A Memorial Dedication to Colonel Henry M. Shaw C.S.A. By: Dr. Dave

Pictures By: June Dunton Klag

On November 20^th, 2016 there was a dedication ceremony and memorial service for Colonel Henry M. Shaw of the Army of the Confederacy, which also was his birthday. The ceremony and service took place at his original North Carolina home in the town of Shawboro which was named after him. His home now belongs to S.C.V. member Ray Etheridge. The program, though extremely windy, was presented by members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans William F. Martin Camp #1521. Some of the participants present were Alex Leary, E.G. Swain, Bill Stafford, Dr. Dave and Phillip Morris and was sponsored by the Currituck County Historical Society with Horace Bell President Presiding.

            Before the war of Northern Aggression, Colonel Shaw became a medical doctor in Currituck County, North Carolina. He next entered politics, first in the North Carolina Senate, and then in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1853 and 1857. In April 1861 Congressman Shaw joined the Confederate Army and was commissioned Colonel of the 8^th North Carolina Regiment of Infantry and assumed command at Roanoke Island, North Carolina. On February 1862 the Yankee Hoards launched an assault on Roanoke Island with expeditionary forces of over 60 ships and 13,000 Yankees. Colonel Shaw had less than 3,000 men, although exuberantly outnumbered Colonel Shaw and his men fought stubbornly for four fierce hours before his forces were overwhelmed and forced to surrender in order to avoid the certain massacre by an immensely larger force of Yankees. After the capture, and being paroled and exchanged, the 8^th North Carolina Regiment was reformed and reorganized and continued to fight on through Charleston, Wilmington, and the trenches of Petersburg, VA. During the second battle of New Bern, North Carolina, Colonel Shaw was shot from his horse, the ball striking him in the cheek, traversing his head, and killing him instantly. A comment was made about him upon his death: “No more exemplary officer, no truer or more patriotic man has fallen in this bloody conflict, and no one more sincerely lamented by all to whom he was well known.”

Colonel Shaw’s grave is at his home place on route #34 in Shawboro, North Carolina with a state marker about 150 feet east of his home.

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