Who is Nate Caudell from The Guns of the South: A Novel of the Civil War and what is their importance?

Nate Caudell was a First Sergeant in the confederate Army and former teacher. His unit, the Castalia Invincibles, were the first regiment to use new AK-47. Caudell was from Nash County in North Carolina as are the rest of the Castalia Invincibles. He had an affair with Mollie Bean and later married her.