“In the Confederacy, North Carolina regiments endured a great deal of disdain from those of other states, especially Virginia. Union victories over small armies composed of North Carolina troops at Hatteras Inlet, Roanoke Island and New Bern early in the war rubbed salt in the psychological wounds of North Carolinians.
“One general from the Tar Heel State made the soldiers in his brigade promise ‘not to visit wife, children or business till we have done our full share in retrieving the reputation of our troops and our state.’
“When North Carolinians fought courageously in later battles with the Army of Northern Virginia… the conceited Virginians had been put in their place. ‘It was a proud day for the old state,’ a major in the 46th North Carolina wrote after Fredericksburg.”
– From “For Cause and Comrades: Why Men Fought in the Civil War” (1997) by James M. McPherson