Lieutenant Colonel William Fessenden Beasley
Dublin Core
Title
Lieutenant Colonel William Fessenden Beasley
Subject
2nd Regiment N.C. Junior Reserves
Description
William Fessenden Beasley (born February 10, 1845) lived with his brother and widowed mother in the town of Plymouth, Washington County. In 1861 he was a cadet at a military academy, although which one is unknown. The creation of so many new companies and regiments during the weeks after secession left North Carolina’s military short of qualified drill
instructors. One solution was to look to the military academies, and so, at the age of sixteen, Beasley served eighteen days as drillmaster to a North Carolina regiment, for which he was paid the sum of $19.99. His performance must have been satisfactory, because in April 1862 Beasley was again engaged as a drillmaster, this time for the newly-organized 48th Regiment N.C. Troops, which duty he performed until June.
In early August 1862 two officer vacancies occurred in Company H of the 48th North Carolina, most of whose members were from Davidson County. Usually, the men would elect one of their own for such vacancies, but obviously Drillmaster Beasley was well known to them, and so he was elected third lieutenant on August 6 and was promoted to second lieutenant one week later.
Many North Carolina regiments organized in the spring of 1862 saw little fighting that year but the 48th North Carolina was an exception. By year’s end it had suffered 574 casualties, including 181 men killed or mortally wounded in action. The heaviest losses were at the battles of Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. The 200 casualties sustained in the latter fight were the most of any North Carolina regiment. One of the Fredericksburg casualties was Beasley, who was severely wounded in the left thigh by a gunshot, the bullet striking the bone.
Beasley spent several weeks on wounded furlough, and was promoted to first lieutenant shortly after his eighteenth birthday in February 1863. He returned to duty by early May but, unable to sustain active duty, was hospitalized again and on July 20, 1863, Beasley was placed on detached duty as Assistant Recruiting Officer of the 2nd Congressional District. On October 14, 1863, he was again hospitalized at Richmond with a gunshot wound of the left thigh. The 48th North Carolina had taken heavy casualties the previous day at the Battle of Bristoe Station, but it is uncertain if Beasley had returned to the regiment and sustained a new wound or had aggravated the Fredericksburg injury. In any case, by November 3 he was again on detached duty and ordered to report to Brigadier General Laurence S. Baker, who commanded a military district in eastern North Carolina, “for assignment being unfit for field service.”
In February 1864 the Confederate Congress extended the conscription age upward to age fifty and downward to seventeen. The boys were to be called Junior Reserves, and by June nine battalions had been organized. The 5th Battalion N.C. Junior Reserves, from the counties of Duplin, Greene, Johnston, Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne, and Wilson, fielded three companies, numbering 321 officers and boys. On June 2, 1864, they elected First Lieutenant Beasley as major.
In July the 2nd and 5th Battalions N.C. Junior Reserves consolidated to form a new command usually known as Anderson’s Battalion N.C. Junior Reserves. Beasley, remaining a major, became second-in-command. In late 1864, with the addition of two more companies, Anderson’s Battalion was redesignated as the 2nd Regiment N.C. Junior Reserves, and on December 7 Beasley was promoted to lieutenant colonel. At nineteen, he was one of the Confederacy’s youngest field officers.
Few details remain of Beasley service in 1865, but the 2nd Junior Reserves fought at the battles of Wyse’s Fork (March 8-9) and Bentonville (March 19-21). Beasley was a patient at General Hospital No. 11, in Charlotte, when he was paroled in May 1865 in accordance with the terms of General Joseph Johnston’s surrender to General William T. Sherman on April 26.
Beasley died on April 6, 1923, and is buried at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland.)
(The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiment N.C. Junior Reserves are often referred to as the “70th, 71st, and 72nd N.C. Regiments,” notably in Clark’s Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina. That usage is strictly post-war, and the regiments were never referred to by those numbers during the war.)
instructors. One solution was to look to the military academies, and so, at the age of sixteen, Beasley served eighteen days as drillmaster to a North Carolina regiment, for which he was paid the sum of $19.99. His performance must have been satisfactory, because in April 1862 Beasley was again engaged as a drillmaster, this time for the newly-organized 48th Regiment N.C. Troops, which duty he performed until June.
In early August 1862 two officer vacancies occurred in Company H of the 48th North Carolina, most of whose members were from Davidson County. Usually, the men would elect one of their own for such vacancies, but obviously Drillmaster Beasley was well known to them, and so he was elected third lieutenant on August 6 and was promoted to second lieutenant one week later.
Many North Carolina regiments organized in the spring of 1862 saw little fighting that year but the 48th North Carolina was an exception. By year’s end it had suffered 574 casualties, including 181 men killed or mortally wounded in action. The heaviest losses were at the battles of Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg. The 200 casualties sustained in the latter fight were the most of any North Carolina regiment. One of the Fredericksburg casualties was Beasley, who was severely wounded in the left thigh by a gunshot, the bullet striking the bone.
Beasley spent several weeks on wounded furlough, and was promoted to first lieutenant shortly after his eighteenth birthday in February 1863. He returned to duty by early May but, unable to sustain active duty, was hospitalized again and on July 20, 1863, Beasley was placed on detached duty as Assistant Recruiting Officer of the 2nd Congressional District. On October 14, 1863, he was again hospitalized at Richmond with a gunshot wound of the left thigh. The 48th North Carolina had taken heavy casualties the previous day at the Battle of Bristoe Station, but it is uncertain if Beasley had returned to the regiment and sustained a new wound or had aggravated the Fredericksburg injury. In any case, by November 3 he was again on detached duty and ordered to report to Brigadier General Laurence S. Baker, who commanded a military district in eastern North Carolina, “for assignment being unfit for field service.”
In February 1864 the Confederate Congress extended the conscription age upward to age fifty and downward to seventeen. The boys were to be called Junior Reserves, and by June nine battalions had been organized. The 5th Battalion N.C. Junior Reserves, from the counties of Duplin, Greene, Johnston, Lenoir, Pitt, Wayne, and Wilson, fielded three companies, numbering 321 officers and boys. On June 2, 1864, they elected First Lieutenant Beasley as major.
In July the 2nd and 5th Battalions N.C. Junior Reserves consolidated to form a new command usually known as Anderson’s Battalion N.C. Junior Reserves. Beasley, remaining a major, became second-in-command. In late 1864, with the addition of two more companies, Anderson’s Battalion was redesignated as the 2nd Regiment N.C. Junior Reserves, and on December 7 Beasley was promoted to lieutenant colonel. At nineteen, he was one of the Confederacy’s youngest field officers.
Few details remain of Beasley service in 1865, but the 2nd Junior Reserves fought at the battles of Wyse’s Fork (March 8-9) and Bentonville (March 19-21). Beasley was a patient at General Hospital No. 11, in Charlotte, when he was paroled in May 1865 in accordance with the terms of General Joseph Johnston’s surrender to General William T. Sherman on April 26.
Beasley died on April 6, 1923, and is buried at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Baltimore, Maryland.)
(The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Regiment N.C. Junior Reserves are often referred to as the “70th, 71st, and 72nd N.C. Regiments,” notably in Clark’s Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina. That usage is strictly post-war, and the regiments were never referred to by those numbers during the war.)
Creator
Unknown Photographer
Source
1860 U. S. Census, Town of Plymouth, Washington County, North Carolina, population schedule, page 90, dwelling 671, family 671, Mary Beasley household; North Carolina Troops 11:457, 17:235; Mast “North Carolina Casualties”; service record files of William F. Beasley, 2nd Regiment N.C. Junior Reserves and 48th Regiment N.C. Troops, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers from the State of North Carolina (M270), RG109, NA.
Contributor
North Carolina Office of Archives and History
Files
Citation
Unknown Photographer, “Lieutenant Colonel William Fessenden Beasley,” Tar Heel Faces, accessed April 24, 2024, https://tarheelfaces.omeka.net/items/show/72.
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