4th North Carolina Infantry 4th North Carolina Regiment ( disambiguation ) was also known as the Fourth North Carolina State Troops ; 4th NCST ; and was nicknamed " The Bloody Fourth " after the high rate of casualties at the Battle of Seven Pines . " The effectiveness , steadiness in combat and the aggressiveness of the men to the enemy by the men of the regiment was demonstrated again and again in the Army of Northern Virginia . They earned their nickname “ The Bloody Fourth . ” " Not to be confused with the " 4th North Carolina Regiment " of the American Revolution , or the " 4th North Carolina Regiment " of the Spanish - American War . The 4th North Carolina Regiment was a Confederate States Army regiment during the American Civil War . 4th Infantry Regiment State Troops completed its organization in May 1862 , at Camp Hill , near Garysburg , North Carolina . It recruited its members in Iredell , Rowan , Wayne , Beaufort , Wilson , and Davie counties . Ordered to Virginia , the unit served in General Winfield S . Featherston ’ s , George B . Anderson ’ s , Stephen D . Ramseur ’ s , and William R . Cox ’ s Brigade . Its field officers were Colonels George B . Anderson , Bryan Grimes , Edwin A . Osborne , and James H . Wood ; Lieutenant Colonels David M . Carter and John A . Young ; and Majors Edward S . Marsh and Absalom K . Simonton . “ The Fourth North Carolina Infantry participated in more than sixty various types engagements during its career . ” History . The 4th North Carolina regiment was raised in 1861 from central and western North Carolina , with George B . Anderson as its first colonel . At the Battle of Seven Pines the 4th NC regiment justly earned its sobriquet of the “ Bloody Fourth . ” The regiment was here commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Grimes , who led the charge , and was the only officer surviving the fight unwounded . The Fourth went into battle with 520 men and 25 officers - “ the noble 545 . ” In carrying the works it lost 462 men and 24 officers killed and wounded ; this was the bloodiest charge of the war . In this battle the color guard being killed , the intrepid and heroic John Stikeleather became color bearer , and proudly bore the banner to its surrender at Appomattox . Anderson was mortally wounded at the Bloody Lane during the Battle of Sharpsburg ( Battle of Antietam ) in 1862 and command of the unit passed to Lt . Col . Bryan Grimes . The 4th North Carolina marched northward in Maryland and later into Pennsylvania , going as far north as Carlisle Barracks , Pennsylvania . On July 1 , 1863 the 4th North Carolina became engaged in the Battle of Gettysburg , fighting at Oak Hill Battle of Gettysburg , First Day . On the first day at Gettysburg , the regiment captured more Union prisoners than the regiment had men . “ At Gettysburg he [ Colonel Bryan Grimes ] and his regiment were the first to enter the town , and they drove the enemy through Gettysburg to the heights beyond , capturing more prisoners than there were men in his command . ” The second day of Gettysburg was spent northwest of Cemetery Hill . Later in the war , the regiment fought during the Overland Campaign and Siege of Petersburg , and remained in the Army of Northern Virginia until its surrender at Appomattox , Virginia . At Spotsylvania , the Fourth North Carolina again killed more Federal soldiers in their front than there were men in the regiment . “ On May 12 , 1864 , the enemy captured the Confederate breast works at the Horseshoe at Spotsylvania Court House , also many guns and two thousand of General Edward Johnson ’ s men . The gallant General [ Stephen Dodson Ramseur ] being wounded in attempting to retake the breastworks , Colonel [ Bryan ] Grimes on his own responsibility , ordered a second charge , himself leading it , and recovered the entire works and all the guns , capturing many prisoners and killing more of the enemy than the brigade numbered men . General Lee himself rode down and thanked them , telling them they deserved the thanks of the country - they had saved the army . ” At Appomattox , Cox ' s Brigade fired the last shots from the Army of Northern Virginia . External links . National Park Service unit history . See : http : / / www . civilwar . nps . gov / cwss /