Adjutant General of North Carolina
# Adjutant General of North Carolina

The Adjutant General of North Carolina is the head of the North Carolina National Guard. The position was created in 1806, when the Militia Acts of 1792 required the state to establish the position to better train the state militia. The office is appointed by the Governor of North Carolina and requires five years prior military service.

## History

In its early history, North Carolina's militia lacked organization. Following the passage of the Militia Acts of 1792 and 1795 by the United States Congress, the North Carolina General Assembly created the Department of the Adjutant General in 1806 to provide more structure to the militia system. The statutory duties of the adjutant general were to pass orders from the governor to the militia, supplying forms to militia officers, attending reviews of forces, and reporting to the governor, the General Assembly, and the president of the United States.

Shortly after North Carolina seceded from the United States in 1861 and joined the Confederate States of America to fight in the American Civil War, the General Assembly passed a new militia law which authorized the adjutant general to serve as quartermaster and paymaster general and chief of ordnance of North Carolina's forces. The defeat of the Confederacy left the militia and the Department of the Adjutant General disorganized. In 1877 the General Assembly reorganized the militia into the North Carolina State Guard, still under the leadership of the adjutant general. During the Spanish–American War of 1898, state guard forces were not called into federal service, but the Department of the Adjutant General reorganized the North Carolina forces to allow members to leave and volunteer for federal duty. In 1903 the name of the North Carolina State Guard was changed to North Carolina National Guard in compliance with federal legislation.

The adjutant general assisted with federal deployments of the National Guard during the Pancho Villa Expedition and World War I, and helped administer the Selective Service System. The Department of the Adjutant General also assisted with a post-war reorganization of the National Guard. In 1941 the General Assembly passed a law mandating that the adjutant general reestablished the State Guard while the state National Guard units were pressed into federal service, which had occurred due to the outbreak of World War II. The State Guard was disbanded in 1947 as the National Guard was relinquished from federal duty, and the adjutant general assisted with the post-war reorganization.

## Duties and structure

The adjutant general is appointed by the governor of North Carolina. A candidate for the office is required to have at least five years of active service in the United States Armed Forces. The adjutant general serves as the director of the North Carolina National Guard.

## List of Adjutant Generals

This is a list of persons who have held the office of Adjutant General of North Carolina.

| Picture | Name | Hometown | Term |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Benjamin Smith | Brunswick County | 1806-1807 |
| - | Edward Pasteur | Craven County | 1807-1808 |
| | Calvin Jones | Wake County | 1808-1812 |
| | Robert Williams | Surry County | 1812-1821 |
| - | Beverly Daniel | Wake County | 1821-1840 |
| - | Robert Williams Haywood | Wake County | 1840-1857 |
| - | Richard C. Cotten | Chatham County | 1857-1860 |
| | John Franklin Hoke | Lincoln County | 1860-1861 |
| | James Green Martin | Pasquotank County | 1861-1863 |
| | Daniel Gould Fowle | Wake County | 1863-1863 |
| | Richard Caswell Gatlin | Lenoir County | 1864-1865 |
| - | John Alexander Gilmer | Guilford County | 1866-1868 |
| - | Abiel W. Fisher | Bladen County | 1868-1872 |
| - | John C. Gorman | Wake County | 1872-1877 |
| - | Johnstone Jones | Wake County | Jan. 1877 - Dec. 1888 |
| - | James Dodge Glenn | Guilford County | Jan. 1889 |
| - | Francis Hawkins Cameron | Wake County | 1893-1896 |
| - | Andrew Duvall Cowles | Iredell County | Feb. 1897 - Dec. 1898 |
| - | Beverly S. Royster | Granville County | Dec. 1898 - Dec. 1904 |
| - | Thomas R. Robertson | Mecklenburg County | Jan. 1905 - Mar. 1909 |
| - | Joseph Franklin Armfield | Iredell County | Apr. 1909 - Oct. 1910 |
| - | Roy Lutterell Leinster | Iredell County | Nov. 1910 - Aug 1912 |
| - | Gordon Smith | Wake County | Nov. 1912 - Jan 1913 |
| - | Lawrence W. Young | Buncombe County | Jan. 1913 - Jun. 1916 |
| - | Beverly S. Royster | Granville County | Jun. 1916 - Aug. 1917 |
| - | Lawrence W. Young | Buncombe County | Sep. 1917 - Aug. 1918 |
| - | Beverly S. Royster | Granville County | Sep. 1918 - Jun. 1920 |
| | John Van Bokkelen Metts | Wake County | Jun. 1920 - Jul. 31, 1951 |
| - | Thomas B. Longest | Wake County (formerly of Biscoe, Virginia) | Aug. 1 - Sep. 30, 1951 |
| - | John H. Manning | Durham County | Oct. 1, 1951 - Aug. 16, 1957 |
| - | Capus Miller Waynick | Guilford County | Aug. 16, 1957 - Jan. 31, 1961 |
| - | Claude T. Bowers | Halifax County | Feb. 1, 1961 - Jan. 31, 1970 |
| - | Ferd Leary Davis | Lenoir County | Feb. 1, 1970 - Feb. 16, 1973 |
| - | William M. Buck | Robeson County | Jun. 1, 1973 - Feb. 28, 1975 |
| - | Clarence Bender Shimer | Dare County | Mar. 1, 1975 - Apr. 25, 1977 |
| - | William Emmett Ingram | Pasquotank County (born Richmond, Virginia) | Apr. 26, 1977 - Oct. 16, 1983 |
| - | Hubert M. Leonard | Candor, Montgomery County | Oct. 17, 1983 - Sep. 30, 1985 |
| - | Charles E. Scott | Wake County | Oct. 1, 1985 - Mar. 5, 1989 |
| - | Nathaniel H Robb Jr. | Columbia, South Carolina | Mar. 6, 1989 - Apr. 4 1993 |
| | Gerald A. Rudisill Jr. | Badin, Stanly County | Apr. 5, 1993 - Jul. 15, 2001 |
| | William Emmett Ingram Jr. | Pasquotank County | Jul. 16, 2001 - Sep. 30, 2010 |
| | Gregory A. Lusk | Clinton, Sampson County | Oct. 1, 2010 - Nov. 30, 2019 |
| | Marvin Todd Hunt | Cary, Wake County | Dec. 1, 2019–present |
