42nd Regiment Co.C NC troops CSA

My great grandfather was Robert Allen Carter 
who became Captain of the 42nd Reg Co C at the
Battle of Cold Harbor in 1864 when James Howell 
was killed.My grandmother was
 Lilly Bassett Carter Hoffman ,his daughter .
 He died when she was 4 years old. 
Her mother,Elizabeth Coble Carter, ran 
a boarding house in Albemarle,NC. 
Many interesting people and disussions
 about the war and about their kin were
 held around the dinner table. Grandmother 
grew up with a love for family history and
 admiration for her father that she never knew.
She spent time talking with and visiting the older
 family to gather information . 
It has been a treasure to our family 
because many of the courthouse records 
in Montgomery County were burned during
 the Civil war.
As I was growing up in the 1960's ,
I remember grandmother
writing in her notebooks and telling
the stories of her father.
Thanks ,Grandma ,for the great legacy you left us.
Lilly Bassett Carter Hoffman ( 1888-1979)

From my Grandmother's notebooks :

On May 5 1861 ,  a meeting was held 
in the court house at Albemarle  .The
cause was presented by Dr Richard Anderson.
 Volunteers were called for....
Everyone hestitated and then Bob Carter came
 forth and gave his name for
service and he became the 1st volunteer 
from Stanly County Others followed.
On May 15th , 5 days before NC suceeded, the volunteers
 met at the
courthouse. The women of the county had been supervised
 by a tailor and made
uniforms using the only sewing machine in the county of Mr. McCain,father of
a later sheriff .Dressed in their uniforms and with
 two fifes and a drum
they marched from the court house to the 
Marshall hotel on the square. Lousia Thomas Hearne 
appeared o the balcony and sang the "Old North state"
 She was
the foster daughter of Joseph and Nora Hearne Marshall.
The people cheered
and threw their hats into the air 
as the soldiers started the 30 mile walk
to Salisbury NC. Bob Carter who was the 1st volunteer 
was chosen to carry
the flag.
They left on the night train from Salisbury to Raleigh
 where they went to
Camp Ellis . Zeb Vance, later Governor and Us Senator from NC,
 was on the
train that night  and he kept the boys in great spirits 
by telling jokes and stories.......

The regiment was on Crawford's farm south of Salisbury
 under Lt Colonel John
E Brown and they were drilled daily by him. 
The soldiers said that " Brown
would rather drill than eat". 
A federal prison was located at Salisbury and
there was the first active duty of the company
The federal prisoners were exchanged about August 1, 
the regiment ordered to Richmond where it remained 
2 days and then advanced to Drewery's Bluff .They
were without food for 36 hours ."

They next went to Petersburg and encamped and were
 inspected by Gen.Pettigrew. Here they were
 drilled and did outpost duty until fall of
1862....they went to Tarboro, NC and engaged in skirmishes
 and moved to Franklin VA. They were in Richmond VA
 and threw up breast works on the Darby town Road in 
 fall of 1863.
 In Oct they went to Wilmington , Sheppardsville NC
 On Feb 2, 1864, met a skirmish and captured 10 pieces 
of artillery and 78 prisoners . They were in Weldon NC
 and then to Plymouth NC, Bermuda Hundreds,Swift Creek,

On May 20th under Gen DH Hill the confederates attacked 
the enemy at Bermuda Hundreds. The 42nd came out of the 
woods on a brow of a hill and under heavy
fire marched double time down a valley into a open field
 and were
victorious. At BH..A new division was formed under Gen Hoke 
consisting of
Martin's and Clingman's NC Haygood SC and Colquits GA
June 1 Hoke's was sent to Cold Harbor( There are accounts
 on the internet and Ancestry .com about these battles.)
The charge began at 4:30 AM ... 10,000 soldiers were killed
 in 20 minutes. The salvage corps had to
walk and slipped through the blood  from dead horses 
and men... a very bloody battle . 
James Howell was killed as he peeked over an breastworks .
Robert Carter was a close friend and had warned him about 
doing that.Robert Allen Carter became Captain of Co C .
They went to Chickahominy and New Market Heights near 
Malvern Hill,crossed the James River and arrived at
Petesburg 2AM on June 17th....
there were 12,000 confederates and Gen Burnside 's 
federals were at 65,000 men.

Gen Hancock's men broke the line at Wise's Legion .
 The CSA were exhausted from days of fighting. Ransom's 
brigade supported that line and drove the union
back
{In 1915 my grandmother went to visit Miss Essie Ransom,
 the d/o Gen Ransom in Hickory ,NC}

The 42nd defended Petersburg,VA
The 42nd 's duty was Hare's Hill -the most difficult 
on the line in that it was exposed to constant mortar fire
They were in the "Crater" on the exact spot 2 days
before defending that portion of the line.
 They had been ordered there that day and then the order
was countermanded before the postion could be taken. 
At the time of the explosion they were to the left 
of Hare's Hill.
In 1934 my grandmother visited John Hatley, 
one of the soldiers of the the 42nd,
 and he talked about the Crater. 
He and Capt. Carter had been lying in a
gully when the explosion occurred . 
A fragment hit Capt Carter in the knee 
and John Hatley in the lip.....
"they had been blown into the air."
 Mr Hatley said that it took place at 3AM . 
History says it was suppose to blow at 2AM .
That winter they spent in winter quarters on the
 Darby town road.
General Gracie was killed at Petersburg 
and the 42nd was chosen to do the military honors
 at his funeral along with the Eutaw Band from Charleston SC.
Dec 23 1864 they were ordered to Wilmington to Ft Fisher 
and traveled by box cars,building fires in the cars 
and the smoke was very disagreeable.
The women fed them and they marched to Sugar Loaf Mountain.
They were fired on all Christmas day by 2600 shells.

Bentonville was the last battle the 42nd fought in on Mar 19th

Family Story :
They had a skirmish in Kinston that is a favorite family story....
 -the Federal Captain Bassett was killed and when they buried him , 
my great grandfather Robert Allen Carter,was urged by the soldiers 
to take the sword and sash and he did as their Captain of
 the 42nd.Co C. Many years after the war was over in 1880's 
,he sent the governor of Connecticutt a letter asking 
help in finding the family of Capt Julius Bassett, 
the fallen federal captain. He found his sons and
 sent them the sword and sash and the story of what 
had happened to their father and where he was buried. 
In return they sent him a lovely ebony walking 
cane engraved from the family of Captain Julius Bassett .
It had  a gold head amd a silver tip. 
The cane is in the NC archives  in Raleigh.
After the surrender the 42nd went through Chapel Hill and 
then Graham,Liberty through that area until reached 
the farm of Amos Ragan which was 3 miles south of 
High Point.The 42nd pitched their tents beginning at 
the post office known as Bloomington and camped 
as far as Trinty College, now known as Archdale.
 The soldiers were paid$1.05 in US money and were
 told they could disband. They threw their hats into
 the air. After the soldiers were gone , the people 
of the community searched the woods and fields for 
souvenirs. Dr.Tomlinson was the practicing physician at
 Bush Hill. One of his children found balls the
 confederate army used to shoot from mounted guns 
or cannons, Each was about 4 1/2 inches round.
In 1950 Dr Tomlinson's home was sold to Horace Ragan.
 There was found in the basement a jar with the balls.
 Most were given to the Springfield Friends Museum
(Note: LCH received 3 of them by her daughter Elizabeth
 who found them . Elizabeth had married Herbert Tomlinson 
Ragan)

 After the disbandment ,Captain Carter had to report
 to Greensboro to hand over the records of his company 
to the Federal government. Greensboro was over run with
 Confederate and federal officiers. The woman of the 
community fed them . Bread and homemade molasses was 
about all they had. While in Greensboro, Capt Carter 
stopped at a small restaurant and bought a plate of 
Oysters. He paid 25 dollars in Confederate money 
for his meal.

Story :
Mr Allred was a small boy when the 42nd disbanded.
 He told me(LCH) that he lived at Watkins Mill 4 miles
 from Center friends Meeting and that he saw many
 soldiers cross the river at the mill 
on their way home.

Many of the men in the Company C were kin to each other .
 Capt Bob Carter's brother Richard was 17 and
 captured at Gaines MIll near Cold Harbor . 
He died in Elmira NY prison just before the war was over.
The musicians were important and would rally the men
 in battle as well as entertain them.

Another story.....
At Wilmington they were camped and enjoyed
 eating the oysters that they found there.
 It was winter and each tent had a smoke stack 
for it's fire.The boys had a little fun by putting
 a board across the opening and smoking out a tent. 
One soldier was irrate and he became so violent that
 he was hung up by his thumbs by Captain Carter 
because he wouldn't control himself  and
later transferred to another unit. 
It's easy to see that tempers would be
short since they had inadequate clothing  
in the cold winter and little food
at times as well as at times exhaustion 
and the hardship of blood  and death in war.

 The 42nd fought with determination and dedication
 to "the cause".Most were not slave owners but 
farmers or merchants. My grandmother speaks in her writings
  of " the cause" with reverence and speaks of honor for 
they believed they were protecting their freedom and honor 
and their families from an invading force.
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