Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 4.djvu/26

12 {| State or Confederate service From these official figures it will be seen that, estimating the offensive troops alone, North Carolina exceeded her quota 41,715 men. Including the Junior and Senior reserves, who did active duty in garrison, guarding prisoners, and on occasion good fighting, the State exceeded its quota by 51,618. Taking all, it went over its quota by the large sum of 55,580! This number of troops far exceeded the State s voting population. The highest vote ever cast was in the Ellis-Pool campaign. The total vote in that election was 112,586. Hence, even leaving out the Home Guards, North Carolina sent to the Confederate armies 8,452 more men than ever voted at one of its elections.
 * Then, organized and subject to emergency service in the State, Home Guard and Militia
 * 3,962
 * Total troops, armed, equipped and mustered into
 * Total troops, armed, equipped and mustered into
 * 125,000
 * }

Another remarkable proof of the State s brave devotion to the Confederacy is noteworthy in this connection. As shown by the census of 1860, the total number of men in North Carolina between the ages of 20 and 60, the extreme limits of military service, was 128,889. Subtract from this number the number of troops furnished, and it reveals the extraordinary fact that in the whole of North Carolina there were only 3,889 men subject to military duty who were not in some form of martial service. Most of these 3,889 were exempted because they were serving the State, in civil capacity, as magistrates, county officers, dispensers of public food, etc. So, practically, every man in the State was serving the State or the Confederacy. It may well be doubted whether a more striking evidence of public devotion was every recorded.

In April, 1861, it became apparent that a peaceful arbitrament of existing difficulties was hardly possible, so the authorities began to organize the troops. The regiments, offering themselves in hot haste, were organ-