Book excerpt: The State of North Carolina was not as quick or eager to secede from the Union as her southern neighbors. However, after the firing on Fort Sumter, South Carolina, and President Lincoln's call for 75,000 troops, the Old North State joined those already fighting for independence. North Carolina contributed and sacrificed more men for the Confederate cause than any other state. The first Confederate soldier killed in the war was a North Carolinian; North Carolina regiments made it farther into Union lines at Gettysburg and Chickamauga; and North Carolinians captured the last Union artillery battery, made the last charge, fired the last volley, and surrendered the last man at Appomattox Court House. North Carolina proudly earned the label: First at Bethel, Farthest at Gettysburg and Chickamauga, Last at Appomattox. Confederate Military History of North Carolina recounts the contribution and sacrifice of North Carolinians made while serving in the Army of North Virginia and the great battles in which it participated-Big Bethel, 1st and 2nd Manassas, The Peninsula Campaign, Seven Days battles, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Bristoe Station, Wilderness, Spotsylvania, Early's Valley Campaign, Petersburg, Appomattox, and many more. North Carolinians gallantly protected their state throughout the war, from Burnside's Expedition, to the battles of Fort Fisher and Kinston, and Sherman's Carolinas Campaign, ending with the battles of Averasboro and Bentonville. A few Tar Heel regiments fought in the West, seeing action at Murfreesboro, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and the Atlanta Campaign.