South and east of downtown

The Smith-McDowell House (from the tablet)- William W. McDowell raised a company called the Buncombe Riflemen. After the war began in 1861, the unit entered Confederate service as Co. E, 1st North Carolina Infantry, under Col. Daniel H. Hill. McDowell led his company during the first land engagement of the war in present-day Virginia, the Battle of Big Bethel, on June 10, 1861. The 1st NC played a key role in repulsing the 5th New York Infantry’s attack on the Confederate left flank and was largely credited with the victory.

South Asheville Colored Cemetery and the grave of Private George Avery (from the tablet)- George Avery, a 19-year-old enslaved blacksmith, joined Co. D, 40th United States Colored Troops, in Greeneville, Tennessee, in 1865. Avery’s enlistment corresponded with the arrival of Union General George Stoneman’s raiders, who liberated Asheville’s enslaved population in April 1865. They recruited about forty “Negroes who were following the column” and took them to Greeneville. Avery’s regiment guarded railroads in Tennessee for the rest of the war. 

West and north of downtown

Historic Riverside Cemetery- 35.60125, -82.57135- link to the Cemetery Walking Tour, link to pdf file of the walking tour

Botanical Gardens of Asheville- parking 35.612402, -82.5657763, link to map, site of confederate earthworks from the Battle of Asheville.

1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery (excerpted from the marker)- General Davis Tillson raised the 1,700-man 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery in Tennessee and North Carolina in 1864. The unit encamped nearby while garrisoned in Asheville in 1865. Assigned to Tillson’s 2nd brigade, the men participated in operations in Tennessee and Alabama and joined General George Stoneman in Virginia and North Carolina in 1865. Stoneman reported that the unit had 1,100 men “ready to take the field.” On April 27, 1865, Tillson wrote, “The … First U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery … were moved toward Asheville, N.C. … arriving there on [April] 30th.” To many white Southerners, the appearance of African American soldiers symbolized defeat. Tillson (picture included) accepted the surrender of Confederate Col. William M. Bradford and his troops at Asheville on May 6. The 1st U.S. Colored Heavy Artillery stayed in the area until May 18, then served in Tennessee until mustered out on March 31, 1866.

Downtown area

Battery Porter (excerpted from the marker)- unreadable- 35.5958667, -82.5570667 Link. Near the end of the Civil War in 1865, Confederate Battery Porter was positioned uphill to your right on Stony Hill, at that time the highest point in Asheville. The battery included four 12-pounder field pieces known as Napoleons, a model 1857 howitzer named for the French emperor Louis Napoleon. The smoothbore cannon could fire a solid or exploding shell almost a mile. It was the workhorse artillery piece for both the Union and Confederate armies. After the April 6 Battle of Asheville, the battery was ordered to Greenville, South Carolina, but was captured outside Hendersonville, North Carolina, on April 23. Union General Alvan C. Gillem reported the capture of “4 pieces and 70 of its infantry guard,” and commended “Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Slater for his distinguished gallantry in charging and capturing the enemy’s battery.” Gillem sent the guns back through Asheville to Greenville, Tennessee where they arrived on Apirl 27th.

The same marker as above- pictures from hmdb.org

View north from Stony Hill- 35.5974062, -82.5568884. Stony Hill was leveled 70 feet to build the Battery Park Hotel in 1926.

Asheville’s Enslaved People (excerpted from the marker)- When the war began, more than 15 percent of Buncombe County’s residents were enslaved people. James Patton housed slaves behind his Eagle Hotel (straight ahead), where they worked as waiter, maids, grooms, cooks, and trail guides. Three blocks to your right, enslaved people lived and worked in James Smith’s Buck Hotel, store, stable, tannery, and blacksmith shop. Slaves worked in the Confederate rifle factory that stood to your right. Fearing that slaves would join the Union army occupying eastern North Carolina, Governor Zebulon Vance decreed, “It is the duty of all slave-owners immediately to remove to the west their slaves able to bear arms.” The Confederate government issued a similar order for coastal South Carolina. As white refugees and their slaves streamed into Asheville, the enslaved population doubled, causing housing and food shortages. Some slaves here escaped to Union-occupied Tennessee. Others aided Union fugitives, providing food, clothing, and directions. One slave tried to help a New York cavalryman escape. White Asheville residents reported that the slaves welcomed Union General George Stoneman’s soldiers as liberators on April 25, 1865.

Locations of Confederate Buildings and camps (none still standing): Confederate Hospital- south side of Pack Square; Confederate Post Office- corner of College Street and Broadway on the site where the current AC Hotels Marriott is located; Confederate Commissary- North Pack Square at its intersection with the eastern margin of Broadway; Confederate Armory- large one story brick building at the northeastern corner of Eagle and Valley Streets. Camp Patton was located at the intersection of Charlotte and Chestnut Streets. Camp Jeter was located at the intersection of Cherry and Flint Streets. Confederate fortifications were located on top of Beaucatcher Mountain, on Woodfin Street opposite the Oak Street entrance, on the old Highland Hospital grounds, and at the Botanical Gardens of Asheville. The only earthworks here I was able to find were at the Botanical Gardens.

Sources

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

Battle of Asheville by George W. McCoy