UCV UNIFORM BUTTON: NC STATE SEAL ID'D TO CAPT. WILLIAM LONDON, 32nd NC INF.

Description

North Carolina state seal staff coat button from the uniform worn by Captain William L. London of Company I, 32
nd
N.C. Infantry as a member of the United Confederate Veterans.
Button bears the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina
with the figures of Liberty and Plenty in the center, a row of stars on the bottom and the words “North Carolina” on the top.  Reverse retains shank with manufacturer’s imprint: Waterbury Button Co.  Acquired in 1977 from a descendant of Captain London who reported the button to be one of a group of of his  uniform buttons passed down through the family.  Letter of provenance provided.
William Lord London was born in Pittsboro
– in North Carolina’s Chatham County – on April 3, 1838.
In 1861, at age 23, he relinquished  his job clerking in his father’s Pittsboro store, and joined the Chatham Rifles, which became Company M of the 15
th
North Carolina Infantry.  The regiment suffered serious losses defending Richmond during the Peninsula Campaign, and in July of 1862, the Chatham Rifles were transferred to the 32
nd
North Carolina Infantry as Company I. Mustered as a second lieutenant, London was quickly promoted to first lieutenant and then captain, and was severely wounded at the Battle of Malvern Hill.
The 32
nd
North Carolina Infantry remained near Richmond during the Antietam Campaign, and London returned to duty after recovering from his wound.  In early 1863, he and the 32
nd
were transferred to North Carolina, where they participated in the unsuccessful Confederate campaign to retake Newbern and Little Washington.
The regiment was engaged at the Battle of Gettysburg with the Army of Northern Virginia, serving in Ewell’s Corps, Rhodes’ Division, Daniel’s Brigade.  The 32
nd
North Carolina distinguished itself at Gettysburg, suffering heavy losses on the first day of battle in the Railroad Cut on McPherson’s Ridge, and on the third day at Culp’s Hill. Captain London was seriously wounded again in the fighting at Gettysburg.
After Gettysburg, the regiment retreated southward into Virginia with the rest of Lee’s army, and was not engaged again until the Battle of Spotsylvania, where it experienced ferocious combat and severe casualties. Soon afterwards, the 32
nd
North Carolina was engaged in General Jubal Early’s Valley Campaign and Raid on Washington, D.C.  During this campaign Captain London suffered his third battle wound during fighting at Winchester, Virginia. He recovered in time to rejoin the regiment as it protected the rear of Lee’s army on its retreat from Petersburg in April of 1865, and was present at the surrender at Appomattox.  After the war, he married Marie Caroline London, had eight children, was a business and civic leader in Pittsboro, N.C., and died at age 78 in 19
Captain London was active in the UCV, and served as brigadier general of the 2nd Brigade of the N.C. Division of the UCV.  He authored a chapter in Clark's
Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina
on the Daniel-Grimes Brigade.
SHIPPED FREE IN THE US.