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58th North Carolina Infantry Regiment
58th Infantry Regiment was organized in Mitchell County, North
Carolina, in July 1862. Its twelve companies were recruited in the counties of Mitchell, Yancey, Watauga, Caldwell, McDowell,
and Ashe. In September it moved to the Cumberland Gap and spent the winter of 1862-1863 at Big Creek Gap, near Jacksboro, Tennessee.
During the war, it was assigned to Kelly's, Reynolds', Brown's and Reynolds' Consolidated, and Palmer's Brigade. The 58th
participated in the campaigns of the Army of Tennessee from Chickamauga to Atlanta, guarded prisoners at Columbia, Tennessee,
during Hood's operations, and then relocated to South Carolina and skirmished along the Edisto
River. It returned to North Carolina
and engaged at Bentonville. It suffered 46 killed and 114 wounded at Chickamauga,
totaled 327 men and 186 arms in December 1863, and mustered about 300 effectives at Bentonville. The unit was included
in the surrender on April 26, 1865. Its commanders were Colonel John B.
Palmer; Lieutenant Colonels Thomas J. Dula, John C. Keener, Edmund Kirby, William W. Proffitt, and Samuel M. Silver. Continued
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Recommended Reading: The Fifty-Eighth North
Carolina Troops: Tar Heels in the Army of Tennessee. Description: North Carolina, commonly referred to
as the Tar Heel State, contributed more than 70 regiments to Confederate service during the bloody Civil War, but
only four of those regiments were permanently assigned to service in the Army of Tennessee. The Fifty-Eighth North Carolina
Troops, hailing primarily from the North Carolina mountains, fought from the fiercely contested Battle of Chickamauga
(second bloodiest battle in the Civil War - the first being Gettysburg) to the pitched Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina,
against General William Sherman (Sherman's March to the Sea and subsequent March through the Carolinas). Continued
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This battle-hardened Unit also served under generals such as "Harry" Heth
and D. H. Hill, brother-in-law to General "Stonewall" Jackson. This detailed history of the 58th North Carolina is based upon
letters, diaries, battle reports, and post-war reminisces composed by men who served in the regiment. It is their story. In
chronicling their experiences, Hardy consulted modern battlefield studies, and even visited each of the places where they
fought. This interesting book contains maps, photographs, rosters, and information on where they fought, where they camped,
and even what they ate. This fascinating account follows the rugged soldiers from conscription to battlefield to readjustment
to antebellum life. About the Author: Michael C. Hardy, also of North Carolina mountain ancestry, has written numerous
books, articles and essays focusing on the Civil War. He has even won the Willie Parker Peace History Book Award a breathtaking
six times, and he has also been presented the Jefferson Davis Historical Gold Medal by the United Daughters of the Confederacy
for his work on preserving Confederate history. Michael resides in the majestic North Carolina mountains, and he continues
to travel the Old North State researching and lecturing a variety of Civil War subjects.
Advance to:
Recommended Reading: Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865. Description: The author, Prof. D. H. Hill, Jr., was the son of Lieutenant
General Daniel Harvey Hill (North Carolina produced only
two lieutenant generals and it was the second highest rank in the army) and his mother was General “Stonewall”
Jackson’s wife's sister. In Confederate Military History Of North Carolina,
Hill discusses North Carolina’s massive task of preparing and mobilizing for the conflict; the many regiments and battalions
recruited from the Old North State; as well as the state's numerous contributions during the war. Continued below...
During Hill's Tar Heel State
study, the reader begins with interesting and thought-provoking statistical data regarding the 125,000 "Old North State"
soldiers that fought during the course of the war and the 40,000 that perished. Hill advances with the Tar Heels to the first
battle at Bethel, through numerous bloody campaigns and battles--including North
Carolina’s contributions at the "High Watermark" at Gettysburg--and concludes
with Lee's surrender at Appomattox.
Recommended
Reading: The Civil War in North Carolina.
Description: Numerous battles and skirmishes
were fought in North Carolina during the Civil War, and
the campaigns and battles themselves were crucial in the grand strategy of the conflict and involved some of the most famous
generals of the war. John Barrett presents the complete story of military engagements across the state, including the classical
pitched battle of Bentonville--involving Generals Joe Johnston and William Sherman--the siege of Fort Fisher, the amphibious campaigns on the
coast, and cavalry sweeps such as General George Stoneman's Raid. Also available
in hardcover: The Civil War in North Carolina .
Recommended Viewing: The Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns. Review: The
Civil War - A Film by Ken Burns is the most successful public-television miniseries in American history. The 11-hour Civil War didn't just captivate a nation,
reteaching to us our history in narrative terms; it actually also invented a new film language taken from its creator. When
people describe documentaries using the "Ken Burns approach," its style is understood: voice-over narrators reading letters
and documents dramatically and stating the writer's name at their conclusion, fresh live footage of places juxtaposed with
still images (photographs, paintings, maps, prints), anecdotal interviews, and romantic musical scores taken from the era
he depicts. Continued below...
The Civil War uses all of these devices to evoke atmosphere and resurrect an event that many knew
only from stale history books. While Burns is a historian, a researcher, and a documentarian, he's above all a gifted storyteller,
and it's his narrative powers that give this chronicle its beauty, overwhelming emotion, and devastating horror. Using the
words of old letters, eloquently read by a variety of celebrities, the stories of historians like Shelby Foote and rare, stained
photos, Burns allows us not only to relearn and finally understand our history, but also to feel and experience it. "Hailed
as a film masterpiece and landmark in historical storytelling." "[S]hould be a requirement for every
student."
Recommended Reading: The Life of Johnny Reb: The Common Soldier of the Confederacy (444
pages) (Louisiana State University Press) (Updated edition: November 2007) Description: The Life of Johnny Reb
does not merely describe the battles and skirmishes fought by the Confederate foot soldier. Rather, it provides an intimate
history of a soldier's daily life--the songs he sang, the foods he ate, the hopes and fears he experienced, the reasons he
fought. Continued below...
Wiley examined countless letters, diaries, newspaper accounts, and official
records to construct this frequently poignant, sometimes humorous account of the life of Johnny Reb. In a new foreword for
this updated edition, Civil War expert James I. Robertson, Jr., explores the exemplary career of Bell Irvin Wiley, who championed
the common folk, whom he saw as ensnared in the great conflict of the 1860s.
About Johnny Reb:
"A Civil War classic."--Florida Historical Quarterly
"This book deserves to be on the shelf of every Civil War modeler and enthusiast."--Model
Retailer
"[Wiley] has painted with skill a picture of the life of the Confederate
private. . . . It is a picture that is not only by far the most complete we have ever had but perhaps the best of its kind
we ever shall have."--Saturday Review of Literature
Recommended Reading: The
History Buff's Guide to the Civil War (400 pages). Description:
Exploring the Civil War can be fascinating, but with so many battles, leaders, issues, and more than 50,000 books on these
subjects, the task can also be overwhelming. Was Gettysburg the most important battle? Were Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson
Davis so different from each other? How accurate is re-enacting? Who were the worst commanding generals? Thomas R. Flagel
uses annotated lists organized under more than thirty headings to see through the powder smoke and straighten Sherman’s
neckties, ranking and clarifying the best, the worst, the largest, and the most lethal aspects of the conflict. Continued
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Major sections are fashioned around the following topics:
• Antebellum: Investigates the critical years before the war, in particular
the growing crises, extremists, and slavery.
• Politics: Contrasts the respective presidents and constitutions
of the Union and Confederacy, the most prominent politicians, and the most volatile issues of the times.
• Military Life: Offers insights into the world of the common soldiers,
how they fought, what they ate, how they were organized, what they saw, how they lived, and how they died.
• The Home Front: Looks at the fastest growing field in Civil War
research, including immigration, societal changes, hardships and shortages, dissent, and violence far from the firing lines.
• In Retrospect: Ranks the heroes and heroines, greatest victories
and failures, firsts and worsts.
• Pursuing the War: Summarizes Civil War study today, including films,
battlefield sites, books, genealogy, re-enactments, restoration, preservation, and other ventures.
From the antebellum years to Appomattox and beyond, The History Buff’s
Guide to the Civil War is a quick and compelling guide to one of the most complex and critical eras in American history.
Sources: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies; Walter Clark,
Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865; National Park Service: American
Civil War; National Park Service: Soldiers and Sailors System; Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis H. Manarin, North Carolina Troops,
1861-1865; and D. H. Hill, Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865.
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