Western North Carolina and the American Civil War

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Western North Carolina: American Civil War History

Western North Carolina and the American Civil War

western_north_carolina.jpg

"A great majority of the people were poor and had no interest in slavery, present or prospective. But most of them had little mountain homes and, be it ever so humble, there is no place like home...but when the Federal army occupied East Tennessee and threatened North Carolina..." Lt. Col. William W. Stringfield: Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-'65, Vol., 3, p. 734.
 
"The Cumberland Gap is the Gibraltar of America," General Ulysses S. Grant in January 1864

Shelton Laurel Massacre
Shelton Laurel Massacre.jpg
(A Civil War Massacre)

Western North Carolina proved invaluable in the defense of the vital and strategic Saltworks and railroads. For example, while guarding the Strawberry Plains Bridge, the Thomas Legion's Private James Keelan was posthumously awarded the rare Confederate Medal of Honor. The Western North Carolina mountains were also in striking distance of several major battles, and, during the Civil War, it was a refuge for bushwhackers, deserters and outlaws.
During the 1864 Valley Campaigns, General Jubal Early's Army of the Valley absorbed the majority of the Department of East Tennessee and Western District of North Carolina (aka District of Western North Carolina). By transferring the bulk of both commands into the Shenandoah Valley, it allowed bushwhackers to plunder Southern Appalachia. The ruthless Shelton Laurel Massacre epitomized the region's lawlessness and anarchy, while Captain Goldman Bryson's Union Volunteers reflected the region's divided loyalties. 
Regarding the mountains, William Holland Thomas, a Cherokee chief, Confederate colonel, and senator, had an outstanding War Strategy; however, the war's demands and political infighting nullified Thomas's strategy. Regarding the defense of the region, Confederate President Jefferson Davis wrote an official letter of confidence in Thomas' Legion (January 4, 1865). However, by 1865, it was too late because Union General George Stoneman enjoyed a series of fierce raids, known as Stoneman's Raid, through the mountains.
 
Western North Carolina spent much of the conflict fighting against both Union incursions, i.e. Stoneman's Cavalry Raid, and bushwhackers, e.g. Captain Goldman Bryson's Union Volunteers.

North Carolina Civil War Map of Battles
North Carolina Civil War Map.gif
(Click to Enlarge)

During the conflict, Western North Carolina was in striking distance of Georgia, East Tennessee, South Carolina and Virginia. In 1861, depending on which cartographic map you study, it included 20 or 21 western counties (see North Carolina Maps). In 1861, however, there were 21 mountain counties, and 71% of North Carolina's slave population resided in the Coastal Plain Region, with the Southern Appalachian Mountains considered the poorest of the three North Carolina Regions.
Many East Tennesseans also served in Western North Carolina regiments. As border states, the two Regions reflected many similarities: East Tennessee was the poorest of Tennessee's three Regions; within Tennessee, East Tennessee possessed the least amount of slaves; both were rugged mountainous Regions; both Regions experienced lawlessness and anarchy during the Civil War; and they experienced many battles and skirmishes against the same Union commands.
Divided loyalties in the regions had no boundaries and during the aftermath spawned feuds which would last for decades. According to John L. Ransom, Andersonville Diary (1881), pp. 20-21, Madame Collier was a federal soldier from East Tennessee who enjoyed army life until her capture and subsequent imprisonment at Belle Isle, Virginia. She decided to make the most of the difficult situation and continued concealing her gender, hoping for exchange. Another prisoner learned her secret and reported it to Confederate authorities, who sent her North under a flag of truce.

Governor Zebulon Vance
Governor Zebulon Vance.jpg
(A Western North Carolina Native)

The Confederate Armory at Asheville provided the Confederacy with Enfield-style muskets, while Camp Vance was one of the numerous recruiting and training facilities in the North Carolina mountains.
 
The North Carolina mountain communities provided thousands of soldiers to the Confederate Army, and the highlanders fought from the first Civil War battle, at Bethel, to Gettysburg, and many were present with Lee when he surrendered at Appomattox Court House.
 
North Carolina's sole legion, Thomas' Legion, which recruited mainly from western North Carolina, mustered more than 2,500 soldiers, including Cherokee Indians, while the average Civil War regiment mustered 1,100 soldiers.
 
Zebulon Vance (right), a native of western North Carolina, arrived in Washington at the age 28 and was the youngest member of Congress and one of the strongest Southern supporters of the Union. In March of 1861, however, when indications reflected that the North Carolina legislature was going to vote for secession, Vance resigned his seat and returned home. Vance was soon elected as North Carolina's governor in 1862 and reelected in 1864. (North Carolina Governors.) The young Vance was known throughout the Southern states as the "War Governor of the South," not because he was a war hawk, but because of his ability to wisely manage the state even during its most tumultuous hour. Many believed that the most remarkable Vance policy was his insistence of the rule of law in the midst of the devastation and confusion of Civil War. Vance had previously commanded the valiant 26th North Carolina Infantry.

Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain.jpg
(A Civil War Novel)

The real Private W. P. Inman, portrayed by Jude Law in the award winning movie Cold Mountain (left), was a Haywood County highlander that served in Company F, Twenty-fifth North Carolina Infantry Regiment. Several of his brothers served in the Twenty-fifth and Sixty-second North Carolina Regiments. The author of the 1997 novel Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier, is a native of western North Carolina.
 
Cold Mountain (includes photograph and history), made famous by Frazier, is in the mountain region of western North Carolina, and is one of the Great Balsam Mountains which are a part of the Blue Ridge Mountains within the Appalachian Mountains. Cold Mountain is located within the Shining Rock Wilderness of the Pisgah National Forest about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southeast of Waynesville and 35 miles (56 kilometers) south of Asheville. The mountain lies completely within federal lands and is uninhabited. It rises to 6,030 feet (1,819 m) above sea level, and it is the 40th tallest mountain in the eastern United States. (See Civil War Pistol: LeMat Revolver and Cold Mountain.)

 

1860 Western North Carolina Census Data

(North Carolina comprised 86 counties in 1860; presently there are 100 counties)

 

Western North Carolina comprised 18 counties in 1860. In 1861, however, it added 3 "mountain counties." Although created after the 1860 census, the 3 newly formed mountain counties were carved from existing counties so they had no impact on the 1860 population.

The 3 newly formed counties in 1861:

Clay County (formed from part of Cherokee County), Mitchell County (formed from parts of Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Watauga, and Yancey counties), and Transylvania County (formed from parts of Henderson County and Jackson County).

Sources: University of Virginia Library; United States Census 

    County

Total Pop.

   White

  Free Blacks

 Slaves 

    Alleghany

 3590

    3351

   33

   206

    Ashe

 7956

    7423

  142

   391

    Buncombe

12654

   10610

  111

 1933

    Burke

 9237

    6645

  221

 2371

    Caldwell

 7497

    6295

  114

 1088

    Cherokee*

 9166

    8609

    38

   519

    Haywood

  5801

    5474

   14

   313

    Henderson

   10448

    8981

   85

 1382

    Jackson**

 5515

    4179

    6

   268

    Macon*

     6004

     5370

         115

     519

    Madison

     5908  

     5678

           17

     213

    McDowell

     7120

     5542

         273

   1305

    Polk*

     4043

     3317

         106

     620

    Rutherford

   11573

     9059

         123

   2391

    Surry

   10380

     8950

         184

   1246

    Watauga

     4957  

     4772

           81

     104

    Wilkes

   14749

   13280

         261

   1208

    Yancey

     8655

     8226

           67

     362

                                            Total           145,253**  125,761       1,991        16,439

* The 1860 census does not include the Cherokees in Cherokee, Macon, and Polk counties. In 1860, however, additional census records reflect 26 Cherokees in Cherokee County, 55 Cherokees in Macon County, and 5 Cherokees in Polk County.
** The 1860 census includes the 1062 Cherokees in Jackson County.
 
Western North Carolina's slaves comprised 11.3% of the region's total population. North Carolina's total slave count, however, comprised 33% of the Old North State's population.

1860 North Carolina Slave Population Map
1860 North Carolina Slave Map.jpg
(Click to Enlarge)

Recommended Reading: Bushwhackers, The Civil War in North Carolina: The Mountains (338 pages). Description: Trotter's book (which could have been titled "Murder, Mayhem, and Mountain Madness") is an epic backdrop for the most horrific murdering, plundering and pillaging of the mountain communities of western North Carolina during the state’s darkest hour—the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as Southern Appalachia, the North Carolina and East Tennessee mountains witnessed divided loyalties in its bushwhackers and guerrilla units. These so-called “bushwhackers” even used the conflict to settle old feuds and scores, which, in some cases, continued well after the war ended. Continued below...

Some bushwhackers were highly organized ‘fighting guerrilla units’ while others were a motley group of deserters and outliers, and, since most of them were residents of the region, they were familiar with the terrain and made for a “very formidable foe.” In this work, Trotter does a great job on covering the many facets of the bushwhackers, including their: battles, skirmishes, raids, activities, motives, the outcome, and even the aftermath. This book is also a great source for tracing ancestors during the Civil War; a must have for the family researcher of Southern Appalachia. "[T]he historical events that transpired in the region are brought to life in this study."

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Editor's Pick: The Secret of War: A Dramatic History of Civil War Crime in Western North Carolina, by Terrell T. Garren. Description:  Civil War crime in western North Carolina is the subject of The Secret of War, by Terrell T. Garren. Based on the true-life experience of Delia Russell Youngblood, the great-grandmother of the author, the book "captures what the Civil War was like in the mountains and throughout the south." After hearing his great-grandmother's story, Garren spent nearly fifteen years researching this story in particular and the Civil War history of western North Carolina in general. It is the story of Joseph Youngblood and Delia Russell of Hoopers Creek in Henderson County, North Carolina. Continued below…

The reader will follow Joseph through his enlistment as a part of Company H, the "Cane Creek Rifles," of the 25th North Carolina Infantry Regiment to the Battle of Malvern Hill, Virginia, and to battle in Sharpsburg, Maryland, where he was captured. Taken to the Union Camp Morton in Indianapolis, Indiana, he finally escapes and makes his way down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers into Mississippi. Attempting to make his way back to North Carolina, he is in Dalton, Georgia, in May of 1864 when fourteen Confederate soldiers, including a brother, are executed for "desertion." Ultimately, being recaptured, he goes back to Camp Morton until the end of the war. Told with historical accuracy, names, battles, and places in this story are true to fact. Readers will recognize place names in Henderson, Jackson, Haywood, Cherokee, Transylvania, Clay, Macon, and Buncombe Counties in North Carolina. Family names mentioned include Fletcher, Carland, Lewis, Bishop, Bryson, Freeman, Henderson, Fowler, Whitaker, Wheeler, Summey, Russell, Barnwell, Ward, Lanning, Hammond, Garren, Youngblood, and Blake. What sets this book apart from many, however, is the story of what happened to the women left behind at home. The story reveals how the lowest criminal element found its way into the Union Army. Many mountain men motivated by greed and an awareness of the demise of Confederate authority signed up with no interest in any cause but their own. Union officers who enter the picture include Generals George Stoneman, Alavan C. Gillem, and William J. Palmer. Palmer enters the story late but emerges as a man of genuine integrity and selfless bravery opposed to and fighting this element in his own army. About the Author: Terrell T. Garren is an eighth generation western North Carolinian. He was born in Asheville, North Carolina, in 1951. He earned his B.S. and M.A. degrees from Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina. A resident of Henderson County, North Carolina, he has been a commercial writer for twenty years.

Dr. Newton Smith of Western Carolina University says, "The Secret of War" is that rare historical novel that captures both the romance and the grit and gore of war on the home front without distorting the history. It is about time someone did the story of the Civil War in the southern mountains right."

Rob Neufeld, writing in the Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times, has said the book "is a must read" and "as a contribution to our understanding of the most disturbing passage in our history, it is indelible." He further writes, "Fiction? It really happened; and, if it hadn't, the author wouldn't be around to tell it....Although Garren has written fiction, he wants you to treat it as history. After all, at the back of his book, he provides an index."

 

Recommended Reading: The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865. Volume 2: The Mountains (Civil War in North Carolina) (Hardcover). Description: As with The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865. Vol. 1: The Piedmont, this work presents letters and diary entries (and a few other documents) that tell the experiences of soldiers and civilians from the mountain counties of North Carolina during the Civil War. The counties included are Alleghany, Ashe, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, McDowell, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Surry, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, and Yancey. The book is arranged chronologically, 1861 through 1865. Before each letter or diary entry, background information is provided about the writer. Continued below...

The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865 (Volume 2): The Mountains, is the soldier's story. It is an A-to-Z compilation of what the "rank and file soldier" experienced during the American Civil War. The Western North Carolina soldiers express their hearts to their loved ones and friends, thus allowing the reader the most intimate and personal view of the war. From triumph to tragedy, the "soldiers' letters" express what few authors or writers can achieve--realism. According to cartographic and demographic studies, Southern Appalachia comprised a unique indigenous people, and by isolating these rare letters it allows the reader the most detailed insight to their experiences. The soldier experienced various traumatic stressors in the conflict: such as witnessing death or dismemberment, handling dead bodies, traumatic loss of comrades, realizing imminent death, killing others and being helpless to prevent others' deaths. Plain, raw and to the point: The reader will witness the most detailed insight to the so-called American Civil War. Intimate and personal: diseases, privation, wounds, loneliness, exhaustion, heartache, and death are all explored. This book includes a lot of information about: Western North Carolina Civil War History (North Carolina mountain troops), soldiers' photos (some tintype photographs too), and rare pictures. For example, on page 143, there is a photo of Gov. Zeb Vance's brother, Robert, at Fort Delaware Prisoner of War Camp; he had been captured by Pennsylvania cavalry in East Tennessee. You may see a rare photo or letter of an ancestor. The maps, which reflect the region, have keys which place each regiment to each respective western county (where the troops were raised). The soldiers - collectively - also present a detailed North Carolina Civil War History. By reading the letters, you will easily form a timeline that is filled with first-hand facts. To be very candid, it is not only filled with primary accounts of the war, but it is one of the best books to read about the war...Creates an indispensable historical timeline of events of the brave men from the Old North State.

 

Recommended Reading: Remembering North Carolina's Confederates (NC) (Images of America). Description: The American Civil War was scarcely over when a group of ladies met in Raleigh and began to plan commemoration for the honored Confederate dead of North Carolina. In 1867, they held their first memorial service. Two years later in Fayetteville, the first monument to the state's fallen Confederate soldiers was erected. Over the next 14 decades, countless monuments were commissioned in cemeteries and courthouse squares across the state. Continued below…

Following Reconstruction, the veterans themselves began to gather in their local communities, and state and national reunions were held. For many of the Confederate veterans, honor for their previous service continued long after their deaths: accounts of their sacrifice were often chiseled on their grave markers. The numerous images within this book, photographs of veterans and reunions, monuments, and tombstones are but a sampling of the many ways that the old Confederate soldiers are commemorated across the Old North State. About the Author: Historian and photographer Michael C. Hardy is truly one-of-a-kind; he has dedicated and sacrificed his life preserving North Carolina’s Civil War history and heritage. With unmatched zeal and enthusiasm, Michael travels thousands of miles annually, while crisscrossing North Carolina, teaching, educating, speaking, listening, researching, and reading every conceivable aspect of the Civil War as it relates to the Old North State. Michael C. Hardy is the author of numerous books and articles about North Carolina's role during the Civil War. This is his second book for Arcadia Publishing. A popular speaker for history associations, preservation groups, and museums, he lives with his wife, Elizabeth, and son, Nathaniel, in the mountains of Western North Carolina.

 

Recommended Reading: Touring the Western North Carolina Backroads (Touring the Backroads). Editorial Review: This guidebook, unlike most, is so encyclopedic in scope that I give it as a gift to newcomers to the area. It is also an invaluable reference for the visitor who wants to see more than the fabulous Biltmore Estate. Even though I am a native of the area, I learned nearly everything I know about Western North Carolina from this book alone and it is my primary reference. I am still amazed at how much fact, history and folklore [just enough to bring alive the curve of the road, the odd landmark, the abandoned building] is packed in its 300 pages. Continued below...

The author, who must have collapsed from exhaustion when she finished it, takes you on a detailed tour, laid out by the tenth of the mile, of carefully drawn sections of backroads that you can follow leisurely without getting lost. The author is completely absent from the text. The lucid style will please readers who want the facts, not editorial comment. This book, as well as the others in this publisher's backroads series, makes an excellent gift for anyone, especially the many seniors who have relocated, or are considering relocating to this fascinating region. It is also a valuable reference for natives.

Editor's Picks for Western North Carolina American Civil War History; The Mountains of North Carolina - Southern Appalachia - and the American Civil War

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