a ts <a

~ Nort Caroutina Troops, 1861-65.

talion was partially organized with three companies at Mor-
ganton 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 see-
ing services at Wilmington as is narrated in its history herein,
was brigaded with the three Junior Reserve Regiments (Sev-
entieth, 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 John-
ston’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 Caro-
lina, 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 com-
mand, were captured near Fort Fisher the night of 25 De
cember, 1864, under circumstances not creditable to him.
His brave but inexperienced boys, many of them, stoutly re-
fused 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 bat-
tle of South West Creek below Kinston 8-9 March, 1865, it
was under General L. S. Baker, and 15 March Colonel J. A.
Nethereutt, of the Sixty-sixth North Carolina, was assigned
to it just before the battle of Bentonville and commanded the

a el a

RRR AME Re ry RRR TRUDE 2) ARERR CES IE tet

ORGANIZATION OF RESERVES. 5

brigade till the surrender under Johnston. At. first, Adju-
tant A. T. London and Lieutenant E. 8. Foster of the Seven-
tieth acted as Assistant Adjutant General and Ordnance Off-
cer, respectively, of this Brigade but when Colonel Nether-
eutt 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 Artil-
lery 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 of-
ficers 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 rea-
son of wounds or physical disability re-entered service with
the Juniors. The Examining Board was composed of Ma-
jors 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-com-
missioned 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 usu-
ally 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 non-
commissioned 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