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3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment, U.S.
A.K.A. Union 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment; 3rd North Carolina (Federal) Mounted
Infantry Regiment; 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment, U.S.A.; 3rd North Carolina Mounted, United States;
and Kirk's Raiders.
ORGANIZED: Knoxville, Tenn., June 1864. Attached to 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, 23rd Army Corps, Dept. of
Ohio, to February, 1865. 2nd Brigade, 4th Division, District East Tennessee, Dept. of the Cumberland, to August 1865.
SERVICE:
Scout and patrol duty in proximity of Knoxville, Tenn., and in East Tennessee till December 1864. Scout from Morristown, Tenn., into North Carolina June 13-July 15, 1864. Camp Vance on June 28. Russellville,
Tenn. on October 28. Big Pigeon River on November 5-6. Moved to Paint Rock on December 7. Expedition into Western North Carolina March 21-April 25, 1865. Moved to Boone, N.C., April 6, and to Asheville, N.C., April 27-30. Duty in North Carolina and East
Tennessee till August 1865. Mustered out August 8, 1865.
"Swarms of [North Carolina] men liable to conscription are gone to the tories
or to the Yankees." Brigadier General J. W. McElroy, First Brigade North Carolina Home Guard, April 12, 1864
| Lt. David Cook |
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| Courtesy Michael C. Hardy |
OVERVIEW: The
Union Army recruited two mounted infantry regiments within North Carolina, and both units
were principally raised from Western North Carolina counties: 2nd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment. The men that comprised the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry were recruited from Western North Carolina and East
Tennessee. Confederate deserters also formed a fraction of this unit. Recruitment of these regiments epitomized the "Brother's
War" and the men serving in the two Union mounted infantry regiments were commonly referred
to as Home Yankees.
Photograph
(right): Lt. David Cook, Company E, 3rd NC Mounted Infantry, USA.
Author and historian Michael C. Hardy (michaelchardy.blogspot.com) states: "This might be the same David Cook who served
as a private in Company B, 37th North Carolina Troops." Lt. David Cook is interred at the National
Cemetery in Knoxville, Tennessee.
Union Major
General George Stoneman's command as it concerns Western North Carolina in 1865: Second North Carolina Mounted Infantry
Regiment, Lieut. Colonel William C. Bartlett; Third North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment, Colonel George W. Kirk; First
Brigade, Commanding Colonel Chauncey G. Hawley; Fourth Division, Department of the Cumberland, Brig. General Davis Tillson;
District of East Tennessee, Major General George Stoneman (to view entire Union District of East Tennessee, including 1st
and 2nd Brigades, and Brig. Gen. Gillem's Cavalry Division, see O.R., 1, 49, pt. II, pp. 538-539*).
*Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies
Sources: National Park Service: Soldiers and Sailors System; Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies;
North Carolina Museum of History.
Recommended
Reading: Kirk's Raiders. Description: The mountains of East Tennessee & Western North Carolina were deeply divided in their loyalties between Union and Confederate causes during the War of the Rebellion. Colonel George Kirk of Tennessee led nearly 2000 southern boys
against their brethren from 1862 until 1865, fighting at Warm Springs, Burnsville, Morganton, Erwin,
Waynesville, Blowing Rock, and Lenoir. Continued below...
After the war
in 1870, he returned to central North Carolina to suppress a KKK insurrection
in Alamance and Caswell
Counties. Mayhem,
bloodshed, and controversy followed George Kirk wherever he went. This is his story. Complete rosters
of the 2nd & 3rd NC Mounted Infantries are included, as well as nearly 50 never-before published photographs, letters,
and maps. This is the definitive George Kirk
study.
Recommended
Reading: The Loyal Mountaineers Of Tennessee (1888) (Hardcover: 426 pages) (Kessinger Publishing, LLC) (June
2, 2008). Description: This book defines
the importance of East
Tennessee and its residents to the Union cause during the Civil War. The author begins with early history of East Tennessee and the events which led to the War Between the States. He continues by describing local
people and events that contributed to the decision to remain loyal to the United
States. Continued below...
The events of the War as they involve East Tennessee are detailed, including
important meetings and battles such as Carter's Raid and the siege of Knoxville. The text is enhanced with illustrated portraits
of East Tennessee individuals who contributed to the Civil War effort. Originally written
and published in 1888, this reprinted edition is accompanied by a complete index. This book is a valuable addition to both
the Tennessee historian and the Civil War buff.
Recommended Reading: Mountain
Myth: Unionism in Western North Carolina (Hardcover), by Terrell T. Garren. Description: Civil
War historian Terrell T. Garren and author of acclaimed The Secret of War: A Dramatic History of Civil War Crime in Western North Carolina , delivers another masterpiece and challenges previous 'historical assumptions' regarding Unionism in Western North
Carolina. Garren, who spent thousands of hours researching Mountain Myth, states that readers of his new book
"may be surprised to learn that Western North Carolina citizens of that day were as much or more dedicated to the Confederate
cause than the people of any other area in the entire South." It is RATED 5 STARS, the highest rating, by thomaslegion.net
Recommended
Reading: War at Every Door: Partisan
Politics and Guerrilla Violence in East Tennessee, 1860-1869. Description: One of the most divided regions of the Confederacy, East Tennessee
was the site of fierce Unionist resistance to secession, Confederate rule, and the Southern war effort. It was also the scene
of unrelenting 'irregular,' or guerrilla, warfare between Union and Confederate supporters, a conflict that permanently altered
the region's political, economic, and social landscape. In this study, Noel Fisher examines the military and political struggle
for control of East Tennessee from the secession crisis through the early years of Reconstruction,
focusing particularly on the military and political significance of the region's irregular activity. Continued...
Fisher portrays in grim detail the brutality and ruthlessness employed not only by partisan bands but also
by Confederate and Union troops under constant threat of guerrilla attack and government officials frustrated by unstinting
dissent. He demonstrates that, generally, guerrillas were neither the romantic, daring figures of Civil War legend nor mere
thieves and murderers, but rather were ordinary men and women who fought to live under a government of their choice and to
drive out those who did not share their views.
Recommended
Reading: North
Carolinians in the Era of the Civil War and Reconstruction
(Hardcover). Description: Although North Carolina was a "home front" state rather than a battlefield state for most of the
Civil War, it was heavily involved in the Confederate war effort and experienced many conflicts as a result. North
Carolinians were divided over the issue of secession, and changes in race and gender relations brought new controversy.
Blacks fought for freedom, women sought greater independence, and their aspirations for change stimulated fierce resistance
from more privileged groups. Republicans and Democrats fought over power during Reconstruction and for decades thereafter
disagreed over the meaning of the war and Reconstruction. Continued below...
With contributions
by well-known historians as well as talented younger scholars, this volume offers new insights into all the key issues of
the Civil War era that played out in pronounced ways in the Tar Heel State.
In nine fascinating essays composed specifically for this volume, contributors address themes such as ambivalent whites, freed
blacks, the political establishment, racial hopes and fears, postwar ideology, and North Carolina women. These issues of the
Civil War and Reconstruction eras were so powerful that they continue to agitate North Carolinians today.
Recommended Reading:
Bushwhackers, The Civil War in North Carolina:
The Mountains (338 pages). Description: Trotter's book (which could have been titled "Murder, Mayhem, and Mountain Madness") is an epic backdrop
for the most horrific murdering, plundering and pillaging of the mountain communities of western North Carolina during the
state’s darkest hour—the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as Southern Appalachia, the North
Carolina and East Tennessee mountains witnessed divided loyalties in its bushwhackers
and guerrilla units. These so-called “bushwhackers” even used the conflict to settle old feuds and scores, which,
in some cases, continued well after the war ended. Continued below...
Some bushwhackers
were highly organized ‘fighting guerrilla units’ while others were a motley group of deserters and outliers,
and, since most of them were residents of the region, they were familiar with the terrain and made for a “very formidable
foe.” In this work, Trotter does a great job on covering the many facets of the bushwhackers, including their: battles,
skirmishes, raids, activities, motives, the outcome, and even the aftermath. This book is also a great source for tracing
ancestors during the Civil War; a must have for the family researcher of Southern Appalachia.
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