Hear ye not the sound of battle, sabres clash and muskets rattle? Fight away, fight away, fight away in Dixie Land! In February, 1861, representatives from seven southern states met in Montgomery, Alabama, to form a Southern Confederacy. Simultaneously, delgates from twenty-one other states gathered in Washington for a "peace conference." North Carolina sent five delegates to the Washington "peace conference," on of whom was Chief Justice Thomas RUFFIN of Haw River. The venerable old judge opposed secession, and urged that the North and South compromise, concede or conciliate their differences--any step which would prevent the approaching civil war. Both President James BUCHANNAN and General Winfield SCOTT later admitted that had Judge RUFFIN persisted in his effort the war might had been avoided. After long discussion however, the Judge gave in to younger and stronger voices, and the conference passed seven weak articles toward the settlement of North-South problems. North Carolina voted against six of them. Regretfully, Judge RUFFIN came home to his Haw River farm. The war drew closer and closer; it now seemed inevitable. During the first week in March, more than a thousand Alamance County citizens met at the courthouse in Graham to vote on the question of state secession. Edwin M. HOLT presided at the meeting, and Rufus Y. MCADEN, an ardent Union supporter, denounced as traitiors those who wanted to join the Confederacy. When the vote was counted it was 1,116 to 284 against secession, and Giles MEBANE was elected to take this decision to a State Secession Convention. Meanwhile, Abraham LINCOLN, became President, and early in April, 1861, he wired Governor John W. ELLIS to send two regiments of North Carolina troops to the Federal Army. North Carolina had not yet seceded, but Governor ELLIS, himself a secessionist, refuled the President's request and immediately sent several thousand volunteers and a larg shipment of muskets to the Confederate Army. An anxiously-awaited news item appeared on April 10 in the Hillsboro Recorder: "We very much regret to announce today that hostilities have actually commenced between the Southern Confederacy and the Federal Government . . " When the news reached old Judge RUFFIN, it is said that his whole body quivered with emotion. Though he had been against war, he was a Southerner, and now he raised his arms above his head and shouted "I say fight! Fight! Fight!" The State Legislature immediately called for 20,000 volunteers, and the Secession Convention, attended by Giles MELBANE and Judge RUFFIN, declared the independence of the State of North Carolina at Raleigh on May 20, 1861, and pledged the State's support to the Confederate States of America. The war had come, and the people rose to meet the challenge. Eight days after the Legislature asked for troops, the hastily formed Hawfields company climbed aboard the train at Mabane bound for the Charlotte training camp. A large crowd of friends and neighbors gathered to see them leave, and with tears in their eyes, the wives and mothers of the community presented the departing soldiers with a blue and scarlet flag. At Company Shops, Charles F. FISHER, who was president of the North Carolina Railroad, put on the neat gray uniform of a Confederate Colonel and set about the business of organizing a regiment of troops. He established a training camp at Company Shops, on the site now occupied by the Broad Street High School, and within two months had recruited the full regiment, two companies of which included men and boys from Alamance County. On July 7, the State was saddened by news that Governor ELLIS had paaed away in Virginia after a long period of failing health. colonel FISHER and part of his regiment left immediately to escort the Governor's body back to Raleigh. When this grim duty was finished, the regiment was ordered to return to Virginia and was assigned to General BEE's Confederate Brigade at Winchester. The first important battle of the war occurred a few days later at Manassas. BEE's Brigade was part of 22,000 men who, under Confederate General BEAUREGARD, where concentrated west of the Potomac River near Washington. General BEAUREGARD received word that the Union Army planned to march on Richmond, the Confederate Capital, and he hoped to stop them at this point. The Union Troops marched westward however, and reached the Confederate lines at a place weakly guarded by a Colonel EVANS. BEE's brigade was nearby, and was immediately ordered to EVANS' aid. Colonel FISHER's Sixth Regiment had been separated from BEE's Brigade that moring, and did not arrive at Manassas until shortly after noon. The sounds of battle could abe heard from a distance, and Colonel FISHER quickly marched his men toward the front. When they reached the scene, the battle was raging furiously, and the newly-arrived troops took up a position on the left end of the Confederate line. Directly in front of FISHER's regiment was a Federal gun battery, and the Southern boys began to lay down a heavy fire on it. Within a short time, they forced the Union troops to retet and moved forward to capture the gun emplacement. near exhaustion by this time, FISHER's men paused for a short rest. Hardly had they put down their muskets, however, when another gray-clad regiment appeared on their left and opened fire on them. Believing the other regiment to be Confederate troops, Colonel FISHER ordered his own men not to fire and called out for the others to cease firing. A bullet struck him as he spoke and he fell, mortally wounded. The entire Sixth Regiment now opened fire on the nearby troops, and, after a short battle the enemy force withdrew. As Colonel FISHER lay dying, the Confederate Army pushed forward with renewed strength, and the Union Troops fled the field, leaving behind them a vast amount of supplies and ammunition, fifteen members of the Sixth Regiment lost their lives in the battle, and fifty-three others were wounded, but the victory which their sacrifices helped to win at Manassas brought badly-needed courage to the South. During the months which followed, Alamance County gave rwelve companies of troops to the Confederate Armies, more men at that time than the county had voters. Several members of the same family frequently enlisted. Mr. & Mrs. Lemuel SIMPSON of this county gave eleven sons to the service, and there were a number of other families who made almost an equal sacrifice. There were many mothers like Mrs. Lettie JONES LONG, a widow of this county, whose three eldest boys enlisted in the Confederate Army. All three of them were killed. Mrs. LONG's youngest son, who was not old enough to volunteer for the Army when the war began, ran away from home and arrived at the headquarters of a Confederate regiment just as the war ended. ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange USGenWeb Orange Co, NC Archives site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/nc/orangnc.htm