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David L. Whitaker enlisted as a private in the Second North Carolina Cavalry Regiment on June 18, 1861, and was discharged a sergeant; September 14, 1862, enlisted as a 2nd Lt. in Second Company A (2ndA)*,
Infantry Regiment, Thomas Legion of Indians and Highlanders. David is son of the renowned Stephen Whitaker
* On September 27, 1862, Matthew Hale Love was elected captain of Second Company A (2ndA), Infantry Regiment, Thomas' Legion. 2ndA was Thomas' first " Indian Company" (by the end of the War there were 4 Cherokee companies that comprised the Cherokee Battalion) and was organized on
April 9, 1862, at Quallatown, North Carolina. William Holland Thomas was the captain. On September 27, 1862, when the Thomas
Legion organized at Knoxville, 2ndA was designated as Company C and Matthew Hale Love was elected captain. Later when 1stA
(First Company A), commanded by Captain Andrew W. Bryson, transferred to the 39th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, Second Company A was reassigned as First Company A, Infantry Regiment, Thomas' Legion.
Highly
Recommended Reading: Storm in the Mountains: Thomas' Confederate Legion of Cherokee Indians
and Mountaineers (Thomas' Legion: The Sixty-ninth North Carolina Regiment). Description:
Vernon H. Crow, Storm in the Mountains, spent 10 years conducting extensive Thomas Legion's research. Crow was
granted access to rare manuscripts, special collections, and privately held diaries which add great depth to this rarely
discussed Civil War legion. He explores and discusses the unit's formation, fighting history, and life of the legion's
commander--Cherokee chief and Confederate colonel--William Holland Thomas. Continued below...
Numerous maps and photographs allow the reader to better understand and relate to the subjects discussed. It also
contains rosters which is an added bonus for researchers and genealogists. Crow, furthermore, left no stone unturned
while examining the many facets of the Thomas Legion and his research is conveyed on a level that scores with Civil War students
and scholars alike.
NEW! North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster (Volume XVI: Thomas's Legion) (Hardcover, 537 pages),
North Carolina Office of Archives and History (June
26, 2008). Description:
The volume begins with an authoritative 246-page history of Thomas's Legion. The history, including Civil War battles and
campaigns, is followed by a complete roster and service records of the field officers, staff, and troops that served
in the legion. A thorough index completes the volume. Continued below...
Volume XVI
of North Carolina Troops: A Roster contains the history and roster of the most unusual North Carolina Confederate Civil
War unit, significant because of the large number of Cherokee Indians who served in its ranks. Thomas's Legion was the creation
of William Holland Thomas, an influential businessman, state legislator, and Cherokee chief. He initially raised a small
battalion of Cherokees in April 1862, and gradually expanded his command with companies of white soldiers raised in western
North Carolina,
eastern Tennessee, and Virginia.
By the end of 1862, Thomas's Legion comprised an infantry regiment and a battalion of infantry and cavalry. An artillery battery
was added in April 1863. Furthermore, in General Early's Army of the Valley, the Thomas Legion was well-known for its fighting
prowess. It is also known for its pivotal role in the last Civil War battle east of the Mississippi
River. The Thomas Legion mustered more than 2,500 soldiers and it closely resembled a brigade. With troop roster, muster records, and Compiled Military Service Records (CMSR) this volume
is also a must have for anyone interested in genealogy and researching Civil War ancestors. Simply stated, it is an outstanding
source for genealogists.
Editor's Recommended
Reading: Western
North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913 (Hardcover: 679 pages). Description: From
the introduction to the appendix, this volume is filled with interesting information. Covering seventeen counties—Alleghany,
Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania,
Watauga, and Yancey—the author conducted about ten years searching and gathering materials. Continued below...
About
the Author: John Preston Arthur was born in
1851 in Columbia,
South Carolina. After relocating to Asheville,
North Carolina, in 1887, he was appointed Secretary of the Street Railway Company,
and subsequently the Manager and Superintendent until 1894. Later, after becoming a lawyer, he was encouraged by the
Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) to write a history of western
North Carolina.
Recommended
Reading:
Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads (Touring the Backroads). Editorial Review: This guidebook, unlike most, is so encyclopedic in scope that I give it as a gift to newcomers
to the area. It is also an invaluable reference for the visitor who wants to see more than the fabulous Biltmore Estate. Even
though I am a native of the area, I learned nearly everything I know about Western North Carolina
from this book alone and it is my primary reference. I am still amazed at how much fact, history and folklore [just enough
to bring alive the curve of the road, the odd landmark, the abandoned building] is packed in its 300 pages. The author, who
must have collapsed from exhaustion when she finished it, takes you on a detailed tour, laid out by the tenth of the mile,
of carefully drawn sections of backroads that you can follow leisurely without getting lost. Continued below...
The author
is completely absent from the text. The lucid style will please readers who want the facts, not editorial comment. This book,
as well as the others in this publisher's backroads series, makes an excellent gift for anyone, especially the many seniors
who have relocated, or are considering relocating to this fascinating region. It is also a valuable reference for natives,
like me, who didn't know how much they didn't know.
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."
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