the rank of lieutenant colonel in the Third Cavalry, which later became known as the Forty-First North Carolina Regiment. His regiment bounced around throughout a stretched field of operations, executing duties as independent cavalry and rangers. Waddell resigned in 1864 due to poor health. Political career In 1856, Waddell supported the American Party and opposed secession in the years leading up to the Civil War. In 1860, he was a delegate to the Constitutional Union National Convention. In 1870, Waddell ran for Congress as a Conservative Democrat. He was elected to the 42nd United States Congress; he was re-elected three times, serving on the Ku Klux Klan committee and as the chairman of the Committee on Post Offices and Post Roads during his final term. He was known as being one of the "ablest of the Southern members" of Congress until he was defeated for re-election by Daniel L. Russell in 1878. Waddell remained active in the Democratic Party after his defeat, becoming a highly sought after political speaker and campaigner. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 1880, where he supported Union General Winfield Scott Hancock for president and was also a member of the platform committee. In 1888, he was an elector-at-large and canvassed for Grover Cleveland's presidential campaign. In 1896, he was, again, a delegate at the 1896 Democratic National Convention. And when a statewide White Supremacy campaign began, in 1898, Waddell was at its forefront, in Wilmington. Leader in the "Party of the White Man" Background Following The Civil War, in 1868, North Carolina ratified the 14th Amendment, resulting in the recognition of Reconstruction, and in the state legislature and governorship falling under Republican rule. Democrats greatly resented this "radical" change, which they deemed as being brought about by blacks, Unionist carpetbaggers, and race traitors. Democrats developed a plan to restore "home rule," which was a return to the antebellum status quo. They began circumventing legislation by taking over the state's judiciary, and adopted 30 amendments to the state constitution including lowering the number of judges on the state supreme court, putting the lower courts and local governments under the control of the state legislature, rescinding the votes of certain types of criminals, mandating segregated public schools, outlawing interracial relationships and granting the General Assembly the power to modify or nullify any local government. By adopting these things, the Conservative Democrats became celebrated