1. The Civil War and NC
An Unwilling Hercules

2. The Union Fails
CSA formed in early 1861 with South Carolina leading the way.
NC was hesitant to join the Confederacy
Large Unionist movement (leaders who wanted to stay in the Union)
Secessionists (leaders who wanted to leave the Union)

3. Questions
A. What was the name for those who wanted to join the Confederacy?
B. What was the name for those who wanted to remain in the Union?

4. NC’s Conditional Support
Unionists “support” BUT…
Did not want any military action taken against southern states
Confederates fired upon Fort Sumter in Charleston on April 12, President Lincoln called for volunteers to “put down the rebellion” the Unionists were finished
May 20, 1861 delegates in NC voted unanimously to secede from the Union

5. Questions
A. Unionists in North Carolina did not want __________ to be taken against the Confederate States?
B. What did North Carolina decided to do when President Lincoln ordered Federal troops to fire on Fort Sumter?

6. NC’s war effort Called an “unwilling Hercules” why? Last to secede
Provided more troops than % of population
1/6 of soldiers but 1/9 of population
More troops than any other southern state
125K troops, suffered ¼ of ALL casualties (20K from battle wounds and 20K from infection)
More men drafted from NC than any other state
Only Confederate state with an active peace movement

7. Questions A. What was NC called regarding the Civil War effort?
True/False
B. There were more troops from NC than any other Confederate State.
C. More men were drafted from NC than any other state
D. North Carolina was the only state in the CSA with an active peace movement.

8. NC in the fight Provided LARGE numbers of soldiers
37 generals from NC BUT only ONE led a whole army.
NC slogan after the Civil War: NC troops were “first at Bethel, farthest at Gettysburg and last at Appomattox.”
Gained the nickname “Tar Heels” because they stayed and fought until the very end.

9. Questions A. What slogan did NC earn during the Civil War?
B. What was a nickname for NC’s troops during the Civil War?

10. North Carolinians at war
Early on much of the War took place in Virginia
Bethel, VA, only Confederate soldier killed was from NC
Gettysburg, Tar Heels fought hard and crossed Union lines sustaining heavy casualties
Appomattox, site of final surrender, ¼ of all Confederates laying down arms were from NC
Helped save General Lee in Maryland
Committed a HUGE mistake, at Chancellorsville, while surrounding Union troops, NC troops accidentally wounded Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson a Confederate General… he later died from his wounds!!!

11. Questions A. Most battles were fought in what CSA state?
B. Who did NC troops accidentally shoot at Chancellorsville?
C. NC troops were farthest at ________.

12. Stonewall Jackson
Where his body is buried

13. Stonewall Jackson
Where his arm is buried

14. Defending NC’s coast Fighting along the Coast
Union planned to attack Richmond through the Albemarle Sound
Union captured Confederate forts on Outer Banks and soon controlled the sounds.
Union maintained naval blockade, where a fleet of ships patrolled the ocean outside all southern ports; the intention was to keep the Confederacy from receiving supplies

15. Questions
A. Surrounding the CSA’s coastline with Union ships was called a _________ _________.
B. What was the purpose?

16. NC’s largest battle Bentonville
Last major fight between the North and South in the Civil War
Largest battle fought in North Carolina
General William T. Sherman pushed towards Goldsboro, which contained a vital RR crossing, remember what lines crossed there?
Pieces of several Confederate Armies gathered north of Fayetteville, around 13K troops
Sherman had about 60K at his disposal
Battle lasted 3 days, March 19, 20, 21

17. Questions
A. The last major battle in the Civil War and the largest battle in NC was the battle at ____________.
B. How many days did the above battle last?

18. Harper House
Home of John and Amy Harper and 7 of their 9 children. (The oldest two were in the Confederate Army)
Union soldier knocked on the door and told them their home had been chosen as the site of a battlefield hospital
They had around an hour to grab what belongings they could and move to the upstairs where they would remain for the next 3 days.

19. Harper House
Circa 1900

20. Harper House
As it appears today

21. Harper Hospital?
Union and Confederate soldiers would be treated at the Harper House
Some soldiers were treated and returned to fight, while others faced amputations and the ongoing threat of disease and infection
Soldiers amputated limbs were tossed outside the windows onto the Harper’s lawn, all the while they lived upstairs!!! EEWWW!!!!!
Like on the next slide so don’t freak out…

22. Feet and legs

23. Questions A. What troops were treated at the Harper House?
B. What was the most common procedure performed at the Harper House?

24. Harper House
Operating table with tools

25. Harper House
Operating room

26. Civil War Amputation
Photo from a popular field medical guide

27. Photos
The amputation kit for a Civil War physician

28. Harper House
Officers room

29. Harper House interior
Barrels used as legs for an “operating table.”

30. Amputees
Soldier with a prosthetic arm

31. Amputees
Soldier with
prosthetic leg

32. Amputees
YOUNG solider

33. Prosthetics
Wooden foot used by a soldier after
the Civil War

34. Prosthetics
Another foot

35. Prosthetic limbs
Leg

36. Civil War Battlefield Hospital
How the front lawn of the Harper House would have looked

37. Photos
Soldiers camp during the War

38. Blockade Running
NC’s coastline, which had hindered it for years, now provided an advantage for the South.
North could not navigate the Cape Fear because of shallow water
Blockade Runners – low-lying steamships that were painted gray to match the ocean, were able to slip in and out of Cape Fear waters.
Went to British ports in the Bahamas, loaded up on supplies then came back to NC. “Ran” through blockades and carried supplies inland where they could be loaded onto the Wilmington Weldon RR, which ran to Virginia, and supplied Confederate troops.
Wilmington & Weldon RR was so important it became known as “the lifeline of the Confederacy.”

39. Questions
A. What was able to navigate the shores of NC and break through Union ships?
B. What were they in search of?
C. Where did they go to get them?

40. Blockade Running cont’d
More than 100 blockade runners
Over ½ were captured or sunk
100 ships made more than 400 trips to the West Indies
Estimated $65 million worth of goods carried by blockade runners
Estimated 50% of all food and supplies to Lee’s army in VA came through Wilmington

41. Questions A. How many blockade runners were there?
B. What was the percentage of supplies blockade runners provided to the Army of Northern Virginia?

42. Zebulon Baird Vance Important dude! Governor of NC
during the Civil War

43. Zebulon B. Vance
Zeb and Jefferson Davis, President of the CSA do NOT get along
Vance puts the needs of NC FIRST, before those of the CSA.
Very compassionate towards troops and their families.

44. Questions A. North Carolina’s governor during the Civil War was?
B. Whose interests were his main concern?

45. Zeb’s thoughts on the War
Put himself “out there”, wrote letters to Jefferson Davis arguing certain points of contention:
A. Conscription – the draft, began in 1862, handled by CSA government, not states
B. Exemptions – Own 20 or more slaves, did not have to fight. Vance wrote to Davis, “this made the Civil War a rich mans war and a poor man’s fight.”

46. Questions
A. How did Zeb communicate with the CSA President, Jefferson Davis?
B. What is conscription?
C. Vance’s famous quote regarding exemptions: they made it “a ___ man’s war and a ____ man’s fight.”

47. More of Zeb’s thoughts C. Taxes – CSA created layers of taxes
Sales tax – taxing goods
Occupation tax – taxing gross sales
Income tax – personal tax on level of income
Tax in kind – tax on annual farm production
( ex. Grew 50 bushels of potatoes or more, 10% tax)
Vance resists, feels taxation should be a state issue

48. Questions
A. Identify two types of taxes that began during the Civil War?
B. Who did Vance want to control the issue of taxation?

49. More of Vance’s issues
D. Appointments – military and political leaders
1. 7 full generals in the Confederate Army, NONE from NC (and we supplied most of the troops)
2. Cabinet of the CSA – no one from NC appointed until the end of the War and then only served a short amount of time

50. Questions A. How many generals in the Confederate Army were from NC?
B. What problem did Governor Vance have with the President Davis’ cabinet?

51. And more issues
E. Supplying troops – CSA said, send clothes to us, we will supply troops
1. NC had 46 textile mills, more than any other Confederate State
2. Vance said, no, we will supply ourselves and send what we have left to you; Davis agreed

52. Questions A. What could NC supply to CSA troops?
B. Vance and Davis agreed that these troops would be supplied first.

53. The Biggest Issue F. Suspension of the Writ of Habeas Corpus
Do not have to produce documents telling why someone is being charged with a crime
1. Makes criminal process faster
2. Denies a FUNDAMENTAL CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT. CSA and USA would both suspend this right.

54. Questions
A. Being required to produce documents telling someone why they are being charged with a crime is called __________________.
B. Who would suspend this right?

55. The last issue, for you at least
G. Desertion – AWOL, skipping town, etc.
USUALLY, for a short amount of time, problem at home, with the farm, kids, etc.
1. All CSA has this problem, BUT
2. NC supplied most troops so law of averages says they will have the most deserters, and they did.
3. 23K soldiers (approx returned) 423 officers

56. Questions A. Why did most soldiers desert?
B. Why did NC have the largest number of deserters?

57. Other factors for desertion
1. NC’s proximity to VA’s battlefields
Convenient place to run to when you have had enough
2. Geographical Features of NC
A. Eastern swamps – good place to hide, no one wants to hunt deserters in there.
B. Mountains – hard to find people who do not want to be found

58. Questions
What were the two geographical features of North Carolina that made it a good place to go when deserting?

59. Ironclads
Confederates hoped to take away the Union advantage at sea with ironclads – ships heavily armored with iron.
Confederates captured the Merrimack and turned it into an ironclad renamed the Virginia.
Union built its own ironclad, the Monitor
The battle between the two lasted for hours. In the end the Virginia had to retreat, saving the Union fleet.
Began a revolution in naval warfare, gone were wooden ships powered by the wind.
CSS Neuse, now housed in Kinston, is a Civil War ironclad. Take a look at

60. Questions A. What was the name for a ship heavily clad with iron?
B. Kinston houses one of these ships, named the ____________ .

61. The CSA and War Jefferson Davis had a tough job
He was fighting people with better training, weapons, supplies, etc.
A NATION fighting a group of states
Add into the mix, state’s rights, “I will give you what I want you to have and do what I want
Under huge pressure and resistance from Confederate States
Hard position, Davis had to “create” a government then go directly to war!

62. Questions
What were two reasons Jefferson Davis’ job as President of the CSA was not easy?