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Posted on 08/14/2005 9:12:37 PM PDT by SAMWolf
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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37th North Carolina Infantry Regiment The service of the 37th North Carolina epitomized the grit and determination of Tar Heel fighters.  Sixty percent of the regiment's troops came from the mountain counties of North Carolina; the other 40 percent came from the counties around Charlotte. Most of the men already realized that the concept of a "six-month's war" was an illusion. When the regiment was mustered into Confederate service in January 1862, it was for three years or the duration of war. Colonel Charles Lee was a native North Carolinian who, like his father, Colonel Stephen Lee of the 16th North Carolina, and a cousin, General Stephen Dill Lee, graduated from West Point (class of '56). Charles had pre-viously served with future generals Daniel Harvey Hill and James H. Lane in the 1st North Carolina Volunteers, which had earned the nickname the "Bethel Regiment" for its role in the June 10, 1861, Battle of Big Bethel. Unfortunately, the .69-caliber arms that replaced the flintlocks were no great improvement. Originally flintlocks, they had been converted to percussion, probably comprising some of the 37,000 stands of antiquated muskets, some dating back to the War of 1812, that had been captured with the Federal arsenal in Fayetteville. The 37th carried those arms in its first battle, at New Berne, N.C., on March 14, 1862. Colonel Lee had been placed in command of a demi-brigade, and Lt. Col. William M. Barbour, a Wilkesboro lawyer, commanded the regiment at New Berne. The defenders lost the battle, however, due mostly to factors all too common for the Confederacy. Their overall commander, Brig. Gen. Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, was given a large area to defend with too few troops, and the Federals he faced were still flush from victory at Roanoke Island.  Brig. Gen. Lawrence O'Bryan Branch Soon after the battle, the 2nd North Carolina Brigade was created and General Branch was made its commander. The brigade was composed of the 7th, 18th, 28th, 33rd and 37th North Carolina Infantry regiments. The nephew of Governor John Branch, the brigadier had recently represented North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives. Throughout his tenure in the Confederate Army, Branch would carry a grudge against the service's prewar Regular Army officers, often disdainfully referring in private correspondences to fellow generals and commanders as "West Point Lieuts." Although Branch was controversial, few observers questioned the mettle of the fighting men in his brigade. By May 1, 1862, the brigade was on its way to central Virginia as part of the plan to increase the size of the Confederate forces in that state. Not long after its arrival, two companies of the 37th traded in their smoothbore muskets for British-made Enfield rifle-muskets. By late May, Union Maj. Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac had pushed Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's army to the eastern outskirts of Richmond. Branch's brigade, which had been augmented with a battery of artillery, cavalry and two more infantry regiments, was deployed to guard the Virginia Centtral Railroad about a dozen miles north of Richmond. In response to a report of a large Confederate concentration at Hanover Court House, a couple of miles north of Branch's position, McClellan sent Brig. Gen. Fitz-John Porter's V Corps to investigate on the morning of May 27. The previous night, Companies D and E of the 37th had been sent out to picket the Pamunkey River, to the east. In the morning, the Federals cut off the two companies, along with the 28th North Carolina, from the rest of Branch's force. While the 28th managed to fight its way out, most of the men in the two 37th companies were captured. Wagons were sent out to pick up the exhausted men who did escape. The 37th was further weakened when Company B was detailed to guard an ammunition wagon and ambulance. Colonel Lee was once again placed in charge of two regiments, his diminished 37th and the 18th. Advancing through some woods, the 37th encountered the Federals, according to a 37th officer, "concealed behind logs, trees and in the cut of the road way which [was] bordered by a fence...." The Federal force was vastly superior to the 37th, but the same officer recalled that "Coln Lees men stood like victorious officers & men stood as firm as rocks within 15 or 20 paces of the Yankee line. Volley after volley of grape from their cannon & Minie Balls from there Infantry Mowed Down our men...." After a vicious fight, the bulk of Porter's corps arrived and the Confederates retreated, leaving many of their dead and wounded. The 37th suffered 26 killed, 61 wounded and 167 captured, about one in three men engaged that day.  Even while the battle raged north of Richmond, Branch's brigade was being assigned to a newly created division under the leadership of Maj. Gen. Ambrose Powell Hill. In a letter to Branch, A.P. Hill described his command as the "Light Division," and the 37th would spend the rest of the war as a member of that famous organization. The regiment rendered good service during the Seven Days' battles. At Mechanicsville, it acted as a liaison between the newly named Army of Northern Virginia, under General Robert E. Lee, and the tardy Maj. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. At Gaines' Mill, the regiment charged the Federal works several times before the Yankees retreated from their position. On June 30 at Frayser's Farm, the 37th was once again engaged. As Colonel Lee yelled "On, my brave boys!" he was mortally wounded by an artillery shell. When told of his death, the men of the 37th wept. William Barbour assumed command of the regiment and was promoted to full colonel on July 1. The 37th next fought in the August Battles of Cedar Mountain and Second Manassas. After participating in the capture of Harpers Ferry, the regiment and the rest of Hill's Light Division made the exhausting and critical march from there to the Sharpsburg battlefield. The 37th then took part in Hill's famous counterattack that stopped the Federal IX Corps' drive toward the rear of Lee's army. Toward the end of the fighting, Branch was raising his field glasses to his eyes when a Federal bullet ended his life. Colonel James H. Lane of the 28th then assumed command of the brigade and was promoted to brigadier general.
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try this
http://www.carlb-rcplanes.com/Lancasterpage1.html
Dang Darksheare typo virus
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Oh, man! Is Hubby going to be jealous or what?
I don't know if I should show that to him or not.
!!!!!!!!!!!
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