The picturesque old courthouse ot Winlon, on the Chowon River. Yonkce troops ronsockcd ond
burned the town ond courthouse in 1862. It *os the second time the Hertford County records hod
been burned,
о
fire hoving been moliciously set in 1831.
Gunboats on
the Chowan
Tho oardioii fori i
Пса
I ions were small
proleclion when Tlie War came lo
Whiten.
tty WAKGAKKT JOHNSON
one side and looked in. A pointed-nose,
spike toothed possum hissed at him.
He kicked at Belle, cussed her ances¬
try. snapped a chain on her and strode
of! down the hill. "She didn't have
nothing." was all he’d say when we
joined the others. We chuckled, didn't
say anything, either.
The Fight
Someone had built another fire on
another ridge. We were beginning to
need it. Again we waited. Finally. Ed
cut Belle loose — it went that way all
night — up the hills and down the hills
until we were exhausted hut no one else
seemed to show it. Along about 3:00
am we still hadn't caught anything.
Ed ha/nrded a guess that this wasn't
the coon's night to howl. We agreed
with him emphatically. In fact, we said,
we'd carry anything we got off the
mountain. We spoke too soon. Just
then Belle sounded again and Sam took
off down the hill. In a moment or so
we heard him calling.
“Somebody conic down here and get
holt of these dogs. It's the grand-
mammy of all coons. She’s a big 'un
and she's got a mess of little 'uns."
We took off fast, hut we didn't make it.
The dogs excited the little coons who
were up a sapling. They jumped, got in
among the rocks where the dogs
couldn't get to them, hut the mama
coon didn't know that. Just before we
got there she launched herself out into
the pack of hounds. She knew she
didn’t have a chance hut she went
down fighting.
We had us a coon, but we didn’t
have much stomach for it. We kept
hearing all those youngsters whining.
On top of that somebody reminded us
of our boast and handed the coon over.
We carried it off the mountain.
We never went on another coon
hunt.
Time Trials
One day last summer we stopped to
pick up something at a quick service
grocery, noticed a little poster near the
entrance. It said — "Coon Dog Time
Trials." We knew they were held an¬
nually in many places but we had
never seen one. so we took this one
in.
The Buncombe County Coon Hunt¬
ers Association sponsored it. It was
held at Jones Fishing Lake near Swan-
nanoa on the Black Mountain highway.
We drove out to the lake, not know¬
ing whether we could find it or not,
hut we shouldn't have worried. We
( Continual on page 20)
A Confederate fort overlooking the
Chowan River near Swain’s Mill in
Hertford County will soon be leveled
to make way for river front cottages.
Built of topsoil, the earthen fort is
shaped like an L. The ten foot high
main wall faces the river, and trenches
extend 75 feet behind it. The main
embankment is about 190 feet long,
and a lower one is of the same length.
It is evident that the fort was built
to defend the upper part of the river
where Winton stood. Whether it was
built before the burning of Winton. the
first town to be burned during the Civil
War. February 20. 1X62 is not known
for sure, but historians believe it was
built shortly before this tragic event.
The fall of Roanoke Island early in
February left the rivers open to Fed¬
eral boats.
McCoy Sumner, of Route 4. Ahos-
kic. recalls that his grandfathers. Bill
Rahy and Bill Sumner, both of Pitch
Landing, on Chinquapin Creek near
Harrcllsvillc, said that the fort was no
match for the larger cannon shells of
Union boats and it was vacated after
shelling began. If it was built before
Winton was burned and had been
strong enough to repulse the Yanks,
the town might have been saved be¬
cause the enemy could not have gotten
upriver.
Awaiting the Gunboats
By the middle of February. 1X62
a battalion of Confederate Infantry,
several militia and artillery companies
were quartered in Winton in anticipa¬
tion of an attack from the river.
On February 19. troops in the village
received a report that Union gunboats
had passed Petty Shore, six miles cast,
headed for Winton.
Confederates, under direction of Lt.
Col. William T. Williams, took cover
behind tall trees and hushes atop the
river bluff on which Winton stood.
They wanted the Yanks to believe their
I 2
THE STATE. February 1. 1972
