The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-11-03
VIRGINIANS DENY CLAIMS OF CAR
OLINA TROOPS.

Inc NTSNIl4d C~OI1eGeIdle N"IctdiIS 10
not willingly submit 10 the claim of
North Carolina for her troops: First
at Bethel. furthest at Gettysburg and
last at A~ppomatox."
The Virginia gtand camp of confede:-
ate veterans is in session in Newport
News. Among the proceedings on
Thursday a the reading Of
the report of tn history COM
mittee by its chairman, Judge
George L. Christian. This report was
listened to attenti3ely and at the CON
I~clusion of its reading was fully endors-
ed By resolution. That part in refer
enc 10 the claims Cor the North Caro-
lima troops was as follows:
There was profound stiffness as
Judge Christian arose TO read the his
tory committed report. Interest in the
! document throughout was sustained
and the applause "a frequent. Judge
Christian was congratulated when he
Iclosed.
The report, after d~eprecating all coI-
Itroversies between 4onfederates and
Icomplimenting North .Carolina and her
soldiers for the part borne by them in
1.-The confederate war, proceeds TO refute
some of her claims, but only in so far as
attempts have been made To augment
the fame of North Carolina at the ex-
Ipense of Virginia.
1t shows from the official record:
%. That the claim made by NorCh
carolina that she furnished more troOp
to the confederacy than any other
southern state is not so, and that Viz
|ginia furnished 81, 900 more han North
Carolina.
(2). That the claim h Virginia
had a larger number of men exempted
than any other southern state is also
ia mistake; that whilst the total ex-
empts" in Virginia amounted to 25,-
|O63. those in North Carolina numbered
|3S, 166, and that North Carolina had
ten times as many state officers ex-
tempted on certificates of her governor
las any other southern state.
CO. That the suggestion that n Of
the effects of the fighting of the First
North Carolina at Bethel was the pos
|sibly holding Virginia in the confeder-
was a reflection on Virginia, and
without any foundation whatever.
(D. The report then shows in graphic
terms some of the effects on Virginia by
reason of her being the seat Of war
from the beginning TO the end; that 600
|of the 1000 battles fought were on her
soil; that from this cause, and from her
ACKNOWLEDGMENT by the war, her situa-
|tion was different from that Of any 9TH
~ p 70 ,n1 that har e11ffarinoc onI
SACRIFICES could scarcely De exaggerated.
1T refers to the crime of the dismem-
|berment of Virginia as one of the
darkest political crimes on record"
co. The report then discusses at
length some of the claims made by
North Carolina, as set forth in the le-
'send inscribed on the volumes entitled
North Carolina Regiments, 81 to '65;"
that she was first at Bethel, farthest to
the front at Gettysburg and Chickamau-
ga, and last at AppOmattox," and
shows:
VIRGINIA THERE.
(a) That Virginia was at Bethel, and
did her duty there, as we'll as North
ECarolina; that Virginia was represented
there by the commanding general and
all three arms of the service, whilst
North Carolina had only one arm of he
service there; that in the account of the
battle written by D. H. Hill, Jr., Of
North Carolina, he comedies that the
first shot (which ushered in the great
civil war on the land was fired by the
battery of the Richmond Va.) HoWitz-
.ers, and contends that since Virginia
and north Carolina stood side by side,
and did their duty equally we'll at Beth
el, it is both invidious and unjust to
Virginia to claim hat North Carolina
first at Bethel"
CD AS to Gettysburg: The report
discusses the claim of North Carolina
that she was 'farthest to the front" in
the great charge of July 3, 1863, from
the official reports" both federal and
confederate; and shows from these re-
ports that this claim is not sustained
by the record. 1t quotes from the re-
ports of Generals Lee, Longstreet and
Lane; Colonies Lowrence, Shepherd and
others, of the confederates, and Gener-
ais Hancock, Webb and Hunt, of the
federals, all of which show tina the
only troops which penetrated the enc
lines were Pickett's Virginians
and some of Archer's brigade, the lat
ter composed wholly of Tennesseeans
and AlabamianS; hat no such claim
was made on behalf of the North Caro-
in any of the reports of their
own officers. either at the time they
were written or until long after the
close of the war; and that their claim
is based now wholly on post 5ellum
statements. The report the quotes
from General Lane, as to the value of
these statements, when compared with
those contained in the official reports
prepared shortly after the battle. 1t