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56th North Carolina Infantry

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Muster In: Organized on July 31, 1862.1
Muster Out: April 9, 18652

Commander(s):
Colonel Paul F. Faison
Paul F. Faison 56th NC3

Lieutenant Colonel G. Gratiott Luke
GGratiottLuke56thNC4

Major John W. Graham
JohnWGraham56thNC5

Captain Lawson Harrill
Commander Image

Captain Robert D. Graham
Commander Image

Captain W. G. Graves
Commander Image

Commander 7
Commander Image

First Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army6

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Paul F. Faison7
    • Lieutenant Colonel G. Gratiott Luke (“disabled by a carbuncle”, unknown date)8
    • Major John W. Graham (wounded on June 18, 1864)9
    • ?
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Second Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army10

  • Commander:
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Third Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army11

  • Commander:
    • Major John W. Graham12
    • Captain Lawson Harrill (starting July 20, 1864 and lasting “several weeks”)13
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fourth Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army14

  • Commander:
    • Captain Lawson Harrill (commanded from July 20, 1864 and “for several weeks after”, was still in command on August 15, 1864)15
    • Captain Robert D. Graham (at least August 20-21, 1864)16
    • Captain W. G. Graves (at least August 21, 1864)17
    • Major John W. Graham (at least August 25, 1864)18
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Fifth Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Department of North Carolina and Southern Virginia | Confederate Army19,20

  • Commander:
    • Major John W. Graham21
    • Colonel Paul F. Faison22
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Sixth Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army23

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Paul F. Faison24
    • Major John W. Graham25
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Seventh Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army26,27

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Paul F. Faison (November 1864)28
    • Major John W. Graham (December 1864)29
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Eighth Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army30,31,32,33,34

  • Commander:
    • Lieutenant Colonel G. Gratiott Luke (January & February 1865)35,36,37
    • Colonel Paul F. Faison (conflicting info, either AWOL by February 17 or took a leave of absence starting February 28)(January & February 1865)38,39
  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Ninth Offensive Order of Battle: Ransom’s Brigade | Johnson’s Division | Fourth Corps | Army of Northern Virginia | Confederate Army40,41

  • Commander:
    • Colonel Paul F. Faison (no record of his absence)(March & April 1-2, 1865)42,43
    •  

      Major John W. Graham (wounded March 25)(March 1865)44

    •  

      Captain Lawson Harrill (captured March 25)(if Faison wasn’t present and after Graham was wounded)(March 1865)45

    •  

      Lieutenant Colonel G. Gratiott Luke (present on at least March 26, doesn’t appear to have been present March 25)(captured April 1)(March & April 1, 1865)46,47

    •  

      ? (after Luke was captured and if Faison wasn’t present)(April 1-2, 1865)48

  • Unit Strength:
  • Weapons:

Dyer’s/Sifakis’ Compendium Info:
Siege of Petersburg Battles49:

  • Petersburg Siege (June 1864-April 1865)
  • The Crater (July 30, 1864)
  • Globe Tavern (August 18-21, 1864)
  • Fort Stedman (March 25, 1865)
  • Dinwiddie Court House (March 31, 1865)
  • Five Forks (April 1, 1865)
  • Sayler’s Creek (April 6, 1865)
  • Appomattox Court House (April 9, 1865)

Bibliography:

    Siege of Petersburg Documents Which Mention This Unit:

    Sources:

    1. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 156-157 ↩
    2. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 156-157 ↩
    3. Clark, Walter. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-’65, Volume 3 (Nash Brothers: 1901), p. 312-313: There is an illustration showing the field officers of the 56th North Carolina between pages 312 and 313 in this famous reference work.  I’d like to thank Dave Parker, a descendant of a member of the 56th North Carolina, for pointing me to this illustration. ↩
    4. Clark, Walter. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-’65, Volume 3 (Nash Brothers: 1901), p. 312-313: There is an illustration showing the field officers of the 56th North Carolina between pages 312 and 313 in this famous reference work.  I’d like to thank Dave Parker, a descendant of a member of the 56th North Carolina, for pointing me to this illustration. ↩
    5. Clark, Walter. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-’65, Volume 3 (Nash Brothers: 1901), p. 312-313: There is an illustration showing the field officers of the 56th North Carolina between pages 312 and 313 in this famous reference work.  I’d like to thank Dave Parker, a descendant of a member of the 56th North Carolina, for pointing me to this illustration. ↩
    6. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 115 ↩
    7. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 115 ↩
    8. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 115 ↩
    9. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 115 ↩
    10. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., p. 115 ↩
    11. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 124 ↩
    12. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 124 ↩
    13. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 124 ↩
    14. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 133 ↩
    15. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 133 ↩
    16. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 133 ↩
    17. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 133 ↩
    18. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 133 ↩
    19. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 141 ↩
    20. Sommers, Richard J. “Grant’s Fifth Offensive at Petersburg: A Study in Strategy, Tactics, and Generalship.  The Battle of Poplar Spring Church, the First Battle of the Darbytown Road, the Second Battle of the Squirrel Level Road, the Second Battle of the Darbytown Road (Ulysses S. Grant, Virginia).” Doctoral Thesis. Rice University, 1970. Print. p. 1314. ↩
    21. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 141 ↩
    22. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 141 ↩
    23. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150 ↩
    24. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150 ↩
    25. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 150 ↩
    26. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 158 ↩
    27. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 167 ↩
    28. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 158 ↩
    29. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 167 ↩
    30. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 176 ↩
    31. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1174: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, commanded by General R. E. Lee, January 31, 1865”; This list contains many commanders who were not there.  They were the “official” commanders but may have been gone on leave.  I have used none of the leaders from this list as a result. ↩
    32. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1183: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame. ↩
    33. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 186 ↩
    34. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1273: “Organization of the Infantry and Cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, February 28, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from February 28, 1865.  However, leaders listed are from January.  I’ve chosen to ignore the leaders and just use this source for the organization of the order of battle. ↩
    35. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 176 ↩
    36. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Volume XLVI, Part 2 (Serial Number 96), page 1183: “Organization of the Army of Northern Virginia, General R. E. Lee, C. S. Army, commanding, January 31, 1865”; This order of battle was based off of inspection reports from January 26-31, 1865, and the leaders should be accurate for this time frame. ↩
    37. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 186 ↩
    38. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 176 ↩
    39. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 186 ↩
    40. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 195 ↩
    41. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204 ↩
    42. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 195 ↩
    43. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204 ↩
    44. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204 ↩
    45. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204 ↩
    46. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 195 ↩
    47. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204 ↩
    48. The Confederate Order of Battle, Volume 1: The Army of Northern Virginia by F. Ray Sibley, Jr., page 204 ↩
    49. Compendium of the Confederate Armies: North Carolina by Stewart Sifakis, pp. 156-157 ↩

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