Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the William Pinkney Cline Papers #5019-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed July 2005) available.

• Reel 1: Entire collection

Microfilmed copy available online from the Internet Archive at http://www.archive.org/details/unc_chapel_hill_William_P_Cline

Acquisitions Information

Purchased from Charles Apfelbaum of Watchung, N.J., in April 2000 (Acc. 98605).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: John Foster, September 2000

Encoded by: John Foster, September 2000

Revisions: Finding aid updated in May 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Antietam, Battle of, Md., 1862.
• Catawba County (N.C.)--History--19th century.
• Cline family.
• Cline, William Pinkney, 1835-1864.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Military life.
• Confederate States of America. Army. North Carolina Infantry Regiment, 46th.
• Fredericksburg, Battle of, Fredericksburg, Va., 1862.
• Military deserters--Confederate States of America.
• North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Soldiers--Confederate States of America--Correspondence.
• Soldiers--Confederate States of America--Photographs.

William Pinkney Cline was a smith in Catawba County, N.C. He joined the Confederate Army on 13 March 1862, becoming a member of Company K, 46th North Carolina Infantry Regiment, also known as the Catawba Braves. At the time of his enlistment, he was 27 years of age and had a wife, Mary Cline, and four children. Cline saw action at Antietam on 17 September 1862 and was present or accounted for with his unit until he deserted on 19 August 1863. Cline returned from desertion on 28 September 1863 and was held under arrest through February 1864. He returned to duty in March-April 1864. He was killed at the battle of the Wilderness, 5 May 1864.

The papers of William Pinkney Cline are composed of letters written to his wife during the Civil War while he served with the 46th North Carolina Infantry Regiment of the Confederate Army from 1862 to 1864. The letters discuss camp conditions and military life, the movements of Cline's unit, news of other soldiers from his area, brief descriptions of the action that he saw at the battles of Antietam and Fredericksburg, as well as descriptions of his time in the guardhouse after his return from desertion and the execution of three other deserters from his unit. Also included are several post-war letters from family members to Smith's wife, Mary Cline, and a photograph of Cline in uniform.

• Photograph (P-5019/1)