The State Troops were raised, by voluntary enlistment, under another Act of the General Assembly, ratified the 8th of May, 1861, and entitled "An Act to Raise Ten Thousand State Troops," and they were to consist of ten thousand (10,000) men, divided into ten (10) regiments, eight (8) of infantry, one (1) of cavalry, and one (1) of artillery, to serve "during the present war, unless sooner discharged." The Governor had the power conferred on him to appoint all the commissioned officers created by the last mentioned Act. These ten (10) regiments of State Troops were evidently intended for service in North Carolina, for the Act creating them contained no power to have them transferred to the Confederate States. They were, however, subsequently transferred to the Confederate States of America by an Ordinance of the State Convention of the People passed June 27, 1861.

Under these dual systems of enlistments going on simultaneously, different regiments had the same number, as the 1st and 2nd Regiments of Volunteers and 1st and 2nd Regiments of State Troops. To prevent confusion, the numbers from one to ten, inclusive, were assigned to the State Troops, raised under the Act of May 8th, and the fourteen (14) regiments of volunteers, then in the service, were required to add ten (10) to the original numbers of their regiments. The 1st Volunteers, therefore, became the 11th NC Regiment, the 2nd Volunteers became the 12th NC Regiment, and so on, to the 14th Volunteers, which became the 24th NC Regiment. Afterwards the regiments, as they were formed, were numbered in subsequent order. 

North Carolina Adjutant General James G. Martin issued an order on November 14, 1861 for all Volunteer regiments to rename themselves to the new numbering schema. The Confederate Conscription Act of April 16, 1862 allowed all troops whose term of enlistment had not expired, to re-organize with all the privileges, as to election of officers which they had before the Act was passed, provided the re-organization was effected within forty (40) days from the passing of the Act. With that period lapsed the Confederate soldier's right to choose his own officers, all commissioned officers being thereafter appointed by the President of the Confederacy. Most NC volunteer regiments did not embrace the new numbering schema until after their full year enlistment was completed and they had officially re-organized per the Conscription Act. This has caused much confusion to later historians who always wanted things to be simple, so these later historians incorrectly asserted that the numbering schema took effect much earlier than was the reality.