the Union occupation of Lexington in the late spring and summer of 1865, when Maj. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick took up residence in The Homestead on South Main Street, a private residence owned by Dr. William R. Holt. The doctor was away at the time of Kilpatrick’s arrival, securing his plantation, Linwood, against the threat of raiders. Holt’s wife, Louisa, offered up The Homestead to Kilpatrick upon his arrival in Lexington to prevent it from being taken by force, something she feared might place her family in danger.

After Kilpatrick set up his command at The Homestead, the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry arrived in Lexington and took up residence at the Old Court House on the Square. The Union forces would remain in Lexington through July 1865.

The Union’s attraction to the two sites is understandable: The Old Court House was just as striking a presence in that era as it is today, and The Homestead was widely regarded as the most impressive house in the city at the time.

“In May of 1865, these were two of the most prominent landmarks in Lexington,” Watford said.

On Saturday, reenactors from the 26th and 27th North Carolina stepped momentarily out of character, donning blue Union uniforms to portray the Ninth Pennsylvania Cavalry in a living history event hosted in cooperation with the county’s Tourism Recreation Investment Partnership and the Davidson County Historical Museum. The regiment hosted “School of the Soldier” demonstrations, showing those in attendance the training exercises a newly enlisted man in the Civil War era would have undergone.

“It was part of the training that the men went through to learn to operate as a cohesive unit in battle,” said Capt. Dennis Brooks of the 26th North Carolina. Sgt. Clint Johnson, also of the 26th, said these types of events can be illuminating for smaller towns not commonly thought of as Civil War hot spots.

“It gives the citizens a chance to realize that history happened in their town,” he said.

To aid in that realization, the Davidson County Historical Museum opened its exhibit, “Marking the Trail of Our Civil War History,” featuring artifacts on loan from local ancestors of Civil War soldiers. Those items range from rifles and sabers to a wooden leg that once belonged to a local confederate soldier, Lindsay Lemuel Conrad, on whose land along Abbotts Creek, near modern-day Lake Thom-A-Lex, Confederate President Jefferson Davis camped in April 1865. That occurrence was noted on the Civil War marker at the lake Sunday afternoon.Museum curator Catherine Hoffmann said the exhibit focuses on the events of all six Davidson County markers.“We’re using these objects as triggers to discuss what visitors are interested in,” Hoffmann said.

With six markers on the Civil War Trail now firmly established in the county, Watford has his sights set on more official recognition for local historic sites. The two that were unveiled Saturday, he said, were made possible by years of concern for local landmarks by area residents.

“These sites were preserved not only throughout the federal occupation but by the care and concern of the people of Lexington,” Watford said.

Glen Baity can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 227, or glen.baity@the-dispatch.com.

Chris Graham sent me an email with the accession number for the remnants of the flag of the 17th North Carolina - thanks Chris! I’m not sure why my searches did not produce this. Maybe the internet fairies were not with me???

Here is the flag:

Where have all of the flags gone?

I had an email this evening from Russ Lane, a descendant of a member of the 17th NCT. He was asking about the battle flag of the 17th NCT. I pulled out Glenn Dedmondt’s The Flags of Civil War North Carolina and flipped to the page with a drawing of the Second National carried by the 17th NCT. Dedmondt’s book is considered the standard reference source on the subject.


I like the book. However, it lacks a lot. The information for the flag of the 17th NCT says that "There is little left of the 2nd National flag used by the 17th Regiment. The tattered remains are 55" along the hoist. The flag was hidden by Pvt. Able Thomas and taken home with him after the surrender." I want more. When was the flag made? When was it issued? Was Thomas the regimental color bearer? What battles did the flag see? When was it donated to the Museum of History in Raleigh?


I went to the Museum of History’s web page, but the flag was not listed in the artifacts search. I did find reference to the flag of the Pasquotank Guards, which would become Company L, 17th NCT. This flag, a fragment of which is pictured here, is not mentioned in Dedmont’s book.
All of this leads me to this: we need a detailed history of North Carolina’s war-time flags. I’ll give you three questions that I’ve yet been able to find an answer to. Maybe this will help uncover some more material.


One. Did the 37th NCT get a state issued flag, where is it, and what flag did the 37th NCT carry between November 1861 and December 1862, when they were issued the ANV battle flag with the white battle honors?


Two: Did the 58th NCT get a state issue flag and what happened to it?


Three: Were the 2nd and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Volunteers (US) issued flags and what became of them after the war?


I know that researching flags is not easy. I’ve researched these two regiments for a decade, and I’ve written about the 37th NCT, and I am currently working on a book about the 58th NCT. I understand how important a flag was to the men in a regiment. I just wish we had some more material concerning flags.

Well, I’m in the middle of a very busy week. I had the book signing Sunday in Lenoir. I had another last night in Clyde (Haywood County), then rushed back over to Burnsville to talk with Terrell Garren, author of Mountain Myth: Unionism in Western North Carolina. Tomorrow, I’ve got a book signing at the Banner House Museum in Banner Elk. Friday, I’ll be speaking at the Carolina Mountains Literary Festival in Burnsville, then I’m off to the Brown Mountain lights Festival in Linville Falls. On Saturday morning, I’m off to the Cove Creek Heritage Festival in Watauga County, before heading back to Burnsville. On Sunday, there is a decoration service at the old Bakersville Cemetery.

I think I’m crazy!

In 58th news, I’m still plugging away at chapter 4. Did you know that Company K was made up of men primarily from Companies A and E? I’ve not come across a good reason yet - maybe they were dissatisfied with their company commanders. Or, maybe the Company K commanders saw an opportunity for advancement. Or ?