History of the 135th USCT to Be Exhibited in Goldsboro, N.C.

From the February Wayne County, North Carolina, History Museum.

On Saturday, February 20 the museum will be having the grand opening of its new exhibit "Fighting For Freedom:  The 135th USCT, Black Soldiers of the Civil War."  (United States Colored Troops)

This is in collaboration with the 125th USCT research team.

There will be a video posted on the museum's Facebook page and You Tube channel that day at 1 p.m. (EST).  There will be interviews with descendants of the regiment's soldiers and their histories.

The 135th USCT were organized in 1865 in Goldsboro, North Carolina.  For more information on the 135th, click on the label below.

In addition, for Black History Month,  there will be exhibits at the museum on the old Central High School and the Little Washington neighborhood.

I'd sure like to go to the museum and see these exhibits, but alas, I live 1100 miles away.

Should Be Interesting.  --Old Secesh

Other Civil War Items in the Wayne County Museum

The Wayne County Museum is located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, in the former Women's Club Building which served as a USO during World War II.

There is a huge diorama of the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge which took place on December 17, 1862.  Goldsboro was spelled Goldsborough back then.

There is also a huge collection of rifles, bullets and cannon shells taken from the Battle of Averasboro site.

--Old Secesh

Wayne County Hero To Gettysburg and Back-- Part 2: Battle of Gettysburg

Spring 1863 found Sgt. Francis Alexander Simmons and the 43rd at Kinston defending against Union forces at New Bern and along the coast.

They were fired upon by artillery at Washington, NC before returning to Kinston and receiving orders togo to Fredericksburg, Virginia where it was assigned to Rhodes' Division. Ewells' 2nd Corps Army of Northern Virginia and proceeded through Brandy Station , Berryville, Martinsburg, Williamsport, Hagerstown, Chambersburg and Carlisle before arriving at the small town named Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, on July 1, 1863.

He was injured at the battle and wrote a letter to his sister Ermaline, only saying that he was wounded in the right arm and that Co. A went into the battle with 63 men and lost about half.  Four were killed and the rest wounded or taken prisoners.

--Old Secesh

Wayne County Hero To Gettysburg and Back-- Part 1: F.A. Simmons

From the Feb. 2014, Historical News (State of NC: Nash, Wayne & Wilson Counties.

One of the Confederate soldiers fighting at Gettysburg was Francis Alexander Simmons (1828-1897), born in Jones County, raised at the Waterloo Plantation in Albertson, Duplin County, and died in Mt. Olive, Wayne County, North Carolina.

During the war, he was a member of the Duplin Rifles and mustered into the Confederate Army as a private April 22, 1862.  He was sent to Fort Mangum where he joined Company A, 43rd N.C. Infantry Regiment and was promoted to sergeant on May 13, 1862.  His letters indicate that his primary reason for enlisting was the Northern invasion of the South.

After a brief period of training, the 43rd was sent to the Lower Cape Fear River.  A month later, they were sent to Virginia and joined the Daniels' Brigade and defended Richmond. during Lee's invasion of the North which led to the Battle of Antietam.

Just before winter 1862, they were ordered back home to defend Goldsboro during Foster's Raid from New Bern (which was heading to the Goldsboro Wilmington & Weldon Railroad bridge over the Neuse at that city.

More to Come.  --Old Secesh

Goldsboro's Sacrifice at Battle of Antietam-- Part 1

From the september 19, 2012, Goldsboro (NC) News-Argus "Historian tells of Goldsboro's sacrifice at Battle of Antietam" by Dennis Hill.

"Regiment that included the Goldsboro Rifles suffered third-highest casualty rate of the Confederate Army: On the bloodiest day in American history (even worse than D-Day) the regiment that included the Goldsboro Rifles suffered the third-highest casualty rate in the Confederate Army.

At the Battle of Antietam on September 17, 1862, the 27th North Carolina Infantry regiment lost 61 percent of its men killed and wounded.  Out of 325 men who entered the battle, 31 were killed and 168 wounded."

The reiment penetrated deepest into Union lines and was the only one mentioned specifically in General Robert E. Lee's official report of the battle.  The regiment wa smade up of men from Wayne, Lenoir, Pitt, Guilford, Orange, Jones and Perquimans counties.  Lee reported them "standing boldly in line without a cartridge" after they ran out of ammunition, holding the center of the rebel line.

The Brave and the Courageous, the 27th NC.  --Old Secesh

Wayne County, NC, Confederate Camps

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

CAMP COLLIER--  Near Goldsboro (Wayne County):  Confederate camp temporarily used by the 61st NC Regt. en route to Kinston from the Wilmington area, October 1862.

CAMP McLEAN--  Near Goldsboro (Wayne County):  Temporary base of many Confederate units, including the 72nd NC Regt. (3rd Junior reserves), guarding rail and river approaches to Goldsboro.  Likely named for Gen. A. D. McLean of Cumberland County.


CAMP VANCE Near Goldsboro (Wayne County--there was another Camp Vance in Burke County):  Temprary base of many Confederate units guarding rail and river approaches to Goldsboro.

It would sure be interesting to find the sites of these camps and do some investigating.  Wonder if someone knows where they exactly were?

Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy

This was quite a long and involved bit of research on the part of the Goldsboro (NC) News-Argus.  I am very appreciative of it and it sure took awhile to write about it.

Definitely I will be going to the Wayne County  Library, just a couple blocks from my mom's home and do some research the next time I'm in town.  And, I especially want to research companies F and I of the 1st North Carolina Artillery, "Andrews' Battery" and "Herring's Artillery."  Both were at Fort Fisher.

Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy: The Boys Who Fell-- Part 19

Men from Goldsboro and Wayne County, NC, who gave their loves for their country.


CO. H, 2ND NORTH CAROLINA INFANTRY REGIMENT

Pvt.  Young C. Blackmon
Sgt.  Thomas Carraway
Pvt. James W. Deans
1st Sgt. Epaminondas W. DeFord
Sgt. James W. Elmore
Pvt. Calvin Fields
Pvt.  Antone Fladung
Pvt.  Lewis Grady
Sgt.  Robert W. Henry
Sgt.  Joseph R. Herring
Pvt.  Samuel Hines
Pvt.  William Hines
Pvt.  James H. Hinson
Pvt.  Richard Lisson
Pvt. Nathan R. Pike
Pvt.  John W. Sanderson
Pvt.  William Sutherland
Pvt.  Ashley Wiggs

 CO. H, 1ST NORTH CAROLINA CAVALRY

Pvt.  John A. Klapp
Pvt.  Benejah Price
Pvt.  John E. Smith


CO. F, 1ST NORTH CAROLINA ARTILLERY

Pvt.  Benjamin Coombs
Pvt.  Robert W. Worrell

They Gave Their Lives.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy: The Boys Who Fell-- Part 18

CO. C, 2ND NORTH CAROLINA INFANTRY REGIMENT

1st Lt. George W. Britt
Pvt.  John T. King
Pvt.  James H. Kornegay
Pvt.  Rigden J. Martin
Pvt.  William B. Martin
Pvt.  Robert D. Price


CO. D,  2ND NORTH CAROLINA  INFANTRY REGIMENT

Pvt.   James G. Barrow
Pvt.  Patrick Darden
Pvt.  James M. Hooks
Pvt.  Lawrence Pope
Pvt.  Frederick Sauls

CO. I, 35TH NORTH CAROLINA INFANTRY REGIMENT

Capt. William A. Ellis
2nd Lt.  Joseph P. Jones
Pvt.  James W. Boyette
Pvt.  Ervin E. Coombs
Sgt.  Needham Forehand
Pvt.  Justus G. Jones
1st Sgt.  John L. Oliver
Cpl. Elijah Pate
Pvt.  Alexander Vinson

Their Lives for Their Country.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 17: The Boys Who Fell

Continuing with the lists of Confederate soldiers from Goldsboro and Wayne County, NC, who gave their lives for their country.

CO. K, 27TH NC INFANTRY

3rd Lt. Gabriel Johnson
Pvt. James F. Allen
Pvt. John Bass
Sgt. James Beaman
Sgt. Robert H. Best
Pvt. Thomas G.Horne
Sgt. John J. Mattox
Pvt. Joseph E. Parks
Pvt. William Sauls


CO. D, 4TH NC

2nd Lt. Robert A. Best
2nd Lt James C Cotton
Pvt. Henry Bartlett
Pvt. William Boyett
Pvt. Ira Combs
Pvt. Ashley Dickson
Pvt. James M. Harris
Pvt. Robert W. Joyner
Pvt. DeWitt C. Pate
Pvt. James Sanderson
Pvt. Stephen Waters
Sgt. Benjamin Whitley
Pvt. George Whitley

Heroes, All.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy: The Boys Who Fell-- Part 16

A list of Wayne County men who were killed in action or mortally wounded.

CO. A, 27TH NC, THE GOLDSBORO RIFLES

Capt. James D. Bryan
2nd Lt. Joel J. Denmark
2nd Lt. Stephen M. Hunt
Pvt. William H. Faircloth
Pvt.  William Flowers
Pvt. Stephen M. Grice
Pvt. Ezekiel Holloman
Pvt. Richard Holloman
Pvt. Joseph D. Howard
Pvt. William M. Howell
Pvt. Cicero W. Mosely
Pvt. James B. Parker
Pvt. Nathan B. Parker
Pvt.  Jacob Philmore
Pvt.  George P. Piner
Sgt.  Bryant Rhodes
Pvt.  Edwar B. Sasser
Pvt.  Stephen J. Smith

Not Forgotten Here.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 15 Stacey Jones and the Goldsboro Rifles

Stacey Jones is a descendant of a soldier who served in the Goldsboro Rifles and has done much research on the unit.  It was reformed after the Civil War and called to duty in the Spanish-American War and World War I as well.  he has written a book on the Rifles.

"For me, it's all about family.  This is not just local; history, these men were out families."

Jones noted that when the Rifles dedicated the Confederate monument at Willowdale Cemetery in the 1880s, that some 2,000 attended.  "Today, it's all we can do to get 20-30 people there (for Confederate Memorial Day).  Unless we take steps to remember them, they will be forgotten."

And, now, sadly,there are certain groups trying to discredit the Confederate soldier for protecting his home and family because of the slavery issue.  They would have you believe that all Confederates were the worst people who ever lived because of it.

That's Just Not the Way It Is.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 14: Goldsboro's Private James Parker

WHY WE REMEMBER THEM

Private James Parker was a 27-year-old farmer from Goldsboro when he enlisted in the Rifles.  He was not drafted and enlisted on his own, despite the fact that he was leaving his wife, seven children and farm (and for you revisionists, no slaves).  This, putting his life, family and land on the line for his country.

He was wounded at Antietam and killed at the Battle of Bristoe Station in Virginia in October 1863.

His family still remembers him today.  Ray Parker, Jr. and Ray Parker III of Goldsboro treasure a portrait of Parker and his wife Francis, that has been handed down for generations. 

They know that James suffered through lots of hardships during his time in the Confederate Army.  For years, many lived on nothing but bacon fat and corn meal and had to sleep on the open ground for lack of tents.  Many battles saw Confederate soldiers entering without shoes (one of the reasons the Battle of Gettysburg took place).

Fighting for His Home and Family.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 13: Junior and Senior Reserves

CO. A, 2ND JUNIOR RECERVES

This unit had 45 boys from Wayne County, many as young as 15.  It was organized late in the war as an attempt to overcome the severe manpower needs of the Confederate Army.. 

It listed no soldier killed in action, but several died from disease.  It was likely used as a home guard although some Junior Reserves were captured at Fort Fisher.


CO. F, 8TH SENIOR RESERVES

Like the above unit, this was a group organized to help with the manpower shortage.  There were 66 men from Wayne County.  They either volunteered or were conscripted.

Some were as old as fifty.  records show that few saw action.

Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 12: Company H, 1st NC Cavalry, The Goldsboro Guards

Fifty-six men from Wayne County served in this unit along with men from surrounding counties.  Casualties were generally fewer in cavalry units as they were used mostly for scouting.

Men in this unit had to provide their own mounts, something many men in the county could not afford.

Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 11: Wayne County Artillery Units

CO. F, 1ST N.C. ARTILLERY: "ANDREWS BATTERY"

Named for its captain, this unit had 95 men from Wayne County and saw action along the North Carolina coast at Forts Macon and Fisher.  (The last one just got my interest.


CO. I, 1ST N.C. ARTILLERY: 'HERRING'S ARTILLERY"

Also named for its leader and saw most of its action at the fall of Fort Fisher.  Like the previous company, most of its casualties were men who were captured at Fort Fisher and sent to the Union prison camp at Elmira, New York.

This camp was called "Helmira" by those held there and proved to be a death sentence for many because of starvation and disease.  Dozens of men were listed as dying in prison of various illnesses.

Especially shocking was that the war continued only three months after Fort Fisher was captured.

I'll Have to Look Into These Two Units.

And, They Said Andersonville Was Hell.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 10: Co. I, 35th NC Infantry

Still continuing with Confederate units containing large numbers of Goldsboro and Wayne County residents.

The company was organized in the fall of 1861 and had 90 men from Wayne County.  They received heavy casualties at the Battle of Malvern Hill in 1862, when Confederates attacked Union artillery at the top of the hill.  They lost most of the ten men who were killed during the course of the war at this site.

Only four men from Wayne County were still with the unit at the surrender at Appomattox.

Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 9: Companies C, D and H, 2nd NC

These units had over 100 men from Wayne County and served with distinction from Malvern Hill to Antietam to Chancellorsville to Spotsylvania Courthouse.  The names of its men are also familiar to the county.

In all, the three companies lost 30 men killed in action.  The battles listed were particularly deadly and many died during Jackson's famous flank march at Chancellorsville.

Company H left Wayne County with 82 men and 4 surrendered at Appomattox.

Fighting For a Cause.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 8: The Goldsboro Volunteers

This unit volunteered for service along with the Rifles and Saulston Volunteers, but the company was transferred to the 4th North Carolina Regiment and became Company D.  Eighty-four of the 128 men on its rolls were from Wayne County. 

Its first captain was Junius Whitaker and Lovett Louis commanded for most of the war.

The 4th helped hold Bloody Lane at the Battle of Antietam and were in Jackson's flank attack that crushed the Federal Army at Chancellorsville.  They also were at Gettysburg on the first day

At Spotsylvania they helped plug the gap at the "Muleshoe" when Union troops poured through a bulge in the Confederate line.

Well-known Wayne County names in this unit: Bartlett,  Best, Casey, Davis, Ellis, Gurley, McCullen, Price, Roberts, Rollins, Sasser, Sauls, Talton and Weil.

During the war, 32 died, at least 13 killed in action or mortally wounded, 19 of disease or some other cause.  Just five remained at Appomattox when the surrender came.

The Volunteers.  --Old Secesh

Confederate Legacy-- Part 7: Saulston Volunteers

Company K of the 27th North Carolina Infantry. 

Berry Parks then became captain and continued in that position until near the end of the war.

Many of the names of the company's members are still living in this part of Wayne County:  Barnes, Best, Chase, Edmundson, Hooks, Howell, Lancaster, Musgrave, Pate and Smith.

During the war, 135 men served in the unit.  Nine were killed or mortally wounded, 21 died of other causes and 30 were wounded.  Six were present at the Appomattox surrender.

Old Secesh