25 April 1861: “I belong to the Charlotte Grays, Company C, First North Carolina Regiment…”

Item description: Entry, dated 25 April 1861, from the published diary (copyright 1913) of Louis Leon. In this his first entry of the diary, Leon describes his enlistment in the Confederate Army and his experiences in the first few days of his military service.

Item transcription:

CHAPTER I

THE BEGINNING

April 25, 1861 – I belong to the Charlotte Grays, Company C, First North Carolina Regiment. We left home for Raleigh. Our company is commanded by Capt. Egbert Ross. We are all boys between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. We offered our services to Governor Ellis, but were afraid he would not take us, as we are so young; but before we were called out our company was ordered to go to the United States Mint in our town and take same. We marched down to it, and it was surrendered to us. We guarded it several days, when we were ordered to Raleigh, and left on the above date. […click to continue reading the full transcription, via Documenting the American South…]

Item citation: From Diary of a Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, C970.78 L57d, from the North Carolina Collection, Wilson Library, UNC Chapel Hill.

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