Skip to content

Storyline

Battery C, Orange County’s National Guard artillerymen, 1917

The Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsboro men who filled out a Durham National Guard field artillery battery in July 1917: the recruiting, the Red Men’s send-off at Carrboro, their leaving for camp at Trinity College, and the Red Cross comfort bags.

Men from Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsboro helped fill Battery C, a Durham-based field artillery battery of the North Carolina National Guard, by its July 1917 deadline. Chapel Hill and Carrboro furnished 34 men and Hillsboro 4, and Samuel M. Gattis Jr. of Hillsboro was made one of its lieutenants. On July 23 the Order of Red Men entertained the Chapel Hill and Carrboro men at their hall in Carrboro. Two days later between 30 and 35 young men left for camp at Trinity College in Durham before training in South Carolina. In late August the Chapel Hill Red Cross sent the battery's Orange County men comfort bags, and a committee of the battery wrote to thank the women.

Read the full storyRead the 4 eventsAll storylines

Read the events and sources below.

No works in the index are currently linked directly to this storyline. Suggest a source.

The full story

By July 10, 1917 recruiters in Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsboro had raised the men required for a Durham-based field artillery battery of the North Carolina National Guard by the deadline. Chapel Hill and Carrboro furnished 34 men and Hillsboro 4, and Governor Bickett made Samuel M. Gattis Jr. of Hillsboro one of the battery's lieutenants. On July 23 the Order of Red Men entertained the Chapel Hill and Carrboro men of Battery C at their hall in Carrboro, with M. C. S. Noble as the main speaker, Alex. H. Koonce also speaking, and refreshments served by the women. Two days later, on July 25, between 30 and 35 young men of Chapel Hill and Carrboro left for Durham to go into camp with the Durham company at Trinity College before going on to training in South Carolina. In late August the Chapel Hill chapter of the Red Cross sent comfort bags to the Orange County men of Battery C in camp at Durham, and a committee of the battery wrote to thank the women.

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 4 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsboro men help fill a National Guard field artillery battery Recruiters in Durham, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsboro raised the men required for a Durham-based field artillery battery of the North Carolina National Guard by the deadline. Chapel Hill and Carrboro furnished 34 men and Hillsboro 4, and Governor Bickett made Samuel M. Gattis Jr. of Hillsboro one of its lieutenants.The News (Chapel Hill), July 12, 1917, p. 5
  2. The Red Men's lodge at Carrboro gives a send-off for the men of Battery C The Order of Red Men entertained the Chapel Hill and Carrboro men of Battery C at their hall in Carrboro, with M. C. S. Noble as the main speaker, Alex. H. Koonce also speaking, and refreshments served by the women, two days before the men left for camp. People: M. C. S. NobleThe News (Chapel Hill), July 26, 1917, p. 5
  3. Chapel Hill and Carrboro men of Battery C leave for camp in Durham Between 30 and 35 young men of Chapel Hill and Carrboro, members of Battery C of the North Carolina National Guard's field artillery, left for Durham to go into camp with the Durham company at Trinity College before going on to training in South Carolina.The News (Chapel Hill), July 26, 1917, p. 5
  4. The Chapel Hill Red Cross sends comfort bags to the county's Battery C men The Chapel Hill chapter of the Red Cross sent comfort bags to the Orange County men of Battery C in camp at Durham, and a committee of the battery wrote to thank the women.The News (Chapel Hill), September 6, 1917, p. 1

Research sources

Sources and research tools for this storyline. Research guide: Follow an event across several accounts.

Background

Collections and databases

Local help

More to discover

Keep Reading Local

The Friends connect people with new library materials, local writers and publishers, and resources documenting Orange County.

Two mice reading back to back against a leaf, with the hand-lettered words Friends of the Orange County Public Library
Illustration by Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell, gifted to the Friends 2026