Private James Wilkerson
Dublin Core
Title
Private James Wilkerson
Subject
Company C (the "Rutherford Rebels"), 34th Regiment N.C. Troops
Description
James Wilkerson farmed in Rutherford County with his elderly parents and, at the age of twenty-six, enlisted on September 2, 1861, in the “Rutherford Rebels,” one of two Rutherford County companies to organize on that date. The “Rebels” moved to the camp of instruction at Camp Fisher, near High Point, and on October 25 joined the 34th Regiment N.C. Troops as Company C. (The other company that organized on September 2 was the “Sandy Run Yellow Jackets,” which became Company B of the 34th North Carolina.)
Wilkerson was reported present during early 1862 but, beginning June 25 was absent for 208 days with the Pioneer Corps of Major General A.P. Hill’s Light Division (to which the 34th North Carolina belonged), returning to duty with Company C on January 18, 1863. For that extra duty, he was to be paid an additional 25 cents per day.
On May 2, 1863, the 34th North Carolina, as part of General Dorsey Pender’s Brigade, participated in General Stonewall Jackson’s celebrated flank march around the right flank of the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. The subsequent attack by Jackson’s men routed a substantial part of the Federal force, but the Rebels encountered much stiffer resistance on the following day. Pender’s Brigade engaged in repeated attacks until the men were “out of ammunition, broken down, and badly cut up.” The 34th North Carolina sustained serious losses, with more than one hundred men wounded and forty men killed or mortally wounded in action. One of the latter was Private Wilkerson, who was killed on May 3.
On June 22, 1862, Wilkerson’s father, William Wilkerson, filed a claim with the Confederate War Department for back pay and other monies due his son, amounting to $133.60, an unusually large sum for an enlisted man. (James left no wife nor children.) He had never been paid for his extra duty with the divisional pioneers, but more than half the sum due was for “Commutation for clothing from Sept 2, 1862 . . . to October 8th 36 days @ 14 ct per day 5.04. . . . Ditto from October 8 1862 to May 3 1863 208 days @ 37 ct 76.96.”
“Commutation for clothing” was monetary compensation granted to a soldier in lieu of uniform items he could otherwise expect to be issued. Apparently Wilkerson never received part or all of his uniform, and provided his own clothing, a supposition that is apparently confirmed by his photograph.
Confederate bureaucracy was seemingly no speedier than any other, and the claim was not settled by the Auditor of the War Department until December 21, 1864.
Wilkerson was reported present during early 1862 but, beginning June 25 was absent for 208 days with the Pioneer Corps of Major General A.P. Hill’s Light Division (to which the 34th North Carolina belonged), returning to duty with Company C on January 18, 1863. For that extra duty, he was to be paid an additional 25 cents per day.
On May 2, 1863, the 34th North Carolina, as part of General Dorsey Pender’s Brigade, participated in General Stonewall Jackson’s celebrated flank march around the right flank of the Army of the Potomac at Chancellorsville. The subsequent attack by Jackson’s men routed a substantial part of the Federal force, but the Rebels encountered much stiffer resistance on the following day. Pender’s Brigade engaged in repeated attacks until the men were “out of ammunition, broken down, and badly cut up.” The 34th North Carolina sustained serious losses, with more than one hundred men wounded and forty men killed or mortally wounded in action. One of the latter was Private Wilkerson, who was killed on May 3.
On June 22, 1862, Wilkerson’s father, William Wilkerson, filed a claim with the Confederate War Department for back pay and other monies due his son, amounting to $133.60, an unusually large sum for an enlisted man. (James left no wife nor children.) He had never been paid for his extra duty with the divisional pioneers, but more than half the sum due was for “Commutation for clothing from Sept 2, 1862 . . . to October 8th 36 days @ 14 ct per day 5.04. . . . Ditto from October 8 1862 to May 3 1863 208 days @ 37 ct 76.96.”
“Commutation for clothing” was monetary compensation granted to a soldier in lieu of uniform items he could otherwise expect to be issued. Apparently Wilkerson never received part or all of his uniform, and provided his own clothing, a supposition that is apparently confirmed by his photograph.
Confederate bureaucracy was seemingly no speedier than any other, and the claim was not settled by the Auditor of the War Department until December 21, 1864.
Creator
Unknown Photographer
Source
Manarin et. al., North Carolina Troops, 9:284; Mast, “North Carolina Casualties”; Mast, State Troops and Volunteers, 1:106; service record files of James Wilkerson, 34th Regiment N.C. Troops, Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers from the State of North Carolina (M270), RG109, NA.
Contributor
Greg Mast Collection
Format
Copy Print of a 1/9th plate Ambrotype
Files
Citation
Unknown Photographer, “Private James Wilkerson,” Tar Heel Faces, accessed May 17, 2024, https://tarheelfaces.omeka.net/items/show/81.
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