May 25 

 

          On this day in 1862, Captain Jacob C. Hedgecock of the 21st North Carolina Infantry was mortally wounded at the First Battle of Winchester, Virginia. A 29-year-old unmarried lawyer from Davidson County, Hedgecock enlisted in the “Davidson Guards” on May 8, 1861, when he was elected 1st Lieutenant. He was soon promoted to Captain of Company A, and participated with the regiment in the Battle of Bull Run on July 21, 1861, but did not see much action. In the spring of 1862, the regiment was ordered to the Shenandoah Valley to join General Stonewall Jackson’s small army, just as it began its famous Valley Campaign. The regiment marched all night on May 24, to arrive near the town of Winchester, Virginia, where they rested “just before dawn, in the cold dew.” Soon after sunrise, they were ordered to storm an enemy, positioned behind a stone wall and well supported by artillery (see map). Lieutenant James F. Beall recalled the enemy “pouring forth a perfect storm of canister and minie balls from right and left.” The regiment succeeded in driving the enemy from the position, but at a heavy cost of 80 casualties, including the regiment’s Colonel, Lieutenant Colonel, Lieutenant Beall, and Captain Hedgecock. Hedgecock led his company in the morning charge and fell mortally wounded, “pierced by a half dozen balls or more.” Beall reported, “A braver or truer man than this young lawyer was never sent to the field of battle” Hedgecock died the next day from his wounds and was buried in Winchester, along with many of his comrades.

 

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​Photo: ​​​Stonewall Jackson enters Winchester to much rejoicing, as Hedgecock lay mortally wounded southeast of town.

 

Sources: 

Weymouth T. Jordan, Jr., comp., North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865: A Roster, 6:540-541; James F. Beall, “21st Regiment,” in Walter Clark, ed., Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War, 1861-’65 (1901), 2:131-132 (Beall mistakenly says the battle occurred on March 25 instead of May 25).