Saturday, May 28, 2016

'Great heavens, the Yankees are upon us!'

Col. WIlliam Luffman and Maj. Richard Reeves were sleeping here the morning of April 2, 1865, when Yankees raided Siloam, N.C. The historical marker next to the chimney was installed in 2011.
SILOAM, N.C.
 The Civil War ended just in time to spare Milton Cundiff, who turned 16 in January 1865. The only battle he ever experienced was as a storyteller. We can thank Cundiff for a vivid and almost-too-good-to-be-true account of a gunfight between two gallant Confederates and hundreds of apparently aimless Yankees.
 It happened April 2, 1865. The same day that Gen. Robert E. Lee abandoned the Confederate capital in Richmond, Stoneman's Raid came through Surry County, N.C., northwest of Winston-Salem. Stoneman was headed into the Virginia mountains to wreck the railroads and cut off Lee's retreat. Just one week later, Lee would surrender at Appomattox. 
Col. William Luffman
 Confederate Col. William Luffman had spent the night in Siloam, N.C., at the home of Maj. Richard Reeves. Luffman was recovering from a hip wound and evidently was on his way home from Richmond to Spring Place, Ga.
 Col. Luffman was bathing at dawn April 2 when he heard rustling out at the stable and found a Union soldier trying to steal his horse. In the ensuing shootout, the horse thief was killed and two other Union soldiers were wounded. Luffman, 44 and lame, and Reeves, 39 and plump, somehow outran the cavalry, escaped through a hail of bullets, and hid in the Yadkin River. It was left to Reeves' elderly mother to keep the Yankees from burning down the house.
 Cundiff grew up in Siloam and may have witnessed the episode. He certainly knew the details first-hand from the Reeves and other neighbors. Thirty-two years later, when he was the school superintendent in Surry County, Cundiff published his account of the "most wonderful fight" in the Mount Airy News under the pen name Will Fidd.
 Here's the story as it ran 119 years ago, on Nov. 11, 1897:

THE BATTLE OF SILOAM
Graphic Account of One of the Most Thrilling Incidents of the Late War
EDITOR NEWS: Few of your readers, I presume, are aware that within the village of Siloam there was fought one of the fiercest battles of the late Civil War. Such, however, is a fact, though I am quite sure you will find no record thereof in any of the school editions of our United States histories. Hereafter, I trust, the diligent readers may be able to find upon the files of THE MOUNT AIRY NEWS a portraiture of that unexpected and, in many respects, most wonderful fight.

     It was in April, 1865, that Col. Luffman, of Georgia, who had been severely wounded in a battle in Virginia, was recuperating among his friends in Surry County, and at this particular time had spent the night at the home of Messrs. R.E. & M.C. Reeves, in Siloam. Very early in the morning, Col. Luffman was up bathing, when he heard the heavy tramp of horses. Looking out at the front door of the "office" in which he and Maj. R.E. Reeves had slept, he beheld, to his great amazement, quite a number of Blue Coats dashing toward the house. He called to Maj. Reeves, who was still in bed, saying:
     "Great heavens, Major, the Yankees are upon us!" Then seizing his carbine, he rushed out into the front yard.
     "Surrender that gun, sir," demanded a Yankee, who had already been to the stable and was astride Col. Luffman's fine horse.
     "This is my gun," curtly replied the Colonel, "and I have a perfect right to use it; besides, I see you are on my horse; get off at once, or I'll help you off!"
     "D__n you, surrender!" roared the Blue Coat.
     Bang! roared Luffman's gun, and off tumbled the haughty rider, shot through the breast.

     By this time, Maj. Reeves was up, and had seized a shot-gun and ran to the rear door just as a minnie ball crashed through a buck-horn and lodged in the door facing within a few inches of his head! He fired both barrels of the gun; then seizing another, he ran to the front, where Col. Luffman was rapidly discharging his carbine at the advance guard of the enemy, who were firing recklessly and excitedly, but were gradually giving back toward the main body, now in sight, moving down the hill northeast of the stables.
     Bang! bang! bang! and the shock of battle roars and rages terrifically! Five hundred Federals arrayed in deadly combat with only two Confederates! and yet this regiment is beaten back and forced to take shelter behind a long wood-shed and the old factory building.
     Col. Luffman and Maj. Reeves emptied a carbine, two double-barrel shotguns and four revolvers in this most unusual contest of all the war, while the Yankees poured a perfect fusillade of minnie balls through the air that hung clear and crisp above and about their heads. Just as the firing along the Confederate "line" ceased, Maj. Masten, who was in command of the Federals, ordered a charge. With a wonderful flourish of glistening steel and the assurance of a glorious victory, the enemy dashed boldly up to the very spot where their dead comrade lay at full length upon the greensward. No quarters were now asked or offered. But with empty guns, Col. Luffman and Maj. Reeves had to stand and be riddled with bullets or escape, if possible, by precipitate flight. Hence, turning their faces toward the friendly river, these night-robed Confederate officers—one carrying a severe wound in his hip and the other 250 pounds avoirdupois—made their way as rapidly as possible across the bottom. A pitiless storm of bullets whizzed by their ears, while many others were buried in the sands dangerously near their feet.
     John W. Hardy, then a boy of eighteen, living with Maj. Reeves, having seen the flight and not knowing what else to do, took to his heels, running in the same direction, but fifty or sixty yards behind the other two fugitives. After two balls had pierced Hardy's hat and two others had cut the dust from his coat, he stopped and turned his face toward the pursuing enemy. A soldier ran up within a few feet of him and was bringing his gun on a level with Hardy's head, when an officer cried out, "Stop, you blank fool, don't you see the man has surrendered?" Just at this juncture a colored man, George, who lived with Messrs. Reeves, ran up and assured the Yankees who were collecting around that Mr. Hardy had taken no part whatever in the fight. While the soldiers were parlaying over their capture for a few moments, our bold Confederates had passed over the sand ridge unscathed and jumped into the river, the bank of which was thickly overgrown with weeds and briars. Col. Luffman sank behind a rock that projected a few inches above the water, while Maj. Reeves concealed himself behind some driftwood. Forty or fifty men scoured the bank of the river thoroughly, swearing summary vengeance upon them if found. But they managed to keep their bodies and heads beneath the water, breathing only through their nostrils. Finally, the Blue Coats gave up the fruitless search and returned to the house.
     Several men entered the house and fired it by throwing burning brands from the fireplace into the middle of the room and piling bureau drawers, clothing, etc., thereon. Mrs. Reeves, the aged mother of the Messrs. Reeves, while the men were pillaging other rooms, threw the burning brands and clothing into the fireplace, and with the help of a colored servant extinguished the flames. Two ruffian-looking men deliberately informed her that she had gold and silver concealed about the premises, and that, unless she immediately informed them where it was, they would kill her. She calmly replied, "if you do, you will not deprive me of many days."
     In the fight one Yankee had been killed and two others badly wounded, while several horses and mules were shot more or less severely, but were not entirely disabled.
     When the Yankees were gone and some two hours had elapsed, Maj. Reeves was seen to emerge from his hiding place in the river, after which a search was made for his companion, who was found almost exhausted clinging to an overhanging limb several hundred yards below where he had entered the stream. After procuring some refreshments and a brief rest at Mr. Bowman's they crossed the Ararat River and stopped with Mr. Samuel Scott, who furnished them some clothing. They continued their journey, stopping at Mr. Ed Butner's and Mr. Mat Phillips', both of whom treated them very kindly. They reached Salem after several days tramping through the woods, where Mr. Henry Fries presented each of them with a new suit of clothes. Then they made their way to Mr. William Marsh's, in Davidson County. Soon after their arrival here, some of Col. Luffman's friends passed, and he went with them to his home in Spring Place, Georgia.
     Some two months later Maj. Reeves returned to his desolated home where the battle had been fought, but the war was ended and he found the best of all things—his mother and peace.
WILL FIDD
Siloam, N.C., Nov. 6, 1897
 The farm "office" where Maj. Reeves and Col. Luffman were sleeping has been preserved, along with family relics that include a partially burned picture frame. A Civil War Trails historical marker has been installed next to the building in Siloam.
 The marker includes some additional information that Cundiff did not mention. In 1861, Maj. Reeves organized the first Confederate volunteers from Surry County.
Mrs. Reeves' hearth
 Maj. Reeves' mother, Elizabeth Early Reeves, was the cousin of Confederate Gen. Jubal Early. She was nearly 71 at the time of the raid, and though she told the Yankees her days were numbered, she lived to see 80. The marker says that Yankees withdrew when she promised to give the dead soldier a proper Christian burial on a nearby hill. Unfortunately, his name has been lost to history. (In observance of Memorial Day, I've collected the names of 37 Union soldiers who died during Stoneman's Raid.)
It's uncertain which of Stoneman's troops went through Siloam. By the process of elimination, the 12th Kentucky Cavalry seems most likely. Cundiff said the Federal troops were commanded by a Major Masten, but I have not been able to find that name among Stoneman's officers.
 It's quite possible that the wounded Yankees at Siloam were treated by Dr. Milton Folger from nearby Rockford. Yankees also seized Dr. Folger's horse, leaving him with one of their worn-out mounts.
Col. Luffman had a distinguished military and legal career. He survived wounds at Manassas in 1862, Gettysburg in 1863, and the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864. In March 1865, a medical board considered whether to declare him an invalid. Presumably, he was given a medical leave, since he was already at Siloam while Robert E. Lee evacuated Richmond on April 2.
Milton Cundiff lived in this house, built by his father around 1865

Memorial Day: Stoneman's toll

Lt. Thomas Kenyon was among five
Michigan soldiers killed April 8, 1865,
in a skirmish near Martinsville, Va.

     The Stoneman Gazette marks Memorial Day with the following list of Union soldiers who died during Stoneman's Raid.
     We published the corresponding list of Southern fatalities on Confederate Memorial Day, this past May 10. 
     I've identified 37 Union soldiers (plus several unknown) who died during the 54-day raid. Ten of them were killed in the Battle of Salisbury and five near Martinsville, Va. Another five died of disease in Watauga County, N.C. If you have any further information on these men or others who should be included, please leave a comment. I will update this post as additional information becomes available.
     Winners write history, and the victorious Union raiders did a much better job than the vanquished Confederates in terms of preserving names of their dead. Much of this information comes from histories written by five of the eight Union regiments who participated in Stoneman's Raid.
      I've arranged the names in order of the counties and cities that were raided.
  
BOONE & WATAUGA COUNTY, N.C., March 28-April 22
     There may have been one or two Union soldiers killed in the raid on Boone March 28. Stoneman reported that the 12th Kentucky Cavalry under Maj. George Barnes lost a few men wounded. Folks in Boone maintain that a teenager named Steel Frazier killed one or two Yankees. It's possible that one of them may have been Isaac Smith of the 8th Tennessee (see footnote below).
     Five more "Home Yankees" died of disease during the occupation of Boone by Kirk's Raiders in the days following Stoneman's Raid. All of them were enlisted in the 2nd N.C. Mounted Infantry, which was composed of men who remained loyal to the Union even after their home states seceded. Four of the five Union soldiers who died in Watauga County were from western North Carolina.
  • Pvt. William Bradley died April 10 of typhoid. He enlisted at age 16 in 1863 and was from Buncombe County, N.C.
  • Pvt. James Paine died April 11 of typhoid. He and Bradley enlisted on the same day in Greeneville, Tenn. He was 33 and was from Buncombe County, N.C.
  • Pvt. John E. Maricle (also spelled Miracle) died April 15 of measles. He was from Harlan, Ky., enlisted at age 28, and had served barely six months when he died. He left a widow and four children.
  • Pvt. Henry Evans died April 16 of typhoid. He was from Buncombe County and enlisted in 1863 at age 30.
  • Pvt. Robert Foster died April 22 of disease. He was just 16 years old when he enlisted in 1864. He was also from Buncombe.
WILKESBORO & WILKES COUNTY, N.C., March 29-31
     Several Union soldiers drowned March 30 trying to cross the flooded Yadkin River. "Some never reached the other side. One out of our regiment, and I do not know how many others, drowned. It was a fearful sight," according to Howard Buzby of the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry.

SILOAM & SURRY COUNTY, N.C., April 2

     An unknown Union soldier was shot April 2 while trying to steal the horse of Confederate Col. William Luffman of the 11th Georgia Infantry, according to an 1897 newspaper story by Milton Cundiff, a noted Surry County educator who may have been an eyewitness to the event.

WYTHEVILLE & WYTHE COUNTY, Va., April 5-7

      Gen. Gillem's report said 35 Union men were killed, wounded, or captured in the April 5 raid on Wytheville. I researched the rosters of the two regiments involved in this raid, the Eighth and Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry and have not been able to identify them, with the exception of:
  • Pvt. John C. Connor of the 8th Tennessee drowned April 7 while crossing the New River during the retreat from Wytheville.
  • Pvt. David Wilson, 20 years old, of the 13th Tennessee was reported missing in action after this raid. Some relatives believe he was killed at Wytheville, but this has not been verified. Wytheville was not far from his home, and it is possible that he deserted.
      There were seven members of the 13th Tennessee and at least four members of the 8th Tennessee who died in Knoxville and elsewhere in the three weeks following the Wytheville raid. (See the footnote below.) Some of them may have been mortally wounded at Wytheville, but it is also possible that they were wounded or sick prior to the raid and were left behind in Knoxville when their regiments marched.

JACKSONVILLE & FLOYD COUNTY, Va., April 4-8
  • Pvt. John Houston of the 1st Tennessee Artillery was killed April 8 at Floyd's Church. Stoneman's artillery was passing through Floyd County at that time.
LYNCHBURG & BEDFORD COUNTY, Va., April 8
  • Pvt. Jacob King of the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry was shot by friendly fire near Lynchburg. He was the only Union fatality during Wagner's Raid, which was dispatched by Stoneman and praised by Gen. Ulysses Grant for cutting off Robert E. Lee's last line of escape.
MARTINSVILLE & HENRY COUNTY, Va., April 8
      Five soldiers from the 10th Michigan Cavalry were killed April 8 in a skirmish near Martinsville, Va. This was the deadliest engagement of the war for the 10th Michigan, which previously had only eight of its 1,886 men killed in action.
      Just three days earlier, these troops had learned that Robert E. Lee had abandoned the Confederate capital at Richmond, telling them the war was all but over. They were on their way to liberate the prison at Salisbury and weren't looking for a fight when they crossed paths with Capt. James Wheeler's rebels at a creek in Henry County. In the ensuing fight, the Confederates had as many as 27 killed.
      The Union victims were buried at the Episcopal church in Martinsville, and the bodies were later relocated to the National Cemetery in Danville.

  • Lt. Thomas C. Kenyon was described as "a gallant young officer" in Volume 40 of Michigan in the Civil War. He enlisted with the 10th Michigan at age 25 in 1863 and was promoted to second lieutenant in 1864. He previously served with another regiment and spent six months as a prisoner of war following the 1862 Battle of Shiloh. 
  • Sgt. John Benton was from Wayne County, Michigan. He enlisted in 1863 at age 27. 
  • Pvt. George Wood was from Antrim County. He enlisted at age 31 in 1864 and had served only five months before he was killed. 
  • Pvt. Joseph Cune (also spelled Kune or Kunne) was from Grand Traverse County. He enlisted at age 36 in 1864 and served less than six months before he was killed. 
  • Pvt. Ira E. Harvey enlisted in Grand Rapids at age 22 in 1864 and served eight months before he was killed.
STOKES COUNTY, N.C., April 10-11
  • Robert Watson of the 10th Michigan was killed April 10 in Germantown, N.C.
  • Pvt. Joseph Hale of the 8th Tennessee died April 11 in Danbury, N.C.
SALEM & FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C., April 10-11
  • Pvt. Dennis Shea of the 12th Ohio died April 22 in Salem. It seems likely that Shea was the unidentified soldier shot by Confederate Sgt. Greenbury Harding in Huntsville, 20 miles west of Salem. Harding was a Yadkin County native who had been wounded four times in battles and was discharged from the 28th North Carolina Regiment in 1864. According to a Civil War trails marker in Huntsville, Harding killed one of the two Yankees who were trying to loot his house. If Shea was mortally wounded, it would have made sense for the Union to leave him in the care of the pro-Union Moravians in Salem. A 1917 history of Champaign County, Ohio, says Shea was left sick at Salem.
    SALISBURY & ROWAN COUNTY, N.C.
    • Capt. John Edwards of the 11th Michigan Cavalry was shot leading the charge into Salisbury April 12 and died four days later in Way Hospital No. 3. He was leading Company D in an attack on the Confederate Battery F when he was shot by a rebel from Maryland named Lt. Stokes. According to historian Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Edwards was pursuing Stokes, who had already shot one of Edwards' men. As Edwards closed in, brandishing his saber, Stokes suddenly wheeled around and shot Edwards as he passed by. Edwards was hit in the leg and right lung. A native of Ireland and a resident of Hudson, Mich., he was buried with Masonic rites at the Lutheran church in Salisbury and was later reburied in the National CemeteryHe was a member of Gen. Stoneman's personal staff.
         Capt. Edwards was profiled in a 1996 book, "Last Full Measure of Devotion," by his great-great nephew, Joe Edwards, writing under the name J. Doby. This book lists five other men from Hudson, Michigan, who gave their lives in Salisbury. Three of them actually died in Chattanooga, where presumably they were being treated for wounds. One of them was probably the first victim of Lt. Stokes.
    • Cpl. Orlando Richardson died May 1, 1865, in Chattanooga, just two months after he enlisted.
    • Norman F. Henry died May 1, 1865, in Chattanooga. His tombstone in the Chattanooga National Cemetery says he served in the 11th Michigan Mounted Infantry, which disbanded in 1864. Several of those soldiers enlisted in the 11th Cavalry.
    • James Berch [or Bercham]
    • John S. Worden
    • Oliver Stebbins [or Stibbens] died April 27, 1865, in Chattanooga. Letters to his family indicate he died of measles and do not mention wounds.
         Salisbury editor J.J. Bruner, who was known to exaggerate, wrote in 1890 that 16 Union soldiers were killed or mortally wounded in the unsuccessful siege of the Yadkin River bridge, six miles northeast of Salisbury. However, the Tennessee brigade that attacked the bridge reported only four deaths at Salisbury:
    • Saddler Leander Russell, 23, of the 13th Tennessee was killed April 12 in Salisbury. 
    • Pvt. Godfrey Jenkins, 21, of the 13th Tennessee Cavalry was killed April 12 in Salisbury.
    • Pvt. John Renshaw of the 8th Tennessee Cavalry was killed April 12 in Salisbury. Renshaw, just 18 years old, had enlisted March 21--the same day Stoneman's Raid left Knoxville. 
    • Pvt. James Ledso, 20, of the 13th Tennessee, died April 18 at Salisbury from wounds suffered April 12 or 13.
    STATESVILLE & IREDELL COUNTY, N.C., April 13-16
    • Pvt. Orlow J. Brackett of the 10th Michigan was killed by bushwhackers April 16 in Statesville. He was from Bay County.
    • Pvt. George Hysinger of the 8th Tennessee was executed April 15 "under a pretense of insubordination" by Capt. Landon Carter of the 13th Tennessee.
          At the 1895 reunion of the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, a letter was read from Confederate Capt. J.R. Johnston, who served with Echols' cavalry in Virginia and the Carolinas. "Near Statesville, we came in contact with your General Palmer's command, and killed the Lieutenant who killed Morgan in Tennessee," he claimed. He was referring to the notorious Confederate Gen. John Hunt Morgan, who was hunted down by the 13th Tennessee in Greeneville, Tenn., in 1864. However, the soldier credited with killing Morgan, Andrew Campbell, lived in Indiana for decades after the war. Johnston's unit may have killed a different Union soldier, possibly Brackett.

    LINCOLNTON & LINCOLN COUNTY, N.C., April 17-23
    • Corp. George J. French of the 15th Pennsylvania was ambushed and shot April 18 near Lincolnton and is buried there at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. For his story, click here.
    DALLAS & GASTON COUNTY, N.C.
    • Pvt. John W. Knowles of the 12th Ohio died April 30 in Dallas. His unit was based April 17-23 in nearby Lincolnton, and it is not clear if he died of sickness or a wound. He was from Salem, Ohio.
    MORGANTON & BURKE COUNTY, N.C., April 17-18
          North Carolina historian Cornelia Phillips Spencer said the Union had 25 killed and wounded in a gunfight at Rocky Ford and even reported eight Union bodies floating in the Catawba River. However, the military reports say there were no Union fatalities in this incident, which is known as the last artillery exchange of the Civil War.


    ASHEVILLE & BUNCOMBE COUNTY, N.C., April 23-May 8
    • Walter A. Sigler of the 11th Michigan died of disease at Asheville April 23. An 1865 report by the Michigan adjutant general says that Sigler was the only fatality from the 11th Michigan during Stoneman's Raid.
    Four members of the 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery (part of Stoneman's rear guard under Gen. Davis Tillson) were executed by firing squad May 6 after being accused of rape. (Click the image to enlarge.)
    • Pvt. Alfred Catlett from Virginia
    • Pvt. Alexander Cowell
    • Pvt. Charles Turner
    • Pvt. Jackson Washington

    • Alanson Wesley Chapman of Hillsdale, Michigan, accidentally shot himself while looting the Boscobel plantation south of Pendleton. According to Rev. John Bailey Adger's memoirs, "Chapman had stolen a fine young mare, and in mounting her, his short carbine swung around. The hammer hit the pommel of his saddle as the muzzle jabbed him under the chin and he fell dead in the yard. Most of the jewelry, including the handsome old-fashioned watch we now wear was recovered." Chapman and his brother Adelbert (who visited Rev. Adger a few days later) were enlisted in the 11th Michigan Cavalry, which was in Georgia by May 5, so it seems likely they were deserters. That would also explain why Chapman's death was unknown or ignored by the Michigan adjutant general mentioned above.
    PICKENS COUNTY, S.C., May 9
    • David H. "Harry" Morrison of Michigan was killed May 9 between Greenville and Easley in retaliation for the May 1 murder of civilian Matthew Ellison. Morrison, 18, was buried on Turner Hill near what is now the intersection of U.S. 123 and S.C. 153 His father reclaimed the body six months later.


    Other possible Union casualties on Stoneman's Raid


         The 8th and 13th Tennessee regiments as well as the 12th Ohio list a number of deaths during the days of Stoneman's Raid but do not say if they were killed in action. The Tennesseeans were involved in the raid on Wytheville, and it is possible that some of them may have fallen there. On the other hand, it's likely that some of these men died of disease or wounds suffered prior to Stoneman's Raid, or were on duty elsewhere. Similarly, there were also four members of the 12th Ohio who died of unspecified circumstances back at headquarters during the weeks of the raid. Their names:

    13th TENNESSEE
    • Pvt. Marion Wilson, age 19, died April 9 in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. William Roten, age 18, died April 11 in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. William H. Payne, died April 12 in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. James N. Duggar, age 18, died April 14 in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. William Mallory, age 44, died in April in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. David Price, age 44, died April 28 in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. Michael Sanders, age 42, died April 29 in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. David Cole, age 26, died June 10 in Danville rebel hospital
    8TH TENNESSEE
    • Pvt. William Cox died March 26.
    • Pvt. Rodolphus Harris, age 21, died March 26.
    • Pvt. Isaac Smith died March 28. The location is not specified, but the date suggests that he might have been Steel Frazier's victim in Boone. Another possibility is that he was previously sick and was not part of the raid. 
    • Pvt. John P. Frake, age 22, died March 31.
    • Pvt. Benjamin Owens died April 3.
    • Pvt. Robert Peek, age 25, died April 9.
    • Pvt. Louis Lain, age 33, died April 10.
    • Pvt. Elijah Keys was killed April 19 at Elizabethton.
    • Pvt. Faro Collier, age 25, died April 26.
    12th OHIO
    • Pvt. Levi Ebert from Lancaster, Ohio, died April 9 in Knoxville.
    • Pvt. Lorenzo F. Hiddleston from Alliance, Ohio, died April 21 in a Nashville hospital.
    • Pvt. Leonard H. Springer from New Lisbon, Ohio, died April 23 in a Knoxville hospital.
    • Pvt. Benjamin McCullough from Columbus, Ohio, died April 30 in Knoxville.

    Saturday, May 14, 2016

    1865 Boone raid made The New York Times

         The New York Times has been expanding its digital library, and today I discovered it now includes a little story on Stoneman's Raid in Boone.
         The invasion of Boone was on the front page April 3, 1865, but was overshadowed by the fall of Richmond and Petersburg. The "VICTORY!" headline foreshadowed Robert E. Lee's surrender April 9. In the same triumphant spirit, The Times wrote, "Gen. Stoneman's command is now well into North Carolina and will be heard of soon in the heart of rebeldom."
         The Times' primary source was the report Gen. Stoneman sent back to his Knoxville headquarters from Boone. (There were no reporters embedded with the raid.) This story says the Union cavalry captured Boone on March 27, instead of the March 28 date that has been accepted by historians. It also overstates the casualties (Stoneman reported nine killed, but researchers have found only one Confederate soldier and two civilians who died.)
         If you would like to revisit The Stoneman Gazette's coverage of the Boone skirmish, start here, or type Boone in the searchbar at right, or explore the links at the bottom of this post.
         The Times also included information relayed from two Virginia newspapers, the March 29 Lynchburg Virginian and the March 31 Richmond Whig (which had grown "disgusted with the Confederate habit of lying.") These describe Stoneman's previous movements in eastern Tennessee from a Confederate perspective

         The reference to the evacuation of Bristol is interesting, because Stoneman feinted in that direction before turning south and crossing the mountains toward Boone. He wanted to force the Confederates to commit their troops to defend the Tennessee valley, and this story shows his ploy worked. This news would have reached Lynchburg via train or telegraph along the Virgina & Tennessee Railroad. On April 5, Stoneman cut that lifeline.
         (The town described as Taylorsville is now known as Mountain City. The commander mentioned is Major Myles Keogh, Stoneman's Aide-de-Camp. The Kentucky officer is Major George F. Barnes, whose story I will save for Halloween.)
         Here's an easier-to-read digital transcript of the clipping above:
    NEXT➤ Memorial Day: Stoneman's toll

     RELATED BOONE & WATAUGA COUNTY STORIES

    Tuesday, May 10, 2016

    'Wading through the blood of our children'

    Capt. Charles Connor's grave at Rehobeth Methodist Church in Catawba County N.C.

    NEWTON, N.C.
    Newton had to replace its marker
    after it was removed by the state
    Major Henry Connor was campaigning in 1839 for his 10th term in the U.S. House of Representatives when he warned North Carolina voters about the rising militance of abolitionists in Congress.
     In a speech that specifically criticized John Quincy Adams (the former president who was crusading against slavery), Connor declared: "There is reason to believe they will not be particular as to the mode of carrying out their plans, whether peacefully or by wading through blood of our men, women, and children."
     Major Connor's speech was driven both by political hype and personal stakes, considering that by 1850 he owned more slaves than anyone else in Catawba County. But his words were also terribly prophetic. His first-born son Charles would be one of the last to shed his blood for the Southern cause—shot and killed during Stoneman's Raid in Newton, N.C., on April 17, 1865.
     That was eight days after Robert E. Lee's surrender in Virginia. Some accounts say that Charles Connor was with Lee at Appomattox and had just returned home to Catawba County when he was slain. Others indicate that he left the army two years earlier.
     According to a 1911 book called The Catawba Soldier of the Civil War, Connor was just trying to avoid trouble when the Yankees invaded Newton:
         He served with his command along the Roanoke River in North Carolina and Virginia—a very important line between the two armies—but when the end came he was at home.
         A very sad thing occurred in connection with young Connor. Just as the war was closing in 1865, he went to Newton to have a settlement with Mr. Moses, a Jew living there at the time. While there, the Federal troops came into Newton, and Connor and many others fled to keep from being captured, and poor Connor was shot at long range and killed. He was a fine man and but few, if any enemies.
     But another tradition says Connor was single-handedly trying to drive the U.S. Cavalry out of town. Just this past Christmas, newspaper columnist Sylvia K. Ray advocated a mural in downtown Newton: 
         I think it ought to show the spring day in 1865 when the Union Army’s Stoneman’s Raiders came to town and were chased westward along what became West A Street by infuriated Confederate Captain Charles F. Connor in a one-man-versus-several-hundred incident. That was the only time that actual warfare took place in what is Catawba County. Yes, the gallant Confederate soldier from Terrell was shot down by the Yankee fighters as he defended the county seat town.
     As hard as it is to reconcile those stories, it's even harder to positively identify Newton's Confederate martyr. Because it seems there were two Charles Connors.
     They were cousins, they were both Confederate officers, and some historians have gotten them confused.
     Gravestones indicate that Lt. Charles T. Connor was killed in 1865, while his cousin Capt. C.F. Connor lived until 1901. (C.F. may have been known as Charles, though his name was Cornelius Fulton. He was captured April 1, 1865, during the fall of Richmond and was in a Yankee prison at Johnson Island, Ohio, when Stoneman's troops raided Newton.)
     However, the 1911 book, the 2009 historical marker, and the local chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans say it was Capt. Charles F. Connor who was killed in the raid.
     For the purposes of this story, I am blending the 1911 profile (which calls him Charles F.) and a 1935 newspaper column by Connor's son-in-law (who calls him Charles T.) Other than the middle initial, their stories match. T or F, true or falseit's not worth fighting over.
    Lt. Charles Connor
    No Confederate soldier from Catawba County had more to lose than Charles Connor. His father, Major Henry Connor, owned 77 slaves and 5,329 acres near Sherrill's Ford on the Catawba River. Much of his estate is now lakefront property on Lake Norman.
     Major Connor was the son of Irish immigrants, became one of the first graduates of the University of South Carolina, and fought in the War of 1812. In the spring of 1839 (the same year of his abolition speech), he married Lucy Hawkins, who was said to be the daughter (or perhaps the niece or granddaughter) of William Hawkins, a Princeton graduate who was governor of North Carolina during the War of 1812.
     The first of their three children, Charles Connor, was born April 3, 1840. Charles was still a teenager when he married Mary Jane Sherrill and acquired 600 acres in a crossroads community called Terrell, about 20 miles southeast of Newton. Their first son, Thomas, was born Jan. 5, 1860. Two daughters were born during the war, Luetta in 1862, followed by Emma.
     After the Civil War erupted and North Carolina seceded, Charles Connor volunteered for the Fifth North Carolina Cavalry. He was elected second lieutenant of Company K in September 1862 and resigned his commission two months later. It is possible that he was promoted posthumously to captain, but it seems unlikely that he was commanding rebel troops when Stoneman's Tenth Michigan Cavalry raided Newton.
     The Tenth Michigan was commanded by Col. Luther Trowbridge. In his regimental history, Trowbridge tells us that Yankees occupied Newton for almost a week: 
    About midnight on the 14th, news was received at Statesville of the surrender of Lee's army [April 9]. On the 17th, the Tenth was sent to Newton to guard the fords of the Catawba, and to gather in any stragglers from Lee's army who were seeking to get away without being paroled, being busy at that work for several days. News of the assassination of President Lincoln was received at Newton on the 23rd.
     The map in Trowbridge's book (below) shows that the Michigan troops first went from Statesville to Lincolnton and then circled back toward Newton, entering the town from the southeast. This is an important detail that contradicts the notion that Connor chased the Yankees down West A Street, which is west of the town square. 

     A 14-year-old slave named Martin Luther Bost (1851-1939) witnessed the occupation of Newton. At age 86, Bost shared his memories in a 1937 interview with the WPA Writers Project
    "I don't remember much about the war," he said. "There was no fightin' done in Newton—just a skirmish or two. Most of the people got everything jes ready to run when the Yankee sojers come through the town. This was toward the las' of the war. Cose the niggers knew what all the fightin' was about, but they didn't dare say anything. 
    "The man who owned the slaves was too mad as it was, and if the niggers say anything they get shot right then and there. The sojers tell us after the war that we get food, clothes, and wages from our Massas else we leave. But they was very few that ever got anything. Our ole Massa say he not gwine pay us anything, corse his money was no good, but he wouldn't pay if it had been."

     As far as the people of Newton knew, their sons were still bravely fighting Sherman in eastern North Carolina. Lee's surrender applied just to Virginia. The Confederacy was still alive, and Jefferson Davis was still president. Still, the shocking death of Lt. Connor (whatever the circumstances) must have broken their will and convinced them that resistance was futile. They were powerless to prevent the Yankees from burning the Catawba County jail and a Confederate warehouse. 
         Lt. Connor was evidently the only casualty of the raid in Newton. He is among 29 Confederate veterans buried at his boyhood church, Rehobeth Methodist Church near Terrell. 
    Inscribed on Charles T. Connor's gravestone: "Kind one, thou art gone without a moment's warning. Thy absence makes thy once happy home a waste." It is telling that his grave has been decorated with flags from both sides (compare this photo to the one above).
    Lt. Connor's 28-year-old widow, Mary Sherrill Connor (1836-1889), held her family together through one tragedy after another. One of her brothers was killed in battle in 1862, and another came home crippled. Her father-in-law Major Connor died just seven months after her husband. She remarried in 1869 to another Confederate veteran, Levi Lockman, and had another daughter. 
     Son Thomas Franklin Connor (1860-1947) founded the Terrell Country Store that stood until 2020 at the old crossroads on N.C. 150 near Lake Norman.
     Elder daughter Luetta Connor (1862-1941) married Rev. William Lander Sherrill (1860-1953), a Methodist preacher who wrote a series of newspaper columns that were compiled into a scrapbook history of Lincoln County. (The Connors' land had been part of Lincoln County before Catawba County was formed in 1842.)

     Rev. Sherrill had vivid memories of Stoneman's Raid in Lincolnton, when he was five. Seventy years later in 1935, he wrote:
          As a five-year-old child, watching as the invading army entered the village, little did I dream that some "rough necked" soldier in that group had the day before in Newton, for no provocation, shot and killed a brave Confederate lieutenant, Charles T. Connor, who had for four years been a gallant soldier of the South. It was a brutal and cowardly act. That young Lieutenant, killed April 17, 1865, left a little three-year-old girl, who grew to womanhood and in 1884 became my wife and still abides with me.
     When he died July 15, 1953 at age 93, Rev. Sherrill was probably the next-to-last eyewitness to Stoneman's Raid, outliving 109-year-old Alfred "Uncle Teen" Blackburn (1842-1951) by 19 months and 106-year-old Ohio bugler William Allen Magee (1846-1953) by six months. The last eyewitness I have found was John Pearson (1852-1954) of Morganton, N.C. 
    Rev. Sherrill lived long enough to see the coming of Lake Norman on his grandfather-in-law's land. During his final years, power company officials were buying acreage in the Catawba River valley in preparation for building the Cowans Ford Dam in 1959. The lake was filled in 1963, 98 years after Stoneman's Raid passed through. 
     Rev. Sherrill and his wife are also buried at Rehobetha biblical name that means "place of inheritance" or "place of flourishing." Rehobeth United Methodist Church is less than a mile from Lake Norman, just south of the Terrell crossroads on N.C. Highway 150. 

    ———

    ONE OUT OF THREE NEVER CAME HOME: Catawba County had a population of 10,709 in 1860. Most of the men (2,123) served in the Confederate military, and almost one-third of those did not survive the war. Catawba had 147 killed in action and 477 who died because of disease, in prison, or other war-related circumstances, according to exhaustive research by Derick Hartshorn with the Capt. C.F. Connor Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.


    The Terrell Country Store, founded in 1885 by Lt. Connor's son, was torn down in 2020.


    This map of the Tenth Michigan Cavalry's route indicates that the raiders looped through Lincolnton before invading Newton from the southeast.