State

Volume XI Number 7 July 17 1943 THE STATE A Weekly Survey of North Caro lino Enured >1 ufondrlnu miller. June I. 1933, el Ihe Po.tefflee *1 Rilelfb. North Cirollni. under the Act of Mirch 3, 1879. Our Part In Seven Wars Mr. Hendricks has compiled some inter¬ esting' facts and figures in connection with North Carolina's part in past wars as well as the present conflict. Til К present world conflict is the «•veil th war it> which North Caro¬ lina, since the attainment of statehood, has furnished men, ma¬ terials, and treasure. To date. North Carolinians have made hv fur a greater contribution to the winning of the Second World War than they have to any previous war. But in the percentage of the State's population supplied to the armed forces, ill the number and per¬ centage of casualties sustained, in sacrifice, and suffering, the extent of the State’s participation in this war does not even approximate its record in the War Between the States. North Carolinians fought in many wars during the Colonial period, also. While these were insignificant affairs judged by modern standards of all- out war. some of them brought much suffering to the colonists ami they wen- vital to the course of the colony’s development. The Revolutionary War was a har¬ rowing and hitter experience for tin- people of North Carolina, fraught with suffering, privation, and heavy losses, both in men and property. Tin- State had no industry to speak of at the outbreak of the war, and efforts for the cause of independence were handicapped by the lack of a strong continental government, the weakness of the State government, the poverty of the people, dissent ion among the Whigs, and the ever-present and mili¬ tant hostility of the Tories, who were both strong and resourceful. North Carolina depended for its own defense upon tin- militia ami minutemon whose personnel was raided, organized, armed, paid, and maintained, such as it was, by the К у \\. C. HENDRICKS State. The inilitiaiiii-ii elected their own company officers; field officers were elected bv the general assembly, ami the governor served as com¬ mander-in-chief. In 1782 (Sov. Alexander Martin reported that the militia included *26,822 men, though it is impossible to determine how many of these ever saw action. However it was the militia¬ men who heat the Tories at Moore's Creek Bridge and liquidated the haughty Ferguson at Kings Mountain. The militiamen, aided by Whig parti¬ sans, carried the brunt of the in¬ ternecine warfare with the Tories. Besides the militia, the State raised ten battalions of troops for the Con¬ tinental Line. Although North Caro¬ lina never succeeded in bringing its Continental troops up to their full quota, the published list of the State's ten battalions contains 5,454 names, including all who had died, were taken prisoner, were discharged, or deserted. The historian R. I>. W. Con¬ nor estimates that not less than ten per cent of the whole number were included in the deserters. The War of 1812 With the outbreak of the second war with Great Britain in 1812. North Carolina provided 7.000 soldiers and the general assembly in 181:1 appropri¬ ated $75,000 to arm and equip the State's troops, following up the next year with $55,000 more. On .Inly 11. 1813. Admiral CoekbUrn, with a fit-et of seven vessels, entered Ocracoke Inlet and landed troops at Portsmouth and Shell Castle. lie seized two Ameri¬ can ships, helped himself to all the livestock within range, and destroyed a considerably amount of property. Gov. William Hawkins organized a force to attack the Britishers but Cock hum elected to withdraw in the direction of Florida. North Carolina troops were dis¬ patched to the Creek country, to Nor¬ folk. and to the southern frontier of the nation. Outstanding North Caro¬ linians in this war wen- Otwav Burn- and Johnston Blakely, who. with their privateers, wreaked havoc with British shipping, and Col. Benjamin For¬ sythe. slain near Odelltown after dis¬ tinguishing himself in fighting on the Canadian frontier. The War With Mexico The War with Mexico was not wholly popular with North t’aro- lininns and the .State’s contribution Ю the military effort was far from heroic. In May 1810 President Polk . ailed upon Gov. William A. Graham for a regimen I of Volunteers, eomposed of 10 companies of 100 men each. More than three times the number responded and the 10 companies were chosen by lot. Tin- company officers were elected by the men; field officer- were appointed by the governor. Each officer and soldier was to provide his own uniforms, for which he was allowed $3.50 per month payable six months in advance — an arrangement that did not . . with acceptance until it was improved. They were paid 50 cents for each *20 miles traveled cn route to the muster centers at Char¬ lotte and Wilmington. In addition to the 1.000 men. two companies were l