Copyright 2010 by Frederick Walton, Historian
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| Author Richard W. Iobst |
I only met professor Iobst once. He was speaking at an SCV meeting I attended on July 9, 2002 in Durham, N. C. I was thrilled to meet him. I had the privilege to sit next to him at dinner and probably monopolized his attention with all my questions. My primary question is how he came about writing the book "The Bloody Sixth, The Sixth North Carolina Regiment History". I was curious to know if he wrote passionately about the regiment because some far off relative had served in it. The answer was much simpler than that.
He told me he was a young archivist, newly working at the North Carolina State archives when he was assigned to write the history of the Sixth Regiment. Apparently some influential businessmen from Burlington N. C. has made the "request" and his bosses at the Archives gave him the assignment.
Burlington was formerly the North Carolina Railroad maintenance facility, then known as Company Shops. This is where the President of the railroad, Charles Frederick Fisher, brought his newly formed regiment for induction and training. During the Centennial, The Burlington businessmen were quite proud of their hometown regiment and wanted the story to be told.
Young Iobst scoured the records in the archives, newspapers, and many other sources to fully document the amazing experiences of the Bloody Sixth. They had the honor to escort the body of Governor Ellis when he died in office in 1861. They played a major role in the 1st battle of Manassas where their leader, Colonel Fisher, was killed . In 1863 they played a pivotal role in the battle of Gettysburg where another of their leaders, Colonel Isaac Avery, fell leading the brigade. They continued to fight in nearly every major battle in the eastern theater during the four years of civil war.
If I remember correctly he had assembled a team of young Archivists to help him with this project and they collected reams of associated data. Today, the Richard W. Iobst Collection, 1965 can be found at the North Carolina State Archives as Record ID: PC.1260.1- PC.1260-4. It contains:
Scope and Content
Typescript of The Bloody Sixth by Iobst, a history of the 6th Regt. NCST published by the N.C. Confederate Centennial, 1965, without the roster that was published with it, but including the history by Wade Lucas of the centennial's "Reactivated Sixth." Also research notes arranged chronologically (1861-1865) containing footnote information not included in published volume.
During my research, I found his footnotes in this collection, hand typed or handwritten, on thousands of index cards, to be an amazing resource that further documents the primary source information describing the actions of the Sixth North Carolina State Troops. Often written by the participants themselves, in their own words. This amazing resource is essential for anyone who has a serious interest in this regiment. Some of the cards are full of information that aren't footnoted at all and are just backup information to the incidents in the book.
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| Iobst Book and Footnote Nook at the North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh, N. C. |
Another very important resource is a "special" copy of his published book at the Archives. It contain hand written (in pencil) footnote numbers for every chapter. He explained to me that the footnotes would have been too labor intensive and expensive to include when the original book was published, and he never got it republished to include them, although he made sure they were available at the archives for scholars to referance. There is a "footnote book" that identifies the source of the footnote, which eventually can be traced back to the detailed index cards. Both the "Bloody Sixth" book and the "Footnotes for the Bloody Sixth" (8 1/2 x 11 size) are bound in a plain brown hard cover binding and located behind the counter in the N. C. Archive reference room. You have to ask for them to let you borrow it. Be advised that they may have to hunt around for it, if they are not familiar with this valuable, but underused resource.
At the end of the meal, on July 9, 2002, I pulled out my well worn personal copy of the Bloody Sixth. Mine was a reprint of the 1965 work that I purchased in 1995. Professor Iobst thumbed through the pages, many of which held yellow sticky tabs and said:
"my God, did I make that many mistakes!"
"No" I chuckeled "this is all additional information I have found in my research"
I had the advantage of the internet and 30 more years of additional transcriptions and collections that I could discover.
"You should rewrite the book!" he exclaimed, studying my penciled in notes. "This is amazing, all the work you've done!"
Frankly, I had a long term goal of perhaps rewriting and updating the history and had been collecting data of my own for well over a decade.
"Have you ever thought of writing a new, updated volume?" I asked.
"Me?" he replied "No I finished that in 1965, and have had so many other projects since then I wouldn't know where to begin. But if you are inclined to write it, you have my blessing."
I was really encouraged, but I discovered that I am better suited to research, than writing since eight years have passed and I'm still gathering data.
He kindly signed my copy of "the Bloody Sixth" that night.
To Rick Walton,
Historian of the 6th
With kindest regards,
Richard W. Iobst
July 9. 2002
RICHARD IOBST OBITUARY
Published by The Macon, Ga. Telegraph on Jan. 27, 2010.
Richard William Iobst II, Ph.D. -CULLOWHEE, NC - Richard William Iobst II, Ph.D., 75, of Cullowhee died Saturday January 23, 2010 at Mission Memorial Hospital in Asheville. -Born in Allentown Pennsylvania in 1934 he was the son of Carl R. Iobst and Marguerite Biehl Iobst. He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Mary Ann Iobst; son, Richard William Iobst III; and sis- ter, Carol Iobst Groscup. -Iobst was a veteran of the U.S. Army and served in France during the Cold War. Iobst was graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and received a Ph.D. in American History. He taught history at Western Carolina University. He started the Archives at Western Carolina and was also the archivist. Iobst served as Chief Historian of the Office of History at the Air Logistics Center, Robins Air Force Base, in Warner Robins Georgia. Iobst was curator of the Museum of Southeastern Aviation at Robins Air Force Base. Iobst is the author of the Bloody Sixth: History of the Sixth North Carolina Regiment, Confederate States of America; Civil War Macon: The History of a Confederate City; and more than twenty published historical articles. -Iobst is survived by his wife, Mary Yeakle Phipps Iobst; son, Carl Edwin Herbert Iobst; and brother, Herbert Julius Scull. -Funeral services will be Wednesday January 27, 11A.M. at the Cullowhee Presbyterian Church with burial to follow at PE Moody Memorial Gardens Cemetery, Sylva, North Carolina. -In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Cullowhee Presbyterian Church or to Richard W. Iobst III Scholarship Fund (make check payable to Cullowhee Presbyterian Church with "Iobst Scholarship" on memo line). -Moody Funeral Home has charge of arrangements. Richard Iobst, II
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