Of America's thirteen original colonies, North Carolina was one of the most rural, its urban population miniscule and its maritime commerce severely limited--except in the town of Wilmington. Prior to the Civil War, the coastal town was North Carolina's largest urban area and principal seaport, with shipping as the mainstay of the local economy. Wilmington indeed was a singular place in colonial and antebellum North Carolina. This book presents the history of Wilmington from its founding and development to the eve of the Civil War. Part I traces Wilmington's history from the incorporation of the town in 1739-40 to 1789, when North Carolina joined the newly formed United States of America. This section focuses on the confused and disputed origins of Wilmington, life in a colonial urban setting, the growing importance of the port, and town governance. Part II expands upon the preceding topics for the years 1789 to 1861. It also examines the economic development of the port, the wide variety of social activities, the growth of the African American population, and Wilmington's role in state and national politics.

In its early years, the Wilmington & Raleigh Rail Road Company survived multiple threats to its existence. Under its new corporate name, the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad Company would soon be put to the ultimate test, the Civil War. From mobilization to the last effort to supply Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, the company would endure the wearing out of its equipment and rails; the capriciousness and bureaucracy of the Confederate government; sabotage attempts; the gruesome death of its president; a yellow fever epidemic; Union raids on its facilities and bridges; runaway inflation in Confederate economy; the fall of Wilmington; its bisection by advancing Union forces; and, finally, the unnecessary destruction of locomotives, cars, track, and bridges by retreating Confederate troops. The railroad, unlike the Confederacy, survived, and would eventually transform itself a powerful regional economic force, adapting to the challenges of the New South.

This history of the 11th North Carolina Infantry in the Civil War-- civilian soldiers and their families--follows the regiment from their 1861 mustering-in to their surrender at Appomattox, covering action at Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, The Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor and Petersburg. Drawing on letters, journals, memoirs, official reports, personnel records and family histories, this intensely personal account features Tar Heels relating their experiences through over 1,500 quoted passages. Casualty lists give the names of those killed, wounded, captured in action and died of disease. Rosters list regimental officers and staff, enlistees for all 10 companies and the names of the 78 men who stacked arms on April 9, 1865.

Providing coverage of both battles for Fort Fisher, this book includes a detailed examination of the attack and defence of Fort Anderson. It also features accounts of the defence of the Sugar Loaf Line and of the operations of Federal warships on the Cape Fear River.

A collection of articles that appeared in the Newsletter of the Rockingham County Historical Society when it existed between 1954 and 2010 when it was succeeded by the Museum and Archives of Rockingham County (MARC). They all concern some part of the history of the Civil War period and are by various authors.

The true story of Kate Warne and the other women who served as Pinkertons, fulfilling the adage, “Well-behaved Women Seldom Make History.” Most students of the Old West and American law enforcement history know the story of the notorious and ruthless Pinkerton Detective Agency and the legends behind their role in establishing the Secret Service and tangling with Old West Outlaws. But the true story of Kate Warne, an operative of the Pinkerton Agency and the first woman detective in America—and the stories of the other women who served their country as part of the storied crew of crime fighters—are not well known. For the first time, the stories of these intrepid women are collected here and richly illustrated throughout with numerous historical photographs. From Kate Warne’s probable affair with Allan Pinkerton, and her part in saving the life of Abraham Lincoln in 1861 to the lives and careers of the other women who broke out of the Cult of True Womanhood in pursuit of justice, these true stories add another dimension to our understanding of American history.