Regimental Commander, April–October 1862

This chapter reports that the countries around Lincolnton raised a unit that was mustered into service as the Forty-ninth North Carolina Infantry, the members of which elected Dodson Ramseur as their colonel. It reports that over the next six months, they would fight under his command, at Malvern Hill, and that Ramseur's correspondence is silent concerning that engagement. The chapter observes that Ramseur's letters provide insight into his thoughts about himself and his views on the war, and notes that as a new regimental commander untested in combat, Ramseur was naturally apprehensive about his first pitched battle lying ahead.