The Seventh Battalion, 300 strong, was organized at Camp Lamb,
near Wilmington, in June, 1864, by the election of W. F. French,
of Lumberton, Major, and E. F. McDaniel, of Fayetteville, was
appointed Adjutant. This battalion was composed of the following
companies:
COMPANY A--_From Cumberland, Robeson and Harnett Counties_--T. G.
Hybart, Captain; D. S. Byrd, First Lieutenant; C. C. McLellan and
C. S. Love, Jr., Second Lieutenants.
Upon the death of Captain Hybert, on 9 September, D. S. Byrd was
promoted to the Captaincy.
COMPANY B--_From New Hanover, Brunswick and Columbus
Counties_--John D. Kerr, Captain; J. B. Williams, First
Lieutenant; E. H. Moore and B. F. Gore, Second Lieutenants.
COMPANY C--_From Richmond County_--Donald McQueen, Captain; A. B.
McCollum, First Lieutenant; A. C. McFadyen and S. A. Barfield,
Second Lieutenants.
The battalion did guard duty at Wilmington until the middle of
July. Here Captain Donald McQueen died of typhoid fever on 25
June. He was a fine soldier, an honor to his name and his cause.
Lieutenant McCollum succeeded him in command of the company.
On the night of 3 July, 1864, Lieutenant Cushing, of the Federal
Navy (the same who blew up the Confederate ram “Albemarle” at
Plymouth), with a few detailed men, entered the Confederate
headquarters at Smithville (now Southport) and carried off General
Paul O. Hebert’s Adjutant-General to the Federal fleet. Thereafter
the Seventh Battalion was ordered from Wilmington to Smithville for
its protection. It camped in a beautiful grove of live oaks back of
the town. Here it did its full share of guard and picket duty under
the command of General Hebert, an old officer who had served with
distinction in Mexico and had been Governor of Louisiana. It was
here that Captain T. G. Hybart, of Fayetteville, was stricken with
typhoid fever and died 9 September, 1864. He was one of the best
officers in the command, and had he lived and the war continued,
would have made his mark. The battalion remained at Smithville
until 9 December when, with the Fourth and Eighth Battalions, all
under Colonel Jackson, it moved to Belfield, Virginia, to repel a
Federal raid.