Rough Draft

Intro:
Introduction – Rough Draft

North Carolina was one of the most important states to the Confederate Army. Had it not been for the state, the Confederate Army would not have been able to last as long as it did. The effects of the Civil War would later come to shape the South and permanently change its culture and identity.

Despite being a greatly looked-over objective of the Union army to historians today, North Carolina provided a last bastion to the Confederacy in the last years of the war. The reason for this dependency on North Carolina is due in part to its ample resources. North Carolina in the 1860’s was a land dominated by pine trees. These pine trees allowed for the production of lumber as well as tar, desperately needed materials for both sides of the war. Its location also managed to maintain the Confederate struggle. Being a central mid-Atlantic state, it was one of the last states to be fully captured by the North, and for this reason major ports along the coast managed to maintain connections to other countries. Possible the most important resource that the state could have provided was the shear number of troops that it contributed to the war effort. Over 130,000 North Carolinians died in the war, despite the lack of battles actually fought in the state. Although historians still seem to overlook the true importance of the state, one of the most influential Union leaders, General William Tecumseh Sherman, personally believed that, to the contrary of what many think, the campaign through the Carolinas was one worth the effort and expenditure of resources more than his famous march through Georgia.

Blog Posts:
Resources:
The Importance of Pine Tar
North Carolina is a state famous for its production of pine tar. This gave root to the famous name “tar heel”, which referred to the soldiers of the civil war and how they must have had tar on their heels due to their consistency during battle. North Carolina can produce such quantities of tar due to its vast forests, relatively flat terrain, and numerous rivers that lead to the coast, for easy lumber transportation. Tar was mostly used in maritime applications at the time. It acts to preserve the wood of a ship’s hull, and prevent significant wear from the exposure to water and salt. It also helps to keep ships water tight, by placing it between the planks of wood along with another materials, frequently flax fiber or another type of cloth. The state’s history of tar and pitch production began during its initial colonization, when the British Government actually passed acts to encourage its manufacturing and shipping. Although the business of tar production moved further south and east to the gulf states, most was still made in North Carolina, until the demand for it slowly decreased during the later nineteenth century. Uses, which still exist today, that are more domestic include its use for soaps and paintings. Even the restoration of artwork relies heavily on pine tar. For these many reasons, tar and pitch were vital commodities for the Confederate Army, making the state indispensable, and worth defending from Union advance. Although it may seem and unimportant topic, a brief description of the industry, I feel, is definitely necessary.

Wilmington North Carolina in the Civil War
During the Civil War, Wilmington provided a vital service to the confederacy. Singled out after the fall of many other major ports such as Mobile, Alabama, Wilmington became the target of attack for many Union forces coming from both the north and the south. The Confederacy relied greatly on many outside resources from empires such as the British, who dominated the triangle trade and vital manufactured supplies as well ass raw materials from the West Indies. It was blockaded for a long duration of the war, but many goods were still smuggled in and out of it, making Wilmington a still thriving part of the Confederate economy. Goods from Wilmington, if relating to the war effort, went straight to Northern Virginia through a railroad to help provide support for Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, which remained one of the main buffer zones and areas of combat between the two sides. Wilmington was even considered more valuable to capture by the union forces than Richmond. The key to capturing the city and fort was to use both the army and navy to prevent any escape. The city remained free from complete occupation until February 22, 1865. Due to the fall of this city, the war ended in just three months because General Lee could no longer support his army or maintain a strong force of opposition. General Bragg managed to pull a retreat from the city with minimal casualties. He fought in many other forts along the Cape Fear River as they escaped with what remaining force they had.
Holiday Assignment #1
Earlier this month, before the holiday vacation, my dad went down to North Carolina. I asked him if he could find anything on North Carolina’s role in the Civil War, and he managed to find me a book in a local library called Remembering North Carolina’s Confederates. Flipping through this book, the chapters are divided into one covering each of the four geographical areas of North Carolina, one on Jefferson Davis, and one on the soldiers’ involvements in battles outside of the state. For this first assignment I brushed over the part on coastal plains and am going to give a brief description of what was in it. The coast of North Carolina saw the majority of real battles that took place on the state’s soil. The Northern cities such as New Bern and the Outer Banks were captured relatively soon by the Union army, but southern ports such as the one in Wilmington and the Fort Fisher complex, fell in early 1865. These served as some of the last ties to the outside world for the confederates and provided vital supplies. This area contains the most civil war memorials in the state, as well as the largest civil war graveyards. A number of Civil War generals, one even which died in Gettysburg are scattered across the state, buried with different memorials and statues. The book even discusses the legacy of some of these generals. One of them, Charles M. Stedman who was born in Wilmington North Carolina, was a U.S. representative until 1930, and was the last Civil War veteran to do so.

http://www.nccivilwar150.com/history/lifeline.htm


Specific Armies/Generals
Company A 37th Regiment
North Carolina A Company 37th Regiment – Tar Heels

The North Carolina 37th regiment was instrumental to many of the battles both in and outside of the state that North Carolina and the confederacy were involved in. It is made up mostly of volunteers from the Ashe County located in the northwest of the state. 206 men in total were apart of the regiment. With about 22 killed and 20 wounded by its end, it was one of the most successful organized fighting regiments of the war, considering the fact it had existed since the beginning in 1861. Fifty, however ended up as POWs in northern union camps, in which thirteen died. It became a legitimate operation in Wilmington, North Carolina at Fort Fischer. In total, both during and before the war, 2,021, many from different counties, states, and countries, had fought in the regiment. All but one (a freed slave) was a white male, who ranged from doctors to mechanics, five foot one to six foot seven, and 15 to 65 in age. Battles in which they fought include New Bern, and northern Virginia, including Richmond. At Gettysburg, the 37th played a major role in the famous Pickett’s Charge, lead by their new general after their previous one had died in combat. Although North Carolina had an army of 115,000 soldiers and Virginia 196,000, North Carolina had about three times as many casualties. The term Tar Heel was a rather derogatory term used by many other states due to the harsh appearance of the soldiers. Their rather blunt form of fighting, which may have increased the number of casualties, also lent to the name.
Holiday Assignment #4
Lastly, for this assignment, I have decided to write a little about the North Carolina 37th and their role both in and out of the state. This regiment is also known as the Tar Heels. It has so far been difficult to find enough information about them, and the only resources I can find are websites. Some books I have found have small paragraphs of information, but that’s about it. It began in 1861 and was created as soon as the war had begun. Most of its volunteers were from the mountainous west or from around Charlotte. They were initially given muskets and lead balls, a technology that was dated at the time. These were replaced later by converted percussion cap rifles, many of which were converted from muskets captured in the War of 1812. The regiment itself played a major role in battles from Northern Virginia to Gettysburg. Heir most famous battle occurred while deterring the advance from General Ambrose Burnsides down through the Carolinas. Although they were successful in temporarily prolonging the life of the Confederacy, they were unsuccessful in maintaining proper numbers and morale, and their colonel had been captured and was going to be used by federal soldiers, along with 49 other confederate officers, as cannon fodder. By the end of the war, 115 out of 2,000 soldiers, including officers, were able to surrender. They became known, as the tar heels due to their ability to stand their ground in the numerous battles that they fought, but this tactic must have also caused such losses.

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.

Daniel Harvey Hill

Hill was an accomplished general who went to West Point in upstate New York. Despite being born in South Carolina, he spent much of his career in North Carolina. He saw his first action in the Mexican American War, where he became well known for his ability to command. He soon became a general afterward, and was put under General Bragg, where he made his first political enemies. He viewed Bragg as incompetent and unable to make good decisions that would benefit the Confederacy. Jefferson Davis was a good friend with Bragg, and this created a feeling of resentment between the two. He was soon let off from his position, and led a group of volunteers on the coast of the Carolinas, where he sat out the war. His legacy consisted of the Battle of Big Bethel, Yorktown, and Seven Pines, leading historians today to believe that he was an unused asset of the Confederate Army, that could have added in strategic advances into the North. However, the political controversy around him made this unlikely to happen. The main issue that happened between Bragg and Hill, is that Hill wanted to pursue the recently defeated Union soldiers, thinking then was the time, but Bragg gave it no second thought, and remained in the South.

"Daniel Harvey Hill Biography." The American Civil War Home Page. Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .
"General Daniel Hill." Web. 06 Dec. 2009. .

Ambrose Burnside

Although General Ambrose Burnside was not a Confederate, but a Union General, he still played a pivotal role in the state’s history of the time. In fact, it from his mutton chops that the word sideburns comes from. Some of the most important objectives of the union army were achieved through this man. It is interesting to look at something through the perspective that would not normally be linked with it. The campaign lasted all of one year, bust captured many major ports, helping to cut off the Confederates from their outside resources and support. Possibly one of the characters about him that he is most famous for, despite his remarkable facial hair, his is true inability to control men, mostly linked to a lack of experience. Luckily for him, and unluckily for the North Carolinians, this trait did not become evident until later campaigns in Virginia. At the battle of Roanoke, he managed to take part in one of the most important battles of the North Carolina Campaign. The body of water surrounding it was the largest body of water in the inter-coastal waterway (the area of shallow water between the mainland and the outer banks). This directly connected to the northern ports of North Carolina, as well as indirectly impeded the shipment of goods from the major southern ports.


Barrett, John G. "Sherman's Carolina campaign: February-March 1865." The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1998. 405+. General OneFile. Web. 1 Dec. 2009. .

General Braxton Bragg

General Braxton Bragg was a famous general from North Carolina that actually saw much of his Civil War action outside of the state, but still left a noticeable influence behind. In fact, Fort Bragg, one of the country’s largest military forts, is today stationing the 82nd Airborne. Tennessee was one of his most frequent areas of campaign, along with other border states, including Kentucky. At first beginning in the New Orleans, Louisiana militia, he soon went up the ranks of the Confederate Army to become a general. He spent much of his time in Pensacola, Florida, where he gained control of his own army (aptly named the Pensacola Army), where his main responsibility was to install discipline. He later was put in control of the army of Mississippi as other generals began to die during major conflicts, until he was General of the Tennessee Army, ending his gain in power. He soon began to take control of Tennessee through numerous battles, including one in which he captured 5,000 union soldiers. This gathered fame soon ended once he decided to invade Kentucky, which later became known as a military blunder for the Confederacy. Despite bringing union troops out of the general area, it ended up not being worth the total expense.

North Carolina: December 1864-February 1865." The Civil War Battlefield Guide, 2nd ed. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 1998. 401+. General OneFile. Web. 1 Dec. 2009. http://find.galegroup.com/gps/start.do?prodId=IPS&userGroupName=mlin_n_merhs.

Introduction - Rough Draft

Introduction – Rough Draft

North Carolina was one of the most important states to the Confederate Army. Had it not been for the state, the Confederate Army would not have been able to last as long as it did. The effects of the Civil War would later come to shape the South and permanently change its culture and identity.

Despite being a greatly looked-over objective of the Union army to historians today, North Carolina provided a last bastion to the Confederacy in the last years of the war. The reason for this dependency on North Carolina is due in part to its ample resources. North Carolina in the 1860’s was a land dominated by pine trees. These pine trees allowed for the production of lumber as well as tar, desperately needed materials for both sides of the war. Its location also managed to maintain the Confederate struggle. Being a central mid-Atlantic state, it was one of the last states to be fully captured by the North, and for this reason major ports along the coast managed to maintain connections to other countries. Possible the most important resource that the state could have provided was the shear number of troops that it contributed to the war effort. Over 130,000 North Carolinians died in the war, despite the lack of battles actually fought in the state. Although historians still seem to overlook the true importance of the state, one of the most influential Union leaders, General William Tecumseh Sherman, personally believed that, to the contrary of what many think, the campaign through the Carolinas was one worth the effort and expenditure of resources more than his famous march through Georgia.

strengths/weaknesses

I would have to say that the strengths of my topic and future essay are the specific resources of the state, and what exactly makes it so important to the Confederate army. another strength of my essay would be the 37th regiment and the role that they played in the specific battles of the war. what i am basing these strengths on is determined by how much research i can bring up on a specific topic. the more i can find, the more i can right about

A weakness of my topic would most likely be any specific characters and the roles they played in the war. Of those who are mentioned in some of the sources i have encountered, not many of them are explained in much detail, and have very famous names, especially for an out-of-state audience. with these new facts that i have acquired, i still believe that the essay will have plenty of potential and will provide at least ten pages of information. Admittedly,some topics and subjects will outweigh others in sheer size, especially those that i have been able to find books about, but i will attempt, to the best i can, to address all of the categories related to the topic.

Outline/Thesis

Thesis: Despite being a greatly looked-over objective of the Union army to historians today, North Carolina provided a last bastion to the Confederacy in the last years of the war.

Outline:
I: Intro, Thesis
II:Why is it important: Strategic Location: Resources, Tar, Wood, Troops
III: Union Armies: Burnside, Sherman
IV: Confederate Armies: Bragg, 37th
V: Battles: fort fisher I/II
VI: Outcome: Union Victory, costly