The 25th North Carolina Troops in the Civil War

This historical account covers the 25th Regiment North Carolina Infantry Troops during the Civil War. Farmers and farmers’ sons left their mountain homesteads to enlist with the regiment at Asheville in July and August 1861 and to defend their homeland from a Yankee invasion. The book chronicles the unit’s defensive activities in the Carolina coastal regions and the battlefield actions at Seven Days, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Plymouth, Richmond and Petersburg. In addition, casualty and desertion statistics are included, along with a complete regimental roster and 118 photos, illustrations, and maps.

Engineering consultant Carroll C. Jones is a North Carolina native and Civil War enthusiast. He lives in Morristown, Tennessee.

Carroll C. Jones

Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 324
Bibliographic Info: 118 photos, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2014 [2009]
pISBN: 978-0-7864-9555-9
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1

1. FLAMES OF SECESSION      5
2. FARMERS JOIN THE REBELLION      11
3. THE FABRIC OF THE 25TH REGIMENT N.C.      17
The Companies of the 25th Regiment N.C.      18
4. CAROLINA COASTAL DEFENSE      33
Defensive Duty Near Port Royal Sound      33
Too Late to New Bern      43
5. SEVEN DAYS BATTLES AROUND RICHMOND      49
Engagement at King’s School House      52
Battle of Malvern Hill      55
6. MARYLAND CAMPAIGN      60
Moving North      60
Capture of Harpers Ferry      67
Battle of Antietam      70
7. HEIGHTS OF FREDERICKSBURG      78
8. BACK TO NORTH CAROLINA      92
Eastern Carolina Coastal Defense.      92
Chancellorsville      98
Trouble in the Mountains      104
Capture of Plymouth      106
9. RICHMOND AND PETERSBURG FRONT      114
Battle of Drewry’s Bluff      114
Beauregard’s Stopgap Defense of Petersburg      116
10. SIEGE OF PETERSBURG      121
Battle of the Crater      121
Life in the Trenches      127
Battle of the Weldon Railroad      131
Long Winter of 1864–1865      133
11. WAR ON THE HOME FRONT      141
Conscription      141
Draft Evaders, Deserters and Tories      145
Bushwhackers All      148
12. A JOURNEY ENDED      153
Fort Stedman      153
Battle of Five Forks      158
Sacred Colors      161
13. CONCLUSION      167
14. CASUALTIES OF WAR      169
Casualty Estimates: Carolina Coastal Defense      171
Casualty Estimates: The Seven Days Battles      172
Casualty Estimates: Maryland Campaign      174
Casualty Estimates: Battle of Fredericksburg      177
Casualty Estimates: Eastern North Carolina Defense      178
Casualty Estimates: Richmond and Petersburg Defense      179
Summary of Casualties      180
Desertion in the Ranks      181
15. THE COLONEL AND HIS LIEUTENANT      183
Henry Middleton Rutledge: “The Boy Colonel”      183
William Harrison Hargrove: “A Useful Citizen”      197
ROSTER OF TROOPS      213
Appendix A: Command Structure      285
Appendix B: Parolees at Appomattox      287
Appendix C: Deployment of 25th N.C. Troops During the Civil War      289
Chapter Notes      295
Bibliography      301
Index      303

• Winner, Willie Parker Peace Award—North Carolina Society of Historians
• “a well-written, beautifully illustrated history of one of the lesser-known North Carolina units”—Civil War News
• “compelling insight”—NC Historical Review
• “well-researched, marked by solid writing…a commendable history…recommended”—Blue & Gray Magazine
• “this volume should be deemed the consummate source of information regarding the 25th NC Regiment”—Willie Parker Peace History Book Award
• “In my personal opinion, Jones is now the world’s leading expert on the 25th North Carolina Infantry Regiment…extremely well written and researched. As regimental histories go, and I’ve read many of them, this is as good as it gets”—Terrell Garren, renowned western North Carolina Civil War historian and the author of The Secret of War and Mountain Myth