Edward S. Bragg-- Part 9: End of the War

For the next several weeks, they remained in position besieging Petersburg.  They were in the trench line, which meant they were subject to  sniper fire and enemy artillery and there they remained until June 28, when they were relieved temporarily.

Finally, Edward Bragg received word of his official promotion to brigadier general, effective June 25, 1864.  They rotated back to the trenches a few weeks later.

They remained engaged in siege for the rest of the year and into early 1865.

On July 30, 1864, a Union sapper mine was exploded under the Confederate trenches resulting in what was called the Battle of the Crater.  On August  18, 1864, they were part  of a successful Union raid known as the Battle of Globe Tavern, to cut the Weldon Railroad and reduce the flow of supplies to the Petersburg defenders.

In October there was  another attempt to do that known as the Battle of Boydtown Plank Road, to sever another Confederate supply line, but the attack was withdrawn.

General Bragg's final battle of the war was the Battle of Hatcher's Run, which took place  February 6, 1865, near the site of the Battle of Boydtown  Plank Road.  The Iron Brigade took heavy casualties and, following the battle had to be significantly reorganized.

General Bragg was then summoned to Washington with four regiments and then sent to Baltimore to supervise transportation of conscripts.  He remained there until the end of the war and mustered out on October 9, 1865.

--Old Secesh

MCCWRT Discussion Group Meets Saturday

The McHenry County Civil War Round Table will meet Saturday, April 28 at Panera Bread in Crystal Lake, Illinois.  It is located at 6000 Northwest Highway (near Main Street).

This month's topic is Railroads and Supply During the Civil War.

I plan on talking about the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad which ran through North Carolina and was an important supply line for military items brought through the blockade at Wilmington and Richmond.

Time is from 10 a.m. to noon.

--Old Secesh

Pender County's Burgaw Depot

From the Burgaw website.

During the Civil War, the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad, which ran through Burgaw, N.C., was a vital Confederate lifeline.  Confederate troops were transported along it and wounded and sick soldiers sent south from Virginia to hospitals.

Even more so, military equipment and supplies, brought into the Confederacy by blockade-runners from nearby Wilmington passed through here on its way to Richmond.  The interior of the station still bears charred remains from when a Union cavalry detachment attacked it in 1863.

After the fall of Wilmington on February 22, 1865, the depot station became a Confederate headquarters for retreating troops and it soon fell thereafter to Union forces.  For over a week in February, over 6,000 prisoners were held there while negotiations for a massive exchange took place between Richmond and Washington, D.C..

Pender County, named for a Confederate Civil War general, was the last of the 100 North Carolina counties formed, when, in 1875, it was split off from Wilmington's New Hanover County.

This is also the county where my Mom's condo is located at Topsail Beach.

--Old Secesh

Historic Burgaw Depot, N.C.

From the December 2016, Our State magazine (N.C.) "Historic Burgaw Depot" by Katie King.

Historic Burgaw Depot, Pender County.

The last train left the station in 1986, but this former Confederate headquarters was the first stop in Burgaw's revitalization.

Long before there was a town of Burgaw, there was a Burgaw depot.  Built in 1850 as a wood and water stop on the Wilmington and Weldon rail line, the depot predates the town by 29 years, making it the oldest standing train depot in North Carolina --  and one of only two remaining antebellum depots (the other is in Selma).

Renovated in 2009, parts of the original structure can still be seen, including wooden doors and ceiling beams charred by an 1863 fire set by Union troops.  Now the depot is used for weddings, administrative offices, and a year-round transportation museum -- a small piece of history making its way into our modern-day lives.

--Old Secesh

Another Follow Up on South Washington, NC

This is probably more this town? has had written about it in a hundred years.  And, it also shows how come it takes me so long to go through these blog entries.  One thing just leads to another.

Anyway, I came across of map showing the stations along the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad back during the Civil War.  South Washington is shown on it as a flag stop between Burgaw and Leesburg (also not there anymore).

Evidently, the town wasn't much more than a station.

Flag stops between Rocky Point and Rose Hill:

Rocky Point
Burgaw
South Washington
Leesburg
Teachey
Rose Hill

Identity Solved.  --Old Secesh

Back Then: Wilmington, North Carolina

From the May 3rd Wilmington Star-News.


April 21, 1861 (150 years ago)-- Union President Lincoln extended the naval blockade to include North Carolina and Virginia.

Confederate Major Charles Pattison Bolles began construction on sand batteries on Federal Point (later renamed Confederate Point). These batteries were later incorporated into Fort Fisher.


May 2, 1911 (100 years ago)-- Allen kelly of Chinquapin in Duplin County died at the age 130. Known for his indistrious ways and habits. Hewed the first cross-ties for the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad. (The Wilmington & Weldon Railroad became of the utmost importance to the Confederacy during the Civil War as supplies from Wilmington were shipped to Richmond and Lee's Army.)

Married three times with 26 children and 57 grandchildren

May 4, 1961 (50 years ago)-- the first time the USS North Carolina Battleship Commission confirmed that the ship was to be moored in Wilmington as opposed to some other place in the state. Also, the commission hired a chief engineer and an assitant to arrange details to move the ship from Bayonne, New Jersey, to Wilmington.

All Those Years Ago. --Old B-R'er