Week 1 Summary

This week has been fairly productive. I've spent most of my time compiling a list of sources to track down. My biggest problem right now is there does not appear to be a place with a substantial amount of information on the 58th NCT, so now I am going to have to spend a substantial amount of time in UNC's Southern Archives, as well as a day or so at the Caldwell County Heritage Museum and Archives in Lenoir, NC, a 3+ hour drive. I've spent a good amount of time reading through Lt. George Harper's dairies from 1907-1912. He mentions the anniversary of the Battle of Chicamauga on September 20th two years in a row. Further research indicated the 58th suffered cataclysmic casualties at Chicamauga.

The state archives contains most of the pension applications for the veterans of the confederate army. Many of these applications are dated around 1908. This is because the state government increased the pension from $25 a month to $75, making it worthwhile for even those veterans or widows in such an isolated locale as Caldwell County to make the trek to file such an application.

From George Harper's diary:

12/16/1907

"Bank- Confederate pensions getting their State Pension checks $25- up to $75- according to disability- none granted except to those indigent"

The Toe River Valley was still a backwater by 1907. Many residents were subsistence farmers with little or no disposable income, so it comes as no surprise that the number of applications for pensions granted would increase greatly in the area.

By 1899, the attitude in the former CSA had changed from defeated to nostalgic. This doesn't seem to be the case for the members of the 58th NCT. No representatives from the 58th attended the Reunion of Veterans of Western North Carolina in Asheville in 1899. Asheville was only a mere 50 miles away, and by 1899 the railroad finally had reached Caldwell County. The Veterans of the 58th appear to have met amongst themselves, but seldom if ever attended a large celebration of the Civil War. A possible explanation comes from W.H. Younce's memoir, Adventures of a Conscript, in which he states that "at least half of the 58th were loyal to the union." Reinforcing Younce is the staggering number of soldiers who deserted the 58th and joined the Union (at least 125).

The National Weather Service is expecting 6 inches of snow and 1/2-1 inch of ice tomorrow. If I am unable to make it downtown to the archives and I haven't lost power I plan on finishing up Hardy's book on the 58th and doing preliminary reading into the mammoth North Carolina Troops. I need to find a library that has the War of Secession: Official Records of the Confederacy and Union as many of Hardy's sources appear to come from it.