1st NC Heavy Artillery</A><br>Also called 9th NC Battalion

1st NC Heavy Artillery
Also called 9th NC Battalion

THE 1st NORTH CAROLINA HEAVY ARTILLERY BATTALION, CSA
(aka the Ninth North Carolina Battalion)

PART I

GENERAL INFORMATION

The officers and men of the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion, CSA
hold the distinction of (a) having served in combat as both artillerymen and
infantrymen; of (b) having fought six major engagements including three pitched
battles (1st and 2nd Ft. Fisher and Bentonville) and three smaller battles (Ft.
Anderson, Town Creek, and 2nd Kinston), all within less than 90 days,
beginning Dec. 24, 1864 and ending March 21, 1865, and (c) having battled the
U.S. Navy, Marines, and three separate Federal armies. In the process, this
battalion probably suffered at least 70% casualties during the first three months
of 1865.

An informative historical sketch of this battalion was written in 1901by Sgt.
T.A. McNeil who’d served in Company D of the battalion. Sgt. McNeil’s
account was recorded in Volume IV of a five volume work originally entitled
THE HISTORIES OF THE SEVERAL REGIMENTS AND BATTALIONS
FROM NORTH CAROLINA IN THE GREAT WAR 1861-‘65, edited by Judge
Walter Clark and published in 1901. This work was recently (within the past
twenty-five years or so) reprinted and re-titled under its common usage name,
NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENTS, and it will be referred to that way herein.
Sgt. McNeil’s account of the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion was
entitled …..well, there’s an interesting story about that…

There were many Confederate units called the First this or the First that. The
profusion of “Firsts” caused difficulties for Judge Clark in editing NORTH
CAROLINA REGIMENTS. Another complication he encountered concerning
this particular battalion was that near the end of the war, its members who’s
survived the loss of the lower Cape Fear forts (and the loss of their artillery
weapons along with those forts) were linked with a small detachment of
similar survivors from the 36th N.C. Regiment (aka the 2nd N.C. Artillery) to
form a new infantry battalion, although no new numerical unit designation
was ever assigned to it. This mixed-unit battalion was simply cobbled together
to meet the extengencies of the moment. Presumably, it was always intended
that these men would return to the artillery service as soon as cannon could
be obtained to re-arm them in their specialty.

Judge Clark solved his numerical organizational dilemma (in this case) by
simply renaming the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion. He called
it the Ninth Battalion, and he published Sgt. McNeils historical sketch of the
1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion as the history of the Ninth
Battalion. (He did this thirty-six years after the Civil War ended). When Judge
Clark’s five volume work was published in 1901, survivors of the 1st North
Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion who lived long enough to read it, if any did,
probably had trouble finding the account of their service because none of them
would have recognized the “Ninth Battalion” designation Judge Clark chose for
them.

Judge Clark did mention in a footnote to Sgt. McNeil’s historical sketch of
“the Ninth Battalion” that the battalion had in reality been called the 1st N.C.
Heavy Artillery Battalion, and he readily admitted that he referred to it as the
Ninth Battalion only for his own convenience; however, the genie was already
out of the bottle and Judge Clark’s non-existent “Ninth Battalion” took on a
life of its own.

Despite its flaws, Judge Walter Clark’s NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENTS
deservedly achieved public acclaim in North Carolina and elsewhere. For the
next seventy-five years it was considered to be the last word concerning this
states military participation in the Civil War. However, during those seventy-five
years, the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion was almost always
referred to as the Ninth Battalion, even on the battlefield memorial gate at
Bentonville, the site of the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion’s last and
most costly conflict. As a result, many and perhaps most of the descendants
of the men who served in this battalion were never aware of their forbears’ service
at Bentonville. (Today, this has changed. Bentonville battlefield monuments,
signs, etc. now make it clear that the Ninth Battalion and the 1st N.C. Heavy
Artillery Battalion were one and the same.)

PART II

BATTALION SERVICE HISTORY

The 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion was formed in March 1863 from
three previously independent artillery companies. These previously independent
companies became Companies A, B, and C of the battalion upon its formation.
In 1864, a fourth company, Company D was formed from volunteer detachments
of each of the first three companies.

The entire battalion was stationed at Ft. Caswell and/or Ft. Campbell on Oak
Island for much of the war. This battalion and several other Confederate Artillery
units were charged with preventing a Federal seaborne invasion in that area
which might threaten the port of Wilmington, 29 miles upriver, and with keeping
the blockading Federal fleet offshore a considerable distance from the entrance
of the “old” inlet to Cape Fear River, thereby providing a zone of protection for
Confederate blockade runners coming into or going out of the “old” inlet.

Company D of this battalion was hurriedly ferried from Ft. Caswell to Smithville
and from there over to Ft. Fisher (the huge Confederate which defended the “new”
inlet to Cape Fear River) to assist in the defense of that fort during both battles
that were fought there in late December 1864 and in mid-January 1865. Company
D manned the sea facing guns of Battery Bolles and Battery Roland during the
first Federal attack on Ft. Fisher in December 1864, and helped repulse that
attack with heavy Federal loss. (There were very few Confederate casualties in
that first battle.) When a huge combined Federal land and sea force again
attacked Ft. Fisher in January 1865, Company D of this battalion once again
was hurriedly ferried to Ft. Fisher from Ft. Caswell (again, via Smithville) but
on this occasion Company D helped defend the land face of the fort, not the
sea face. Ultimately, the men of Company D and the other defenders of Ft.
Fisher were overwhelmed by superior Federal forces on the land side. Company
D was almost wiped out in this second battle. All the Company D soldiers who
were at Ft. Fisher during the second battle there were killed, wounded and/or
captured. However, a handful of Company D men had been detailed elsewhere,
or had been on furlough when this second Federal attack occurred in January
1865. Those few men returned to duty with the battalion.

The 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion suffered additional casualties in subsequent
battles that were fought at Ft. Anderson, at Town Creek, and 2nd Kinston.
However, most of the casualties this battalion suffered occurred at Bentonville
on March 19, 1865. On that one day, more than half the men who comprised
Companies A, B, and C and the remnants of Company D were killed, wounded,
and/or captured. That’s many more casualties than the handful who have so far
been identified (by various means). No one today knows who all these casualties
were, but in all likelihood, many of the Duplin Countians listed on this battalion
roster about whom nothing more is known than a name, lie today in a mass
grave of several hundred unidentified Confederate dead who are buried on the
Bentonville battlefield.

What is known is this: In the historical sketch of this battalion that was written
in 1901 by Sgt. McNeil, he indicated that the battalion went into the Bentonville
battle 257 strong, and lost 152 men killed or wounded. Although he made no
reference to a “captured” casualty category, some of this battalion’s soldiers
were reported captured at Bentonville. Sgt. McNeil’s “going in” number closely
approximated the “going in” number that was independently reported for this
same battalion by Col. William Lamb in his account of the 36th N.C. Regiment
(Second Artillery), also written for Judge Walter Clark’s NORTH CAROLINA
REGIMENTS in 1901.

Col. William Lamb was largely responsible for the design of Ft. Fisher and he
commanded the 36th N.C. Regiment (2nd N.C. Artillery) there until he was
wounded and taken prisoner and his entire command nearly wiped out in the
loss of the fort on Jan.15, 1865. The men from his regiment who did survive the
fort’s surrender, were, like the survivor’s of the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion’s
Company D, either on furlough or detailed somewhere else when the last Ft.
Fisher battle was fought. This small group of survivors from the 36th N.C.
Regiment (2nd Artillery) included three of the regiment’s officers. Sometime
before the Battle of Bentonville was fought these three officers, and a now
unknown number of enlisted survivors from their regiment (who probably
comprised about a company or company-and-a-half sized detachment), joined
with the men of Companies A, B and C (and the remnants of Company D) of
the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion, to form a single “Red Infantry” battalion.
(“Red Infantry was a term that referred to Confederate Artillery members serving
as Infantrymen. Red was the color designation of the Confederate Artillery
service; Cavalry yellow.; Infantry Blue. These colors were displayed on uniform
braid, shoulder straps, piping, etc. assuring that a soldiers arm of service could
be determined on sight.)

As luck would have it, the ranking officer of this mixed force battalion came
from the smaller force that made up the battalion. He was Lt. Col. John D.
Taylor, one of three officers from the 36th N.C. Regiment (2nd Artillery) who’d
survived the fall of Ft. Fisher. That was why Col. William Lamb in writing the
history of the unit he’d commanded, reported on the service and casualties
suffered by the mixed force Red Infantry Battalion – because it was led by his
friend and immediate subordinate from the 36th Regiment (2nd Artillery), Lt.
Col. Taylor.

Col. Lamb concluded that Lt. Col. Taylor’s had led the mixed-unit Red Infantry
battalion into the Bentonville battle 267 strong, and that only 115 of the men
who went into the battle had escaped unscathed. Although neither Col. Lamb’s
“going in” headcount nor his “coming out” headcount agreed exactly with those
of Sgt. McNeil in his account of the Ninth Battalion ( 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery
Battalion), their two independent “going in” and “coming out” counts were
reasonably close, and at the bottom line, Col. Lamb and Sgt. McNeil both
agreed that exactly 152 casualties were suffered by this mixed unit battalion
at Bentonville.

Today, the names of most enlisted casualties in this battalion are “known
but to God”; however, the names of the battalion’s officer casualties have
been preserved. Only one of them was a Duplin Countian. Despite that, all
of the officer casualties will be reported fully after the Roster of Duplin Countians
shown in Part III, regardless of county of residence, because the officer
casualties are startlingly instructive as to the severity of the battles fought
by this little battalion.

PART III

DUPLIN COUNTIANS IN COMPANY “B” OF THE 1ST N.C. HEAVY
ARTILLERY BATTALION
(aka The Ninth Battalion)

NOTE: The following roster identifies all of the Duplin Countians who at present
are known to have served in the 1st North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion.
This roster was compiled from (or abstracted from) Volume I (Artillery) of
NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS 1861-1865 A ROSTER, edited by Louis H.
Manarin. Only soldiers whose residences were reported to be Duplin County
are included on this first roster, along with what little is known about their
service. However, the residences of about 20% of the soldiers in this battalion
were not provided, and it seems only logical to conclude that at least some of
them were from Duplin County too. Therefore, this roster should be considered
a partial roster of Duplin Countians who served in this battalion, not a complete
roster.

OFFICERS, NCO’S AND MUSICIANS

Taylor, Jacob W.; 1st Lt.;Captured Bentonville 3/19/65; Confined Pt. Lookout, Md.
Bourden, Benjamin C.; 2nd Lt. ***
Carr, William D.; 1st Sergeant
Southerland, Jerimiah; Corporal
Taylor, Felix W.; Corporal Paroled May 9, 1865
Taylor, John F.; Corporal * Discharged April 1, 1865 for disability
Newberry, Henry Emmons; Drummer Discharged Nov 1, 1862 for substitute

PRIVATES

Best, Wm. H. Paroled at Goldsboro May 24, 1865
Bishop, Brantley B.
Bishop, Riley M. Wounded at Bentonville. Paroled April 13, 1865
Blanton, Blaney*
Brice, John J.
Brown, Bryant*
Butler, John T.
Carr, Wm. D.
Carr, Wm. J.
Carroll, Benajah V. Paroled at Greensboro May 1, 1865
Carroll, Owen Judson**Survived war; died 1901. See Obituaries, this website.
Casteen, Wm. W.
Deal, Linton W.
Dempsey, George F. Transferred to Company B from 59th N.C. Regt; 7/23/63
Derr, John C.
Dixon, Benjamin*
Drew, John M. Discharged for disability May 29, 1862
Edwards, Jacob J. Discharged 2/2/1863 when provided a substitute, Linton W. Deal
Ezell, Benjamin L.
Fussell, Benjamin
Fussell, John Admitted to hospital in Greensboro, 3/11/1865
Gillespie, John W.*
Gore, Marshall H.
Heath, Joseph R. Died 2/10/1863 of disease
Henderson, Jerimiah M.
Herring, John D.
Holland, John W.*
Hollingsworth, Jacob*
Howard, Lorenzo*
Hunter, Marshall Died 9/17/1863 of disease
Hunter, Nicholas N. Admitted to hospital, Raleigh 3/1/65; returned to duty 4/17/65
Judge, James H.
Judge, Stephen M.
Kelley, James Taylor Died 10/11/1862 of disease
Kennedy, James D.*
Kennedy, Jesse Thomas
Kennedy, Levi T.*** Wounded; captured 2/18/65; in hospital at Wilmington 3/5/65;
Knowles, James *** Discharged 11/26/1863 for disability
Lanier, Bryant ** Discharged 5/31/1862 for disability
Linton, John W.
Matthews, Benjamin W. *** Paroled Goldsboro, May 29, 1865. Died Duplin 2/15/15
Matthews, James T. Discharged 6/23/1863 for disability
Merritt, Benjamin J. Discharged 12/26/1863 for disability
Merritt, Kenan ** Enlisted at age 52 on 3/10/1863
Moore, Levi *** Admitted to hospital at Wilmington 1/23/1865; returned 1/27/1865;
Murray, James C. Discharged May 16-17 1863 for disability
Murray, Wm. H. *** (UDC lists name as William Harvey Murray)
Newell, George A. Detailed in Commissary Dept. Kenansville, N.C. on 8/10/1864
Newson, Benjamin J.
Parker, Council C.
Peterson, Lewis ***Survived War; Head of household Duplin Census of 1880
Pickett, James H. Admitted to hospital at Wilmington, 2/6/1865.
Powell, Randall
Powell, Wm.
Quinn, John T,
Reasons, Joseph T.*** Furloughed for 60 days 2/20/1865; Gunshot wound.
Register, David
Register, Dixon S.; ***
Rogers, James M. (***?) UDC lists James M. Rodgers Co, F; 9th Infantry. This man?
Rogers, Timothy H.*
Strickland, Archibald Died at Lighthouse Battery 8/25/1862 of disease
Strickland, Richard James; ***
Taylor, John F. Mustered as Corporal; reduced, discharged 1/1/1863 for disability
Taylor, Lewis Wounded 3/8/1865; hospitalized 3/11; paroled High Point, NC 5/1/1865
Taylor, Major J. Admitted to hospital, Wilmington 1/23/1865; returned 1/29/1865
Thigpen, Job
Waters, John D.; ***
West, John Wright*
West, Joshua James; ***
West, Joshua; *** (UDC lists name as Joshua A. West)
Williams, David S. *** (UDC lists name as David Stephen Williams)
Williams, George W. Discharged 1/1/1863 for disability
Wilson, Amzi R.
Wilson, Francis M. Wounded Bentonville, 3/19/1865
Wilson, John Wright*
Woodward, David J.*

* Denotes Duplin County men who transferred from Company B, 1ST N.C.
Heavy Artillery Battalion to another company in the same Battalion.

**Denotes Duplin County men who transferred from Company B, 1st N.C.
Heavy Artillery Battalion to a completely different Battalion or Regiment.

*** Denotes battalion members who are listed as ancestors of UDC members
in the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy
publication entitled North Carolina Historical Roster 1897-1997, published
by The Chapel Hill Press:
ISBN: 1-880849-11-9

DUPLIN COUNTIANS WHO SERVED IN THE 1ST NORTH CAROLINA
HEAVY ARTILLERY BATTALION (aka the Ninth Battalion) IN
COMPANIES OTHER THAN COMPANY B.

Anderson, Ivy, Pvt. Company A
Barden, Wm. E. Pvt. Company A – Wounded; in hospital at Wilmington 2/19/1865
Blanton, Barney, Pvt. Transferred to Company D from Company B
Brice, John J., Pvt. Transferred to Company D from Company B
Broderick, John, Pvt. Company A
Brown, Bryant, Pvt. Transferred to Company D from Company B; Captured Ft.
Fisher 1/15/1865; Confined at Elmira, N.Y.; died 4/14/1865; Buried Woodlawn
National Cemetery, Elmira, N.Y.
Brown, Jesse; Musician, Company D; Captured at Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865;
Confined Elmira, N.Y.; Exchanged 3/2/1865
Carr, William J. Pvt.; Transferred to Company D from Company B
Carroll, Owen Judson, Pvt. Transferred from Company B to 2nd Regt NC Artillery;
then later transferred back to the 1st NC Heavy Artillery Battalion where he was
re-assigned to Company D
Derr, John C. Pvt.; Transferred to Company D from Company B on 1/13/1864
Dixon, Benjamin Pvt.; Transferred to Company D from Company B on 1/13/1864
Gillespie, John W. Transferred to Company D from Company B; Captured at
Bentonville 3/19/1865; Confined at Point Lookout, Md.
Hodges, Wm. T., Pvt. Company A***; Admitted to hospital,Greensboro, March 1865;
Holland John W., Pvt.; Transferred to Company D from Company B
Hollingsworth, Jacob, Pvt.; Transferred to Company D from Company B; Died April
8, 1864 from disease
Howard, Lorenzo, Pvt.; Transferred to Company D from Company C; Captured at
Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865; Confined at Point Lookout, Md.
Howard, William, Pvt. Company D; Captured at Ft. Fisher; Confined at Elmira, N.Y.;
Died 5/1/1865; Buried Woodlawn National Cemetery, Elmira, N.Y.
Kennedy, James D., Pvt. Transferred to Company D from Company B; Wounded
and captured at Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865; Confined at Pt. Lookout, Md.
.Miller, Andrew Pvt. Company D – Captured at Ft. Fisher 1/16/1865; Confined at
Pt. Lookout, Md.
Murray, David, Pvt. Company A
Nicholson, Joseph S., Pvt. Company C
Quinn, John T.; Transferred to Company D from Company B; Captured at Ft. Fisher
1/15/1865; Confined Elmira, N.Y.; Exchanged 3/2/1865; Admitted to hospital in
Richmond, Va. 3/8/1865 with debility. Furloughed for 30 days on 3/9/1865
Rodgers, Timothy H., Pvt.; Transferred to Company D from Company B
Sanderson, Ivey, Pvt. Company A
Streets, William E. Pvt, Company D; Killed in Action at Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865
West, John Wright, Pvt. Served in both Company B and Company D at different times;
Captured at Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865; Confined at Pt. Lookout, Md.
West, Daniel James Pvt. Company D; Wounded and captured at Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865
Wilson, John Wright, Pvt. Transferred to Company D from Company B
Woodward, David J., Pvt. Transferred to Company D from Company B

In addition to the above, Pvt. William J. Sandlin of Duplin County served in one of the
four companies of the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion after transferring into the
Battalion from the 2nd Regiment of N.C. Artillery, but the company to which he was
assigned has not been identified in this work. Also, a Pvt. James M. Mashbourne
reputedly served in the “2nd Company” of the “1st Regt. N.C. Artillery”. Whether this
designation was intended to mean the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion, or whether
it was intended to denote some completely different regiment is not clear.

DUPLIN COUNTY MEN WHO SERVED IN THE 1ST NORTH CAROLINA
HEAVY ARTILLERY BATTALION (aka the Ninth Battalion) BEFORE
TRANSFERRING TO OTHER BATTALIONS OR REGIMENTS

Carroll, Owen Judson, Pvt.: Transferred from Company B of this Battalion to the 2nd
Regt. of N.C. Artillery; later transferred back to Company D, 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery
Battalion.
Hodges, Wm. T., Pvt.: Transferred from Company B of the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery
Battalion to a unit of Local Defense Troops.
Lanier, Bryant, Pvt.; Transferred from Company B of the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery
Battalion to the 51st North Carolina Regiment.
Merritt, Kenan, Pvt.; Transferred from Company B of the 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery
Battalion to the 51st North Carolina Regiment.
Taylor, John F., Corporal; Transferred from Company B of the 1st N.C. Heavy
Artillery Battalion to the 51st North Carolina Regiment

PART IV

OFFICER CASUALTIES
(Regardless of County of Residence)

Volume I (Artillery) of the multi-volume compendium North Carolina Troops 1861-1865,
A Roster, records the following casualties among the officers who served in the 1st
North Carolina Heavy Artillery Battalion (aka the Ninth Battalion).

Company A Capt., Rankin, Robert George; killed in action at Bentonville 3/19/1865
Company A 2nd Lt. Robeson, David G.; captured at Piney Grove 3/19/1865
Company B Capt. Taylor, John William***; mortally wounded; Bentonville 3/19/1865
Company B 1st Lt. Ellis, Zacheus ***; killed in action at Bentonville 3/19/1865;
Company B 1st. Lt. Taylor, Jacob W.; captured Bentonville 3/19/65
Company C Capt. Brown, William Henry ***; wounded at Bentonville 3/19/1865
Company C 1st Lt. Gilchrist, John A.; wounded at Bentonville 3/19/1865
Company D Capt. McCormic, James L.; killed in action at Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865
Company D 1st Lt. Evans, Henry C.; captured at Ft. Fisher 1/15/1865
Company D 1st Lt. Rankin, John J.; wounded/captured at Town Creek 2/20/1865
Company D 2nd Lt. Argo, Thomas M.; captured at Ft. Fisher; 1/15/1865

In addition to these eleven 1st N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion officer casualties, all
three of the 36th N.C. Regiment (2nd Artillery) officers assigned to this battalion
before the Bentonville battle were wounded there. According to Col. William Lamb’s
historical sketch, these additional officer casualties were:

Lt. Col. Taylor, John D. ***; 36th N.C. Regiment (2nd Artillery); wounded (lost his
left arm) at Bentonville 3/19/1865; (UDC lists as John D. Taylor; Co. K 36th Regt.)
Capt. William Brooks; Company K, 36th N.C. Regiment (2nd Artillery), wounded;
(lost his right arm) at Bentonville 3/19/1865;
Col. Samuel B. Hunter ***Company F, 36th N.C. Regiment (2nd Artillery): wounded,
but not seriously, at Bentonville 3/19/1865; (UDC lists as Co. F Regt. 2nd Artillery)

Of the officer casualties shown above, only 1st Lt. Jacob W. Taylor of Company B,
1st. N.C. Heavy Artillery Battalion is known to have been from Duplin County.
However, Lt. Benjamin C. Bourden was an officer from Duplin County who served
in Company B of the 1st N.C Heavy Artillery Battalion. Strangely though, there
is no mention of him among the known officer casualties at Bentonville (or
elsewhere) recorded in North Carolina Troops 1861-1865 A Roster. This is
quite puzzling because Sgt. T.A. McNeil was unequivocal in his assertion in
NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENTS that every officer of the battalion who went
into the Bentonville battle, but one, was either killed or wounded. Sgt. McNeil
identified the surviving unscathed officer as Lt. Allen (2nd. Lt. Richard P.
Allen***) of Company C. (UDC lists him as Richard C. Allen; Co. H; Regt
3d N.C. There is no doubt however that Lt. Bourdens service was entirely
honorable because the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the
Confederacy approved one of their members based upon his service.

PART V

IDENTIFYING SURVIVORS AND CASUALTIES

There were at least 14 officer casualties in this battalion during the war, and
very possibly fifteen since the fate of Lt. Benjamin C. Bourden of Duplin County
is uncertain at present. At least ten and possibly eleven (if Lt. Bourden was a
casualty) of these officer casualties occurred at Bentonville. If Col. Lamb’s and
Sgt. McNeil’s dovetailing reports of total casualties at Bentonville are to be
believed (and considering the officer casualties there is little reason not to
believe them) there must have been 142 enlisted men in this battalion who
were killed, wounded and/or captured at Bentonville in addition to the 10 officer
casualties (or 141 enlisted casualties if Lt. Benjamin C. Bourden was among
the total 152 total casualties but was missed in the reporting of officer
casualties.)

Military information that was available from sources other than muster rolls,
etc. was used by Louis H. Manarin to help flesh out some of the enlisted
records in his North Carolina Troops 1861-’65 A Roster. For example, some
enlisted members who were issued paroles after the war have been identified.
Obviously, an after-the-war parolee survived the war.; however, being a survivor
of the war doesn’t necessarily mean that a parolee wasn’t also a casualty at
Bentonville. An after-the-war parolee may have been among the captured, or
among the less seriously injured, aka the“walking wounded”.

There are some civil records available on-line, courtesy of this website, that
may still help a descendant determine a particular soldier’s fate. Census
records from after the war may prove that he survived. A will or estate record
may prove that he didn’t. Any enlisted soldier whose residence was given as
Duplin County but whose name cannot be found listed on any after-the-war
Duplin censuses or other county records, may very well have died in the war.
Gravestone records available on this website may show the date of death of
some of these soldiers. Land records can also in some cases be used to
prove that a soldier survived the war, or conversely, some land transfers and
estate settlements may prove they didn’t.

PART VI

PHOTOGRAPHS

The only photographs known to exist today of uniformed soldiers in the 1st N.C. Heavy
Artillery Battalion are those of Pvt. James Dallas Croom and his cousin, Nathaniel
Richardson Croom, Jr., both of New Hanover County (but from the part of New Hanover
that later became Pender County). Both of these young men served in Company B of the
battalion right alongside the many Duplin Countians in that company who would have
worn the same type uniforms they did. Photographs of the Croom cousins were
published on pages 33 and 34 of The Wilmington Campaign: Last Rays of Departing
Hope by Chris Eugene Fonvielle. These photos show what this battalions uniforms
looked like. The dark shoulder straps visible on Pvt. James Dallas Croom’s shoulders
were surely red, denoting the Confederate Artillery service. The dark fabric crown of
the radically raked forage cap (bummer) worn by Pvt. Nathaniel Richardson Croom,
Jr. was probably red too. While these photos are still available to view on line courtesy
of Google Books they can be found at the following URL:
Fort Anderson: The Battle for Wilmington

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