Michael Hardy - General Lee’s Immortals: The Battles and Campaigns of the Branch-Lane Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865

The Battles and Campaigns of the Branch-Lane Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia, 18611865

Michael C. Hardy

Copyright 2018 by Michael C. Hardy

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hardy, Michael C., author.

Title: General Lees Immortals: The Battles and Campaigns of the Branch-Lane Brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia, 1861-1865 / by Michael C. Hardy.

Description: First edition. | El Dorado Hills, California : Savas Beatie LLC, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017033751| ISBN 9781611213638 (alk. paper) | ISBN 9781611213638 (ebk.) | ISBN 9781611213638 (mobi.)

Subjects: LCSH: Confederate States of America. Army. Branch-Lane Brigade. | North CarolinaHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Regimental histories. | United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Regimental histories. | United StatesHistoryCivil War, 1861-1865Campaigns. | Branch, Lawrence OB. (Lawrence OBryan), 1820-1862. | Lane, James Henry, 1833-1907.

Classification: LCC E573.4.B73 H37 2017 | DDC 973.7/13dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017033751

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To the descendants of Capt. Riddick Gatling, Jr., 33rd North Carolina Troops, and to the thousands of other descendants of the men of the Branch-Lane brigade. After 150 years, The Bravest of the Brave finally have a history.

Thank you for letting me tell their story.

Who has written up the war history of the glorious dead of Lanes brigade? lamented former captain Riddick Gatling, Jr., of the 33rd North Carolina Troops, in 1887. Who has ever written a line to tell of the sacrifices, the suffering and the ending of these more than immortal men? Who has ever told of the heroic death of General Branch at Sharpsburg? Why has the history of that brigade not been written? Gatling would likely be stunned that 150 years later, no complete history of the Branch-Lane brigade has appeared in print. In fact, 138 years passed before the history of just one regiment in the Branch-Lane brigade saw print.

To understand the war in-depth, one must understand how a brigade worked in camp and in combat, how regiments were organized, and how the men reacted to battle, to being away from home, and to inter- and intra-unit politics. The men of the Branch-Lane brigade served in the Army of Northern Virginia from May 1862 through Appomattox, enduring cold and hungry winters, long and hot marches, and the deadly chaos of more than 35 battles and skirmishes. Theirs is a truly remarkable story.

It seems much of my writing has been focused, in one way or another, around the extraordinary Branch-Lane brigade. My first book, a history of the 37th Regiment, was released in 2003. Other books and articles have followed, including studies on the battle of Hanover Court House, the breakthrough at Petersburg, and Gettysburg. Other authors have undertaken books on the brigades regiments, specifically the 18th and 28th Regiments. On many occasions, I have been honored to stand in a cemetery, presenting the history of this fine group of Tar Heels during a dedication of a stone for someones ancestor who served in the brigade. It has also been an honor to speak about the brigade at Pamplin Historical Park and at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, and to participate in tours at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Hanover Court House.

In 2008, I stood on stage beside the flag of the 37th Regiment, speaking of its past as it went on display in the state history museum. On the same stage in 2014, I was privileged to speak about the recently conserved state flag of the 33rd Regiment. Then, in 2016, I joined an honor company, firing a volley when a monument to the brigade was dedicated near Petersburg. This book grew from my desire to tell the story of this incredible brigade, a story that has been a part of my own life for the past 20 years. It is a story largely told in the words of these men themselves, a rich and complex history of their experience that also demonstrates how a Civil War brigade worked, moved, and fought.

It is my hope Riddick Gatling, Jr., would be pleased with this long-overdue history of the Branch-Lane brigade.

Raleigh News and Observer , March 10, 1887.

Michael Hardy, The Thirty-seventh North Carolina Troops (Jefferson, NC, 2003); Michael Hardy, The Battle of Hanover Court House (Jefferson, NC, 2006); Michael Hardy, The 37th North Carolina Troops, Americas Civil War (May 2003), 16:115-17; Michael Hardy, The Gettysburg Experiences of Lt. Iowa Michigan Royster, Gettysburg Magazine (July 2003), 29:121-24; Michael Hardy, A Day of Carnage & Blood, Americas Civil War (March 2005), 18:98-104; Michael Hardy, McClellans Missed Opportunity, Americas Civil War (March 2007), 20:154-61; Frances Casstevens, The 28th North Carolina Infantry (Jefferson, NC, 2008); James Gillispie, Cape Fear Confederates: The 18th North Carolina Regiment in the Civil War (Jefferson, NC, 2012).

Depositories

AU: Auburn University Library, Auburn, AL

CMSR/NA: Compiled Military Service Records, National Archives, Washington, D.C.

DU: Perkins Library, Duke University, Raleigh, NC

EU: Emory University Library, Atlanta, GA

KMHS: Kings Mountain Historical Society, Kings Mountatin, NC

NA: National Archives, Washington, D.C.

NCDAH: North Carolina Division of Archives and History. Raleigh, NC

NCMH: North Carolina Museum of History, Raleigh, NC

SHC/UNC: Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

UNC/C: Atkins Library, University of North CarolinaCharlotte Library, Charlotte, NC

UVA: University of Virginia Library, Charlottesville, VA

VHS: Virginia Historical Society, Richmond, VA

Other Abbreviations:

JL: James Henry Lane

LB: Lawrence OBryan Branch

NBP: National Battlefield Park

NMP: National Military Park

OR: The Official Records of the War of the Rebellion

SHSP: Southern Historical Society Papers

UDC: United Daughters of the Confederacy

VMI: Virginia Military Institute

I do not see how the union is to be saved.

SMOKE DRIFTED FROM THE nearly deserted town of New Bern, North Carolina. Confederate forces under Brig. Gen. Lawrence Branch had set fire to the bridge over the Trent River and to military stores before retreating farther north. Federal soldiers hotly pursued the Confederates, but upon reaching the town, they stopped to extinguish the conflagration before it engulfed the entire city. For Branch, it was an inglorious beginning to a brief military career.