Great-Grandfather was soldier, POW

Richard Smith, my great-grandfather, was born in Bladen County in December of 1833. His family were among the earliest settlers in North Carolina in the early 1700s. He enlisted in the Confederate army in Bladen County on Oct. 19, 1861 as a private in Co. I, 2nd Regiment, North Carolina Artillery. He left a pregnant wife and several children to go to war. He fought at Fort Fisher. He was captured near Savannah, Ga. on Dec. 21, 1864 and confined as a prisoner of war at Fort Delaware, Del. He was was released after taking the oath of allegiance on June 19, 1865. He returned to Bladen County, where he farmed and was also a store merchant. He died in 1900 at age 67, and is buried in small family cemetery near his Bladen County home.