1st Infantry Regiment, usually known as the Bethel Regiment, was organized at Raleigh, North Carolina, in May, 1861, and immediately moved to Virginia. Its members were from the counties of Edgecombe, Mecklenburg, Orange, Buncombe, Cumberland, Burke, Guilford, and Lincoln. The unit fought at Big Bethel with about 800 men, then served in the Army of the Peninsula near Yorktown. Two companies from Bertie and Chowan Counties joined the regiment which increased its strength to more than 1,200. On November 12, 1861, the unit disbanded and returned to North Carolina. Many of the men transferred to the 11th North Carolina Regiment. The field officers were Colonels Daniel H. Hill and Charles C. Lee, Lieutenant Colonel Joseph B. Starr, and Majors Robert F. Hoke and James H. Lane.