On May 8, 1861, Matt Ransom resigned from the North Carolina House of Commons and accepted a commission as a Confederate officer. Like many North Carolinians, Ransom had been reluctant to see his state leave the Union; though he owned slaves at the onset of the war, he strongly believed that slavery was a doomed institution. However, the action at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, had made his course of action all but inevitable. Despite the fact he was without military experience or training, Ransom saw it as his duty to join the Confederate forces. He left behind a young family and courageously fought Union forces until the end of the war; his brigade was present at Appomattox for Robert E. Lee’s surrender. He was twice wounded in battle and was widely recognized as an effective and highly competent leader by enlisted men and officers alike. After the war, he returned to his beloved North Carolina, and following considerable hardship, rebuilt his plantation.

The late Clayton Charles Marlow lived in Jackson, North Carolina.

Clayton Charles Marlow

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 198
Bibliographic Info: maps, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2006 [1996]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2735-2
eISBN: n/a
Imprint: McFarland

Preface      1

1. You Can Get No Troops from North Carolina      3
2. Unionists Make a Last Stand      9
3. The Making of a Southern Soldier      14
4. This Is War      20
5. Times for Steady Nerves      34
6. Increasing Prospects for a Long War      52
7. Moments of Hope and Moments of Despair      69
8. When Will This All End?      84
9. Back at Verona      101
10. In Lieu of Victories, Glory      115
11. Going Home      127
12. After the War      143

Notes      157
Bibliography      179
Index      183

• “enlightens us on the war outside of Virginia…should be read and enjoyed”—Civil War News
• “smooth and easy reading”—Civil War Regiments
• “[the author’s] depiction of Ransom’s increasingly desperate [fight] against increasingly greater odds…is most effective”—Crossfire