Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry Company-- Part 1

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina.

This unit also served in the 11th NC Infantry which I have been writing about.

The Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry Company (FILI) was formed in Fayetteville, NC, on 23 August 1793 out of fears stemming from the French Revolution and partly because of fear that the Spanish in Louisiana would incite Indians to attack.  Recent scholarship point to fears rising from slave rebellions in Haiti.

There was no mention of service during the War of 1812, but in 1825, the unit attended the Marquis de Lafayette on his visit to Fayettevile (named for him in 1784). Construction of the Fayetteville Arsenal in 1838 increased the unit's importance.

At the onset of the Civil War, the unit became a part of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers, called the "Bethel Regiment," as Company H. It was the first regiment organized in the state and had a lot to do with the Confederate victory at Bethel, Virginia.

--Old Secesh