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48th North Carolina Infantry

Editor’s Note: Do you have information on this unit’s role at the Siege of Petersburg?  Please contact us using the Contact button in the menu at the top of the screen.  We are happy to exchange information with other researchers.

Muster In: Organized on April 9, 18621
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Colonel Samuel H. Walkup
Samuel H. Walkup 48th NC3

Captain John E. Moore
Commander Image

Commander 3
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army4

  • Commander: Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (June 12-18, 1864)5
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army6

  • Commander: Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (at least June 19-27, 1864)7
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army8

  • Commander: Colonel Samuel H. Walkup9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army10

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (took a sick leave of 30 days on August 18) (at least August 18, 1864)11,12
    • ? (August 18-31, 1864)13
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army14,15

  • Commander:
    • ? (early September while Colonel Walkup was on leave)16
    • Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (was on leave early in the month)17
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army18

  • Commander: Colonel Samuel H. Walkup19
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army20,21

  • Commander: Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (November & December 1864)22,23
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army24,25,26,27,28

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (commanded the brigade while Cooke went on a 10 day leave)(went on furlough starting January 29 and ending around February 16)(January & February 1865)29,30,31
    • Captain John E. Moore (while Walkup is temporarily commanding Cooke’s Brigade) (at least January 1-3, 1865)32,33
    • Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (absent from 48th NC about January 29-February 16, 1865)(at least January 27 and February 16-28, 1865)34
    • ?, but probably Moore (prior to Walkup’s return in February)(February 1865)35
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: On February 27, 1865, two companies each of the 15th, 27th, 46th, 48th, and 57th NC were detached and sent with Lt. Colonel Alexander C. McAlister of the 46th North Carolina to the state of North Carolina, there to enforce the Conscription Act and protect the area from Union raiding parties.  They never returned to the Siege of Petersburg and surrendered with Joseph Johnston’s Army in North Carolina in May 1865.36

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army37,38

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (temporarily commanded Cooke’s Brigade for at least March 20-23, 1865) (at least March 3-20, 1865)39,40
    • ?? (while Walkup was commanding Cooke’s Brigade from at least March 20-23, 1865) (need name and source)
    • Colonel Samuel H. Walkup (at least March 25-April 1, 1865)41
  • Unit Strength:
    • 157 officers and men PFD (March 31, 1865)42
    • 113 officers and men PFD (April 1, 1865)43
  • Weapons:
  • Note: Companies A and B of the regiment were not present with the regiment in the final battles around Petersburg.  They had been sent to North Carolina to hunt for deserters at some previous point. More research is needed to find out when that occurred.44

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles45:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Skirmish near Smith’s Store (June 15, 1864)46
  • Globe Tavern (August 18-21)
  • Reams’ Station (August 25, 1864)
  • Jones’ Farm (September 30, 1864)
  • Squirrel Level Road (September 30, 1864)
  • Harman Road (October 2, 1864)
  • Hatcher’s Run (February 5-7, 1865)
    • Battle of Hatcher’s Run (at least February 5, 1865)47
  • Battle of Fort Stedman (Reserve) (March 25, 1865)48
  • Action at the Watkins House (March 25, 1865)49
  • Skirmish on April 1, 1865 (April 1, 1865)50
  • Petersburg Final Assault (April 2, 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

Sources:

  1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 147-148 ↩
  2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 147-148 ↩
  3. Clark, Walter. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-’65, Volume 3 (Nash Brothers: 1901), pp. 112-113 ↩
  4. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
  5. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 144-146 ↩
  6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
  7. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 146-148 ↩
  8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121 ↩
  9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121 ↩
  10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131 ↩
  11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131 ↩
  12. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 148 ↩
  13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131 ↩
  14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139 ↩
  15. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1312. ↩
  16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139 ↩
  17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139 ↩
  18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148 ↩
  19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148 ↩
  20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
  21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 165 ↩
  22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
  23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 165 ↩
  24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 174 ↩
  25. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1173: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General R. E. Lee, January 31, 1865”; This list contains many commanders who were not there.  They were the “official” commanders but may have been gone on leave.  I have used none of the leaders from this list as a result. ↩
  26. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1182: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame. ↩
  27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
  28. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1271: “Organization of the Infantry and Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, February 28, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from February 28, 1865.  However, leaders listed are from January.  I’ve chosen to ignore the leaders and just use this source for the organization of the order of battle. ↩
  29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 174 ↩
  30. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1182: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame. ↩
  31. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
  32. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 174 ↩
  33. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 149: “…Gen. Cooke leaves for two days. I am in charge of brigade and Capt. John E. Moore of Co. I of the regiment.” ↩
  34. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 150-152: “Expect to leave for home for 18 days with Gen. MacRae. I will not leave until 29th Sunday morning for fear of missing connection to stage… Returned to Brigade Hospital and on 16th returned to camp.” See also entries almost daily for February one he returned on February 16. ↩
  35. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
  36. Clark, Walter. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-’65, Volume 3 (Nash Brothers: 1901), pp. 77-80, 82: “27 February Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. McAlister was detached from the regiment and with the writer as Adjutant, assumed command of a force of about six hundred men and was assigned to duty in the counties of Randolph, Chatham, Montgomery and Moore, North Carolina. This force was composed of the Seventh North Carolina, Major James G. Harris commanding, and two companies each from the Fifteenth, Twenty-seventh, Forty-sixth, Forty-eighth and Fifty-fifth North Carolina Regiments, designed for the protection of that section from raiding parties of the enemy, as also to preserve order in enforcing the Conscript Act. This force was actively employed until General Johnson’s army arrived near Greensboro, when it was attached to General D. H. Hill’s Division until paroled by General Sherman.” ↩
  37. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 193 ↩
  38. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 202 ↩
  39. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 152-154: Walkup has almost daily entries from March 3-20, 1865 showing he was present with the regiment. ↩
  40. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 155: From the Journal of Colonel Samuel H. Walkup, commanding 48th NC: “Here yet in charge of brigade for last three days. Gen. Cooke gone to Richmond to return tonight. Glad of it, as we received orders today that Yankees were moving to right and to be prepared to move…” ↩
  41. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 156-160: Walkup’s journal entries seem to indicate he was commanding the 48th North Carolina in the final battles around Petersburg. ↩
  42. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 160: From the Journal of Colonel Samuel H. Walkup, commanding 48th NC: “P.S. April 1st…have had another picket line captured losing 44 men in the 48th Regiment. We have only 98 privates and non-commissioned officers in this regiment for duty and 15 company officers, leaving out those companies sent to hunt deserters (A and B)…” In order to get 157 officers and men, I took the regiment’s strength on April 1, 1865 and added back the 44 men captured on the skirmish line. ↩
  43. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 160: From the Journal of Colonel Samuel H. Walkup, commanding 48th NC: “P.S. April 1st. We have only 98 privates and non-commissioned officers in this regiment for duty and 15 company officers, leaving out those companies sent to hunt deserters (A and B)…” ↩
  44. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 160: From the Journal of Colonel Samuel H. Walkup, commanding 48th NC: “P.S. April 1st. We have only 98 privates and non-commissioned officers in this regiment for duty and 15 company officers, leaving out those companies sent to hunt deserters (A and B)…” ↩
  45. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 147-148 ↩
  46. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 144-145 ↩
  47. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 150: “The regiment had been engaged on the 5th of February in front of works in a fight with the Yankees, one officer, Lt. H.W. Laney, and five men killed on the field, three mortally wounded, 14 severely and 20 slightly wounded and seven missing. Our regiment suffers some more than the whole brigade.” ↩
  48. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 156-157 ↩
  49. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, pp. 156-157 ↩
  50. Walkup, S. H. Writings of a Rebel Colonel: The Civil War Diary and Letters of Samuel Walkup, 48th North Carolina Infantry. Edited by Kemp Pendleton Burpeau, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2021, p. 160: From the Journal of Colonel Samuel H. Walkup, commanding 48th NC: “P.S. April 1st. We have been fighting and skirmishing ever since I began this letter. The enemy have massed in force on our right; we have had another picket line captured losing 44 men in the 48th Regiment…” ↩

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