Well before that time there were problems between apprentice and master, as seen in the advertisement placed in the Greensboro Patriot of Octoby Delap: “Ranaway from the subscriber, three apprentices to the Blacksmith’s Business, named William Toombs. In his Apprentice Indenture, dated August 25, 1824, Abraham Delap agreed to teach William “to read, write, & cipher thro the Rule of Three, and learn the Blacksmith Trade and give him a sett of Tools at $55” when he reached the age of 21 years. William Franklin Toomes (Jr.) was born Octoin the Sumner community of Guilford County, less than a mile north of the Randolph County line. But the fact remains that many of those who served, served involuntarily.Ī case in point is the service history of Frank Toomes.

Certainly we never hear anyone boasting about their Galvanized Yankee ancestors. These new Union recruits were derisively called “Galvanized Yankees” by their old comrades.Īs the Confederacy was gradually mythologized and romanticized after the war, a history of desertion, however well supported by friends and family during the war, was not a heritage that was proudly maintained even in Randolph County. 196 captured Confederates took the Oath of Allegiance to the Union before the end of the war, with 67 joining the Union Army.

The Confederacy did not publish statistics on desertion, but Reeder states that at least 320 of Randolph’s nearly 2,000 men deserted from their regiments, with 32 deserting twice, five deserting three times and one deserting five times! Forty-four of these deserters were arrested, 42 were court-martialed, and at least 14 were executed. But this does not mean those troops were all loyal Confederates about 22.9% (23,694 men) of those troops deserted, a rate more than twice that of any other state.Įxecuting a Deserter, 1862. North Carolina as a whole contributed about 103,400 enlisted men to the Confederate Army, about one-sixth of the total, and more than any other state. As the war went on, conscription acts were passed by the CSA to force men into service 40% of the state’s draftees in 1863 came from the recalcitrant Quaker Belt counties, with Randolph contributing 2.7% of its population to the draft that year. The enlistment rate for North Carolina as a whole was 23.8% in Randolph it was 14.2%. Bill Auman points out that Randolph County in 1861 had the third-lowest volunteer rate in the state. Not all of those who served did so willingly. 489 were wounded 73 of those were wounded twice 12 were wounded 3 times and two, four times. 616 were prisoners of war, and 76 of those died while interned. One hundred of those were killed in battle 7 were reported as missing in action 74 died of wounds 345 died of disease.

Lee at Appomatox, and 132 others signed the Oath of Allegiance in Greensboro after the end of hostilities. Reeder found records of 1,921 individuals who served with the Confederate forces, but does not consider that an exhaustive list. 1), published in 1993 but now out of print. Reeder of Trinity, and published in The Heritage of Randolph County, North Carolina (Vol. The most complete roster of Randolph County’s Confederate veterans was compiled by Gary D. Currier and Ives illustration, Library of Congress.

Battle group quartermaster franklin nc