(center), Captains Elkanah E. Lyon of Co A (top left), R.C. Brown of Co B (top right), Robert Bingham of Co G (bottom right), Thomas Hill Norwood of Co H (bottom left) The 44th North Carolina Infantry was organized on 28 March 1862 at
Camp Magnum, near
Raleigh, North Carolina, under the command of elected Colonel George B. Singletary. It included ten companies, which enlisted between January and March and were mustered in on 3 April. Company A (Granville Regulators) included men from
Granville County, Company B men from
Edgecombe County, Companies C and D (Pitt Regulators) men from
Pitt County, Company E (Turtle Paws) men from
Chatham County, Company F (Trojan Regulators) men from
Montgomery County, Company G men from
Orange and
Alamance Counties, Company H (Montgomery Guards) men from Montgomery County, Company I (Eastern Tigers) men from Pitt and
Craven Counties, and Company K (Franklin Guides to Freedom) men from
Franklin County. The men of the regiment hailed from the eastern part of North Carolina. The regiment initially served with the
Department of North Carolina, being ordered to
Tarboro on 19 May. It then moved to
Greenville in eastern North Carolina, participating in outpost and picket duty against
Burnside's North Carolina Expedition. On 5 June the regiment fought in the
Battle of Tranter's Creek, during which Singletary was killed. His brother, Thomas C. Singletary, was elected Colonel on 28 June. The regiment was sent north to Virginia, where it joined
Pettigrew's Brigade, serving with the
Army of Northern Virginia alongside the
11th,
26th,
47th, and
52nd North Carolina Regiments. While the rest of Pettigrew's brigade moved on to
Gettysburg, where it fought in
Pickett's Charge, the regiment was left behind at
Hanover Junction to guard the rail line there, securing the army's communications to
Richmond. Singletary guarded the junction with two companies, while Major
Charles M. Stedman with four companies was posted north of the junction. The remaining four companies, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Tazewell L. Hargrove, were each assigned to guard a bridge of the
Fredericksburg and
Central Railroads across the
South Anna and
Little Rivers. Hargrove remained with Company A at the Central Railroad bridge over the South Anna, the most threatened by Union attack. The 44th subsequently served with
Kirkland's Brigade and
MacRae's Brigade, fighting in the
Bristoe Campaign. During the
Battle of Bristoe Station, part of the Bristoe Campaign, the regiment reported losses of 23 killed and 63 wounded. It suffered heavy casualties during the
Battle of the Wilderness before fighting in the
Battle of Spotsylvania Court House and the
Battle of Cold Harbor during the
Wilderness campaign. From late 1864 to the northern hemisphere spring of 1865, the regiment fought in the
Siege of Petersburg south of the
James River, in which it again suffered heavy casualties. In late March 1865, the regiment retreated from Richmond with the rest of the army during the
Appomattox Campaign. On 9 April, it surrendered with the rest of the army at Appomattox, mustering only eight officers and 74 men. Its commanders included Colonels G.B. Singeltary and T.C. Singeltary; Lieutenant Colonels Richard C. Cotton, Elisha Cromwell, and
Tazewell L. Hargrove, and Major Charles M. Stedman. ==See also==