Stoneman's headquarters on Caesars Head

Caesars Head, SC
(photo by Jeff Clark)

 As a member of the Army Signal Corps, 24-year-old Private Allen "Frank" Frankenberry had the best views of Stoneman's Raid. His unit was responsible for manning mountaintop flag stations to relay long-distance semaphore messages in a land without telegraph lines.  
 On April 30, 1865, his brigade marched south out of Brevard, N.C., crossed the Blue Ridge for the fifth time in 33 days, and entered South Carolina for the first time. Figuratively speaking, the Union soldiers looked down on the state where the rebellion began. Then Falkenberry stepped out onto the 3,200-foot high cliff called Caesars Head and literally looked down upon South Carolina.
 He wrote in his diary that Caesars Head had "the grandest, most magnificent view of the country and mountains I ever had." If it was clear enough, he could see all the way to Anderson, the brigade's destination over 50 miles away.
 Before the cavalry descended the ridge and marched toward Anderson, they received their wages for the first time in a couple of months. (Lack of pay could be one explanation for their looting during the past two weeks.) Union privates like Frankenberry earned $16 per month, lieutenants $105, colonels $181, and generals $315 to $758.

The 36-year-old benchmark
atop Caesar's Head has been
worn smooth by sightseers.
I doubt that the 150-year-old
 Stoneman inscription remains.

 Paying several hundred soldiers took some time, and while the march was halted, Frankenberry and a few friends left a mountaintop signal for the ages. He carved his initials into a rock on the summit, along with the message "HdQrs Stoneman Cav Apr 30th 65."

 Last time I was at Caesars Head*, I looked for the inscription but could find no sign of it in the well-worn rocks on the summit. State park employees told me they had never heard of it.
 Another member of the graffiti gang with Frankenberry was "the cute Yankee" who boasted about this inscription the following night in Anderson, when he was assigned to guard the home of Emmala Reed and her family. Tomorrow, we will launch a three-part serial from Emmala's journals as she chronicles Stoneman's Raid in my hometown.

 * Regarding the genitive apostrophe missing from Caesars Head. That's the style established by the U.S. Bureau of Geographic Names, page 30.) 

Sing from the mountaintops: Hold the Fort

 If you have ever sung the hymn Hold the Fort, for I Am Coming, you can thank Frankenberry. That's the message he sent in October 1864 from Gen. William T. Sherman to Gen. John Corse, who had come under siege from Confederates as he guarded the railroad that was so vital to supplying Sherman's army.
 Frankenberry used signal flags to wig-wag those encouraging words from the top of Kennesaw Mountain over the heads of the Confederates to Allatoona, Georgia, 15 miles away. Corse indeed held the fort long enough for Sherman to respond and defeat the rebels, securing the way for his infamous March to the Sea.
 Maj. Daniel Webster Whittle, who was also part of Sherman's march, shared Frankenberry's message as a Gospel illustration with Philip P. Bliss, who turned it into a hymn made famous by Ira Sankey singing at Dwight L. Moody's crusades. (Whittle was a hymnwriter himself, composing Showers of Blessing. Bliss also wrote Hallelujah, What a Savior! as well as the tune for It Is Well With My Soul.)
 Here are Bliss' lyrics for Hold the Fort (click here to listen to a recording by the Kings Heralds quartet):

Ho, my comrades, see the signal, waving in the sky!
Reinforcements now appearing, victory is nigh.

“Hold the fort, for I am coming,” Jesus signals still;
Wave the answer back to Heaven, “By Thy grace we will.”

See the mighty host advancing, Satan leading on;
Mighty ones around us falling, courage almost gone!

          (Chorus)

See the glorious banner waving! Hear the trumpet blow!
In our Leader’s Name we triumph over every foe.

          (Chorus)

Fierce and long the battle rages, but our help is near;
Onward comes our great Commander, cheer, my comrades, cheer!

          (Chorus)

NEXT➤ Anderson: 'They wished to ruin us'

The view southwest from Caesars Head toward Table Rock and Anderson
(photo by Jeff Clark)

Breaking news: The original Stoneman Gazettes

This is a reprint of the raiders' April 30 Spartanburg story that was included in their May 6 edition in Athens. Text transcribed below (CREDIT: University of Georgia archives)

SPARTANBURG, S.C.

     One hundred and fifty years ago this afternoon, Stoneman's 1st Brigade rode into Spartanburg in pursuit of Confederate president Jefferson Davis.
     One Union soldier described Spartanburg as a pretty and repentant town. "This was the first state that moved to go out of the Union, and just now none of them is more willing to come back," our war correspondent, Pennsylvania Capt. Henry Weand, wrote in his journal. "One of the more prominent citizens of Spartanburg, a Mr. Shivers, made a speech on our entrance into town, asking us to respect private property. In conversation he said, 'I was as bad a secessionist as there was in the country. We are badly whipped and very willing to return to our former allegiance, and my feelings are an index to those of most all.'"
     Another Pennsylvanian made sure those sentiments were publicized throughout town. As Capt. Weand explained: 

     It is a positive experience for the men to take up their old civic pursuits once more. Probably it is done to see if what was once learned has been forgotten. Company G was placed in the town, and Serg. Jos. R. Lonabaugh was in charge of the guard. Originally a printer, he naturally took up his quarters in the office of the Carolina Spartan, to the expressed disgust of its editor, Mr. Trimmier. Lonabaugh told him that he was a printer, and to prove it took a “stick” and turning to a case of type set up the following extra:

SPARTANBURG, S.C., April 30, 1865

This evening, about 5 o’clock, Brevet Brigadier-General Wm. J. Palmer arrived in town with his brigade of Yankee cavalry. Much to the relief of the citizens, no private property was disturbed, strict orders having been given to prevent it. It is hoped that their conduct may meet the approval of our citizens, and that they may learn to know the Yankees and not find them such devils as they were led to imagine they were.

     This was published the next day, and brought Lonabaugh an invitation to take supper with Mr. Trimmier. A few days later our Sergeant had another opportunity at Athens, Ga., and worked all night to get out an edition of the Southern Watchman.

     Lonabaugh probably had to decline Trimmier's invitation, because his regiment rode May 1 to Laurensville (now known as Laurens) and May 2 to Anderson. Meanwhile, the fugitive Confederate president Jefferson Davis stayed about a day ahead of them, spending the nights of April 30 in Joanna (near Clinton), May 1 in Cokesbury (near Greenwood), and May 2 in Abbeville.
     The newspaper editor was James Vernon Trimmier, whose ire toward Yankees was understandable. He was still grieving the death of his brother, who was mortally wounded March 31, 1865, during the fall of Petersburg, Virginia. Another brother had died of illness while serving in the Confederate Army, and still another had been wounded three times and lost sight in one eye. Just 39 days after the Spartanburg raid, James Trimmier died at age 38, and his surviving brother Frank succeeded him as editor. 
     Another version of the Carolina Spartan is preserved in the May 6 Athens newspaper that Weand mentioned. I have found a copy of that paper, and it includes the following reprint from Spartanburg cleverly mocking the Confederacy:

THE CAROLINA SPARTAN

EXTRA EDITION

SUNDAY, APRIL 30, 1865

KIND READERS: 

 While writing this we smell the battle afar off, and on every breeze is bourne to one ears, the thunder of the Captains and the shouting. Already in our minds eye, we behold the hungry villains devouring our subsistence; already to the doleful brays of our mules made captive reach our distracted ears, and admonish us that the time to take these valuable animals to the mountains has arrived. 

 There no longer remains any doubt as to the approach of the Yankees; and as the Assyrians came down like the wolf on the fold, so will the vandal hordes of Lincolndom descend upon Spartanburg, unless something is done to prevent it. There is no time left for decision or delay. Rise, men of Spartanburg, in your might, and gird up your loins for the conflict, go forth, and smite the invaders. 

 Some there may be in the community whose craven hearts prognosticate failure and defeat,

 “But screw your courage to the sticking point,

 and we’ll not fail.”

 During the meantime, your Editor will retire to a safe place in the vicinity and await the results with anxiety. If one brave, but alas, small force is successful in resisting the Yankees’ advance, we will return, if not —.

 As we write, news has arrived by a reliable gentleman that France has formed an alliance offensive and defensive with Col. [William] Thomas, commanding the Cherokee Indians, and one hundred thousand gallant copper colored patriots, armed with tomahawks and scalping knives are now marching on New York City. Great consternation prevails at the North. This glorious item of intelligence should nerve the arms of our brave defenders to strike at last. 

 As the Spartans of old choked up the pass of Thermopyle with the Persian dead, so let us imitate their glorious example, and cover our hills and valleys with the carcasses of these miscreants. How truly the poet says, 

 “Tis great for one’s country to die.”

 We trust that our readers will appreciate the grandeur of the sentiment and that they will not go backward to offer such a precious and great thing as life on the altar of Southern Independence. Oe, Spartans of old. —Since writing the above we learn that the report of the alliance between Louis Napoleon and Col. Thomas is untrue, which is greatly to be regretted. Our devil, who is possessed of a literary taste, has been reading an ancient poem entitled Hudibras and has just read aloud the following passage from the same,

 “He that fights and runs away,

 Will live to fight another day; 

 But he that is in battle slain,

 Will never, never, fight again.”

 After thinking the matter over, we have come to the conclusion that there is rich truth in the above lines, and accordingly advise our friends to refrain from hostilities.

War of words: 'A more patriotic frame of mind'

     Newspapers were legitimate targets for Stoneman's Raid because they were so often used for southern propaganda. In Statesville, N.C., on April 13, the raiders burned the office of the Iredell Express, "a paper which was obnoxious from the warmth with which it had advocated the cause of the Confederacy." Once they reached South Carolina on May 1, they wrecked the office of the Anderson Intelligencer.

Let's all fight: Salisbury editor
J.J. Bruner took a stand,
but only on paper.

     After the raiders stormed into Salisbury the morning of April 12, they were amused to read a fresh edition of The Carolina Watchman, which reported that Stoneman was approaching and exhorted everyone in town to fight. However, the editor, a Confederate firebrand named J.J. Bruner, fled from the fight and watched the ruin of the town from a safe distance.
     According to a Union account published five weeks later in an Ohio newspaper, "some wag of a typo among our cavalry got up a small extra and continued the editorial, showing the different stages of uncertainty, fear, and final exit of the editor."
     I have not been able to find the Salisbury edition, but the Athens paper also includes a version of that story.
     As soon as it was printed, the raiders destroyed the presses, and it would be nine months before The Carolina Watchman resumed publication. Sixteen years later when Bruner published Rev. Jethro Rumple's 618-page History of Rowan County, they censored any mention of Stoneman's Raid in Salisbury. According to this story, Rumple had been imprisoned by the Yankees. 
     Ohio Capt. Frank Mason worked with Lonabaugh to produce the Athens newspaper, which he called the Yankee Raider. Mason later became a newspaper editor in Cleveland, and in an 1890 book called Sketches of War he reminisced:

By way of starting the community in a new and more patriotic frame of mind, a party of the Twelfth Ohio took possession of the printing office and issued a special edition of the Yankee Raider, which was sold on the streets and distributed among the principal residents. In the four small pages of that unique journal there was given a concise account of the surrender of General Lee, the assassination of President Lincoln, the destruction of Salisbury, and other important recent events, and the editorial page bristled with original verses, and a stately appeal to the Athenians to accept the result of the war, and renew their allegiance to the Union of their fathers.

     William Bushong, in a remembrance written for the 12th Ohio's 1910 reunion, said the Yankee Raider "perhaps was read but not enjoyed by the citizens of the place."

NEXT➤ Stoneman's headquarters on Caesars Head

 

Meanwhile: Jefferson Davis spent the night of April 30 near Joanna, S.C.

Pennsylvanian's pen was mightier than sword

  Nothing humanizes a war quite like the letters and journals of ordinary folks who went through it. When Ken Burns produced his PBS epic on the Civil War, he drew deeply from the writings of people such as South Carolina's Mary Chesnut and Maine's Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain.
  In Stoneman's Raid, the defining voice I hear is that of Capt. Henry K. Weand (1838-1914), a lawyer from Norristown, Pa., who eventually became a judge. He kept a meticulous, wry, and eloquent journal that has been preserved in Charles Kirk's 1906 book on the Fifteenth Pennsylvania Volunteer Cavalry.
  I've designated Capt. Weand as the war correspondent for The Stoneman Gazette. He is quoted frequently in our daily reports on Stoneman's Raid. Here are a few more of his random observations and insights, starting and ending in graveyards: 

March 22 (Mossy Creek TN)
Crossed the Holston River today and went into camp at Mossy Creek, where we had a hard fight over a year ago. Here, in a rude graveyard, Lieut. Harvey Lingle, killed in that battle, sleeps his last sleep. His old company sodded and planted flowers on his grave.

March 30 (North Wilkesboro NC)
Rained hard all night and everything was wet when we moved, early in the morning, down the stream four miles to a point opposite Wilkesboro, crossing Reddies River. The water rose so rapidly that the balance of the command could not cross, and we were on this side alone, but in no danger, unless the enemy should come at us in boats.

March 31 (North Wilkesboro)
Still raining, but it is impossible for the men to get any wetter than they were yesterday.

April 1 (Elkin NC) 
We miss our “hard-tack” very much, now that it is all gone. In place of it, flour and cornmeal are issued, which usually is mixed with water and fried, but if we stop long enough the colored women bake it for us, and how good it tastes!

Capt. C.M. Stigleman, who used this poster
 to recruit volunteers in Jacksonville, Va.,
 surrendered the town in regulation form.

April 4 (Jacksonville/Floyd VA)
At noon we entered the pretty village of Jacksonville, where we were met by two citizens—a lawyer and a doctor—who, in regulation style and with the aid of a large white flag, surrendered the town to us. It was not necessary for them to have done this. It looked to us ridiculous, as just now anything we wanted we took. But these people have been so deluded by their papers that they are under the impression that to burn houses and rob them of all we can carry off is our mission here, and they are relieved when they find the mistake.

April 5 (east of Big Lick/Roanoke VA)
We marched to Buford’s, camping at 10 p.m. near the Peaks of Otter. Mr. (Henry) Buford had relatives—Colonels and Generals—in both the Northern and Southern armies, and treated us courteously. Before breakfasting with him he took several of the officers into his yard, where there was a great slab of granite, on the side of which was inscribed “Peaks of Otter,” and on the upper surface were two depressions used as basins. We washed in these, so we could say we had bathed our faces in the “Peaks of Otter.” This granite slab had been intended a few years before as Virginia’s contribution to the Washington Monument, but had been broken in bringing it down from the peaks. (Buford was related to Gen. John Buford, who had died of typhoid at Stoneman's house in Washington, and was descended from Abraham Buford, who fought in the American revolution.)

April 8 (near Martinsville VA)
If we are working hard we are living well. There are chickens, ham, eggs, and biscuit for the men and plenty of forage for the horses.

April 10 (Winston-Salem NC)
At 6 p.m. we reached Winston and Salem. Each has a name of its own, but the two towns are really one. Here we met with the most cordial reception, very different from the usual greetings we receive. The ladies cheered us, and brought out bread, pies, and cakes. The towns were settled by Moravians from Bethlehem, Pa. The people showed much enthusiasm at the sight of the flag we carried, and many were the touching remarks made about it. Old men wept like children and prominent citizens took off their hats and bowed to it. Some women got on their knees, while we heard such expressions as “Look at the old flag!” “God bless it!” “Let me kiss that flag.” “Once more the flag goes through our town.” It was a charming place and they were good Union people, but we had no time then to do more than acknowledge it. 

April 11 (Conrad's Ferry, near Cooleemee NC)

In crossing the South River in the darkness and rain, the horses swimming, one man was captured. He had lost his horse, and the mule he rode would not swim, and while he debated what to do, the rebels came up and settled the question for him.

April 17 (Lincolnton NC)
The advance guard entered the town without any disturbance, but when the column appeared a half hour after, with General Palmer at its head and the buildings of the town in sight, one shot was fired from the side of the road in front which came near ending the career of our General. Without waiting for an order to do so, the orderlies under Sgt. James Agnew dashed forward. The bushwhacker running across the field was in plain sight, and in a few moments our men were across the fence and had him surrounded. The prisoner, a beardless boy of 15 or 16, was taken along, the General ordering that he be brought to him as soon as we were quartered in town. To this hearing his mother came also, and her pleadings for the boy’s life were so strenuous that the General told her to take the boy home and keep a better watch over his actions.

April 19 (Lincolnton NC)
We buried Corp. George French today with military honors, in the Episcopal graveyard, and several of the ladies in the town contributed wreaths of flowers to place on the coffin. [French had been killed by a bushwhacker the day before and was the last casualty of the 15th Pennsylvania regiment.] It is pleasant to record this of them, and also of the change in their feelings toward us in twenty-four hours. They say we are not destructive and are so gentlemanly, and wish their own soldiers were more like us.

NEXT➤ Breaking News: The original Stoneman Gazettes