Stoneman's 1865 raid

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Stoneman's 1865 raid
Part of the American Civil War

Historical marker in Blowing Rock, North Carolina marking location where Gen. Alvan Cullem Gillem led the cavalry during Stoneman's raid
DateMarch 23, 1865 (1865-03-23) – April 26, 1865 (1865-04-27)
Location
Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia
Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States United States (Union) Confederate States of America CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
George Stoneman
Alvan Gillem		 Unknown
Strength
4,000:
2nd and
13th Tennessee Cavalry Regiments
11th and 12th Kentucky Cavalry Regiments
 Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown Unknown

Stoneman's raid in 1865, also called Stoneman's last raid,[1] was a military campaign in the Upper South during the American Civil War, by Union cavalry troops led by General George Stoneman, in the region of eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia.

Background

In the later stages of the war from 1864 to 1865, Union forces concentrated on breaking Confederate strongholds.

Ulysses Grant to remove Stoneman from any commands due to his failure in Georgia.[3] With his reputation as an effective commander restored, in February 1865 Stoneman was appointed Commander of the District of East Tennessee.[4] Grant wrote to General George Henry Thomas, Stoneman's superior, authorizing him to allow Stoneman to carry out a raid into Columbia, South Carolina to destroy railroads and supplies, and free prisoners in Salisbury. Thomas' subsequent instructions specified that Stoneman was "to destroy but not to fight battles".[5]

Stoneman wrote to Brigadier Alvan Cullem Gillem to bring his Eighth, Ninth, and Thirteenth Tennessee Cavalry Regiments into the operation and went to Louisville, Kentucky to prepare the Eleventh Kentucky, Twelfth Kentucky, and Eleventh Michigan Cavalry Regiments for his expedition. Stoneman's organization took longer than Grant expected, as he attempted to find sufficient horses to carry out the raid.[6] In the meantime, Union forces under General William Tecumseh Sherman had entered Columbia, rendering it no longer necessary for Stoneman to attack South Carolina. Thomas then revised his orders for Stoneman, ordering him to leave Tennessee through the New River valley towards Christiansburg, Virginia to sabotage the eastern portion of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad and thus cutoff escape routes for Confederate troops under General Robert E. Lee, who were engaged with Grant's forces in Virginia at near Petersburg and Richmond. Impatient with the delay, Grant wired Thomas on March 19, writing "If Stoneman has not got off on his expedition, start him off at once with whatever force you can give him. He will not meet with opposition now that cannot be overcome with 1,500 men."[7] On March 18 Brigadier Gillem took three brigades—comprising three regiments each—to carry out Stoneman's orders. One was commanded by Colonel William J. Palmer, another by Brevet Brigadier Simeon B. Brown, and the last by Colonel John K. Miller. The artillery battery was led by Lieutenant James M. Regan.[8]

Raid

On March 23, 1865, the nine Union cavalry regiments entered

Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. They also burned half of the town of Abingdon on their way North. On April 9, 1865, they re-entered North Carolina and traveled south to the twin towns of Winston and Salem, now Winston-Salem, and on to High Point
.

The federal forces burned the Confederate prison in Salisbury (depicted).

On April 12, 1865, they entered

Salisbury Prison, the only Confederate prison in the state for captured Union troops. Originally built with a capacity for 2,000 prisoners, the prison eventually held 10,000, with resulting problems of malnutrition and disease. The Confederates evacuated the prison before Union troops arrived, but the latter set fire to the entire structure. The resulting conflagration could be seen for miles.[10] A detachment of 1,000 troops under Colonel John K. Miller then proceeded towards the Yadkin River on the Rowan-Davidson County line in attempt to destroy the railway trestle there. The rail line was protected by 1,000–1,600 Confederate troops stationed in Fort York atop a bluff on the opposite side of the river. Stoneman dispatched artillery to Miller's troops but they were unable to cross the river and after 5.5 hours they withdrew towards Salisbury, dismantling the railway track on the Rowan side of the river but failing to destroy the bridge.[11]

The Union troops traveled west in North Carolina, destroying military supplies in Statesville, Lincolnton, Taylorsville, and Asheville, before re-entering Tennessee on April 26, 1865. Hundreds of freed slaves accompanied them as they left Asheville.[12]

This was the same day that Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to General Sherman at Bennett Place, in Durham, North Carolina. It was the largest surrender of Confederate soldiers and it ended the war. Stoneman's 1865 raid covered over 600 miles in total length through three states.[13]

Legacy

The state of North Carolina later erected historical markers in each community where Stoneman's cavalry camped or fought during the raid,[1] including west of Lewisville, in Blowing Rock, and in Dobson.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b Van Noppen 1961, p. 19.
  2. ^ Van Noppen 1961, pp. 22–23.
  3. ^ Van Noppen 1961, pp. 23–24.
  4. ^ Van Noppen 1961, pp. 24–25.
  5. ^ Van Noppen 1961, p. 25.
  6. ^ Van Noppen 1961, p. 27.
  7. ^ Van Noppen 1961, p. 28.
  8. ^ Van Noppen 1961, pp. 28–29.
  9. ^ Van Noppen 1961, pp. 29–30.
  10. ISBN 0-8078-5358-5
  11. ^ Hinshaw, Wayne (March 28, 2017). "Fort York: The Last Confederate Victory in NC". Salisbury Post. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  12. ^ Whisnant, David (29 August 2015). "Retrospective I: A Primer on the Sad Truths of Slavery in Asheville, Buncombe County and Western North Carolina". Asheville Junction: A Blog by David Whisnant.
  13. ISBN 978-0-7627-5522-6
    .
  14. ^ Hill 2007, pp. 81, 202, 228.

Works cited

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