Colonel Henry K. Burgwyn Jr. was only twenty-one years old when he took the 26th North Carolina into battle at Gettysburg . Exceptionally bright, he entered the University of North Carolina at age sixteen, graduated with honors, then joined the corps of cadets at the Virginia Military Institute—where he again distinguished himself scholastically. Despite his youthfulness, he was a capable professional officer and a proven leader. When his men entered the firestorm of battle at Gettysburg, Burgwyn would be leading them. (Special Collections Library, Duke University ) Back home in Raleigh, according to family members, a nineteen-year-old fiancée waited for Colonel Burgwyn. Her name was Annie Lane Devereux, pictured here in a postwar photograph, and she was the oldest daughter of a prominent North Carolina family. “Patient, gentle, earnest, brave, devout” is how a contemporary described her. She would need such character qualities by war’s end. (North Carolina Division of Archives and History) Will’s Forest house—the Devereux family home in Raleigh—was renowned during the Civil War for its rose gardens. Here, on his last furlough before the march to Gettysburg, twenty-oneyear -old Colonel Henry K. Burgwyn Jr. was said to have come courting. The Devereux family included eight children and, according to a friend, kept a “happy and delightful home” known for its “gracious hospitality.” (North Carolina Division of Archives and History) Farmer-turned-soldier John R. Lane had no formal military training, but had risen from corporal to lieutenant colonel of the 26th. Devout, cool-headed, and dependable, he was a popular officer with the men in the ranks, whom he described as his “boys.” When the regiment was ordered into action at Gettysburg , Lane was second-in-command— and was three days away from his twenty-eighth birthday. (Private collection of L. R. Gorrell) [52.55.214.236] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:46 GMT) Twenty-two-year-old Major John Jones was no stranger to tragedy: As a teen he had lost his mother and his youngest brother, and he had seen the war’s deadly harvest on battlefields like Malvern Hill. Nothing he had experienced, however, could have prepared him for what awaited at Gettysburg. (Private collection of Skip Smith) Although he was the 26th’s first colonel, Zebulon B. Vance was not present at Gettysburg. As a former U.S. congressman, he found politics to be irresistible, and, after a year of command, he left the regiment to become North Carolina’s wartime governor. (North Carolina Collection, Pack Memorial Library) Lieutenant General A. P. Hill commanded the Army of Northern Virginia’s Third Corps—which included Heth’s Division, Pettigrew’s Brigade and the 26th North Carolina. On the eve of battle, Hill dismissed reports that Federal forces lay ahead at Gettysburg. (Author’s collection) “We should not, therefore, conceal from ourselves that our resources in men are constantly diminishing ,” General Robert E. Lee wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis on the eve of the Gettysburg campaign. Lee knew his decision to take the war to the North involved grave risks, but he believed the South’s best hope for independence lay with a major victory on Northern soil. (Library of Congress) [52.55.214.236] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 22:46 GMT) Eager to search Gettysburg for a rumored stockpile of footwear, Major General Henry Heth pressed his corps commander for permission to advance. “If there is no objection,” he announced, “then I will take my division tomorrow and go to Gettysburg and get those shoes.” (National Archives) Fluent in six languages, Brigadier General James Johnston Pettigrew was a scientist, scholar and world traveler who had mastered the military arts well enough to earn a brigadier’s commission. At Gettysburg, Pettigrew’s Brigade included the 26th North Carolina, and by the battle’s third day he had been placed in command of the left wing of the Pickett-Pettigrew Charge. (Southern Historical Collection, University of North Carolina) A hickory-tough mountain boy, Private “Jimmie ” Moore of Company F had gone to war at age fifteen. By July of 1863, he was a seasoned veteran who was as ready as any man to charge into the guns of the enemy. Awaiting him at Gettysburg, however, was a hillside hike more terrible than anything he could have imagined. (Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina) Captain Louis G. Young, an aide to General Pettigrew, feared Generals Hill and Heth were incautious to dismiss...