PAGE 6—THE HERALD, Ahoskie, N. C.—MfLEStONE YEAR 1S59
Orgonized When Federals Hit Area:
Five Companies of
Served in 68th
R-C Soldiers
Guarded Homeland
Five companies of Roanoke-Cho-
wan men, mostly from Hertford,
were organized in the electric sum
mer of 1863 for the protection of
their home counties from the seri
ous Union attempt to drive through
the area to Weldon and cut the
railroad that was known as the
“Lifeline of the Confederacy."
But these units were soo
leave their home county and take
up duties elsewhere in North Car
olina, doing the odd jobs of the
Confederate army.
The 68th regiment was one of two
hastily-organized infantry units
thrown together in eastern North
Carolina in July, 1863.
Far to the north, in Pennsylvania,
the army of General Lee was fall
ing back from Gettysburg. Federal
commanders in southeastern Vir
ginia and eastern North Carolina
thought they saw' a chance
smash the Confederacy whOe Lee
was far away.
Determined federal cavalry col
umns stabbed into the Roanoke-
Chowan, landing at Winton, mov
ing toward Weldon and the vital
Wilmington-to-Richmond railroad.
The 68th regiment was not for
mally organized until the winter of
1863.
But its component companies
gathered hastily that summer to
guard the homeland of the soldiers.
Companies D, E, and K were
organized in Hertford County. Com
pany F was composed of Bertie
men, and Company I was organ
ized from Gates County men who
had braved federal control of their
county to cross the Chowan River
and enlist in the new companies
forming in Hertford and Bertie vil
lages.
Company D of the regiment was
organized at Bethlehem Church
near HarreUsville. Hilary Taylor
became its commander. Levi As
kew was a lieutenant.
Capt. Langley Taylor of Hertford
emmanded the unit that was to
become Company E. Ben W'illiam
of Bertie and Jphn Britt of Hert
ford were elected lieutenant.
John T. Mebane was captain of
the Bertie unit that was to
Company F.
These three units bivouaced
shots with Union soldiers on board
big gunboats which plied the river.
Night Action
In the late summer, the unit had
its first fight, a confused night ac
tion at HarreUsville when federal
troops landed to destroy large
stores of supplies which had been
gathered at the village.
(HarreUsville was an important
store point for food supplies gath
ered from the area and destined
for the camp stores of the Army
of Northern Virginia.)
Soon after this battle on their
home soil, the small units marched
to Jackson, where they went into
winter quarters. Here two new Roa
noke - Chowan companies joined
others to form the 68th regiment.
Company I of Gates organized, ■
with Capt. R. H. L. Bond in com
mand. Company K, mostly Hert
ford and Northampton men, was
organized, commanded by Capt.
George Thompson of Hertford.
In the next year, the regiment
was to see service from one end of
North Carolina to the other.
For a while, it picketed the Roa
noke River around Weldon.
To Morganton
Then, in July, 1864, the unit was
ordered to Morganton to guard the
western community against at
tacks by guerilla fighters of
“Kirk’s Army.” Later, the eastern
ers marveled at the mountains as
they marched all the way to East
Tennessee in pursuit of the irregu
lar force of Union symphathizers
which had stz-uck terror in western
North Carolina.
During this March, Lt. W. P.
Taylor of Company D was wound
ed in the thigh.
In the fall of 1864, the regiment
was ordered to Salisbury, assigned
to guard the sprawling prison camp
where thousands’ of Union prison
ers of war languished.
Here, many of the officers and
men of the regiment resigned, or
slipped quietly away to return to
their eastern home.
Capt. Taylor of Company D had
already resigned in the spring. So
had Major Edwards, Capt.
Langley Tayloe of Company E re
signed in November. John T. Me
bane had resigned in June, to be
replaced as Company F comman-
Colerain under the command of der by WiUiam M. Sutton.
Major Joseseph J. Edwards of I James Leary and Nehemiah
Hertford. From the bluffs there, I Bunch had become Company F
the green soldiers exchanged rifle ' lieutenants.
Capt Bond of Company I
ed in November, to be replaced by
William M. Daughtry.
Back East
Then, in early December, the
regiment came back east. On De
cember 12, it saw action, fighting
at Butler’s Bridge in Martin Coun
ty against a federal force bent on
capturing the important Roanoke
River fort upstream at Rainbow
Banks.
In March, 1865, the unit engaged
with the enemy near Goldsboro, in
one of the many tiny actions that
preceded the surrender of the
Confederate forces in North Caro
lina.
Then, the regiment moved slow
ly northeastward, men dropped
out and headed home as the first
days of April 1, 1865, came. Some
were ordered home to seek horses
as ' the Confederate commander
sought for a cavalry force to watch
for the advancing federals.
The surrender at Appomattox
found most of the men of the 68th
already in their home counties, hav
ing served for two years within the
borders of North Carolina.
R-C History: War of 1812
Eight companies of Roanoke-
Chowan men served in the 'W’ar of
1812, the conflict which once and
for all settled the United States’
ascendency in the Western Hemi
sphere.
In the First Regiment of North
Carolina troops called to fight the
war, the 7th company was com
manded by Captain Thomas Free
man. Many of its 72 men were
from Gates County.
The 8th company of the regi
ment was from Hertford County,
commanded by Captain Erwin
Jenkins. There were 85 men in
the company.
In the Third Regiment, the 3rd
company was from Northampton
County. It w a s commanded by
Captain James C. Harrison and
there were 113 men in the com
pany.
Bertie County contributed the
3rd company of the Artillery
Corps. Captain Joseph H. Bryan
was in command and there were
108 men in the unit.
Each county of the Roanoke-
Chowan contributed one company
to the detached militia units
which were called into action in
1814, the final year of the war,
They included four companies
in the First Regiment of militia,
Henry Pugh of Gates commandeu
a company of 73 men. Captain
Jenkins commanded the Hertford
Company of 75 men. Captain
Jonathan H, Jacocks commanded
a Bertie company of 103 men, ana
Captain John F. Walker com
manded the Northampton c o m-
pany of 105 men.
These companies were called up
in September, 1814, and saw nc
action. The war ended shortly
thereafter.
A Murfreesboro man, militia
Brigadier-General Joseph F. Dic
kenson, was in command of mili
tia troops guarding Norfolk dur
ing the early years of the war.
Many Captured at Hotteras
First Hertford Unit Was in 17th
The spring of 1861 came warm
and happy to the banks of the
Chowan River and the little town
of Winton,
On one of those bright spring
days, several score Hertford Coun
ty men arrived in their county
seat village to muster into the
county’s first volunteer company
for the Confederate army.
They called themselves the
“Hertford Light Infantry.” They
were well equipped, with uni
forms and guns purchased by a
county bond issue.
Their officers were local gen-
trymen. Thomas H. Sharp was
elected captain. William B. Wise,
Jesse Perry and Julian Moore
were elected lieutenants.
R. T. Barnes was first sergeant
of the unit, and under him serv
ed more than iOO Hertford men.
The organization was complete
down to a musician, one W. C.
Weed,
The unit marched off to Ra
leigh, where it became Company
C of the 17th North Carolina reg
iment.
Hertford’s contribution to the
army of the Confederacy had be
gun.
Four months later, most of the
Hertford men were prisoners of
war, victims of the first battle
action on North Carolina soil.
The regiment was assigned to
the incomplete Confederate de
fenses on North Carolina’s Outer
Banks.
In August, a giant federal naval | termarched across the broad east-
task force landed a powerful I ern areas.
striking unit which quickly over-1 Its headquarters was at Fort
ran the southern defenders of Branch, on the Roanoke River
Fort Hatteras on the Banks.
In the sand-walled fort were
the men of Company C.
After a brief exchange with the
huge landing party, the tiny gar-
near Williamston.
One member of the regiment,
young Lt. Gilbert Elliot, was de
tailed to Edwards Ferry near
Scotland Neck, and there he su-
rison of untrained Confederates perintended the building of the
laid down their arms.
For the next year, Hertford’s
first volunteers were to stay in
Union prisoner-of-war stockades.
Unit Reorganized
Finally, in the spring of 1862,
the men were paroled. A few
weeks later, the 17th was reor
ganized at Camp Mangum near
Raleigh.
Captain Sharp was given a new
task, he became a major. Lt. Wise
moved up to the captaincy. Lts.
Perry and Moore had transferred
to another regiment. William J.
Lattimer and William Cary Park
er were promoted to lieutenant.
Lattimer died two months later,
and John Q. Thomas, a member of
a Hertford family which had been
active in militaiy affairs, was
given his officer’s bars.
After reorganization, the 17th
was assigned to the small force
of Confederates guarding North
Carolina’s eastern counties from
federal forces stationed in cap
tured coastal towns.
As such, Hertford men of the
17th often got a chance to see
home as they marched and coun-
famous Confederate ironclad, the
“Albemarle.” Some men of Com
pany C helped guard the make
shift shipyard.
Joining their colleagues in
Company C, a new unit of Hert
ford men joined the regiment
during its service in. eastern
North Carolina.
Company D was commanded by
Captain J. M. C. Luke, with Nor
man Shaw, Dorsey Taylor and
Starkey Sharp as lieutenants.
John H. Britt was first sergeant.
S. R. Doughtie of Hertford and
James A. Bunch of Bertie were
company musicians.
In February, 1864, the 17th was
in the crucial charge as a Con-
federate force tried unsuccessful
ly to drive Union ti'oops from
New Bern.
A few months later, in May,
1864, the 17th marched away from
its home state, and joined the
battered army of General Lee
aroimd Petersburg and Richmond.
By now, Capt. Wise had resign
ed and Lt. Francis Everett had
become captain of Company C.
Isaac Taylor had become a
lieutenant in Company D. Nor
man Shaw was promoted captain
when Capt. Luke resigned to go
home and become a Baptist min
ister. Lt. Starkey Sharp had also
resigned.
For four months, the 17th shar
ed the fortunes of the dwindling
Army of Northern Virginia as ii
fought against the tightening grip
of Grant’s army.
New Commander
Then, in the summer of 1864,
the regiment came back to North
Carolina, its ranks thinned by the
bloody fighting. Thomas Sharp—
first captain of Company C—had
become Lt. Colonel and com
mander of the regiment.
The regiment fought off a fed
eral attempt to take Fort Fisher
in December, and the Hertford
men had. sweet revenge for the
time in the bright summer of
1861 when they had all lain down
their arms before a similar blue-
coated group on another sandy
shore.
But it was only an interlude of
victory.
In January, another huge fed
eral landing force hit the beach
and Fort Fisher surrendered. The
17th fought rearguard actions as
the Confederate army retreated
north from Wilmington.
In eaiTy March, the 17th was
part of the army of General Jo
seph Johnston as it fought Sher
man’s federal army at Benton-
■ville in Johnston County, the
HENRY KING B'tJRGWYN
Col. Henry King Burgwyn of
Northampton County was one
of the youngest high-ranking
officers of the Confederate
army. He attended West Point
for several years before the
war, later fought against his
old teacher in action with his
26th North Carolina Regiment.
He died at 21 on the first day
of the assault at Gettysburg,
shot through the lu/igs as his
regiment charged Union lines.
The 26th suffered more casual
ties in the charge than in any
Confederate regiment.
Son of a famous Northamp
ton planter family, Burgwyn
was the epitome of the young
southern ar-stocrat who offi
cered Confederate units. Yet,,
he was born in New England,
the home of his mother.
He is buried now in Raleigh.
His sword and uniform are in
the Hall of Ilistoi-y in Raleigh.
A portrait of Burgwyn, Gover
nor Zeb Vance (war governor
of North Carolina) and Bur-
gwyn’s successor- as commander
of the 26th, also is hung there.
Burgwyn served as Lt. Colonel
of the 26th under Vance until
the mountain man was elected
governor early in the war.
largest action fought on North
Carolina soil.
The regiment joined in the re
treat of the eSA array, and with
other members of the force, sur
rendered to Sherman at Centre
Church in Randolph County.
Many Hertford men had al
ready peeled off, heading for the
home they had left four years be
fore to become their county’s
first Civil War combatants.
SOLDIERS
(Continued from Page 1)
of a defense force along the upper
Blackwater River.
During that time, Captain Pip
kin led a fouTTCOmpany expedi
tion against a federal raiding
party which not only stopped the
attack, but burned the gunboat
headquarters of federal General
Benjamin Butler.
As spring of 1864 came to Vir
ginia in May, the giant Union
armies of General Grant closed
on Richmond, and the 31st be
came engaged in the fierce strug
gles of the Army of Northern Vir
ginia.
The regiment participated in
the battle at Dfewry’s Bluff, south
of Richmond' as General Butler
tried unsuccessfully to smash the
Confederate right flank while
Grant advanced from the north.
Then a few days later, the regi
ment was shifted to the northern
part of the front to join the main
Confederate army as it fought off
Grant in the bloody battles of
May-June, 1854.
Die
The 31st . was-in the main de
fense line at the battle of Second
Cold Harbor, when thousands of
Union troops assaulted the rebel
lines. R, S. Baker was wounded.
Thomas Doughtie died in the
holocaust of lead.
Sergeant James J. Johns also
went down. Walter McFarland, a
young Hertford boy who served
as company musician, was an
other who lost his life in the fear
ful fighting.
This bloody fighting was the
start of real hardship for the
Hertford men of Company G.
From these battles, the battered
regiment took post in the defenses
of Petersburg, fought there
throughout the winter of 1864. In
early 1865, the unit, now reduced
to half its size, was ordered to
Wilmington. There, it watched
helplessly as federal troops finally
took that great Confederate sea-
coast bastion, fought rearguard
actions north of the city.
Finally, as Sherman’s great
army advanced from the south
into North Carolina, Captain Pip
kin’s unit was called on for its
last action—the battle of Ben-
tonville, largest action fought on
North Carolina soil.
Reduced to a hand full, the
company joined the final retreat
of the Confederate army of Gen
eral Joseph Johnston, and sur
rendered at Bush Hill, two miles
from High Point, on May 1, 1865.
Captain Pipkin returned home
to become longtime sheriff of his
county.
The Lion-Hearted Cor That's Every inch a New Adventure
CHRYSLER '59
Pure Gold ... In Ride, Pride and Pleasure
1959 DESOTO
IMPERIAL for 1959
A New Tradition Begins ... By Imperial Decree
A Square Deal,,,
We believe a square has 4 sides to it. . . Quality.. . Service. .. Price. .. Selection.
That is just what we offer the folks in the Roanoke-Chovvan Area. We stock a
great line of Automobiles, known for their quality. We offer service facilities un
equalled in the R-C. These fine automobries are offered in a wide price range . . .
A price to suit your pocket. You can prove to yourself that our selection is most
complete by paying us a visit. Come in for a Square Deal!
Young and Proud and Full of Go
'59 PLYMOUTH
§. Cmke
jcrercahortal Harvester
I'uck” and Farm Equipment
CGST LEAST TO OWN
R. G. Cooke Motor Co.
IMPERIAL — CHRYSLER — DESOTO — PLYMOUTH
Aulander, N. C.
Cooke Truck ond implement Co.
I-H TRUCKS AND FARM EQUIPMENT