NortH CAROLINA Troops, 1861-65.

President Davis, contrary to the course pursued by Gov-
ernor 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
“eotton 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 ery 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 deser-
tions, 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 replen-
ish 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 per-
haps 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 res-
pective 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

ORGANIZATION OF RESERVES. 3

wished might volunteer. Then the General Orders to em-
body the Reserves were formulated and issued. Those be-
tween 17 and 18 years of age were embodied in April and
May, 1864. Those between 45 and 50 were, with the excep-
tion of two regiments and two battalions, left at home till Au-
gust 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. An-
derson, 28 May, at Raleigh.

Third Battalion (three companies), Major B. F. Hooks, 31
May, at Goldsboro.

J*ourth 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. Elling-
ton, 10 June, at Morganton.

Ninth Battalion (darks peerenie); 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 im-
mediate service as bridge guards and later on were in several
battles and became part of the Eighth Regiment of Re-
serves—or Seventy-eighth North Carolina. Another Bat-