Morganton: Stoneman's raid

              Salem
(April 10)
Jonesville
(April 1)
Taylorsville
(April 14)
Statesville
(April 13)
Salisbury
(April 12)
Hickory
(April 15)
Lenoir
(March 30 and
April 15)
Boone
(March 28)
Jonesboro
Morristown
(March 23)
Asheville
(April 26)
Swannanoa
Gap (April 20)
You Are Here
(April 17)
Hendersonville
(April 23)
Rutherfordton
(April 21)
Fort
Hamby
Howard’s
Gap
(April 22)
To Hillsville, Wytheville, Christiansburg,
and Martinsville, Va. (April 2-10)
Civil War
Trails Site
Carson House
(April 19)
Lincolnton
(April 16)
Wilkesboro
(March 29)
Hickory Nut Gorge (April 26)
Siloam
(April 1–2)
Rockford
(April 1–2)
Route of Stoneman’s Raid in
Tennessee, Virginia, and North
Carolina, March–April 1865
During the Civil War, Confederate recruits mus-tered
here on the grounds of the old Burke Coun-ty
Courthouse. The first unit—the Burke Rifles
(Co. G, 1st North Carolina Infantry)—was
enrolled for active duty on April 18, 1861, and
mustered into state service in Raleigh on May 13.
While many of the
young Burke County men
went off to war early, the
conflict did not come to the
county until April 1865,
when Stoneman’s raiders
passed through. Union
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem led two
cavalry brigades to Asheville
through Burke County and
Morganton while Gen. George Stoneman escorted
MORGANTON
★ ★ ★
Burke County Courthouse
S T O N E M A N ’ S R A I D
On March 24, 1865, Union Gen. George Stoneman led 6,000 cavalrymen from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia
and western North Carolina to disrupt the Confederate supply line by destroying sections of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Piedmont Railroad. He struck at Boone on March 28, headed
into Virginia on April 2, and returned to North Carolina a week later. Stoneman’s Raid ended at Asheville on April 26,
the day that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham, N.C.
and Gillem entered Morganton, where “large sup-plies
of corn and bacon were found,” he reported.
Some of Gillem’s troopers destroyed court-house
records, while others plundered private
property. Slaves assisted the cavalrymen, num-bers
of whom were “home Yankees” (native
Unionists) who exacted revenge against Confed-erate
sympathizers. Almost as quickly as they
appeared, however, Gillem and his men vanished,
riding west on April 19, ultimately to Asheville.
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem
Courtesy Library of Congress
In 1837, builder James Binnie completed this stone
courthouse to replace the first Burke County Court-house,
a wooden structure. From 1847 to 1862, this
was the only courthouse outside Raleigh in which the
North Carolina Supreme Court convened, to escape
the summer heat. The exterior was stuccoed in 1885,
and in 1903 architect Frank Milburn raised the porti-coes
and replaced the simple cupola depicted here
with one in the Baroque style. In 1976, the county
completed a new courthouse and moved from this
building. The Old Burke County Courthouse was list-ed
on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.
Burke County Courthouse, ca. 1885 – Courtesy Picture
Burke, North Carolina Room, Burke County Library
most of his command
to Tennessee from
Lenoir, North Carolina.
On April 17, Gillem
encountered the Home
Guard under Gen. John
P. McCown at Rocky
Ford on the Catawba
River nearby. After a
brisk engagement, the
Confederates withdrew,
Salem
(April 10)
Jonesville
(April 1)
Taylorsville
(April 14)
Statesville
(April 13)
Salisbury
(April 12)
Hickory
(April 15)
Lenoir
(March 30 and
April 15)
Boone
(March 28)
Jonesboro
Morristown
(March 23)
Asheville
(April 26)
Swannanoa
Gap (April 20)
You Are Here
(April 17)
Hendersonville
(April 23)
Rutherfordton
(April 21)
Fort
Hamby
Howard’s
Gap
(April 22)
To Hillsville, Wytheville, Christiansburg,
and Martinsville, Va. (April 2-10)
Civil War
Trails Site
Carson House
(April 19)
Lincolnton
(April 16)
Wilkesboro
(March 29)
Hickory Nut Gorge (April 26)
Siloam
(April 1–2)
Rockford
(April 1–2)
Route of Stoneman’s Raid in
Tennessee, Virginia, and North
Carolina, March–April 1865
Union Gen. Alvan C. Gillem led two cavalry
brigades to Asheville through Burke County and
Morganton while Gen. George Stoneman escort-ed
most of his command to Tennessee from
Lenoir, North Carolina, on April 17, 1865. Two
and a half miles east of here, at the Catawba
River bridge, the Federals encountered Confeder-ate
Gen. John P. McCown on leave, Col. Samuel
McDowell Tate recuperating from a wound, and
Col. Thomas Walton and 80 members of the
Home Guard. According to Gillem, “about 300
men and one piece of artillery” had torn up the
bridge and held Rocky Ford. Gillem sent one bat-talion
of the 8th Tennessee Cavalry upriver to
flank the Confederates, but soon the other battal-ion
dismounted and charged across the bridge
after Federal artillery had knocked out the Con-federate
piece, killing or capturing more than
50 guardsmen as well as the cannon.
The Confederate account differs. Walton’s
men occupied small earthworks or rifle pits until
word arrived that the Federal detachment had
crossed the river at Fleming’s Ford. Walton sig-naled
a retreat by firing the cannon four times.
The Home Guard reported no casualties but saw
dead Union cavalrymen in the river and the woods.
“At Morganton large supplies of corn and
MORGANTON
★ ★ ★
Rocky Ford Engagement
S T O N E M A N ’ S R A I D
On March 24, 1865, Union Gen. George Stoneman led 6,000 cavalrymen from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia
and western North Carolina to disrupt the Confederate supply line by destroying sections of the Virginia and
Tennessee Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Piedmont Railroad. He struck at Boone on March 28, headed
into Virginia on April 2, and returned to North Carolina a week later. Stoneman’s Raid ended at Asheville on April 26,
the day that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham.
bacon were found,” Gillem reported blandly,
but local residents charged that the Federals
plundered private property in retaliation for the
Home Guard’s resistance. Selina L. Norwood
wrote, “They tore everything to pieces at Uncle
Avery’s, held pistols to the ladies’ heads, drove
them out of the house and took what they liked.”
Many of the Federals were said to be Tennessee
Unionists taking revenge for depredations on
their homes by Confederate supporters.
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem
Courtesy Library of Congress
Gen. John P. McCown
Courtesy Library of Congress