Tar Hkei. His' TORY
By Sandra Bruncy
Yankees In Anson County
General Shermans army showed no mercy after it crossed the
North Carolina line into Anson County in March 1865.
/ /
V ^ vmiliingisalsixcsandsev-
Ml «‘its will) «in i liis week."
й*
wrote Frank Barley on
Ж
i Man It 2. The year was
1865. anil llie < ivil War w.ls drawing u» a
«lose*.
The Yankees have left the direct route
to Charlotte and are moving south ol us.
и
is supposed on ( iheraw." he continued.
"The coininunm is laboring under
considerable excitement (a great deal ol
it, we think, unnecessary)."
The coinnuinitv was Wadesboro in
Anson Couniv. where Dailev edited and
published the Argus. a weeklv newspaper.
In liis column Dai ley complained about
having l>ccn ordered out under arms to
pairol in rain and ankle-<leep mud and
said he hoped that "undei these circum¬
stances oui readers must overlook the
shortcomings ol this paper."
No more is heard from the disgnintled
editor for several weeks. Then, on March
30, dn* shaken and weaiv newspaperman
wrote in a belated issue: "We owe out
readers an apologv for not publishing any
paper Iasi week, and for the getting up of
rhis issue-. We are almost unable to do jus¬
tice to anything we undertake, owing to
the reaction in our system from the great
fatigue, exposure and hardships general-
Iv we had (o undergo while a prisoner in
the hands of the enemy."
( General W illiam Tecumseh Sherman’s
army, having just burned Columbia.
South Carolina, had indeed entered the
southern end «if Anson (xninty. where the
cavalry commander. General Jndson Kil¬
patrick. engaged some of Major General
|oe Wheeler's (xin federate horsemen at
Phillips Gross Roads on March 3.
Sherman’s policy of "total war" was a
digression from accepted rules of warfare
of the time in that he used his military
force's against the- civilian populati«>n. It
was less barbarism than an attempt to
(lest to \ the South’s economic resources
as well as its will to fight, thus making a
<|iiick end to the war.
This philosophy, however, wis lost on the
residents ol Anson ( ounlv. whoso lar had
ем
.i|K*d anv real hatdship. nodoiilu lulling
them to the complacency shown by I Jar-
lev’s columns. Within a few day's, almost
A detached cavalry unit ol Kentucky’s
Today. the Bennett house and an his¬
toric marker remind Anson County
residents of Sherman 's march.
famed First Brigade met the Feder¬
al forces in skirmishes at Wilson’s
store. Wadesboro. Thompson’s
Creek. While’s Store and Bethel
Church between March I and March 5. It
was in the Wadesboro struggle that Dar-
ley. along with members of the Home
Guard and other men and boys of the
town, was taken prisoner.
McBride discovered that Wadesboro
had already been pillaged the day before
by detachments
«>1
Kilpatrick's scouts
under Captain T.F. Northnip. Neverthe¬
less. lit* destroyed a giist mill, a sawmill, a
tannery, the government stables and
other property.
A disappointed trooper shot and killed
a venerable citizen. James < !. Bennett, sim¬
ply lieeatLse the old man could not turn
over bis watch and money, which had
Ix-cn taken Ironi him curlier.
Another version ol this story is that Ben¬
nett was sitting on his porch, dejectedly
watching the marauders leave with every¬
thing he owned of value. A woman slave
said. "Yon hasn’t killed Master yet." where¬
upon a drunken trooper obligingly shot
the hapless Bennett.
Major James Cottingham, who was near¬
ly 70, and a 14-year-old neighbor. D.M.
Bill i entitle, were attempting to hide some
horses in the swamps around Sneedslmr-
< nigh when they were surprised liy live- sol¬
diers who informed them that Wheeler's
cavalry had captured
some of Kilpatrick's cav¬
alry and shot them.
The Yankees were
bent on retaliation,
even if they had to take
citizens. The major,
being oldest, was
ordered to walk in front
of them where one sol¬
dier cold-bloodedly
opened fire. Barren line
made his escape as the
Yankees intently waited
lot their stoic victim to
fall. It took a second
shot t«> bring the
major down.
Other fatalities
were more indi¬
rect. Tile Yankees
invaded the
home of Mrs. Nel¬
son Files, adding
insult
!«»
injury In¬
bringing their
horses inside and
even feeding
them from her piano. Weakened by child¬
birth. she succumlied to the shock.
A Methodist minister. Hilary C. Par¬
sons. was forced to accompany his captors
to his home and back again to Wadesboro
after the trip proved fruitless in terms of
booty. The man. in ill health to begin
П».»
t., Smki Hmnr>
The Siale/Octobcf 1992
32
