On March 23, 1865, Colonel Isaac Kirby’s brigade left Strawberry Plains, TN for what would be a long journey to Asheville, NC. The next day the men moved to New Market camping on Mossy Creek. By March 26th they were at Bull’s Gap after passing through Morristown and Russellville. Marching through the gap they camped 6 miles to the east just beyond Lick Creek where they would remain until April 3rd (map below). That day according to the report Colonel Kirby filed after the battle (shown in full in the sources) he and the 90th and 101st OH were ordered on a scout in the direction of Asheville.

They had intelligence that Asheville was the headquarters of a large force of guerillas and there was a stockpile of supplies there. He was to avoid a battle that would incur losses and to distract attention from Stoneman’s cavalry who were conducting a raid through North Carolina. Kirby commanded 900 men, and 2 cannon. There were supplies in the men’s haversack for 3-5 days and in wagons for 7 days. The column headed out from their Lick Creek camp at 2:00 PM on the 3rd for the 100-mile trip to Asheville. They traveled past Midway Station, across the Nolichucky River at Allen Bridge then south to Paint Rock at the North Carolina Tennessee border (several soldiers are said to have carved their initials into the famous rock), where the road struck the French Broad River and the Buncombe Turnpike. Kirby left 25 men to guard the pass there. A map of the Buncombe Turnpike is shown below.

Moving on the Buncombe Turnpike he would reach Warm Springs (Hot Springs) on the 4th. He left there on the morning of the 5th. Three miles outside of town the column encountered three Confederate deserters who told Kirby there were about 2,000 troops and near 20 guns in Asheville, a gross exaggeration. Because of the narrowness of the road surrounded by mountains Kirby sent his wagons and artillery back to the Springs and at 10:00 AM pushed ahead with 4 days rations. The road to Marshall was heavily blockaded with rocks and fallen trees. Kirby was told by locals in Marshall when he arrived there on the 5th, 20 miles from Asheville, that the Confederates knew he was coming. This was also inaccurate. As he continued on along the banks of the French Broad River, he would burn bridges at Alexander’s Inn in Alexander 10 miles north of Asheville and another at Craggy Station 4 miles north of the city. Between the two towns, three miles south of Alexander, was Montrealla the home of Mrs. H.E. Sondley (daughter of James Alexander), a widow, where the Federals stole horses. It was here that Mrs. Sondley sent one of her slaves, on a horse that the Federals did not steal, to Asheville via back roads to warn the city.

Lieutenant Colonels Greenwood and Yeoman were in advance when they met a line of skirmishers. Nicholas Woodfin was at his farm in Woodfin when he spotted the Federals. They chased him but he escaped back to his home (located at 2 Woodfin Street- no longer standing) in Asheville also sounding the alarm that the Yankees were coming. A ceramic replica of the home exists just off the sidewalk across from the Home Trust Bank at 10 Woodfin Street as Urban Trail Marker #17.

Confederate Colonel George Clayton of the 62nd NC ordered the muster cannon fired and assembled a force of Rebel soldiers home on leave, 44 members of the Silver Greys, a company of senior and junior reserves serving as a home guard, and other members of the town, a total of about 300 men. Clayton would choose to fight at the point where the Buncombe Turnpike turned away from the French Broad River and crossed Glenn Creek between two ridges and headed toward the Public (Pack) Square, about 1.5 miles north of modern-day downtown Asheville (shown in the map above). This was an excellent defensive position where the Rebels could shoot down on the Federals. The ridge the Confederates occupied (Woodfin’s Ridge), runs north and east of Glenn Creek, and is now part of the UNC Asheville campus and extends into the Botanical Gardens at Asheville. Other earthworks in the city were located at: the top of Beaucatcher Mountain; on the grounds of the old Highland Hospital (cannot locate on LiDAR); on the north side of Woodfin Street at Oak Street (no longer exist); and on Stony Hill (no longer exist).

LiDAR imaging suggests that these works may still be there.

Earthworks at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville- 151 W.T. Weaver Blvd.

A Union advance force rushed into town and took five prisoners. Two of these were from the 62nd NC- Quartermaster Sargeant John H. McAllister of Company D and Private Alfred E. Edwards of Company I. The prisoners informed the Federals that General Martin was in command in Asheville with a force of 1,000 men and 6 guns and was soon to be reenforced with another 400-500 men by morning. However, Colonel Yeoman when he returned from his scouting mission informed Kirby that the force was much smaller and consisted of 300-400 men and 2-3 cannon. These cannon were brought from Camp Jeter and placed in lunettes near the J.E. Rumbough house. The cannon would open fire around 3:00 PM and the battle began. Both sides had relatively well protected positions in a densely wooded area and stood their positions while firing. Neither side made an attempt to advance and this continued from 3:00 to around 8:00 PM. Kirby was concerned about a Rebel force reported in his rear. With only four days rations, orders as he stated “not to sacrifice the life of one man for the town of Asheville” and having made no progress in pushing the Rebels back from their position Kirby decided to retreat. He camped that night in the vicinity of the bridge over Ivy Creek and would then continue on to his camp at Lick Creek arriving there on April 11th. There were no deaths in the battle. Exact casualty reports are hard to determine but at least two Union soldiers from the 90th OH were shot in the thigh, Perces Sweet from Company E, and Joseph Tatman from Company G. Lieutenant Scaife from the Macbeth South Carolina Light Artillery felt that his battery was very inaccurate during the fighting and doubted that they had hit even a single enemy soldier, due to inferior black powder and defective fuses. Francis Holbert of Henderson County, on leave from the 64th NC, was the only Confederate casualty in the battle and could have been the last man from the area wounded in combat in the Civil War. He may have been treated at the Confederate Hospital which was located where the Biltmore Building now stands at 1 Pack Square. When Kirby left Asheville he had taken 11 prisoners but by the next morning seven had escaped during the night’s march to Ivy Creek. The men arrived back in their camp at Lick Creek on April 11th.

Sources

Battle of Asheville by George W. McCoy

Mountain Conflict, The Union Army Finally Reaches Asheville, NC by Jeffrey Lovelace

Official Records of the War of the Rebellion, Kirby’s report of April 13, 1865, in Vol. XLIX, Part 1, Series 1 shown below