General Pettigrew's Trunk

Welcome to General Pettigrew's Trunk, a repository of moldy old books, yellowed old papers, and a few other hard-to-find documents.

Pickett or Pettigrew? by Captain William R. Bond

  • Bond, a staff officer in General Junius Daniel's Brigade, offered in the 1880s the first revisionist account of the events of July 3, 1863, as they pertain to North Carolinians. Mandatory reading for all Tar Heels interested in the Battle of Gettysburg. The complete book is here.

    • The Adventures of a Conscript by William H. Younce

  • Ever read a book written by a North Carolina Unionist? Apparently this is the only one. Younce was a determined deserter from the 58th Regiment N.C. Troops.
    • Local Designations of North Carolina Companies in State and Confederate Service, 1861-1865 by Greg Mast
  • "Fool Killers," "Yankee Hunters," and "Double Quicks."
    Partisan Campaigns of Colonel Lawrence M.Allen by A. P. Gaston

  • Weymouth T. Jordan, Jr., in his recent history of the 64th Regiment N.C. Troops, describes this book about its colonel as follows: Partisan Campaigns . . . purports to be based on Colonel Allen's "reminiscences" as well as "official reports" but is a highly unreliable compilation that, because of the time and effort required to disprove its numerous errors, is quite literally worse than useless." N.C. Troops, 15:138. Despite that damning judgment, I have decided to post the book here anyway. I do encourage anyone with an interest in the 64th North Carolina to read Mr. Jordan's fine regimental history.

    • "Reminiscences of Roanoke Minute Men" by Captain Wilson T. Jenkins and His Wife

  • This work is one of several brief reminiscenses by North Carolina veterans that appeared in Company Front, the historical journal of The Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th Regiment N.C. Troops. I was editor of that publication for several years in the late '80s and early '90s. Rather to my amazement (and thanks to the computer skills of my son), this reminiscence and several others were rescued from the unlabled floppy disks on which I had carelessly saved them, and so now they appear here.

    • "My Last Days Experiences as a Confederate Soldier in 1865" by George L. Tonnoffski

  • Another reminiscence from the files of Company Front.
    • "A Few Incidents Occuring During the Civil War" by John H.C. Burch

  • The recollections of a Person County soldier.

    • "A Tar Heel Jewish Soldier at Gettysburg: Extracts from the Diary of Private Louis Leon, Company B, 53rd Regiment N.C. Troops, May 17-July 15, 1863" edited by Greg Mast

    "The 'Bethel Regiment'" by Major Edward J. Hale

  • A history of the 1st Regiment N.C. Volunteers