“Who has written up the war history of the glorious dead of Lane’s brigade?” lamented former captain Riddick Gatling, Jr., of the 33rd North Carolina Troops, in 1887. “Who has ever written a line to tell of the sacrifices, the suffering and the ending of these more than immortal men? Who has ever told of the heroic death of General Branch at Sharpsburg? … Why has the history of that brigade not been written?” Gatling would likely be stunned that 150 years later, no complete history of the Branch-Lane brigade has appeared in print. In fact, 138 years passed before the history of just one regiment in the Branch-Lane brigade saw print.1
To understand the war in-depth, one must understand how a brigade worked in camp and in combat, how regiments were organized, and how the men reacted to battle, to being away from home, and to inter- and intra-unit politics. The men of the Branch-Lane brigade served in the Army of Northern Virginia from May 1862 through Appomattox, enduring cold and hungry winters, long and hot marches, and the deadly chaos of more than 35 battles and skirmishes. Theirs is a truly remarkable story.
It seems much of my writing has been focused, in one way or another, around the extraordinary Branch-Lane brigade. My first book, a history of the 37th Regiment, was released in 2003. Other books and articles have followed, including studies on the battle of Hanover Court House, the breakthrough at Petersburg, and Gettysburg. Other authors have undertaken books on the brigade’s regiments, specifically the 18th and 28th Regiments. On many occasions, I have been honored to stand in a cemetery, presenting the history of this fine group of Tar Heels during a dedication of a stone for someone’s ancestor who served in the brigade. It has also been an honor to speak about the brigade at Pamplin Historical Park and at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, and to participate in tours at Chancellorsville, Fredericksburg, and Hanover Court House.
In 2008, I stood on stage beside the flag of the 37th Regiment, speaking of its past as it went on display in the state history museum. On the same stage in 2014, I was privileged to speak about the recently conserved state flag of the 33rd Regiment. Then, in 2016, I joined an honor company, firing a volley when a monument to the brigade was dedicated near Petersburg. This book grew from my desire to tell the story of this incredible brigade, a story that has been a part of my own life for the past 20 years. It is a story largely told in the words of these men themselves, a rich and complex history of their experience that also demonstrates how a Civil War brigade worked, moved, and fought.
It is my hope Riddick Gatling, Jr., would be pleased with this long-overdue history of the Branch-Lane brigade.2
1 Raleigh News and Observer, March 10, 1887.
2 Michael Hardy, The Thirty-seventh North Carolina Troops (Jefferson, NC, 2003); Michael Hardy, The Battle of Hanover Court House (Jefferson, NC, 2006); Michael Hardy, “The 37th North Carolina Troops,” America’s Civil War (May 2003), 16:115-17; Michael Hardy, “The Gettysburg Experiences of Lt. Iowa Michigan Royster,” Gettysburg Magazine (July 2003), 29:121-24; Michael Hardy, “A Day of Carnage & Blood,” America’s Civil War (March 2005), 18:98-104; Michael Hardy, “McClellan’s Missed Opportunity,” America’s Civil War (March 2007), 20:154-61; Frances Casstevens, The 28th North Carolina Infantry (Jefferson, NC, 2008); James Gillispie, Cape Fear Confederates: The 18th North Carolina Regiment in the Civil War (Jefferson, NC, 2012).