Private Francis Marion Long
Dublin Core
Title
Private Francis Marion Long
Subject
Company G (the "Rutherford Farmers"), 50th Regiment N.C. Troops
Description
Francis Marion Long (born ca. 1839) lived in the Cane Creek District of Rutherford County and enlisted at Rutherfordton on March 24, 1862, in a company known as the “Rutherford Farmers.” The “Farmers” were soon on their way to Camp Mangum, near Raleigh, where they mustered into service on April 21 as Company G, 50th Regiment N.C. Troops.
North Carolina raised and equipped twenty-one infantry regiments during the first half of 1862, and at times arms and equipment were in short supply. Such was the case with the soldiers of the 50th North Carolina who, instead of muskets, were issued “Confederate Pikes” to carry while drilling. Another member of the 50th North Carolina recorded in his diary that the weapon “consisted of a wooden handle about 10 feet long, at one end of which a dirk-shaped spear was securely fastened and attached to this spear; at the shank or socket, was another steel blade in the form of a brier-hook, in order as the boys said, that they get them ‘a going and a coming.’ “
The 50th North Carolina remained at Camp Mangum until May 31. During that period Long visited the studio of the Raleigh photographer Esley Hunt for this portrait. (As evidenced by the distinctive chair finial visible behind Long’s left shoulder.) The regiment then traveled by rail to Garysburg in Northampton County, where the men were issued muskets.
In late June the 50th North Carolina was ordered to Petersburg and was lightly engaged in the Seven Days Campaign, suffering only nine casualties. In early July Long was admitted to a Petersburg hospital, where he died of remittent fever on July 11. On November 18, 1862, his widow submitted a claim for Long’s back pay and bounty, but that claim was apparently never settled.
North Carolina raised and equipped twenty-one infantry regiments during the first half of 1862, and at times arms and equipment were in short supply. Such was the case with the soldiers of the 50th North Carolina who, instead of muskets, were issued “Confederate Pikes” to carry while drilling. Another member of the 50th North Carolina recorded in his diary that the weapon “consisted of a wooden handle about 10 feet long, at one end of which a dirk-shaped spear was securely fastened and attached to this spear; at the shank or socket, was another steel blade in the form of a brier-hook, in order as the boys said, that they get them ‘a going and a coming.’ “
The 50th North Carolina remained at Camp Mangum until May 31. During that period Long visited the studio of the Raleigh photographer Esley Hunt for this portrait. (As evidenced by the distinctive chair finial visible behind Long’s left shoulder.) The regiment then traveled by rail to Garysburg in Northampton County, where the men were issued muskets.
In late June the 50th North Carolina was ordered to Petersburg and was lightly engaged in the Seven Days Campaign, suffering only nine casualties. In early July Long was admitted to a Petersburg hospital, where he died of remittent fever on July 11. On November 18, 1862, his widow submitted a claim for Long’s back pay and bounty, but that claim was apparently never settled.
Creator
E. Hunt, Raleigh, North Carolina
Source
1860 U. S. Census, Cane Creek District, Rutherfordton County, North Carolina, population schedule, page 87, dwelling 630, family 630, Mary Long household; Manarin et. al., North Carolina Troops 12:140, 220-221; Julie Carpenter Williams (ed.), War Diary of Kinchen Jahu Carpenter (Rutherfordton: privately published, 1955), 5; service record files of Francis M. Long, 50th Regiment N.C. Troops, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers from the State of North Carolina (M270), RG.
Contributor
North Carolina Office of Archives and History
Files
Citation
E. Hunt, Raleigh, North Carolina, “Private Francis Marion Long,” Tar Heel Faces, accessed May 17, 2024, https://tarheelfaces.omeka.net/items/show/104.
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