ADDRESS BY WALTER CLARK ABOUT 
 
 RANDOLPH COUNTY SOLDIERS 
 
 IN THE GREAT WAR 1861-1865 
 
THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 THE COLLECTION OF 
 NORTH CAROLINIANA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 William T. Auman 
 
 Cp970.741 
 C59a 
 

 ADDRESS 
 
 by 
 
 WALTER CLARK 
 
 About 
 
 RANDOLPH COUNTY 
 SOLDIERS 
 
 In The 
 
 GREAT WAR 
 
 1861-1865 
 
Twenty-Second Regiment 
 i. }. Johnston Pettigrew, Colonel 3. Graham Daves, 1st Lieut., and Adjt. 
 
 2. Thos. D. Jones, Captain, Co. A 4. W. W. Dickson, 2nd Lieut., Co. A 
 
 5. Walter Clark, 2nd Lieut, and Drill Master 
 
 From Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions 
 from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-65, edited by 
 Walter Clark. — Volume II, facing page 161. 
 
lliSSilk 
 
 1861-1865 
 
 "ERECTED 1911 
 
 UNDER THE AUSPICES OF 
 
 RANDOLPH CHAPTER UDC 
 
 "Lest We Forget" 
 
 OUR CONFEDERATE HEROES 
 
PROGRAMME 
 
 Unveiling Exercises Confederate Monument, 
 Saturday, September Second — Procession 
 From Court House to Graded School. 
 
 Music — Mr. J. D. Ross led the march, followed by the Win- 
 ston Band. Then came the Confederate Veterans, about one 
 hundred in number. Next, Randolph Chapter, U.D.C., fol- 
 lowed by the Children of the Confederacy. 
 
 Song — America. 
 
 Invocation. 
 
 Double Quartet — Tenting Tonight. 
 
 Presentation of Speaker — Col. James T. Morehead, 
 Greensboro, N. C. 
 
 Address — Hon. Walter Clark, Chief Justice Supreme 
 Court of North Carolina. 
 
 Song— The Old North State. 
 
 Music. 
 
 Procession to Confederate Monument. 
 
 Music by Band. 
 
 Unveiling Monument — Miss May McAlister, President 
 Randolph Chapter, U. D. C. 
 
 Decorating Monument with Laurel Wreaths — Children 
 of Confederacy. 
 
 Music — Dixie. 
 
 Presentation of Confederate Monument — Mr. E. L. 
 Mofitt. 
 
 Acceptance for Veterans — Col. W. P. Wood, Auditor of 
 State. 
 
 Acceptance for County — Mr. H. M. Robins. 
 
 Acceptance, Town of Asheboro — Mayor J. A. Spence. 
 
 Music — Maryland, My Maryland. 
 
 Eulogies to Old Soldiers — Hon. Robt. N. Page and others. 
 
 Music — Band. 
 
 Dinner. 
 
 Col. A. C. McAlister, Master of Ceremonies. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2013 
 
 http://archive.org/details/addressaboutrandOOclar 
 
ADDRESS OF CHIEF JUSTICE CLARK 
 
 Ladies, Daughters of the Confederacy, Veterans and Fellow 
 Citizens : 
 
 It has been fifty years, just half a century, since North 
 Carolina, resuming her sovereignty, took her stand with her 
 sister Southern States beneath a new flag. More than four 
 decades and a half have passed since wreathed around with 
 laurel and with cypress that banner passed into the eternal 
 silence, where live forever the deathless dead. 
 
 North Carolina sent forth more than 125,000 stalwart 
 sons to make her declaration good. More than one-third, 
 43,000, came not back again. Dead by the fire of battle, dead 
 by wounds, dead by disease, from exposure and hardship, 
 43,000 of our bravest and best are sleeping their last sleep 
 at Gettysburg, at Vicksburg, at Chicamauga, at Charleston, 
 in the swamps of Chickahominy, around Petersburg, in the 
 valley of Virginia, and wherever in that ring of fire that 
 encircled the Confederacy, we faced the fearful odds that 
 slowly but steadily drove us inward. In the four decades and 
 a half which have passed since, the leaden hail of the years 
 have driven great gaps in the ranks of the survivors. An- 
 other third, aye, perhaps half of the remaining third, have 
 joined their comrades in the great bivouac of the beyond of 
 the dauntless host of North Carolinians, 125,500 strong who 
 well may be said to have carried on their bayonet points the 
 fortune of the Confederacy, as well as the fame and honor 
 of North Carolina, less than 20,000 are still with us. 
 
 In 1872 France and Germany went to war. Their popu- 
 lation was about equal — 38,000,000 each. Each had an army 
 of 400,000 men already equipped for war. The army of 
 France was inspired by the remembrance of the glories of 
 Napoleon, that of Germany by the victories of Frederick 
 the Great. In six months the German army had captured 
 Paris and 1,000,000 French troops, and France had surren- 
 dered to the enemy two great Provinces and had agreed to 
 pay a war indemnity of 1,000 millions of dollars. 
 
 In 1861 when our war began the South had no govern- 
 ment. It had to create one. It had not a soldier and not a 
 dollar. It had to raise an army, organize, equip and feed it. 
 It had to make a treasury and fill it. It had no arsenals, no 
 
powder and few guns. These things had to be made. The 
 enemy had 24,000,000 people to our 6,000,000, many of them 
 colored. They had an army and navy ready to hand. They 
 had an overflowing treasury and ready access to the outside 
 world, from which they drew recruits to their ranks and 
 supplies of every kind. When they lost a soldier, killed or 
 wounded, they could fill his place with three more. When we 
 lost a man there was no other to take his place. They put 
 3,000,000 of soldiers in the field. We managed first and last 
 to put into line 600,000. 
 
 It took the Germans six months to overcome the French, 
 a brave and martial race and their equal in numbers. It took 
 the North four years to travel the 117 miles between Wash- 
 ington and Richmond against a people and an army one 
 fourth their own in numbers. And again and again they 
 were on the point of failure. Had Albert Sidney Johnston's 
 life been spared one hour longer at Shiloh, Grant and 
 Sherman with the army under their command would have 
 been prisoners. Had Stonewall Jackson not been struck by 
 a bullet from one of our own men at Chancellorsville. Hook- 
 er's army would have been cut off from United States Ford 
 and prisoners of war. Either event would have ended the 
 war like a clap of thunder. The valor of our soldiers and the 
 genius of our general were equal to success. They did not 
 command it only because an infinitely greater power than 
 that which the enemy controlled willed it otherwise. As 
 Napier said of Napoleon, "Fortune, that name for the un- 
 known combinations of an infinite power was wanting to us 
 and without her aid the designs of men are as bubbles on a 
 troubled ocean." You can measure the magnitude of our 
 struggle in another way. In the great war of the Revolution 
 in which we won our independence from Great Britain the 
 patriots during the entire seven years left only 1735 men 
 dead on the field of battle and we would have been beaten 
 but for the help of France. 
 
 In the war of 1812, our second war with Great Britain, 
 we had only 1,235 killed outright, though that war saved to 
 us the country beyond the Mississippi and in the war with 
 Mexico which united us to Texas, California and the great 
 territory lying between them, one third of the Union, we 
 lost only 1047 men killed. In our war North Carolina alone 
 
had 5,016 men killed in battle and including the deaths from 
 wounds 14,000. Add to those the deaths from disease, this 
 State lost more than 42,000 men. 
 
 In the long centuries that are to come, legend and song in 
 this fair Southland will keep bright the story of the Con- 
 federate soldier. His memory will sparkle in the fountain ; 
 the mountain peaks will recall remembrance of his marches. 
 
 "The meanest rill, the mightiest river, 
 Rolls mingling with his fame forever." 
 
 Posterity will recall too the simple faith and courage with 
 which when the end came, you turned your faces homeward, 
 and there picking up the web of life, where the sword had 
 cut it, you began again where you had left off four years 
 before. Your powerful aid dissipated the evil influences that 
 had come over your native land. You raised up the broken 
 and discarded statues of Law and Order and replaced them 
 with Honor upon their pedestals. You cleared your fields of 
 the brambles that had grown up and your government of 
 the bad men who had climbed to power. At your bidding 
 prosperity again started the hum of its wheels, and honor 
 and integrity became again the attendants of your public 
 service. 
 
 You did all this and more that will stand to your everlast- 
 ing honor. In the strenuous struggle of 1861-65 you were 
 faithful to the highest ideals of the soldier and in the years 
 following you were equal to the highest duties of a citizen. 
 
 Patriotism is not with you an acquirement to be laid aside 
 at will. It is a part of your very existence. 
 
 The stress of years and the storm of battle have reduced 
 your members and enfeebled your steps. The heads of the 
 survivors have whitened with the snows that never melt, 
 but your patriotism has not diminished with your numbers 
 or your strength, and the State has no sons more jealous of 
 her honor or more obedient to her laws than you. 
 
 Truly of the Confederate soldiers no less can be said than 
 Pericles, the great Athenian, more than two thousand years 
 ago said of his own countrymen, who had fallen in a great 
 war : "Whenever, in all time, there shall be speech of great 
 deeds, there shall be thought and memory of them." 
 
On this occasion it will be appropriate for us to recall, 
 even if briefly, the story of the companies which Randolph 
 county sent to the front and to whose memory this monu- 
 ment has been erected. It will be well to recall somewhat of 
 their services, where they went and what they did, that it 
 may be seen with what just pride this monument will bear 
 to future ages the inscription, "In perpetual memory of the 
 Confederate soldiers of Randolph county." 
 
 To this recital of bare facts will seem tiresome, but to 
 these veterans they recall memories that will never die. The 
 "days of our youth are the days of our glory." Bear with me 
 then while I recall the battles, marches and sieges of not 
 long ago. 
 
 There are reasons which make my participation in this 
 dedication of a monument to the Confederate soldiers of 
 Randolph one of especial interest to myself. In 1861 when 
 the Governor of the State called upon the Superintendent 
 of the Military Academy at Hillsboro, Colonel Chas. C. Tew, 
 who afterwards met a soldier's death at Sharpsburg, to send 
 ten of his cadets to Raleigh to drill the troops I was one of 
 those chosen for that duty, though only a boy of 14, and I 
 was assigned to a company from Randolph, then com- 
 manded by Capt., afterwards Lt. Col., Robert H. Gray. The 
 regiment was organized by the election of that brilliant 
 scholar and soldier, J. Johnston Pettigrew as colonel and I 
 went with it to Virginia and served several months in this 
 regiment, with its three companies from the county of Ran- 
 dolph. I can never forget the kindness, I may almost say the 
 affection, with which I was treated by Capt. Gray, his offi- 
 cers and the members of his company. A tender hearted, 
 gallant soldier, he too met a soldier's death as did so many 
 of the Randolph men, and the distinguished colonel of the 
 regiment. Having entered the war with the men from Ran- 
 dolph, it was my fortune also in the last year of the war to 
 command a battalion of five companies, and afterwards to 
 be a field officer in a regiment, in which served a gallant 
 company of Junior Reserves from the county of Randolph 
 commanded by Capt. W. S. Lineberry. He, too, and his gal- 
 lant officers and men, I shall always hold in tender memory. 
 They were splendid soldiers, brave, faithful and uncom- 
 plaining, and worthy compeers of their fathers and brothers 
 
from this county with whom I had served in the first year 
 of the war. Then, too, when the drama was drawing to its 
 close, our last bivouac as were on the soil of Randolph and 
 we surrendered, stacked arms, and bade each other a final 
 farewell in the gloom of defeat near old Trinity College at a 
 place now known as Archdale. Thus in the beginning of that 
 great struggle and throughout its closing scenes my fate 
 was closely intermingled with that of the gallant soldiers 
 from this grand old county. 
 
 Your county sent to the front nine full companies, i. e., 
 Companies I, L and M, of the 22nd N. C. Regiment; Co. H, 
 in the 38th N. C. ; Companies F and G, 46th N. C. ; Co. B, 
 52nd N. C. ; Co. F, 70th N. C. ; Co. F, 2nd battalion, besides 
 half of Co. H of the 3rd N. C; half of Co. E, 44th N. C; a 
 large part of Co. H of the 44th N. C. ; and Companies A and 
 D in the 8th battalion, besides numerous soldiers from Ran- 
 dolph scattered among other regiments. 
 
 The first Companies from the County were, as above 
 stated, Companies I, L and M of the 22nd N. C. Regiment. 
 These companies were all raised early in June 1861. The 
 Regiment was originally the 12th Volunteers, but to prevent 
 duplication of numbers the 10th State Regiments, as they 
 were called, of three years men were numbered first, and 
 the twelfth Volunteers became the 22nd N. C. Regiment. 
 The Regiment originally had 12 companies but C and D 
 were transformed to another Regiment so two of the Ran- 
 dolph Companies L and M remained as such throughout 
 the war, though the Regiment had no Companies C and D. 
 Company I was commanded successively by Capt. S. G. 
 Worth and Geo. V. Lamb. Company L was commanded by 
 Capt. Robt. H. Gray (who became Lieut. Col. and died in 
 service) and then in succession by Capts. J. A. C. Brown, 
 Lee Russell, Y. M. C. Johnson. Company M was successively 
 commanded by Capts. John M. Odell, Laben Odell who be- 
 came Major (and was killed at Chancellorsville) , Warren B. 
 Kivett and C. F. Siler. Each of these companies from first 
 to last had from 175 to 200 soldiers each. 
 
 Soon after the 22nd N. C. Regiment was formed it was 
 ordered to Richmond, then to Evansport on the Potomac 
 where it supported the batteries which for a while blocked 
 all traffic to Washington by water. In March 1862, Col. Pet- 
 
tigrew was appointed Brigadier General but at that time 
 declined promotion, a very rare instance. The Regiment was 
 in the fight at Seven Pines 31st of May 1863 and heavily 
 engaged. The 3 Randolph Companies lost many men. Soon 
 after the Regiment was placed in a brigade consisting of the 
 16th, 22nd, 34th and 38th N. C. Regiments under the com- 
 mand of Gen. Wm. D. Pender which Brigade was assigned 
 to the Celebrated Light Division of A. P. Hill. 
 
 An officer describing the bearing of the 22nd N. C. Regi- 
 ment at Seven Pines says : "In all my reading of veterans, 
 and of coolness under fire, I have never conceived of any- 
 thing surpassing our men in this fight." 
 
 In the Seven Days Fights around Richmond, which soon 
 followed, the Regiment was again engaged ; on the 26th of 
 June near Mechanicsville at Ellyson's Mill and Gaines' Mill 
 June 27, where it won the highest encomiums from Gen. 
 A. P. Hill in his report and where the 22nd N. C. Regiment 
 at one time carried the crest of the hill and penetrated the 
 enemy's camp. It was again engaged at Frazier's Farm 
 June 28, 3 severe battles in 3 days. In this series of battles, 
 in the Seven Days around Richmond, the South was the 
 attacking party throughout. It was not made public at the 
 time, but official records now show that though we doubled 
 up McClellan's army and drove him back to the shelter of 
 his gun boats, the South had 50 per cent more men killed 
 and wounded than the enemy. The loss in the 22nd N. C. 
 Regiment was particularly heavy. Notwithstanding this, 
 with unabated courage and peculiar audacity, Gen. Lee's 
 army soon started on a dash into Maryland. On August 9 
 the 22nd N. C. Regiment fought under Jackson at Cedar 
 Mountain. It was again with Jackson when he struck Pope's 
 army on August 28 and 29 August and distinguished 
 itself at Second Manassas on August 30. Two days later it 
 was again engaged with the enemy at Chantilly, Ox Hill, 
 which was fought in a terrible thunder storm, in which the 
 artillery of heaven and earth seemed to rival each other. 
 Such were the hard service and heavy losses of the cam- 
 paign that there were only three field officers out of twelve 
 left in the brigade and some of the Companies were com- 
 manded by Corporals. 
 
The 22nd N. C. Regiment next took part in the capture 
 15 Sept. 1862 of Harper's Ferry in which the enemy sur- 
 rendered 11,000 men, 13,000 stand of arms, and some 73 
 pieces of artillery, and on Sept. 17 it was at the battle of 
 Sharpsburg, one of the bloodiest battles of the whole war. 
 On these two occasions, I had the honor of being again on 
 the same field with my old comrades from Randolph, though 
 at that time I was attached to another command, being then 
 Adjutant of the 35th N. C. Regiment commanded by Colonel, 
 afterwards Senator, M. W. Ransom. At Sharpsburg the 
 22nd N. C. Regiment with the rest of A. P. Hill's Division 
 arrived on the battlefield after a forced march of 17 miles, 
 about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. 
 
 Hill's Division in which were our 3 Randolph Companies 
 was left behind to parole the prisoners while the rest of the 
 army was hurried off to again cross the Potomac and aid 
 Lee who was cooped up in a bend of the river at Sharpsburg. 
 On 17 September pressing orders came for Hill's Division 
 to rejoin the army at Sharpsburg. This it did by a forced 
 march, wading the Potomac and reaching the field of battle 
 about 4 o'clock just as Burnside's corps had at last crossed 
 the bridge over the Antietam, and swinging around our 
 right was about to cut off our army. Ten minutes longer de- 
 lay would probably have destroyed the Confederate army, 
 for our line of retreat would have been seized. The official 
 reports show that McClellan had that day 101,000 men in 
 line, and until A. P. Hill's Division arrived Lee had at no time 
 more than from 27,000 to 30,000 men. Had Burnside moved 
 earlier, and with more vigor, Appomattox would have been 
 antedated two years and a half. The star of the Confederacy 
 would have set in night and Sharpsburg might have taken 
 its place in the history of our race by the side of Hastings 
 and Flodden. The loss of that army with Lee, Jackson and 
 other generals there would have been fatal. We know what 
 happened when the same glorious army, even with smaller 
 numbers disappeared at Appomattox. 
 
 Lee's army outnumbered three to one was fighting with 
 its back to the Potomac river, and if cut off by Burnside's 
 advance total destruction of our army was certain. It was 
 truly a "soldier's battle." There was no maneuvering but a 
 dead, square, stand up fight. I had the honor to be there on 
 
the left under Jackson and remember with what great 
 anxiety we listened for the opening guns of A. P. Hill's 
 Light Division of 6 brigades, which to hearten us we were 
 told was coming. No man who was there can forget to his 
 dying day the feeling of exultation when the terrible roll of 
 musketry told us that the Light Division had swung into 
 line and had met the advancing columns of Burnside's corps. 
 For two hours, the roll of musketry was deafening and 
 incessant. 
 
 We held our lines all the next day, the enemy not daring, 
 or being too exhausted, to advance, and that night the army 
 recrossed the river by fording without losing a prisoner or 
 a musket. On the 20th the enemy attempted to follow us and 
 was terribly defeated at Sheperdstown, the Light Division 
 in which were our 3 Randolph County Companies, being 
 heavily engaged. Gen. A. P. Hill issued an order of con- 
 gratulation in which he said of his Division, which included 
 the brave companies from Randolph, as follows : "You have 
 fought in every battle from Mechanicsville to Sheperds- 
 town, and no one can yet say that the Light Division was 
 ever broken. You held the left at Manassas against over- 
 whelming numbers and saved the army. You saved the day 
 at Sharpsburg and at Sheperdstown, you were selected to 
 face a storm of round shot, grape and shell, such as I have 
 never before witnessed. Your services are appreciated by 
 your commanding General." 
 
 In the latter part of November the 22 N. C. Regiment 
 with its Division was on duty near Martinsburg, north of 
 Winchester. It marched rapidly by way of Snicker's Gap, 
 for Fredericksburg where it arrived December 2 a distance 
 of 180 miles, just in time to aid in heading off Burnside's 
 army which was attempting to cross the Rappahannock. At 
 the battle of Fredericksburg December 13 the Regiment was 
 in the front list and acquitted itself in a way worthy of its 
 reputation. At Chancellorsville, in May 1863, the Regiment 
 was in Jackson's famous flank attack on Hooker. Its losses 
 were, as usual, very severe. Its Colonel and Major were both 
 killed and 219 men, and 26 out of 33 Company Officers, 
 were killed and wounded. Chancellorsville was the 18th bat- 
 tle in which the 22 N. C. Regiment had been engaged in two 
 vears and was one of the most fatal. 
 
In July 1863 the Regiment, with its three Randolph com- 
 panies, was at Gettysburg. Col. A. M. Scales (since Gover- 
 nor) had then succeeded to the command of the brigade. 
 The 22nd N. C. Regiment was in the first day's brilliant 
 success at Gettysburg. It was engaged again on the second 
 day, and on the third day it was under Pettigrew in the 
 famous charge on Cemetary Ridge. When it came out, the 
 entire brigade had not a single field officer left for duty and 
 very few line officers. 
 
 The Regiment was on the Rapidan in Oct. 1863, and at 
 Mine Run Dec. 2 in what was the coldest weather of the 
 war. On May 5 1864 it shared the terrible loss when Grant 
 opened his campaign at the Wilderness and faced him in 
 the almost daily battles on his memorable march to the 
 James River, in which in 60 days Grant lost more men than 
 Lee had in his whole army. The Regiment then took its place 
 in the lines around Richmond and Petersburg. It was in the 
 constant fighting from then on to the beginning of the re- 
 treat to Appomattox. On August 25 1864 it was in the 
 "North Carolina Victory" at Reams' Station when the 3 
 N. C. brigades of Cooke, McRae and Kirkland captured the 
 enemy's works. 
 
 The 22 N. C. Regiment served throughout the war in the 
 army of Northern Virginia, and shared in every battle of 
 any magnitude in which that army was engaged except the 
 first battle of Manassas. It was in the memorable retreat 
 from Petersburg to Appomattox which has been appropri- 
 ately styled "The Funeral March of the Confederacy". At 
 Appomattox the following were all that were left by the 
 attrition of war of our 3 Randolph companies to sign that 
 roll of honor the Parole list at Appomattox: Company I, 
 Capt. G. V. Lamb, Sergts. T. J. Wood and W. R. Allred, 
 Corporal N. E. Lamb, Privates John Heileg, A. L. McLaurin, 
 J. W. Heath, R. R. Thompson, A. J. Winningham, M. Burns. 
 Company L, Capt. Y. M. C. Johnson, First Lieut. C. H. Wel- 
 born, Sergt. C. M. Vestal, Corporal Allen Scott, Privates J. 
 Creasman, W. M. Pike, J. M. Thomas and C. C. Jones. 
 Company M, Capt. C. F. Siler, Privates L. D. Sloat, A. J. 
 Parker, David Wright, J. Foust, Joseph York, J. L. York, 
 W. Allridge. These names deserve to be recorded for all 
 times as faithful to the end. Others of these Companies 
 
were entitled to equal credit, Some slept in soldiers graves, 
 others were wounded or in Northern prisons. But these men 
 had the opportunity to be at a closing scene and they were 
 equal to the opportunity. 
 
 The next company from the county was Co. H, of the 38th 
 N. C. Regiment. This company was commanded originally 
 by Capt. Noah Rush and then by Capt. Wm. L. Thornburg. 
 It was raised in the fall of 1861, and the regiment was or- 
 ganized by the election of Wm. J. Hoke as colonel. It was in 
 Eastern North Carolina in the spring of 1862. In April, 
 1862, it was sent to Richmond and was assigned to Pender's 
 brigade. From thenceforward the history of the Randolph 
 company was the same as that of the three Randolph com- 
 panies in the 22nd regiment in the same brigade whose 
 services have just been recounted. 
 
 The next companies from the county were Companies F 
 and G of the 46th N. C. Regiment. Company F was com- 
 manded in succession by Capts. Alexander C. McAlister, 
 who was afterwards Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment, 
 Thos. A. Branson, killed in 1864, and Meredith M. Teague. 
 Colonel McAlister, I had the honor to know and served with 
 in 1861, and when he was sergeant major in Pettigrew's 
 regiment. 
 
 The other company from Randolph in this regiment was 
 Company G, which was commanded in succession by Capts. 
 0. W. Carr and Robt. P. Troy. 
 
 The 46th regiment was organized at Camp Mangum near 
 Raleigh in March, 1862, by the election of E. D. Hall, of 
 Wilmington as colonel, and Attorney General W. A. Jenkins, 
 of Warren, as lieutenant colonel. Its last colonel was W. L. 
 Saunders, who since the war was for many years Secretary 
 of State. It was sent to Richmond, where it arrived in time 
 to take part in the battle of Seven Pines May 30th, 1862. It 
 was placed in the brigade commanded first by Gen. John G. 
 Walker and then by John R. Cooke. During the seven days 
 battle around Richmond the regiment was stationed at 
 Drewry's Bluff in support of the batteries at that point, 
 though it was under fire on the last of the Seven Days at 
 Malvern Hill. 
 
 In 1862 when "August with its trailing vines passed out 
 the gates of summer,*' we returned the visit the Yankees 
 
had made us by marching northward. Walker's brigade, in 
 which was the Randolph company and Ransom's brigade, 
 to which I belonged, composed a small division commanded 
 by Gen. J. G. Walker. After the battle of Second Manassas 
 and Ghantilly had been fought we crossed the Potomac into 
 Maryland and penetrated as far as Hagerstown, Mel. when 
 we were ordered back and took part in the investment of 
 Harper's Ferry where our small division of two brigades 
 occupied Loudon Heights. We were present at the surrender 
 of the Federal troops on the early morning of September 15, 
 1862, when the Federals surrendered, as I have already 
 stated 11,0.00 men, 13,000 stands of arms, 73 pieces of ar- 
 tillery and a large quantity of munitions of war. Leaving 
 A. P. Hill's Division to parole the prisoners the rest of the 
 Confederate troops were promptly marched back up the 
 river and across the Potomac again into Maryland to 
 Sharpsburg, which we reached about midday September 16, 
 1862. Just before daylight the next morning our division 
 marched out and took position on the extreme right of the 
 line opposite the bridge which Burnside's corps carried later 
 in the day. About 9 o'clock couriers came in all haste with 
 the information that the enemy had broken through our left 
 wing, and two brigades of Walker's Division, including our 
 Randolph company, were hastily marched to the left. When 
 we got opposite the West Woods, Hood's Texas Brigade, 
 and other Confederate troops at that point had been driven 
 out and the blue wave was rolling through like water 
 through a broken mill dam. The regiments of Walker's 
 Division were successively wheeled to the right as they came 
 up and struck the Federal advance. The enemy were stopped 
 in the moment of their triumph and the day was saved. Five 
 successive assaults were subsequently made by the Federals 
 but each line was in turn broken and driven back. And when 
 night fell Walker's Division still held the line. About 4 p. m. 
 we were again in danger, as Burnside's corps had at last 
 crossed the bridge and were about to cut the army off from 
 our line and retreat. It was then that A. P. Hill's Division 
 came up, as I have stated in recounting the history of the 
 22nd regiment, and again saved the clay. We rested our 
 arms all next day, the enemy not daring to advance, and 
 recrosseel the Potomac at midnight by fording, men on 
 
horseback being stationed in the river and with lighted 
 torches to show the ford. 
 
 The battle of Sharpsburg was one of the bloodiest of the 
 whole war, and one of the most critical. It has been properly 
 called a "Soldier's Battle," for there was no room for strat- 
 egy. There was no maneuvering, it was a standup, give and 
 take. We fought the battle with our backs to the river, 
 the defection of a single brigade would have enabled the 
 enemy to pass through and cut us off from the river. The 
 official reports show that at the beginning of the fight we 
 had 27,000 men present as against 101,000 on the Federal 
 side. By the arrival of McLaws' Division and later in the 
 afternoon by the arrival of A. P. Hill's Division the Con- 
 federate numbers were raised to 33,000. 
 
 Cook's Brigade in which was the 46th regiment distin- 
 guished itself at Fredericksburg 13 Dec. 1862 when Burnside 
 attempted to cross the Rappahannock. It was behind the his- 
 toric wall at the foot of Marge's Height all that day long and 
 drove back six successive assaults of the enemy. Among 
 them Thos. Francis Meaghers, Irish Brigade which came 
 up carrying in addition to the U. S. Flag the green flag of 
 Erin with the Sun Burst upon it. The Col. of the Regiment 
 W. L. Saunders, was wounded by a minie ball which passed 
 through his mouth as he open it to give some command, the 
 ball passing out through his cheek. 
 
 In January Cook's Brigade, including the 46th Regiment 
 with our Randolph Company, was ordered to Holly Shelter 
 near Wilmington which was a much needed rest for the men 
 after the arduous campaign in Maryland and Virginia. In 
 April 1863 the Brigade was sent to Charleston and then to 
 Pocataligo, S. C. In June it was ordered back to Richmond 
 for the protection of that city during the Gettysburg cam- 
 paign which it thus escaped. In Oct. it rejoined the army at 
 Northern Virginia at Madison Court House where it was 
 attached to Heath's Division with which it remained till 
 the surrender. On 14 Oct. Cook's and Kirkland's N. C. Bri- 
 gade by a fatal error of Gen. A. P. Hill were sent to assault 
 Warren's corps which was lying behind a railroad embank- 
 ment at Bristol Station. The two Brigades were fearfully 
 cut to pieces. On 2 Dec. 1863 in the coldest weather of the 
 war, the army was drawn up to receive Meade's threatened 
 
attack at Mine Run. The enemy thought better of it and did 
 not assault. On 5 May 1864 the 46th N. C. was on the plank 
 road at the Wilderness when Grant opened his campaign. 
 The infantry fire at close range was terrible. After the war 
 I saw in the porch of the War Department at Washington 
 City the sections of a tree 12 inches in diameter which had 
 been cut down entirely by the bullets fired on that occasion. 
 On that day and the next the 46th N. C. lost 290 killed and 
 wounded out of 540 present for duty. The Regiment was in 
 the almost daily battles when Grant was "swinging around 
 the circle" down the James River. It was engaged on 10 May 
 and again on the historic 12 May when the enemy captured 
 the "Bloody Angle." After reaching Petersburg it was in the 
 daily fights in the trenches around Petersburg till the lines 
 were broken on 2 April 1865. On 25 August 1864 it was in 
 the North Carolina Victory at Ream's Station which was 
 won by 3 N. C. Brigades where we captured 7 stands of 
 colors, 9 pieces of artillery, 3100 prisoners and a large quan- 
 tity of camp equipage. This victory was won by the 3 N. C. 
 Brigades of Cooke, Kirkland and McRae. The bayonets were 
 freely used, and Lieut. Colonel A. C. McAlister distinguished 
 himself in daring leading the Regiment to the muzzles of 
 the enemy's cannon. The 46th Regiment lost 73 killed and 
 wounded, among the wounded Capt. Troy of Company G. 
 In Dec. the Regiment was in the famous Belfield expedition 
 noted for the suffering endured by the men from cold and 
 exposure, which continued for five days. In Feb. 1865 it was 
 in the battle at Hatcher's Run, among the killed being Lieut. 
 J. W. Brook of Company G. The Regiment was on the re- 
 treat to Appomattox where the parole list shows that there 
 was left of Company G to sign the Parole List Capt. R. P. 
 Troy, Segts. J. C. Davis and T. A. Futrell, Corporal J. G. 
 Caviness, and Privates W. L. Brower, L. Ferguson, Sion 
 Hill, John Hicks, A. M. Ingold, J. A. Leach, E. Thompson, 
 J. G. Varnar, W. M. Williams, W. J. Caviness. 
 
 The next Company from the county was Company B 52nd 
 N. C. Regiment. This Regiment was commanded in succes- 
 sion by Capts. Jas. K. Foulkes and Jesse W. Kyle. This 
 Company was raised in March 1862. The 52nd Regiment was 
 organized at Raleigh in April 1862, James K. Marshall being 
 elected colonel. The Regiment was assigned to the brigade 
 
commanded by Gen. J. G. Martin. In August the Regiment 
 was assigned to Pettigrew's Brigade. It served in eastern 
 North Carolina during 1832 and was in the battle at 
 Goldsboro Dec. 17, 1862 where it was temporarily under 
 the command of Gen. Clingman. In the spring of 1863 it 
 was in the attack on Washington, N. C. and in the advance 
 on New Bern. Early in May 1863 it was sent to the army in 
 Northern Virginia where Pettigrew's Brigade was assigned 
 to Heath's Division A. P. Hill's corps and as such it took 
 part in the famous Gettysburg campaign. Another Regi- 
 ment of this Brigade was the 26th N. C. On the first day's 
 fight at Gettysburg this Brigade was terribly cut to pieces. 
 On the third day under Pettigrew it was in the famous 
 assault on Cemetary Ridge in which the North Carolinians, 
 as has been proven, went farthest to the front. Without in 
 any way reflecting upon the gallant Virginians who ad- 
 vanced under Pickett's command, it is well to state that the 
 losses of this Brigade alone in the battle of Gettysburg were 
 more than that sustained by all 4 Brigades in Pickett's 
 Division. On the retreat at Falling Waters, Gen. Pettigrew 
 was killed by a dash of the enemy's cavalry, and Kirkland 
 was assigned to the command of the brigade. Under Kirk- 
 land's command our Randolph Company like the Randolph 
 Company in the 38th Regiment under Cooke was involved 
 in the disastrous repulse at Bristoe Station. It was also at 
 Mine Run in Dec, and when Grant opened his campaign in 
 May at the Wilderness the 52nd Regiment, as usual, was at 
 the front, Capt. Kyle, being among the wounded. The 
 Randolph Company in the 52nd Regiment was at Spottsyl- 
 vania and in all the battles as Grant was moving down to 
 the James. It then took its place in the lines around Peters- 
 burg. In July, Brigadier Gen. McRae took command of the 
 Brigade which on August 25 was one of the 3 N. C. Brigades 
 which fought in the battle at Reams' Station. Besides the 
 daily fights in the trenches, this Regiment was engaged 
 in the larger battles at Burgess' Hills Oct. 27, 1864, and at 
 Hatcher's Run Feb. 5, 1865. The Regiment was in the final 
 retreat to Appomattox showing its native gallantry up to 
 the last moment. The Parole List at Appomattox shows that 
 there was then left of the Randolph Company, only 1st 
 
Lieut. W. D. Kyle, Corporal A. J. Goins, Privates R. Allred, 
 A. Hancock and W. H. Lamb. 
 
 The next company from the county was Company F. 
 Second Battalion commanded successively by Capt. T. W. 
 Andrews who was promoted to lieut. -colonel and killed at 
 Gettysburg, and then by Capt. John M. Hancock, who 
 became Major; he was wounded at Gettysburg and taken 
 prisoner. He finally died in '76 from the wound. 
 
 This company was organized in November, 1831, and 
 first saw service around Wilmington. It was then sent to 
 Roanoke Island where it was included in the surrender to 
 Gen. Burnside, February 8, 1862. After being exchanged, 
 the battalion in August, 1862, was ordered to Drewry's 
 Bluff and was assigned to the brigade commanded by Gen. 
 Junius Daniel, and after his death by Gen. Bryan Grimes. 
 Early in January, 1863, it was sent to Eastern North Caro- 
 lina, where it served till May, 1863, when it was ordered 
 back to Virginia and attached to Rhodes' division, which 
 comprised the three North Carolina brigades of Ramseur, 
 Daniel and Iverson, and Doles' Georgia brigade, and there 
 was no better division in the whole army. This company 
 with the brigade was in the Gettysburg campaign and 
 suffered heavy loss, 163 being killed and wounded in this 
 battalion in that battle. In May, 1864, it was at the terrific 
 battle of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania and faced Grant 
 almost daily down to the James where it took its place in 
 the lines around Petersburg. In June, 1864, this brigade was 
 placed in Early's corps and with him marched up the Valley 
 of Virginia, across the Potomac, and on August 11, 1864, 
 was in sight of the capitol at Washington. On the retreat 
 down the Valley it was in the great battle at Winchester 
 September 19, 1864, when Gen. Ramseur commanding the 
 division was killed. The brigade resumed its place in the 
 lines around Petersburg and participated in the attack on 
 Hare's Hill March 25, 1835, when we broke the enemy's 
 lines and captured Fort Stedman. 
 
 It was on the retreat to Appomattox where there was left 
 to sign the parole list of Co. F Sergeants Allen Richardson, 
 T. H. Dungan and M. H. Moffitt, Privates Geo. Cagle, G. W. 
 
Cox, J. H. Elberson, L. D. Gordon, J. M. Kenny, Gideon 
 Macon and Daniel Rich. 
 
 The next to be considered is the half of Co. H, 3rd N. C. 
 Regiment which was raised in May, 1861. One of the 
 captains of this company was Swift Galloway, who was so 
 well known in North Carolina since the war as one of the 
 ablest solicitors. These men served in the 3rd regiment 
 which at first together with the 1st North Carolina and a 
 Virginia and Arkansas regiment were in the brigade 
 commanded by John G. Walker. It afterwards was assigned 
 to Ripley's brigade which was composed of the 1st and 3rd 
 N. C. Regiments and the 4th and 44th Georgia Regiments, 
 and as such were engaged at Mechanicsville in May, 1862, 
 and in the famous Seven Days fights around Richmond 
 down to Malvern Hill. After the retreat next day from 
 Malvern Hill, where our army suffered such terrible and 
 wholly unnecessary loss, the dead of the 1 and 3 N. C. 
 Regiments were found nearest to the enemy's guns. This 
 Regiment was in the advance into Maryland in 1862 and 
 participated in the battle at South Mountain 14 Sept. and 
 at Sharpsburg 17 Sept. 1862 where Col. W. L. DeRosett 
 commanding the Regiment was severely wounded, and the 
 Regiment in the Division of D. H. Hill held the line in the 
 Peach Orchard when towards the last the men were placed 
 5 feet apart. We had no reenforcements to send them. There 
 is no record more glorious in the whole war than that of the 
 3 N. C. at Sharpsburg. The Regiment was in the battle at 
 Fredericksburg 13 Dec. 1862. In May 1865 it was at 
 Chancellorsville under Jackson when we broke the enemy's 
 lines and would have captured his army but for the fatal 
 wounding of Gen. Stonewall Jackson at the crisis of the 
 victory. In June 1863 the Brigade then being commanded 
 by Gen. Geo. H. Stewart, was in the Gettysburg Campaign 
 where, like the rest of the army, its losses were disastrous. 
 It was in Bristoe and Mine Run campaigns in the Fall and 
 Winter of that year. In May 1864 it was present when 
 Grant opened the campaign at the Wilderness. The 3 N. C. 
 captured two pieces of artillery and 100 prisoners. On 12 
 May 1864 it was at the Bloody Angle when a large part of 
 the Regiment was captured. What was left of the 1 and 3 
 
N. C. Regiments were then consolidated and assigned to 
 W. R. Cox's N. C. Brigade. These were the last two N. C. 
 Regiments which had not till then been placed in a N. C. 
 Brigade. The 3 N. C. was in all the battles down to Peters- 
 burg. In June 1864 the Brigade was assigned to Early's 
 corps and with it marched up the Valley, across the Potomac, 
 and on 11 August 1864 was in sight of the Capitol at 
 Washington. On the retreat it was in the battles at Win- 
 chester 17 Aug., Charleston 21 Aug., Smithiield 29 Aug., 
 Bunker Hill 3 Sept., Winchester 19 Sept. and Fisher's Hill 
 22 Sept. where it aided to cover our retreat. It was present 
 when Gen. Rhodes commanding the Division was killed and 
 a little later when Ramseur who succeeded him also fell. In 
 Feb. 1865 it returned to the lines around Petersburg and was 
 in the long retreat to Appomattox where the only man of 
 the Company from Randolph left to be paroled was Zimri 
 Williams. 
 
 The next Company from Randolph to be considered was 
 half of Company E, and a third of Company H in the 44 
 N. C. Regiment one of whose Captains was Chas. M. Sted- 
 man, afterwards Major of the Regiment and a most gallant 
 officer, who since the war has been Lieut. -Gov. of North 
 Carolina, and is now a member of Congress from Greensboro 
 District. This Regiment was originally organized in March 
 1862 at Raleigh by the election of Geo. B. Singletary as 
 Colonel. It was later transferred to the army of Northern 
 Virginia and assigned to the brigade of J. Johnson Petti- 
 grew. Under his command they saw the same services 
 which I mentioned in recounting those of Company B in the 
 52nd N. C. Regiment which belonged to that Brigade. 
 
 The last company from the county of Randolph was Co. 
 F 70th N. C. Regiment. These were Junior Reserves or 
 17-year-old boys. This company was raised in May, 1864, 
 and was first organized into a battalion of five companies 
 which did me the honor to select myself as its major. A 
 month later at Weldon, it was organized as the 70th N. C. 
 Regiment, and as such rendered service in Eastern North 
 Carolina. Early in December it was assigned to a brigade. 
 Under the law these young troops could not be ordered out 
 of the State, but upon learning of the raid of Warren's 
 
corps against Bellfield, Va., to destroy our railroad com- 
 munication, this entire brigade volunteered to a man to go 
 to Virginia and reached Bellfield on the 8th of December, 
 where it aided the troops which were sent from Petersburg, 
 among them the Randolph companies 1 have already 
 mentioned, to drive back the enemy. Upon its return to 
 North Carolina, this regiment was in the skirmish at 
 Butler's bridge near Hamilton, December 22nd, and on 
 Christmas day it engaged the Federal gunboats at Poplar 
 Point on their way to assault Fort Branch, near Hamilton. 
 The Junior Reserve Brigade composed of three regiments 
 and a battalion were placed under Col. Nethercutt and 
 assigned to Hoke's Division and as such were engaged in 
 the battle at Southwest Creek, four miles below Kinston, 
 on March 8, 1865, when we met and drove back Schoolfield's 
 army which was advancing from New Bern, and where 
 Hoke's Division captured 2,000 prisoners. Falling back to 
 join Johnston's army, Hoke's Division, including the Junior 
 Reserve brigade, was assigned to Hardee's corps under 
 Joseph E. Johnston, and met Sherman's army at Bentonville. 
 There we were engaged for three successive days, the 19th, 
 20th and 21st of March. There these boys were fighting 
 side by side with the veterans of four years from the army 
 of Northern Virginia under Hoke, Kirkland and others, and 
 with the veterans of the army of the West, displayed 
 brilliant courage and were the equals of the best troops in 
 the line. 
 
 On 6 May, 1865 at Michener's Depot near Selma, the 
 last great review of a Confederate army was held, for Lee's 
 army, unknown to us, was in the toils, and in daily grapple 
 with the enemy on its retreat to Appomattox. On that day 
 Gov. Vance came down from Raleigh and as the army passed 
 in review it presented a brave appearance, and its un- 
 diminished enthusiasm proved it was still full of fight. On 
 April 10 we began our retreat, the day after Lee's sur- 
 render, though that fact was then unknown to us. We 
 passed through Raleigh on the 12th where some rumors of 
 Lee's surrender were circulated among the higher officers. 
 We marched through Chapel Hill, by the Alamance Battle 
 
Ground, and encamped at Red Cross where we heard of 
 Johnson's abortive agreement with Sherman which Lincoln 
 repudiated. Later on 26 April Johnson surrendered, and on 
 2 May more than 3 weeks after Lee's surrender at Bush 
 Hill, now Archdale, near old Trinity, we stacked arms, 
 signed the Parole List, and dispersed to our homes. The 
 mules and horses were divided among the officers and men 
 without reference to rank, and what little Confederate 
 specie was in the army chest was divided in the same 
 manner. Every man from General down to Private received 
 a Mexican silver dollar and 25 cents in U. S. silver. I have 
 my $1.25 yet — the money that would ever stick to my 
 fingers. 
 
 There were many other Randolph men who were scattered 
 through the other Regiments in the army, but to take up 
 the record of their services would be to go over the history 
 of nearly every Regiment which North Carolina sent to 
 the Great War. 
 
 From what I have already said, it will be seen that from 
 the very beginning of the war to its close, wherever there 
 were hardships to be endured, sufferings to be borne and 
 hard fighting to be done there the county of Randolph was 
 represented, and represented with honor, in the persons of 
 her gallant sons. 
 
 This Monument which has been erected by the patriotic 
 efforts of the women of this great county does credit to 
 them as well as to the gallant men whose memory it is 
 intended to perpetuate. 
 
 Such is the brief story of the Confederate Soldiers of 
 your county. A whole volume could not narrate adequately 
 all that each company did that deserves to be recorded. Nor 
 have I time to pay tribute to particular soldiers. This county 
 furnished many splendid officers who would have been an 
 honor to any army. I might tell of their courage, their 
 devotion to duty, their tender care of their men. I might 
 too tell the story of many a private who leaving his humble 
 home, endured for months and years every hardship, faced 
 disease, danger and death with an equal countenance, 
 fulfilling every duty, and rising almost unknown to himself, 
 
to the highest and fullest measurement of a man. Many 
 such there were from your county and from all over the 
 South. They wore no stars or bars of official rank, their 
 name filled no bugle blast of fame. Faithfully they lived 
 hidden lives and too often they fill unknown graves, but 
 when the final balance is struck by the hand that never errs 
 their names shall lead all the rest. 
 
 The monuments which the fair hands of our women have 
 caused to be raised to the memory of the Confederate 
 soldiers are not the only ones. The enemy, in a sad sincerity, 
 have erected a far more costly one. In 1900, the pension 
 rolls showed that more than 1,000,000 soldiers were then 
 drawing pay from the government, for the reason sworn to 
 by every one of them, and the fact found to be true on 
 official examination, that you, Confederate soldiers, had 
 wounded and crippled him or had made him very sick, 
 permanently sick, in fact. As there were first and last but 
 600,000 of you, some of whom were killed and wounded, 
 you must have given the enemy what the Irish called a 
 "Perfectly ilegant time." 
 
 Since the war, this country has paid in pensions and to 
 Soldiers Homes for Federal soldiers, altogether 4 thousand 
 millions of dollars, of this, one-third, 1,300 million dollars 
 have been paid by the South and of that over 100 millions 
 has been paid by the people of this State. As nearly all this 
 goes North this has aided vastly to keep us poor in our 
 poverty. The South has paid a far heavier War Indemnity 
 than France paid to Germany. The U. S. pension list has 
 been padded extravagantly to keep up an excuse for a high 
 tariff. 
 
 The soldiers who fought for the Northern States have 
 been rewarded. Those of the Southern States have received 
 only what we in our poverty could do for them. The North 
 has shown neither generosity nor magnanimity — not even 
 moderation in this. 
 
 My review of the record of the soldiers of Randolph has 
 been necessarily brief and imperfect. May I not suggest 
 that before it is too late, some son or daughter of your 
 county should write the story of the soldiers from Randolph 
 
in the Great War, where they went and what they did. Such 
 writer could take the official reports and from the lips of 
 these veterans take down the living details which will add 
 the dry narrative with life and color complexion, and 
 breathe into it the breath of life. When the work is done, it 
 will reflect eternal honor on the county and the people that 
 could furnish such soldiers and on the loving hands that 
 thus shall record Great Deeds Nobly Done. 
 
MECKLENBURG DECLARATION AND STATE MOTTO 
 
 Raleigh, N. C. 
 Editor Greensboro News 31 May, 1922 
 
 Greensboro, N. C. 
 
 Dear Sir: 
 
 I notice in your issue of the 29th an editorial denying the authenticity 
 of the Mecklenburg Declaration which concludes with the following 
 paragraph: 
 
 "Our State history is glorious enough without blemishing it with a 
 preposterous mistake, which everybody who has studied the subject 
 now knows was fixed on our flag and seal by a wandering faker for 
 his financial profit." 
 
 I do not wish to enter into the controversy on the subject of the date 
 of the Mecklenburg Declaration, which was fully examined into by the 
 Legislature of 1830 when many of the participants of that memorable 
 meeting were still alive and the Legislature set forth the facts and 
 published them to the world. But I ought not to let this occasion pass 
 without calling attention to the paragraph in the editorial above quoted 
 which certainly is the most imaginative fiction. In the "Booklet" for 
 1909, Vol. 9, p. 179, there is an article written by myself, entitled, "Our 
 State Motto and its Origin," which traced its history back through the 
 centuries to Aeschylus and his drama, "The Seven Before Thebes," and 
 at the conclusion of that article on p. 182 the editors, who were Miss 
 Mary Hilliard Hinton and Mrs. E. E. Moffitt, saw fit to add the following: 
 
 "Note by the Editors. — The bill which was passed in 1893 to adopt 
 our State Motto was introduced by Senator Jacob Battle, of Nash, 
 afterwards Judge of the Superior Court. We have before us a letter 
 from him in which he states that the motto was selected by Judge — 
 since Chief Justice — Walter Clark, who also drew the bill and 
 requested him to present it. He adds that the words '20 May, 1775', 
 secured the hearty co-operation of the Senator Brevard McDowell 
 of Mecklenburg, and by their joint efforts the bill passed the un- 
 animous vote of both houses of the General Assembly and without 
 amendment." 
 
 The Act in question was Chapter 145, Laws 1893, Now Consolidated 
 Statutes, Sec. 7536. That statute was drawn by myself as stated in Judge 
 Battle's letter, quoted by the Booklet and I never heard of any faker 
 being in any way connected with it. It was drawn after conference with 
 Mr. McDowell and Judge Battle and others who championed its passage, 
 and it was enacted by a unanimous vote in both branches of the Legis- 
 lature, acting doubtless upon the faith of the Act of the General As- 
 sembly of 1830 which investigated the matter and issued a pamphlet 
 setting forth the facts as they found them to be. 
 
 The dates, May 20, 1775 and April 12, 1776, were put on the flag, I 
 think in 1861. It certainly was enacted by Chapter 291, Laws 1885, now 
 Consolidated Statutes 7535. If the Legislature of 1830, 1861, 1885 and 1893 
 were all grossly mistaken, it is very certain that their action must be 
 condemned by a greater authority than the fiction set out in the para- 
 graph referred to, that it is now known that they (the dates) "were fixed 
 on our flag and seal by a wandering faker for his financial profit." 
 
 Those who now attack the authenticity of the Declaration and the good 
 faith of the General Assembly of 1830, should not resort to undoubted 
 fiction to overthrow it. I have no idea that anyone connected with your 
 office wrote that purely imaginative paragraph. A faker that could thus 
 control the General Assemblies of 1830, 1861, 1885 and 1893 must have 
 been a vertible "Wandering Jew." 
 
 Most Respectfully 
 
 Walter Clark 
 
UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032732785 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION