Lee's Tar Heels: The Pettigrew-Kirkland-MacRae Brigade - Hardcover

Hess, Earl J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807826871 ISBN 13: 9780807826874

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2002

Synopsis

The Pettigrew-Kirkland-MacRae Brigade was one of North Carolina’s best-known and most successful units during the Civil War. Formed in 1862, the brigade spent nearly a year protecting supply lines before being thrust into its first major combat at Gettysburg. There, James Johnston Pettigrew’s men pushed back the Union’s famed Iron Brigade in vicious fighting on July 1 and played a key role in Pickett’s Charge on July 3, in the process earning a reputation as one of the hardest-fighting units in Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Despite suffering heavy losses during the Gettysburg campaign, the brigade went on to prove its valor in a host of other engagements. It marched with Lee to Appomattox and was among the last Confederate units to lay down arms in the surrender ceremony.

Earl Hess tells the story of the men of the Pettigrew-Kirkland-MacRae Brigade, and especially the famous 26th North Carolina, chronicling the brigade’s formation and growth under Pettigrew and its subsequent exploits under William W. Kirkland and William MacRae. Beyond recounting the brigade’s military engagements, Hess draws on letters, diaries, memoirs, and service records to explore the camp life, medical care, social backgrounds, and political attitudes of these gallant Tar Heels. He also addresses the continuing debate between North Carolinians and Virginians over the failure of Pickett’s Charge.

About this title

About the Author

Earl J. Hess is Stewart W. McClelland Chair in history at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tennessee. He is author, most recently, of Pickett’s Charge — The Last Attack at Gettysburg and Kennesaw Mountain: Sherman, Johnston, and the Atlanta Campaign.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807826871
• ISBN 13: 9780807826874
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 456