Bethel Regiment                               1^st NC Volunteers

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The 1st North Carolina Volunteers was formed from ten counties of volunteer state militias. Companies and volunteer units are as follows: A. Edgecombe Guards, B. Hornets Nest Rifles, C. Charlotte Greys, D. Orange Light Infantry, E. Buncombe Riflemen, F. Lafayette Light Infantry G. Burke Rifles, H. Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry, I. Enfield Blues and K. Southern Stars.

On May 11, 1861, the 1st NC Volunteers were formally organized. Now the 1st would go to Virginia and see its first action at Big Bethel on June 10, 1861. They would be led by Colonel D.H. Hill, brother-in-law of Stonewall Jackson. In the engagement at Bethel, Private Henry Lawson Wyatt would be the first and only death. Private Wyatt was the first Confederate dead of the war. The 1st would now return to North Carolina where it would be re-formed into the 11th North Carolina Troops and asigned to the Department of North Carolina. For the next two years the 11th would serve in eastern North Carolina. The newly formed 11th NC would be made up of ten companies: three from Mecklenburg County, two from Burke County and one from Bertie, Chowan, Orange, Lincoln and Buncombe. The 11th would now see action in eastern North Carolina. They would do provo duty around the city of Wilmington, N.C., and also see some action in White Hall and the Seige of Washington, N.C.

In the spring of 1863 the 11th would be called up to the front in Virginia. Now the men of the 11th NC would go into the service of Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia. The men from the Bethel Regiment would now fight at Gettysbury July 1-3, 1863; Bristoe Station October 14, 1863; The Wilderness May 5, 1864; Spotsylvania May 7, 1864; and Cold Harbor June 3, 1864. The battles that took place from June 1864 to April 1865 at the seige of Petersburg are as follows: Jerusalem Plank, Globe Tavern, Reams Station, Jones Farm, Burgess Mill and Hatcher Run. The 11th NC  surrendered at Appomattox Court House, Va., on April 9, 1865. The 11th NC Troops never lost or surrendered its colors. The 11th NC served in A.P. Hill's division from 1863 to 1865.

Source: Confederate Military History, Volume 3, Chapter VIII.