Download or read book Richard Gatlin and the Confederate Defense of Eastern North Carolina written by James L. Gaddis Jr. and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2015-03-23 with total page 223 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the Confederate shelling of Fort Sumter in April 1861, North Carolina took steps toward war. Governor John Ellis commandeered Federal forts, raised regiments and enlisted the aid of Mexican War hero and Kinston native Richard C. Gatlin. Under the new Confederacy, Gatlin commanded the Confederate Department of North Carolina as a brigadier general. He was charged with the defense of the Tar Heel State, and his failure to prevent the Union takeover of the coast has been lost in the annals of Civil War history. Join author and historian James L. Gaddis Jr. for an overlooked yet harrowing tale of power, politics, tragedy and war.