ks

 

 

 

 

SEVENTY-NINTH REGIMENT.
Robert L. Coleman, Colonel 2 i
leman, Co A 2. George Tait, C el,
John W. W oodfin, Major, on his horse * Prinee Hal” esi
from whose back he was killed, :

SEVENTY-NINTH REGIMENT.

(SIGHTH CAVALRY. )

By S. V. PICKENS, ApsuTAnT.

This regiment had its nucleus in three companies known
as Woodfin’s Battalion. Afterwards it was raised to six com-
panies and was then known and reported officially as the
Fourteenth Battalion. It was only in the Spring of 1865
that it was raised to a regiment by the addition of four more
companies. It is therefore proper to give some account of
these battalions.

WOODFIN'S BATTALION OF CAVALRY.

In order to give a connected history of this command it is
not amiss to write something of a sketch, at the outset of
Company G of the First North Carolina Cavalry, for this
was, in a sense, and to a limited degree, the nucleus of said
battalion. It was one of the earliest organizations in the
State for the Confederate service, made up of men and boys
from Buncombe, Henderson and Rutherford, with a few from
other western counties, aggregating in numbers one hundred
and twenty. Many of them were from the very best fami-
lies of the country, some of them attaining distinction in the
long and bloody war which followed. The commander, Jno.
W. Woodfin, a born horseman and as chivalrous as any knight
of the olden time and full of patriotism and devotion to the
dear Southland, was an inspiration to this gallant band he had
gathered around him, and it is not surprising that they were
so early and so eager to go forth to meet in mortal combat the
horde of invaders that in 1861 threatened on every hand the
peace and quiet of our whole country. The company or-
ganized with the following officers, to-wit: John W. Wood-
fin, Captain; Wm. Riley West, First Lieutenant; James L.
Gaines, Second Lieutenant; John Blasengame, Junior Sec-