North Carolina War Between the States Sesquicentennial
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of Tyrrell County
North Carolina Patriots of ’61 – Brigadier-General James Johnston Pettigrew
Born on the 4th of July, 1828 at Bonarva plantation, Tyrrell County, the supremely-gifted James Johnston Pettigrew was the son of accomplished planter Ebenezer Pettigrew who also owned nearby Belgrade and Magnolia plantations. James attended Bingham Academy in Hillsborough and entered the University of North Carolina at age fifteen, graduating with a perfect academic record in 1847. His scholastic career was so brilliant that upon his graduation President James Polk offered him appointment as assistant professor at the Naval Observatory in Washington, under accomplished scientist Matthew F. Maury.
In 1849 Pettigrew left for Europe where he earned a civil law degree from the University of Berlin; and then toured extensively in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Austro-Hungarian empire. He returned to Charleston in 1853 and served as the junior partner of relative James Louis Petigru. James Johnston Pettigrew was elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in 1856, and wrote a celebrated report against the reopening of the foreign slave trade.
He returned to Europe in 1859 to enlist in the Sardinian army during the Franco-Austrian war, though unsuccessfully. He returned to Charleston and was in command of South Carolina’s First Regiment of Rifles from December 1860 to the capitulation of Fort Sumter. He subsequently enlisted in the Hampton Legion, was elected colonel of the 12th South Carolina Regiment, and by July 1861 was in command of the 22nd North Carolina Regiment. Pettigrew’s field officers in this regiment were Lt.-Col. John O. Long of Randolph County, and Major Thomas S. Galloway of Rockingham County, and the men enlisted from Caldwell, McDowell, Guilford, Alleghany, Stokes, Caswell and Randolph counties.
Promoted to brigadier in March 1862, Pettigrew formed a brigade composed of Col. Collette Leventhorpe’s 11th North Carolina; the 44th North Carolina under Col. Thomas Singletary; the 47th North Carolina under Col. George H. Fairbault; Col. James K. Marshall’s 52nd North Carolina; and the 26th North Carolina, the regiment of Col. Zebulon Vance before he had been elected governor. The commander of the 26th was twenty year-old Col. Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., one of the youngest and most able colonels in the Southern army. Pettigrew led this brigade at the battle of Seven Pines where he was wounded and captured, imprisoned at Fort Delaware, and exchanged.
Joining the Army of Northern Virginia in early June, 1863, Pettigrew’s Brigade successfully assaulted McPherson’s and Seminary ridges at Gettysburg on the first day, and sustained great casualties. General Pettigrew led (General Henry) Heth’s Division during Pickett’s assault on the third day. During Lee’s movement after Gettysburg, Pettigrew was wounded for the fifth time, fatally, in a rearguard action on the Potomac with Northern cavalry. He died on 17 July.
A friend said of Pettigrew: “More than all he loved liberty…but he felt that to love liberty was an empty mockery, unless that love was exhibited in the sacrifice which its acquisition requires. With him to be free, was to be prepared for and to engage in the struggle it demands.” Another said: “He was my beau ideal of what a gentleman and a soldier ought to be.”
Matthew Fontaine Maury wrote of him after the war: “I considered Pettigrew the most promising young man of the South, and, as young as he was, I advocated for him the post of our Generalissimo.”
General Pettigrew’s body was taken to Raleigh where, on 24 July, it lay in state in the capitol, surrounded by wreaths, weaved by the fairest ladies, of flowers from the fairest gardens in the town. Buried temporarily in Raleigh, his remains are now at home at Bonarva, in the family burial ground adjacent to Lake Phelps.
(Source: Carolina Cavalier, Clyde N. Wilson, Chronicles Press, 2002)
www.ncwbts150.com
"The Official Website of the North Carolina WBTS Sesquicentennial Commission"
of Tyrrell County
North Carolina Patriots of ’61 – Brigadier-General James Johnston Pettigrew
Born on the 4th of July, 1828 at Bonarva plantation, Tyrrell County, the supremely-gifted James Johnston Pettigrew was the son of accomplished planter Ebenezer Pettigrew who also owned nearby Belgrade and Magnolia plantations. James attended Bingham Academy in Hillsborough and entered the University of North Carolina at age fifteen, graduating with a perfect academic record in 1847. His scholastic career was so brilliant that upon his graduation President James Polk offered him appointment as assistant professor at the Naval Observatory in Washington, under accomplished scientist Matthew F. Maury.
In 1849 Pettigrew left for Europe where he earned a civil law degree from the University of Berlin; and then toured extensively in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the Austro-Hungarian empire. He returned to Charleston in 1853 and served as the junior partner of relative James Louis Petigru. James Johnston Pettigrew was elected to the South Carolina General Assembly in 1856, and wrote a celebrated report against the reopening of the foreign slave trade.
He returned to Europe in 1859 to enlist in the Sardinian army during the Franco-Austrian war, though unsuccessfully. He returned to Charleston and was in command of South Carolina’s First Regiment of Rifles from December 1860 to the capitulation of Fort Sumter. He subsequently enlisted in the Hampton Legion, was elected colonel of the 12th South Carolina Regiment, and by July 1861 was in command of the 22nd North Carolina Regiment. Pettigrew’s field officers in this regiment were Lt.-Col. John O. Long of Randolph County, and Major Thomas S. Galloway of Rockingham County, and the men enlisted from Caldwell, McDowell, Guilford, Alleghany, Stokes, Caswell and Randolph counties.
Promoted to brigadier in March 1862, Pettigrew formed a brigade composed of Col. Collette Leventhorpe’s 11th North Carolina; the 44th North Carolina under Col. Thomas Singletary; the 47th North Carolina under Col. George H. Fairbault; Col. James K. Marshall’s 52nd North Carolina; and the 26th North Carolina, the regiment of Col. Zebulon Vance before he had been elected governor. The commander of the 26th was twenty year-old Col. Henry King Burgwyn, Jr., one of the youngest and most able colonels in the Southern army. Pettigrew led this brigade at the battle of Seven Pines where he was wounded and captured, imprisoned at Fort Delaware, and exchanged.
Joining the Army of Northern Virginia in early June, 1863, Pettigrew’s Brigade successfully assaulted McPherson’s and Seminary ridges at Gettysburg on the first day, and sustained great casualties. General Pettigrew led (General Henry) Heth’s Division during Pickett’s assault on the third day. During Lee’s movement after Gettysburg, Pettigrew was wounded for the fifth time, fatally, in a rearguard action on the Potomac with Northern cavalry. He died on 17 July.
A friend said of Pettigrew: “More than all he loved liberty…but he felt that to love liberty was an empty mockery, unless that love was exhibited in the sacrifice which its acquisition requires. With him to be free, was to be prepared for and to engage in the struggle it demands.” Another said: “He was my beau ideal of what a gentleman and a soldier ought to be.”
Matthew Fontaine Maury wrote of him after the war: “I considered Pettigrew the most promising young man of the South, and, as young as he was, I advocated for him the post of our Generalissimo.”
General Pettigrew’s body was taken to Raleigh where, on 24 July, it lay in state in the capitol, surrounded by wreaths, weaved by the fairest ladies, of flowers from the fairest gardens in the town. Buried temporarily in Raleigh, his remains are now at home at Bonarva, in the family burial ground adjacent to Lake Phelps.
(Source: Carolina Cavalier, Clyde N. Wilson, Chronicles Press, 2002)
NC Patriots of ’61 – Brigadier-General James J. Pettigrew
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