Many years ago while traveling in Alabama I came upon a small book in a flea market called
The Anson Guards which was written by Maj. W.A. Smith and published in 1914. I'm not
sure these boys were "home guards" but they appeared to be. Here is an excerpt
from that book"
"The Anson Guards was a company of boys of Anson County, North Carolina. The
officers and privates of the Anson Guards was composed of the best of Southern young
manhood--the elite of the county--sons of farmers, merchants, lawyers, doctors, mechanics,
and teachers. The company was organized many years before the war of the sixties.....In
January, 1861, Captain Hall tendered the services of the Anson Guards to the governor of
North Carolina, which was declined. Again in the Spring, the company authorized Lt.
William M. Hammond to visit Raleigh and again tender the services of the Anson Guards to
the governor which the governor again declined. The report of Lt. Hammond threw quite a
damper on the enthusiasm of the company, because the boys were eager for the fray and to
show their patriotism. They met regularly for drill and kept their organization to the
high mark of efficiency, believing the time rapidly approaching when they would be called
into service. The Anson Guards was the first company in the State to offer its services
to the governor and should have been assigned to the first regiment, but subsequent events
prevented it....." According to this book the Anson Guards eventually became part of
Company C, 14th Regiment of NC Volunteers.
Kay Midgett Sheppard
----- Original Message -----
From: Elizabeth Harris
To: ncgenweb-discuss(a)rootsweb.com
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2007 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: [NCGENWEB-DISCUSS] Civil War "Home Guards"
Do any of yall happen to know anything about the "Home
Guards"?
I'm trying to figure out who the Home Guards were in Franklin County
and have no clue where to start. If any of you can help, I'd
appreciate it.
My understanding is that they were the men who for whatever reason
didn't join the Confederate forces but were prepared to defend their
towns and farms in case of attack. The Davie Co. library has a list
of the Home Guard members there, and my gg-grandfather is on it. He
was in his early 30s, and able-bodied so far as I know, so presumably
could have joined the army. He may have been spared recruitment or
the draft because he was a doctor and hence needed at home. I have
no evidence that he ever took up arms against the enemy, however.
Family tradition holds that when Stoneman's forces came through, he
hid out in the woods with the family silver. I would very much like
to know if he left his wife defending the homestead.
Presumably most communities would have lists of their local members
but I don't know if these were kept by county, town or what, or if
there's some systematic way to locate these records.
--
Elizabeth Harris
ncgen(a)mindspring.com
Personal genealogy webpage:
http://www.duke.edu/web/chlamy
Winston-Salem NC area genealogy:
http://www.fmoran.com/
HOLDER DNA project:
http://www.mindspring.com/~holderdna/
-------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to
NCGENWEB-DISCUSS-request(a)rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the
quotes in the subject and the body of the message