NORTH CAROLINA

On May 20, 1861, North Carolina became the last Southern state to secede from the Union, yet it would provide more than 127,000 men for the Confederate cause, probably more than any other state. The total population of North Carolina in 1860 was just under a million, 331,000 as slaves. Over 75 infantry regiments were raised for the Confederacy as well as a dozen artillery units of all kinds, and 6 cavalry regiments. Tarheel troops were among the best supplied in the Confederacy, since the state reserved uniforms and other equipment for her own troops. This and other issues of state's rights plagued Jefferson Davis during the war.

Most of the action in North Carolina occurred along the coast, with forays inland to towns such as Kinston, Goldsborough, Washington, and Elizabeth City. The Battle of New Bern on March 14, 1862, and the Battle of Bentonville on March 19-21, 1865 (part of Sherman's Carolinas Campaign), were the biggest actions in the state during the war. North Carolina was readmitted to the Union in 1868.

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