39th Infantry Regiment was organized at Camp Patton, Asheville, North Carolina, in July 1861 as a five company battalion. In November the unit relocated to "Camp Hill" near Gooch Mountain where it was increased to eight companies. In February 1862 it was ordered to Knoxville, Tennessee, where two more companies were added. Its soldiers were from the counties of Cherokee, Macon, Jackson, Buncombe, and Clay. The 39th participated in the Cumberland Gap operations and engaged in the Battle of Perryville. Assigned to Walthall's, McNair's, and Reynold's Brigade, it served with the Army of Tennessee and fought from Murfreesboro to Atlanta, and then endured General Hood's winter campaign in Tennessee. It engaged in the defense of Vicksburg and at the Battle of Stones River. In 1865 the Thirty-ninth shared in the defense of Mobile. This regiment lost 2 killed, 36 wounded, and 6 missing at Murfreesboro, and had 10 killed, 90 wounded, and 3 missing at Chickamauga. During the Atlanta Campaign, May 18 to September 5, it reported 16 killed, 57 wounded, and 10 missing. On May 4, 1865, it surrendered. The field officers were Colonel David Coleman, Lieutenant Colonels Hugh H. Davidson and Francis A. Reynolds, and Major T. W. Peirce.

Recommended Reading: Confederate Military History of North Carolina