[Walter Clark, editor of the source cited below, gave this regiment the nomenclature of 78th NC Regiment, but it was never known as this contemporaneously. There were no legitimate NC Regiments numbered past the 69th NC Regiment (7th Cavalry). Later regiments were created for Reserves and for Detailed Men, which had their own numbering schema.]

The officers of the ten (10) companies below come from "North Carolina Troops: 1861-1865, A Roster, Volume XVIII, Senior Reserves & Detailed Men," Pages 345-398:

Company A—Duplin County—Capt. Henry Broadhurst; 1st Lt. Isaac Brown; 2nd Lt. William A. Brooks; 3rd Lt. Bryan W. Kornegay.
Company B—Sampson County—Capt. William H. Bryan; 1st Lt. Robert D. Bridgers; 2nd Lt. John B. Melvin; 3rd Lt. John Barden.
Company C—Bladen and Columbus Counties—Capt. David Callihan; 1st Lt. James H. Dyson; 2nd Lt. Joseph Hester, III; 3rd Lt. R.A. Williamson.
Company D—Johnston County—Capt. John H. Daniel; 1st Lt. William H. Lancaster; 2nd Lt. Bowden Grantham; 3rd Lt. Caswell A. Smith.
Company E—Wayne County—1st Lt. William M. Vernon; 2nd Lt. John Ivey; 3rd Lt. John Cameron. [Capt. James M. Gardner resigned in August, 1864, not replaced.]
Company F—Brunswick and New Hanover Counties—Capt. Benjamin J. Jacobs; 1st Lt. Edwin W. Grissett; 2nd Lt. Richard L. Bordeaux; 3rd Lt. Boney Southerland.
Company G—Cumberland County—Capt. William J. Kelly; 1st Lt. Randal McDaniel; 2nd Lt. John T. Wright; 3rd Lt. John Shaw.
Company H—Robeson and Richmond Counties—Capt. Nathaniel McLean; 1st Lt. Kenneth McKinzie; 2nd Lt. William McRae; 3rd Lt. J.B. McRae.
Company I—Harnett County—Capt. Isaac S. Williams; 1st Lt. William H. Senter; 2nd Lt. Edwin Adams; 3rd Lt. Willis Johnson.
Company K—4th NC Congressional District—Capt. Neill McNeill; 1st Lt. H. McGregor; 2nd Lt. James Champion; 3rd Lt. Daniel K. McGill.

Four (4) of the companies were organized at Goldsborough in May of 1864 into a battalion commanded by Major Boaz F. Hooks, who did service in guarding the bridges along the line of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, relieving other troops to go to the front. On June 1, 1864, 160 men of Maj. Boaz F. Hook's Battalion - Senior Reserves were guarding the bridge over the Neuse River just south of Goldsborough, which had once been destroyed by the enemy.

On December 22, 1864, at Wilmington, it was organized with six (6) other Independent Companies into the 8th NC Regiment Senior Reserves by the election of:

Allmand Alexander McKoy, Colonel.
Nathaniel McLean, Lieutenant Colonel.
Boaz F. Hooks, Major.
—. —. McAlister was appointed Adjutant.
David Berry was appointed Assistant Surgeon.

Col. Allman A. McKoy was later elected Judge of the Superior Court in 1874, and served as such till his death in 1885.

This regiment was in garrison in the forts below Wilmington and in December was brigaded with the 4th NC Battalion - Junior Reserves (Reece), 7th NC Battalion - Junior Reserves (French), and 8th NC Battalion - Junior Reserves (Ellington). This brigade commanded by Col. John K. Connally, of the 55th NC Regiment, mustered 1,200 men present for duty, and assisted in the defense of Fort Fisher on December 23-27, 1864. Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, Serial Vol. 87, p. 1021.

The regiment was also in the vicinity of Wilmington during the second assault of Fort Fisher, January 13-15, 1865.

Whether it was at Bentonville or in reserve, does not positively appear, but it was at Goldsborough on March 9th, and was probably in the brigade commanded at Bentonville by Col. George C. Jackson. It was ordered to Raleigh on April 27th, and disappeared from view with General Joseph E. Johnston's (VA) surrender, the day before.