John Ford Jenkins of the Roanoke Minute Men
In December 1860 the “Roanoke Minute Men” formed at Littleton, Halifax County, North Carolina. On March 30, 1861, sixty-one men enlisted, the earliest date for any North Carolina company. Among them was 26-year-old farmer John Jenkins, joined by three brothers and many cousins.
The company became Company A, 14th North Carolina Troops. From camp in Suffolk, Virginia, in July 1861, Jenkins wrote his wife of homesickness, thanked her for clothing, asked for a song book, and reported forty men sick.
He was briefly ill in 1861 and 1862, promoted to corporal then reduced to ranks. At Malvern Hill during the Seven Days he lost a thumb to a gunshot; the regiment suffered over 110 casualties. He also fought at Chancellorsville.
Tuberculosis killed him. At least 380 North Carolina soldiers died of it. Jenkins died at General Hospital No. 2, Lynchburg, Virginia, on July 27, 1863, and was buried in the Old City Cemetery’s Confederate section.
Deo Vindice
August 15, 2026 54 1
