NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS
SEVENTY-THIRD REGIMENT

(FOURTH JUNIOR RESERVES. )

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BY THE EDITOR

The Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Regiments of Reserves (Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, Seventy-sixth, Seventy-seventh and Seventy-eighth Carolina) being composed of men at that time between 15 and 50 years of age, those few still living are over 81 of age. Hence it has been impossible to get their histories written by participants as has been rigidly required of commands. We have to rely for our scanty data, upon order books and letter books of General T. H. Holmes, who was in charge of the organization of the Reserves in the late war, which books have been fortunately preserved by Col. John W. Hinsdale, his Adjutant-General, and upon such occurrences as are found in the "Official Records of the Union and Confederate armies." As to the Seventy-seventh North. Carolina (Seventh Reserves) alone we have a partial sketch, written by John G. Albright, First Lieutenant of Company A. It was published in "Our Living and Dead" October, 1874, pp. 134-137, and which is used as the basis of the story of that regiment. We also have in Moore's Roster, Vol. 5, pp. 333-344, the muster rolls of six companies purporting to belong to the Seventy-third regiment, but the Field officers and all the companies except Company A (which belong to the Seventy-seventh) seem to have belonged to the Seventy-eighth (Eighth Reserves). At pp. 345-358 are the muster rolls of seven of the companies of what purports to be the Seventy-fourth and its field officers, but in fact they seem to have belonged to the Seventy-seventh (Seventh Reserves). To those should be added Company A, which is error as given on pp. 333-335 as belonging to the Seventy-third.

The muster rolls of all the regiments of Junior and Senior Reserves were captured, with their Confederate muster rolls, after the fall of Richmond, and are now in the Bureau of Pensions and Records at Washington, but to an application by the writer, backed by an official request of Governor Aycock, General F. C. Ainsworth, in charge of the bureau, gave only the list of the field officers of the eight regiments of reserves (which we already had in General Holmes' Order Book), and stated that owing to the precarious condition of the rolls written on Confederate-made paper, he could not give a list of the company officers or men without an act of Congress. We know by incidental mention in General Holmes' letter book that Captains Turner and Surratt commanded two of the companies.

The Fourth Regiment of Reserves (Seventy-third North Carolina) were as already stated, Senior Reserves, i. e., men between the ages of 45 and 50. The names of the company officers can only be had from the rolls at Washington, which are now not accessible. The regiment was organized in July, 1864, at Salisbury, by the election of:

JOHN F. HOKE, Colonel.
LEROY W. STOWE, Lieutenant-Colonel.
JNO. N. PRIOR, Major.

All three of these had seen previous service. Colonel Jno. F. Hoke in the beginning of the war was Adjutant-General of North. Carolina, and later for a time. Colonel of the Twenty-third Regiment; Lieutenant-Colonel Stowe and Major Prior had both served in Virginia, and been wounded, in consequence of which the former (who was Captain in the Sixteenth North Carolina) had resigned, and the latter assigned to light duty was Lieutenant and Enrolling Officer when elected Major of this regiment. R. P. Waring, of Mecklenburg, who had served as Captain Company B, Forty-third North Carolina, was appointed Adjutant, and J. M. Williams Surgeon, and Daniel W. Perry Assistant Surgeon. John F. Hill was captain of one of the companies. A portion of the regiment was assigned to the important duty of guarding the bridges on the lines of railways upon which depended the sustenance and recruiting of our armies and the remaining companies were sent to Salisbury to guard the thousands of prisoners there confined, thus ring other troops for the field.

The regiment was ordered to report 21 August for service at Wilmington, but was stopped at Greeensboro and soon after it was sent to Salisbury where it formed the duties above mentioned till 4 March, 1865, not being longer needed to guard prisoners, it was placed in the Eighth Congressional District to arrest deserters with Regimental headquarters at Salisbury.

A brigade was formed in November, 1864, of the Fourth, Fifth and. Sixth Regiments of Reserves (Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth and Seventy-sixth North Carolina) all of which were on the same service, guarding prisoners at Salisbury, bridges on railroads and arrest deserters. This brigade was placed under command Colonel Jno. F. Hoke with headquarters at Salisbury. The services performed were useful and indispensable and saved other troops for service in the field. On some occasions there were fights with deserters who were armed and who banded together made themselves a terror to certain neighborhoods. The only time these three regiments seemed to come in contact with the enemy was when Stoneman made a raid to Salisbury to release the prisoners at that point.

Upon Johnston's surrender, few of the regiment were paroled, but the majority doubtless went home without ceremony.

[from North Carolina Regiments, by Walter Clark, Vol. 4, pg. 65-67

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