Hide Article Text (OCR)
Gen. HokeA »►‘deserves to be remembered ’NEd Bearss visitstCivil War groupBy W. TERRY SMITHEDITOR*Confederate Maj. Gen, Robert F. Hoke was an interesting person who distinguished himself at Cold Harbor and Plymouth, Ed Bearss said Friday night.Bearss, the National Park Service’s historian emeritus and recognized authority of military history in the United States, was the guest of the William Dorsey Pender Civil War Roundtable meeting in Edgecombe Community College’s Mobley Atrium.It was Bearss’ 11th visit to Tarboro and about 70 people, some from as far away as New Bern andGreenville, came out to hear his report on Hoke, a North Carolina native,Bearrs said not all that much is known about Hoke because there are no Hoke letters to reference.“Hoke’s not a household name,” Bearss said, “but he played a significant role in the Civil War and deserves to be remembered, especially in North Carolina ”Bearss gave an overview on Hoke, a native of Lincolntonvand;1. graduate of the Kentucky Military Institute.Hoke entered the army as a lieutenant and was promoted to a major within five months, a lieutenant colonel within nine months, a colonel within 16 months, a brigadier general within two years and a major general within three years of his enlistment. At 26, Hoke was the youngest Confederate officer of that rank in the Civil War.He saw his first action at the Battle of Big Bethel where Henry Wyatt of Tarboro was killed, the first Confederate casualty of the war.Hoke fought in nearly every significant battle in the Eastern theater: Gaines Mill, Malvern Hill, Second Manassas, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Plymouth, Petersburg, Richmond, Cold Harbor, Fort Fisher, Bentonville. He provided the rear guard as Joseph E. Johnston met Sherman at Bennett Farm to arrange the surrender.He missed Gettysburg because of1 a severe shoulder wound received at Chancellorsville.In early 1864, Gen. Robert E. Lee sent Hoke to rid the North Carolina coast of Union occupation. He was unsuccessful in his attempt to retake New Bern but with the new ironclad CSS iAlbemarle and 13,000 troops attacked Plymouth on April 17, 1864.Hoke took the town that had■v.been under Union occupation for 1 two years and captured a garrison of 2,834 Yankee soldiers, 25 artillery pieces and gave the Confederates a much neededv .morale boost.Those prisoners, “Plymouth’s * Pilgrims,” would end up in Tarboro ] in a stockade on the Town Common lt;• Iwaiting for a train to take them ^See HOKE, page 5lt;Bearss
Newspaper Details
Tarboro Daily Southerner
Tarboro, North Carolina, US
Mon, Jan 18, 2010
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Charles H.
GA, USA 14 Nov 2021
Other Publications Near Tarboro, North Carolina
Enquirer Southerner
Tarboro Free Press
Tarboro North Carolina Free Press
Tarboro Press
Tarboro Southerner
