Rock Island, Illinois
Confederate POW Camp
and Cemetery

Haywood Co. Men Known to be buried at Rock Island, IL

62nd Regiment, POWs, dead (full list)

62nd Regiment ~~ Haywood Co. Men, dead

Total Deaths by Company and County

Letter from Camp Douglas ~~~ History

Official Records of the "War of Rebellion"

National Battlefields and Monuments Marker



Looking East



United Daughters of the Confederacy Monument



Inscription on the UDC Monument



J T Green--Stewart's Cavalry, Tennessee



Looking South



Fitting comment by General Stonewall Jackson

Deaths of Prisoners of War
from the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment,
Confederate States of America
Camp Douglas Prisoner of War Camp
Chicago, Illinois

Deaths of Haywood Co. Men
from the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment,
Confederate States of America
Camp Douglas Prisoner of War Camp
Chicago, Illinois

Total deaths by Company and County

Letter, 1864

A letter from Camp Douglas, dated March 21st 1864, from John Henry Dyer of the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment: "Dear Friends, We take this opportunity of informing you that we are all well at this time. Was hoping that these few lines will reach your kind hand and find you all well. We would like to hear from you all and would like to see you all but we cannot tell when that will be, but one thing we must do and that is prepare to meet in Eternity, for it God permits us to live we will live for the future and we tell you all now that we are determined by the help of God to make our way to a better world. So no more at present, write [unreadable]. Signed Stamey J. Dyer. Noah is still around." He didn't know that John Noah Frances, his best friend, would not live to see the end of the year (died 30 December 1864). [The above letter is in the possession of Robert Milner, a descendant of both John Noah Francis and of John Henry Dyer. After his release from Camp Douglas, John Dyer returned to Haywood County, where he resided at Ratcliff Cove until his death on 26 March 1909]

History

Following is a summary of the history of the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment, CSA, from its creation until the majority of the unit was captured at Cumberland Gap: The 62nd North Carolina Infantry, North Carolina Troops, Confederate States Army, was organized in Waynesville and mustered into service on the 11th of July, 1862. It drew men to its ranks from Haywood, Rutherford, Clay, Macon and Transylvania counties, and was assigned to the Department of East Tennessee until it was captured, almost in its entirety, at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee on 10 September 1863. After enlisting, the recruits were sent to Johnson City, TN, arriving on the 1st of August 1862 for drill and training. Lieutenant Colonel B.G. McDowell, one of the commanders, wrote in 1901, "This regiment when it went into camp for drill was without arms, except a few old muskets which were furnished them for drilling purposes. A very small amount of ammunition was furnished. In the fall of 1862, date not now remembered, Lieutenant Colonel Clayton was ordered to Causby Creek, Cocke County, Tennessee, to help suppress an uprising of disloyal citizens there. It seems that some conscripts [draftees] and deserters had been turned out of the Waynesville jail by their friends. Sheriff Noland while pursuing them was killed on Noland or Utah Mountain, three miles northeast of town. The Sixty Second, badly armed and equipped as it was, presented a formidable and war-like appearance. The outlaws were killed, captured or scattered." Its first Command assignment came on 31 October 1862 in the Third Division of the Army of Kentucky. In late December of that year, they were assigned to guard the railroads in the area, remaining there until 20 February 1863 when they went into camp at Greeneville in Greene County, Tennessee. Their Brigade assignments changed from the Second Brigade, its initial assignment, to A.E. Jackson's Brigade in March, then to the Fourth Brigade in late April. Those who were not captured at Cumberland Gap regrouped and were reassigned to the District of Western North Carolina on the first of January, 1864. The final reassignment took place in December 1864 to the Mountain District, Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia. During the period of service that the 62nd North Carolina Infantry Regiment saw prior to the Cumberland Gap episode, they participated in a number of engagements and operations, the first being against Union supporters in nearby Cocke County, Tennessee, just across the state line from Warm Springs (now Hot Springs), Madison County, from the 6th to the 16th of October, 1862, and also at Cataloochee and Big Creek in Tennessee. The mission for the week between Christmas Eve, 1862 and New Year's Day, 1863, was to move against Union troops moving into the eastern part of Tennessee, an area very heavily pro-Union. They fought at Union, Watauga Bridge, Carter's Station and Carter's Depot in that region. The Regiment's activities were very light - possibly even inactive, from the first of January, 1863 until June 14th, when they moved to thwart an East Tennessee raid by a Union regiment commanded by a man named Saunders; this operation at Knoxville and Powder Springs Gap lasted about 10 days. In mid-August, Union General Ambrose P. Burnside was ordered to concentrate his forces in East Tennessee. The 62nd North Carolina, among others, was sent to the defense, but were overwhelmed and captured at Cumberland Gap, Tennessee on the 10th of September, 1863, thus ending the fighting for 442 soldiers of the 62nd North Carolina. An account from Official Records of The War of the Rebellion, Series III, Volume II, 1863, United States Government: "Brigadier General John W. Frazier, CSA, after his surrender at Cumberland Gap reported that his disaster was forced, amongst other reasons, by the quality of the troops he commanded, saying the 62nd North Carolina was very indifferent, being badly disciplined and hardly drilled. The Colonel was absent, soon after resigned, and became an open advocate of reunion. One Captain was in arrest for disseminating papers hostile to the Confederacy, and the regiment of four hundred and fifty men was commanded by the Major." Lieutenant Colonel B.G. McDowell had this to say about Frazier's comments, "I have noticed in Brigadier General Frazier's report, of his disgraceful surrender of Cumberland Gap, he refers to this regiment as at one time having been commanded by its Major (referring of course to this writer), and as having been surrendered BY him to a gang of Yankee scouts, or raiders. A more unblushing falsehood was never penned by living man. "I was there with three companies of poorly armed men, with no means of defense and absolutely helpless. In this condition these three companies were surrendered, And yet, the gallant General Frazier has me surrendering this whole regiment to a Yankee scouting party. Frazier was in command at Cumberland Gap when the surrender of that stronghold occurred on 9 September 1863. The force we had at the Gap was insignificant when compared with the Federal forces, but the surrender of the Confederate forces was a shame and disgrace, when the situation is fully understood. The opportunity of General Frazier to have evacuated the Gap and saved his command from a long imprisonment and death was open, and nothing but treachery, or cowardice, or it may be both, could have led to the unconditional surrender. The writer has read the report as given by Gen Frazier and wondered if an opportunity would be offered for the vindication of our men from the miserable slander against them in his attempt to shield himself from public censure. It affords me pleasure now to say that men never behaved with more coolness and courage than did the 62nd Regiment. Stalwart men actually cried like children when they found that they were surrendered without defending their right and reputation."

(c) Dec. 1996 - present, Haywood Co., NC