Parade Ground - Fayetteville Light Infantry - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

The Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry is North Carolina's oldest military unit and the second-oldest militia organization in the U.S.

At the start of the Civil War, after North Carolina seceded, the company enrolled in active service for six months on on April 17, 1861, as Company H, 1st North Carolina Infantry. It seized the U.S. Arsenal at Fayetteville and occupied it until the Confederate government took control. In May, the company departed for the camp of instruction in Raleigh. The ladies of Fayetteville untrimmed their hats to trim those of the soldiers with black plumes, so the "officers and men of the Independents strutted like gamecocks, with elaborate plumes on their broad brimmed hats." The company took part in the first major land engagement of the war at Big Bethel, Virginia, on June 10. When the six-month enlistment ended, the group returned to Fayetteville.

On February 22, 1862, the Independents were reorganized, and many members received commissions or appointments in other units. Others joined the Clarendon Guards for duty at Fort Fisher, leaving a home guard in Fayetteville of men too young or old to fight. Today the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry, which remained in active service through World War 1, is North Carolina's official historic military command and still musters on the parade ground.

A bicentennial monument erected in 1993 on the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry's 200th anniversary is located on the parade grounds.

To record your own visit to this waymark, take and post your own photo of the waymark with your log. Logs must contain an original photo as proof of your visit, please.