ORGANIZATION OF RESERVES 
NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS
ORGANIZATION OF RESERVES
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BY WALTER CLARK, LIEUTENANT-COLONEL 70 N. C. T.
When the Southern leaders were contemplating separation, they estimated largely upon the expectation that all the States South of Mason and Dixon's line, the Ohio and the northern boundary of Missouri would go with the South, including Indian Territory and New Mexico. This would have given the new Confederacy nearly one-third of the population of the old Union. In this event there would have doubtless been a peaceable separation and no war. But it proved that in the States of Maryland, Delaware, that part of Virginia since known as West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri, the majority were largely on the northern side and there was no small defection among the whites in East Tennessee and other localities, to say nothing of the colored refugees who swelled the Union army. It is estimated that no less than 350,000 men from the Southern side of the line above indicated served in the Federal armies which also contained, besides the troops from the populous Northern States, a host of foreigners attracted by high bounties and good pay.
The result was that instead of the Confederate armies being one-third of the forces in the field (which would have insured early success if there had been war) the official records show that first and last over 3,000,000 of men served in the Northern armies and 600,000-certainly not more than 650,000- in those of the South. This disproportion of 5 to 1 struck the cold calculating mind of Edwin M. Stanton, who perceived that in an exchange of prisoners, man for man, the South therefore was largely advantaged. With an iron will, and reckless of all considerations of humanity, he stopped the exchange of prisoners. The blow was a staggering one to the Confederacy. It could not recruit its armies from abroad and the loyal population, capable of bearing arms, was already almost en masse in service.
President Davis, contrary to the course pursued by Governor Vance, instead of shipping cotton as a basis of credit and to procure supplies, conceived the fatal idea, and pursued it to the disastrous end, that by withholding our cotton, a "cotton famine" would force the nations of Europe to raise the blockade, and come to our aid. Thus besides the natural weariness of war, the lack of supplies caused the soldiery to be half fed and badly clothed and shod, and more than this, when the cry of want went up from wives and little ones in many an humble home, the cancer of desertion became an open sore.
With ranks 'daily depleted by deaths on the battlefield and in the hospitals, by wounds, by the growing volume of desertions, by the necessity of detailing troops from the front to prevent depredations at home, and the "unreturning brave" who languished in Northern prisons, the necessity to replenish the ranks was overpowering. A resort to the colored population for many reasons was deemed impracticable and when tried in a small way, in the last days of the war, in the spring of 1865, the experiment was not satisfactory.
There was only one other resource, to extend the age of the military conscription, which already embraced all able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45, except those exempt as State officers, physicians, and ministers of the gospel, and perhaps some others. In the presence of a necessity which would admit of no denial, the Confederate Congress on 17 February, 1864, passed a law placing in the "Reserves" those between the ages of 17 and 18 and between 45 and 50. A salvo was added that they were not to serve out of their respective States, but this was, by reason of the same necessity, disregarded. Junior Reserves from this State served in South Carolina and Virginia and our Senior Reserves fought in South Carolina and Georgia, though the bulk of the latter relieved other troops to go to the front by taking their places in preserving internal order, arresting deserters, forwarding conscripts, guarding bridges on the great railway lines (over which passed the supplies and recruits for our armies) and guarding the prisoners at Salisbury.
A brief breathing spell was given in which those who wished might volunteer. Then the General Orders to embody the Reserves were formulated and issued. Those between 17 and 18 years of age were embodied in April and May, 1864. Those between 45 and 50 were, with the exception of two regiments and two battalions, left at home till August and September to make and harvest the crops, and the remainder were organized into regiments in the Fall. The reserves ordered out in April were organized into companies and sent to camps of instruction at Wilmington, Raleigh and Morganton and during May and June nine battalions were organized, as follows-the men electing their company officers and these latter electing the Field Officers:
First Battalion (three companies), Major Charles W. Broadfoot, 25 May, at Raleigh.
Second Battalion (three companies), Major John H. Anderson, 28 May, at Raleigh.
Third Battalion (three companies), Major B. F. Hooks, 31 May, at Goldsboro.
Fourth Battalion (three companies), Major J. M. Reece, at Raleigh, 30 May.
Fifth Battalion (three companies), Major W. F. Beasley, at Goldsboro, 2 June.
Sixth Battalion (five companies), Major Walter Clark, 3 June, at Raleigh.
Seventh Battalion (three companies,) Major W. Foster French, 4 June, at Wilmington.
Eighth Battalion (three companies), Major J. B. Ellington, 10 June, at Morganton.
Ninth Battalion (three companies), Major D. T. Millard, Asheville, 28 June.
The Sixth was the only battalion having more than three companies when organized. On 15 June another company each was added to the First, Fourth and Fifth Battalions and later another company to the Second.
All these were Junior Reserves except the Third Battalion, which were Seniors. This battalion of Seniors went into immediate service as bridge guards and later on were in several battles and became part of the Eighth Regiment of Reserves-or Seventy-eighth North Carolina. Another Battalion was partially organized with three companies at Morganton where over 100 of them were captured 28 June, 1864, in Geo. W. Kirk's raid. The remainder were recruited up by the addition of Juniors from other counties and two new companies were thus created which later at Salisbury were added to Millard's Ninth Battalion. This battalion after seeing services at Wilmington as is narrated in its history herein, was brigaded with the three Junior Reserve Regiments (Seventieth, Seventy-first and Seventy-second North Carolina) at Kinston in January, 1865, and attached to Hoke's Division whose fortunes that brigade thenceforward shared till Johnston's surrender. As to the other eight battalions, the First (Broadfoot) and Sixth (Clark) Battalions with two other companies added, were organized into the First Regiment of Reserves (Seventieth North Carolina) at Weldon 4 July, 1864. The Second (Anderson) and Fifth (Beasley) were organized into a larger battalion at Weldon 16 July, and this on 7 December, 1864, by the addition of two companies, was raised to a regiment, the Second Reserves or Seventy-first North Carolina. The Fourth (Reece), Seventh (French), and Eighth (Ellington) Battalions were organized into the Third Regiment of Reserves or Seventy-second North Carolina, at Wilmington, 3 January, 1865. Major Reece, with six other officers and between one hundred and two hundred men of these three battalions, which were then under his command, were captured near Fort Fisher the night of 25 December, 1864, under circumstances not creditable to him. His brave but inexperienced boys, many of them, stoutly refused to be surrendered and saved themselves. The report made by one of these, the gallant young Adjutant, F. M. Hamlin, will be found in Serial Volume 87, Official Records Union and Confederate Armies, p. 1025.
The Junior Reserve Brigade, composed of the above three regiments and Millard's Battalion, was commanded at first by Colonel F. S. Armistead, of the Seventieth. At the battle of South West Creek below Kinston 8-9 March, 1865, it was under General L. S. Baker, and 15 March Colonel J. H. Nethercutt, of the Sixty-sixth North Carolina, was assigned to it just before the battle of Bentonville and commanded the brigade till the surrender under Johnston. At first, Adjutant A. T. London and Lieutenant E. S. Foster of the Seventieth acted as Assistant. Adjutant General and Ordnance Officer, respectively, of this Brigade but when Colonel Nethercutt took command 15 March he assigned Lieutenant Wm. Calder, as Assistant Adjutant General and Lieutenant E. S. Martin as Ordnance Officer, both of the First Heavy Artillery Battalion.
The field officers of the Junior Reserves without exception had seen previous service in the army. The writer was the only field officer who was himself a Junior Reserve (under 18) and only one other (Beasley) was under 21 years of age, which fact it appears from General Holmes' letter book he reported to the authorities at Richmond. The company officers were, as a rule, 17 years of age when elected, but those who passed the Examining Board were retained after they reached that age and there was a good sprinkling of company officers of maturer age and army experience who having resigned, or been discharged, from the army by reason of wounds or physical disability re-entered service with the Juniors. The Examining Board was composed of Majors C. W. Broadfoot, J. H. Anderson and Walter Clark. As may be imagined at first many of the young company officers were found by this board deficient in education or knowledge of tactics and dropped. These as fast as they became 18 years of age were sent, together with all non-commissioned officers and privates who arrived at that age, to the regiments in Virginia. The company officers who passed the required examination were retained with their companies. The vacancies caused by those failing to pass were filled visually by electing old soldiers "on light duty" by reason of wounds, or other disability or by the election of young men of better education, resulting in a very decided improvement in the personnel of the company officers. Towards the last, amid the pressure and hurry of events, privates and noncommissioned officers arriving at 18 years of age were not always sent off to the older regiments.
So much for the three regiments and the battalions of the Juniors. Of the Seniors, there were five regiments and two battalions. The words "Junior" and '"Senior" were not officially used and the first three were designated simply "First. Second and Third Regiments of Reserves" for Seventieth, Seventy-first and Seventy-second North Carolina). The latter were designated as the "Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Regiments of Reserves" (or Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, Seventy-sixth, Seventy-seventh, and Seventy-eighth North Carolina, for a cavalry regiment has some how gotten switched into the enumeration in Moore's Roster as the Seventy-fifth). There were also three battalions, besides that of Major Hooks', above mentioned, which was incorporated into the Eighth Reserves (Seventy-eighth North Carolina). These were a battalion of Seniors organized at Asheville and commanded by Major L. P. Erwin, who did good service in that section, another from Catawba and adjacent counties, commanded by Major A. A. Hill, and the Third Battalion organized at Raleigh, which served at Fort Fisher and was commanded by Major J. T. Littlejohn. A large part of the officers of these five regiments and three battalions of Senior's had doubtless seen service in the army and probably many of the privates had also.
The Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Reserves were formed into the Second Brigade and commanded by Colonel John F. Hoke, with headquarters at Salisbury. Of this Brigade Major M. P. Beardon was Quartermaster and Captain R. P. Waring Adjutant General. The Seventh, together with the companies late organized into the Eighth Reserves in December, 1864, were in a brigade at Wilmington commanded by Colonel Jno. K. Connally, of the Fifty-fifth North Carolina. 87 Official Records Union and Confederate Armies, p. 1021. From December, 1864, to March, 1865, the Seventh Reserves served in Georgia, South Carolina and this State, brigaded with the Tenth North Carolina Battalion (Young) and part of the time with the Fiftieth North Carolina, the brigade being commanded by Colonel Wash. M. Hardy, of the Sixtieth North Carolina.
The services of the above regiments and four battalions of Reserves are narrated, as well as they can now be recalled, in the following sketches of their respective regiments and battalions, but this history of their organization is here given as the reference thereto in Major Gordon's admirable article on the organization of troops in Vol. 1 (p. 16) of this work was very brief from his lack of information in this particular matter. Major H. R, Hooper was Quarter Master of all the Reserves of North Carolina and Dr. Thomas Hill, Surgeon in Chief. Lieutenant-General T. II. Holmes commanded the Reserves with Captain John W. Hinsdale Assistant-Adjutant General till his promotion to Colonel of the Seventy-second North Carolina (Third Juniors) when he was succeeded by Major Chas. S. Stringfellow as Assistant-Adjutant-General.
The rolls kept in Raleigh of our regiments were duplicates and naturally not kept up with the care of those used as pay rolls, which were sent to Richmond, hence much of the complaint of the defects in Moore's Roster, which is nowhere more incomplete than in regard to the Reserves. The State can not now get a complete and correct roster of her troops unless an act of Congress is passed to have a complete transcript made from the original Confederate pay rolls which were surrendered at Greensboro, where they had been carried from Richmond, 100 (Serial Vol.) Off. Rec. Union and Con-fed. Armies, 842, and which are now on file at Washington, and this ought to be done with a careful collation of the rolls which were sent in from time to time, of each company and regiment.
RALEIGH, N. C,
4 July, 1901.
[from North Carolina Regiments, 1901, by Walter Clark, Vol. 4, pg. 1-7
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