Private Alvis Pendergrass:
First, Farthest & to the End
By Bob Blackwood
On April 6, 1861, Alvis Pendergrass enlisted in Co. E of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers. He fought at the Battle of Bethel before the state of North Carolina succeeded from the Union. After the state succeeded, the regiment was returned to North Carolina and reorganized.
New regiments were formed and many of the men were given commissions as officers in the new regiments. The remainder of the men were enlisted in the 11th Regiment, which included Co. G. drawm from Orange County. This regiment was sent to Wilmington, N.C., under the command of Col. Collett Leventhorpe and J. Johnson Pettigrew. They fought in several small battles up and down the Weldon Railroad.
When Gen. Robert E. Lee called for troops to invade the North, the 11th was sent north and joined the Army of Northern Virginia. Alvis fought at Gettysburg, made the famous Picket-Pettigrew-Trimble charge and was at Falling Waters with the last troops to cross the Potomac in the rear guard action that cost Gen. Pettigrew his life.
Gen. Pettigrew was replaced by W.W. Kirkland. The 11th fought hard at Bristow Station, but the battle was considered a loss. In May of 1864, the Federals tried to outflank the Confederates, but the Southerners caught them in the wilderness and inflicted great casualties on them. Grant withdrew his men.
The next battle was Spotsylvania and was another victory. Cold Harbor was a hard-fought battle inflicting great casualties on the Federal forces. W.W. Kirkland was wounded and never returned to his command.
He was replaced by William MacRae. One of the first things MacRae did was to organize a company of sharpshooters. He chose Chatham County's own Duncan Waddell from Co. G, a soldier who had won a battlefield commission for his bravery on Cemetery Ridge, to command the sharpshooters. One of the assignments for the sharpshooters was to try to knock out the enemy's artillery. They would shoot the horses, shoot the men, try to capture the cannon and turn it back on their enemies.
This plan worked at the battle of Reams Station. When the cannon fired on Federal troops at the same time the line was attacking, the Yankees broke and went in all directions. The story goes that the 11th was told to charge and hold their fire until the last moment. They did, and the Federals fired over their heads when their own artillery fired on them.
The Southern troops ran among them capturing over 3,000 men. One of the Federal officers described the scene this way: "As the brigades swarmed over the breastworks the Union troops broke like a covey of partridges and went in all directions."
The Confederates captured 12 battle flags that day, including three captured by soldiers of the 11th Regiment; John Michaux of Co. B, Robert Johnson of Co. D and Alvis Pendergrass of Co. G.
Alvis was captured on April 2, 1865, at the breakthrough at Petersburg. He was incarcerated at Fort Delaware and, after taking the oath of allegiance, was paroled on June 19, 1865.
Alvis Pendergrass returned home, married Salina Gattis and became a tenant farmer next door to the present site of Mt. Moriah Baptist Church in Orange County. The couple had twin children, Annie Jane and Graham. He died in Lee County at the home of his son, Graham, from Brights disease, said to be caused by a wartime minie ball wound.
He is buried at Cold Springs Church in Sanford.
