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Contributed by: Carroll Pearsall Francis Marion Wilson, Private, CSA Francis Marion Wilson enlisted as a Private at Wilmington, NC on 19 Apr 1862. He was enlisted by J. W. Taylor, Lieutenant. His age was 20 and Duplin was listed as home. The unit was known as Captain Charles D. Ellis’ Company (River Guards), NC Heavy Artillery. On 29 Dec 1862, his CSA record reflects that he was reported on the rolls on the General Military Hospital No. 4, Wilmington, NC, with pneumonia. He was returned to duty at Moore’s Creek, NC on 7 Jan 1863. Another CSA record entry reflects that on 14 Feb 1863, Private Wilson was on the rolls of the General Military Hospital No. 4, Wilmington, NC, with a fever. He was returned to duty on 10 Mar 1863 at Magnolia. Captain Ellis’ unit subsequently became the 1st Battalion, NC Heavy Artillery on 25 Mar 1863 and Private Wilson was in Company B. Private Wilson signed a receipt for clothing on 30 Jun 1864. Private Wilson was wounded at Bentonville on 19 Mar 1865. The company served at various locations in defense of Wilmington and the Cape Fear River. Most of the members escaped the fall of Fort Fisher in January – March 1865 and were assigned to Brigadier General Johnson Hagood’s Brigade, Major General Robert Hoke’s Division and served with that command through the Battle of Bentonville, March 19-23, 1865. During March - April 1865, the battalion moved briefly to Tarboro and Weldon and then to Elizabethtown in Bladen County. There was no surrender, the battalion disbanded and the men went home. Francis Marion Wilson was the son of James Dickson Wilson and Elizabeth Hollingsworth. He was born 5 Jan 1842 in Duplin County. He died 12 Dec 1916 and is buried in the Magnolia Cemetery, Magnolia, NC. Sources: Francis M. Wilson, CSA Record, National Archives. 2. http://statetroopsandvolunteers.com/firstarbn.html, 1st Battalion N. C. Heavy Artillery, CSA. North Carolina Troops, 1861 – 1865, Vol. 1, page 21 Submitted by: Stephen Carroll Pearsall |