586 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

army. The duties of the absent fathers had fallen upon the
shoulders of the boys, to whom the mothers looked for food
and protection. There was no longer any doubt as to the
meaning of the word “War.” It was the dread synoym of
privation, hunger, disease, a foreign prison and an unknown
grave.

As some indication of the scarcity of every article of neces-
sity, a glance at the prices prevailing at the time will prove of
interest. In February, 1864, coffee and sugar were unattain-
able luxuries, worth $12.00 a pound; bacon and lard were
$3.50 per pound; meal was $18.00, and sweet potatoes were
$10.00 a bushel. This was early in 1864, and a year later
every price quoted had riiore than doubled.

The pay of a private soldier for a month of exposure and
danger would buy him just one pound of sugar; while the
magnificent monthly compensation of a Lieutenant would
hardly purchase an indifferent pair of shoes.

And let no disciple of an inflated currency delude himself
with the idea that money was so plentiful that we did not
mind high prices. That was a pleasing fiction which was
widely prevalent just after the war, but has little foundation
in fact to support it. The speculator, the trader, and the
gambler were lavishly supplied, but the great mass of sala-
ried, professional and laboring men found it difficult to live.

Such was the condition of affairs when the boys of North
Carolina were called upon to volunteer in her defence. To
their eternal credit be it said that when their State called
upon them to come, they faltered not. And though it was
the very tearing asunder of heartstrings, their mothers bade
them go.

‘The aged sires and matrons grey,

Saw the young warriors haste away,
And deemed it sin to grieve.”

Under the terms of their enlistment the Reserves were en-
rolled for duty within the limits of their respective States,
and were permitted to elect their own company officers. Field

officers were elected by the company officers. With a sagacity
and conservatism hardly to have been expected, their choice

THE JuNIOR Reserves BRIGADE. 587

of officers were most admirable. No appointing power could
have selected from the membership more gallant, faithful and
deserving officers. :

The organization of all the troops destined for detached
duty in the State, Senior and Junior Reserves, wounded sol-
diers, assigned to light duty and detailed men, was entrusted
to Lieutenant-General Holmes, a native North Carolinian,
whose capacity for a work of the kind was unquestionable. As
soon as the companies were formed they were hurried off to
camps of instruction, and as soon as the required number of
companies were gathered together they were organized into
battalions.

The First Battalion was commanded by Major C. W.
Broadfoot, the Second by Major Jno. H. Anderson, the Third
was composed of Senior Reserves, the Fourth elected Major
John M. Reece, the Fifth Major W. F. Beasley, the Sixth
Major Walter Clark, the Seventh Major W. Foster French,
the Eighth Major J. B. Ellington, and the Ninth Major D. T.
Millard. In order to relieve the regular troops who were
then performing guard duty, these battalions were at once
placed upon duty up and down the lines of the important rail-
roads, with especial regard to bridges and the points where
raids were expected. As these battalions were eventually
consolidated into regiments, the first in July, 1864, the sec-
ond in December, 1864, and the third early in January, 1865,
it may be well to give here the final organization.

The first regiment, composed of the First and Sixth Bat-
talions, was organized 4 July, 1864, by electing C. W. Broad-
foot, Colonel; Walter Clark, Lieutenant-Colonel, and N. A.
Gregory, Major.* The second, composed of the Second and
Fifth Battalions, 7 December, 1864, elected Jno. H. Ander-
son Colonel, W. F. Beasley Lieutenant-Colonel, and N. A.

*Subsequently at request of General Holmes who desired his Chief of
Staff, Frank S. Armistead (a West heat Served to be made General
of the Brigade and thought that this could be promptly accomplished if
he were Senior Colonel, these officers afterwards resigned and F. 8. Ar-
mistead was elected Colonel, C. W. Broadfoot, Lieut-Colonel and Walter
Clark, Major, but the expected promotion of Col. Armistead was not real-
ized and this second organization endured tothe end. N. A. Gregory
later became Major of the Second Junior Reserves.—Ep.