In April 1861, James Reilly sent in his resignation to the Union War Department and joined the Confederate Army where he served with distinction commanding the Rowan Artillery and eventually rose to the rank of major.
He and his battery were detached from the Army of Northern Virginia and sent to Fort Fisher. In the final battle there, he became the senior officer (after Whiting and Lamb were wounded) and officially surrendered the fort.
In doing that, he may be the only one on either side to surrender a fort at the beginning of the war and end of the war, from one side to the other.
He was held a prisoner of war and later returned to Wilmington where he lived at 111 S. sixth Street. Later in life, he had a small farm in the Maco community in Brunswick County. He died in 1896 and is buried at Wilmington's Oakdale Cemetery. If I recall, Reilly's grave is fairly close to Whiting's.
His Descendants Next. --Old B-Runner
No comments:
Post a Comment