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55th North Carolina Infantry

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Muster In: Organized in May 18621
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Colonel John K. Connally
John K. Connally 55th NC3

Captain Walter A. Whitted
Commander Image

Captain Robert W. Thomas
Robert W. Thomas 55th NC4

Captain Benjamin F. Briggs
Commander Image

Captain John T. Peden
Commander Image

Commander 6
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Davis’ Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army5

  • Commander:
    • Captain Walter A. Whitted (probably June 15-17, 1864)(in the hospital June 18-July 2, 1864)6
    • Captain Robert W. Thomas7
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

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

  • Commander: Captain Robert W. Thomas9
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

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

  • Commander:
    • Captain Robert W. Thomas11
    • Captain Walter A. Whitted (returned to duty July 3, 1864)12
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Davis’ Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army13

  • Commander:
    • Captain Walter A. Whitted (at least August 18, 1864)14
    • Captain Benjamin F. Briggs (at least August 19, 1864) 15
    • Captain Robert W. Thomas (at least August 16, 1864)16,17
  • Unit Strength:
    • 257 officers and men PFD (August 16, 1864)18
  • Weapons: Springfield and/or Enfield Rifles19

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

  • Commander:
    • Colonel John K. Connally (wounded at some point in September 1864)22
    • Captain Walter A. Whitted (after Connally’s wounding)(at least September 28, 1864)23,24
    • Unit Strength: 195 officers and men PFD (September 28, 1864)25
    • Weapons: 58 caliber (explicitly listed mix of Springfields and Enfields)(September 28, 1864)26

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Davis’ Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army27

  • Commander: Captain Walter A. Whitted28
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Davis’ Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army29,30

  • Commander: Captain Robert W. Thomas (November & December 1864)31,32
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Davis’ Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (January 1-February 3?, 1865)33,34

Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army (February 3?-28, 1865)35,36,37

  • Commander:
    • Captain Walter A. Whitted (took a leave of absence starting February 16)(January & February 1865)38,39
    • Captain John T. Peden (February 1865)40
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:
  • Note: The regiment moved from Davis’ Brigade to Cooke’s Brigade “a day or two before” Hatcher’s Run, so around February 3-4, 1865.41,42

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Cooke’s Brigade | Heth’s Division | Third Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army43,44

  • Commander:
    • Colonel John K. Connally (resigned March 7)(March 1865)45
    • ? (March 7-31, 1865)(March 1865)46
    • None listed. (April 1-2, 1865)47
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles48:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • Weldon Railroad (August 18-19)
  • Hatcher’s Run (February 5-7, 1865)
  • 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. 155-156 ↩
    2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 155-156 ↩
    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. 285-286 ↩
    4. Clark, Walter. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-’65, Volume 3 (Nash Brothers: 1901), pp. 290-291 ↩
    5. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 112 ↩
    10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121 ↩
    11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121 ↩
    12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 121 ↩
    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 131 ↩
    15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131 ↩
    16. Confederate Inspection Report 15-P-17: Davis’ Brigade, August 16, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 131 ↩
    18. Confederate Inspection Report 15-P-17: Davis’ Brigade, August 16, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    19. Confederate Inspection Report 15-P-17: Davis’ Brigade, August 16, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    20. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139 ↩
    21. 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. ↩
    22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139 ↩
    23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 139 ↩
    24. Confederate Inspection Report 17-P-24: Davis’ Brigade, September 28, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    25. Confederate Inspection Report 17-P-24: Davis’ Brigade, September 28, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    26. Confederate Inspection Report 17-P-24: Davis’ Brigade, September 28, 1864; Inspection Reports and Related Records Received By the Inspection Branch in the Confederate Adjutant and Inspector General’s Office. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M935, Roll 10: Inspection Reports P-12 – 39-P-24); War Department Collection of Confederate Records, Record Group 109; National Archives Building, Washington, D.C. ↩
    27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148 ↩
    28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 148 ↩
    29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
    30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 165 ↩
    31. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 156 ↩
    32. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 165 ↩
    33. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 174 ↩
    34. 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. ↩
    35. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 174 ↩
    36. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
    37. 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. ↩
    38. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 174 ↩
    39. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
    40. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 184 ↩
    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, p. 150: “The 55th Regiment North Carolina and Mississippi Brigade were added to Cooke’s Brigade only a day or two before the battle (of Hatcher’s Run).” ↩
    42. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 174 ↩
    43. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 193 ↩
    44. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 202 ↩
    45. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 193 ↩
    46. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 193 ↩
    47. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 202 ↩
    48. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 155-156 ↩

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