Holiday Assignment #2

For this Blog, I am going to describe the role that the mountainous region of North Carolina played in the Civil War. This was one of the first regions to first start organizing actual companies and outfits of soldiers. In fact, some even did so before North Carolina official seceded from the Union. The Black Mountain Boys from Yancey County, the Watauga Troopers of Watauga County, and the Rough and Ready Guards of Buncombe County are three examples that the book brings to mind. What is most unique about this region during the war, in my opinion, is the controversy surrounded around it. The difficultly traversed terrain meant that traitors form both sides used them as a safe hold. This separated communities against each other, and even family members who had different ideas of the war. This mentality carried on for years after the war. This region also has less monuments and graves for its veterans than the rest of the state, but the veterans met more personally during reunions to remember their own sacrifices and pay homage to those who died. Even the first casualty of the entire war was a North Carolina soldier named Henry Wyatt (he was actually a member of the 37th, adding to the legacy of the Tar Heels). With a total of 125,000 soldiers sent to fight in the war, the acts of men joining together on their own accord and enlisting in groups comprised much of the war effort, and this region seemed to showcase this reoccurring theme.