DURHAM’S STATION
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Prelude To Peace
CAROLLNAS CAMPAIGN
Tlie Cacfaas Campaign begat on February 1, 1865. «hen Union Got. WSam T. Sherman led hb army north
from Satanah, Georgia, after the ‘ttardi to the Sea." Sherman's objectne nas to ioin Gen. Ulysses S. Grat in Virginia
to mish Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Mrgria. Scattered Confederate forces consolidated in North Caofaa,
the Confederacy's logistical Heine.
«Лете
Sherman defeated Gen. Josqih E. Johnston's last-ditch attack at
Bentonrile. After Sicrman nas reinfaced at Goldsboro late m March, Johnston saw the futity of farther resistance
and surrendered on Apri 26, essentialy endirg the Cni War.
On April 17, 1865, Union Gen. William T. Sherman
arrived by train at Durham’s Station (two blocks
northeast of here) at the culmination of his Car-
olinas Campaign to discuss terms of peace at the
request of Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston,
headquartered in nearby Hillsborough. Carrying
a telegram in his pocket that announced the assas¬
sination of
President
Abraham Lin¬
coln, Sherman
spoke with his
cavalry com¬
mander, Gen.
H. Judson Kil-
Library of Congress Library of Congress patrick,
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Durham, ca. 1880 Courtesy of Durham County
Library, Durham, N.C.
here at the Durham home of
Dr. Richard Blacknall. Then
Sherman rode three miles west
to meet Johnston at James
Dr. Bartlett Durham
and Nancy Bennett’s farmhouse courtesy of Ran- Book.
.... r . , Manuscript, and Special
to open negotiations for the coiiecons
иьт0,
Confederate surrender. Duke Uni"re^
Since the 1820s, the U.S. Post Office Depart¬
ment had assigned this community various names.
It was officially named Durham in 1853, after
Durham residents
comprised the Flat
River Guards (Co. B,
6th North Carolina
Infantry) and saw
heavy action at the
First Battle of Manas¬
sas in July 1861. The
Durham Light
Infantry (Co. C) par¬
ticipated in "Pickett’s
Charge" against the
center of the Union
line during the Battle
of Gettysburg on
July 3, 1863.
Dr. Bartlett Durham donated four acres of land for
a North Carolina Railroad station and the Durham’s
Station post office was established. About 100 peo¬
ple called the hamlet home in 1865, and the com¬
munity grew rapidly around the station. After the
Civil War, Durham developed rapidly as a tobacco
and textile manufacturing center. Durham County
was established in 1881, and by 1900 its popula¬
tion was more than 26,000 (a century later, the
metropolitan area totaled more than 450,000).
Henry S. Harris. Flat
River Guards (Co. B,
6th N.C. Regt.). killed
in Va. on May 20. 1863
Courtesy of UNC North
Carolina Collection
William T. Redmond.
Co. C. 6th N.C. Regt..
wounded at Gettys¬
burg. 1926 photograph
Courtesy of Durham
County Library
