William J. Hoke Captain's Commission

William J. Hoke resided in Lincoln County, NC, where he enlisted at the age of 35 on April 25, 1861. He was appointed to the rank of captain from his date of enlistment and joined the Lincoln Guards and the Southern Stars. Upon being mustered into state service they became Company K of the First Regiment of North Carolina Infantry.[1]

On April 24, 1862, Captain Hoke became Colonel of the 38th Regiment of NC Troops. The 38th became part of Pender’s Brigade, which formed the Sixth of the “Light Division” commended by A.P. Hill. Hoke was wounded at Mechanicsville in 1862, at Gettysburg in 1863, and at Spotsylvania in 1864.[2] After Spotsylvania, Hoke was declared disabled for field service and was appointed to command the post at Charlotte, NC, until the end of the war.[3]

Hoke was the common great-grandfather of two faculty members of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington: Walser H. Allen, Jr., and Doctor Frank B. Hall.

Charles Manly was born in Chatham County, NC, on May 17, 1795. He served as the state’s thirty-first governor, from 1849 to 1851, and was the last Whig governor of North Carolina. Manly died in Raleigh, NC, on May 1, 1871.[4]

[1] North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865, A Roster, Volume III, Infantry. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State Department of Archives and History, 1971. Page 51.

[2] Clark, Walter, editor. Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-’65. Published by the State, 1901. Volume II, pages 676-694.

[3] U.S. War Department. The War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies. Washington Printing Office, 1880-1901. 70 Volumes, in 18? or 28?.

[4] The National Cyclopedia of American Biography. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1967. Volume 4, pages 426-427.

Note written by William Madison Randall Library Special Collections Staff