The battalion did guard duty at Wilmington until the middle of July. Here Captain Donald McQueen died of typhoid fever on 25 June. He was a fine soldier, an honor to his name and his cause. Lieutenant McCollum succeeded him in command of the company.
On the night of 3 July, 1864, Lieutenant Cushing, of the Federal Navy (the same who blew up the Confederate ram “Albemarle” at Plymouth), with a few detailed men, entered the Confederate headquarters at Smithville (now Southport) and carried off General Paul O. Hebert’s Adjutant-General to the Federal fleet. Thereafter the Seventh Battalion was ordered from Wilmington to Smithville for its protection. It camped in a beautiful grove of live oaks back of the town. Here it did its full share of guard and picket duty under the command of General Hebert, an old officer who had served with distinction in Mexico and had been Governor of Louisiana. It was here that Captain T. G. Hybart, of Fayetteville, was stricken with typhoid fever and died 9 September, 1864. He was one of the best officers in the command, and had he lived and the war continued, would have made his mark. The battalion remained at Smithville until 9 December when, with the Fourth and Eighth Battalions, all under Colonel Jackson, it moved to Belfield, Virginia, to repel a Federal raid.
THE EIGHTH BATTALION.
The Eighth Battalion, three hundred strong, was organized at Camp Vance, near Morganton, N. C., on 7 June, by the election of James B. Ellington (First Lieutenant of Company D, Sixty-first North Carolina Regiment), as Major. It was composed of the following companies:
Company A—From Iredell County—W. G. Watson, Captain; George Rufus White, First Lieutenant; Amos M. Guy and Sinclair Preston Steele, Second Lieutenants.
Captain Watson resigned in January, 1865, for the purpose of joining a cavalry regiment in Lee’s army. He returned home to procure his outfit for the service, but was captured by Stoneman and sent to prison in Louisville, Ky. He is now the excellent and popular clerk of the Superior Court of Rowan County. Upon his resignation, Lieutenant White was promoted to the Captaincy.
Company B—From Catawba—J. R. Gaither, Captain; J. M. Lawrence, First Lieutenant, (both captured at Fort Fisher); Charles Wilfong and J. M. Bandy, Second Lieutenants.
Lieutenant Wilfong resigned after the battle of Kinston, and Lieutenant Bandy thereafter until the surrender, commanded the company. He made a fine officer. After the war he was for a number of years a professor in Trinity College. He now resides in Greensboro, where as a civil engineer he ranks high in his profession. Sergeant James M. Barkley was elected Second Lieutenant and F. H. Busbee Junior Second Lieutenant. Both of them were excellent officers. Lieutenant Barkley is now an able and eminent minister of the gospel in Detroit, Mich. I am indebted to him for many data which I have incorporated into this sketch. Lieutenant Busbee is now one of the first lawyers of the State—a brilliant advocate and a wise and learned counsellor.
Company C—From Burke and Caldwell Counties—Lambert A. Bristol, Captain; Marcus G. Tuttle, First Lieutenant; George T. Dula and Horace W. Connelly, Second Lieutenants. Captain Bristol is now the worthy Clerk of the Superior Court of Burke County.
George T. Dula resigned and John W. Harper was elected Junior Second Lieutenant. He soon thereafter laid down his young life on his country’s altar. He was killed at the battle of Kinston.