At the outbreak of the Civil War, the men of the 30th North Carolina rushed to join the regiment, proclaiming, “we will whip the Yankees, or give them a right to a small part of our soil—say 2 feet by 6 feet.” Once the Tar Heels experienced combat, their attitudes changed. One rifleman recorded: “We came to a Yankee field hospital … we moved piles of arms, feet, hands.” By 1865, the unit’s survivors reflected on their experiences, wondering “when and if I return home—will I be able to fit in?”
Drawing on letters, journals, memoirs and personnel records, this history follows the civilian-soldiers from their mustering-in to the war’s final moments at Appomattox. The 30th North Carolina had the distinction of firing at Abraham Lincoln on July 12, 1864, as the president stood upon the ramparts of Ft. Stevens outside Washington D.C., and firing the last regimental volley before the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.

William Thomas Venner has researched and written widely about the American Civil War. His articles have appeared in Civil War Times Illustrated, Journal of Field Archaeology, and America’s Civil War. A retired teacher of history and archaeology in schools and at the college level, he lives in Huntersville, North Carolina.

William Thomas Venner
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 448
Bibliographic Info: 44 photos, 26 maps, appendices, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-6240-4
eISBN: 978-1-4766-2790-8
Imprint: McFarland

Table of Contents

Preface 1
1. The 30th North Carolina Infantry Is Formed 3
2. Lost Innocence at Gaines’ Mill 18
3. The Realities of War—Malvern Hill 30
4. Summer 1862—The Road to Sharpsburg 41
5. The Sunken Road at Sharpsburg 51
6. Winter 1862–1863: Rebuilding the Regiment 66
7. Chancellorsville—Fighting for Stonewall Jackson 83
8. The Road to Gettysburg 98
9. Gettysburg 108
10. Disaster at Kelly’s Ford 125
11. Winter 1863–1864 139
12. Slaughter at Spotsylvania 151
13. The Killing Continues—Harris Farm to Cold Harbor 171
14. Campaigning with the Army of the Valley District 187
15. September 1864—Disaster in the Shenandoah Valley 207
16. Cedar Creek: Jubal Early Is Flanked Again 222
17. Winter Near Petersburg, 1864–1865 234
18. The End at Appomattox 246
Appendix 1. 30th North Carolina Infantry Casualties 263
Appendix 2. 30th North Carolina Infantry Roster 304
Chapter Notes 391
Bibliography 419
Index 423