This trip took a full day when you include the Hendersonville Museum.

Rutherfordton

Rutherfordton- On March 24, 1865, Union General George Stoneman led 6,000 cavalrymen from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina to disrupt the Confederate supply line by destroying sections of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Piedmont Railroad. He struck at Boone on March 28, headed into Virginia on April 2, and returned to North Carolina a week later. Stoneman’s Raid ended at Asheville on April 26, the day that Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union General William T. Sherman near Durham. Union General Alvan C. Gillem entered Rutherford County with two brigades of General George Stoneman’s raiders after Confederate forces blocked his planned route to Asheville at Swannanoa Gap on April 20, 1865. Gillem arrived in Rutherfordton the next day and then, two days later, pressed on through the county toward Asheville with his brigade consisting of the 8th, 9th, and 13th Tennessee Cavalry. He ordered Colonel William J. Palmer, who commanded a brigade composed of the 10th Michigan, 12th Ohio, and 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry, to establish a headquarters in Rutherfordton, then follow Gillem’s force. Gillem’s command consisted of “Home Yankees,” as they were called, who were natives of Tennessee and the adjoining mountain counties of North Carolina. This region was the scene of bloody conflicts between neighbors – sometimes within families – who were Unionists or secessionists. Some of Gillem’s soldiers, then, had scores to settle, and they settled a few of them in Rutherford County. Palmer’s soldiers, who entered Rutherfordton on the morning of April 25, were aghast at the depredations Gillem’s men had inflicted on the civilians. Palmer remained in Rutherfordton until April 26, the day Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered near Durham, then marched about ten miles west and bivouacked. The next day he joined in the pursuit of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, who had fled south from Virginia. Palmer rode through Rutherfordton and took up the chase into South Carolina.

Union, NC

Green River Plantation- the Civil War Trust marker at this site was missing

Pictures below from hmdb.org the marker is missing because it was run over by a car.

Columbus

Polk County Court House- Union General Alvan C. Gillem’s brigade of Stoneman’s raiders entered Polk County, stopped at Green River Plantation, then rode through Columbus on April 22, 1865, after Confederate forces blocked Gillem’s path to Asheville at Swannanoa Gap. The brigade consisted of so-called “Home Yankees” — natives of Tennessee and the mountain counties of North Carolina. Gillem and his men moved quickly through Polk County and Howard’s Gap, a few miles west of here. The Confederate force there had just learned that General Joseph E. Johnston was negotiating his army’s surrender to Union General William T. Sherman near Durham. Many soldiers at the gap concluded that the war was over and went home, reducing the ranks so that Gillem met little opposition. The war divided neighbors and families into those who either supported secession or the Union. On April 20, 1861, early in the conflict when secessionist enthusiasm was strong, Captain John C. Camp mustered Co. K, 16th North Carolina Infantry, here at the courthouse. Three more companies were later recruited here. At least 500 Polk County men served in the Confederate army a dozen or more joined the Federals. Soon, the Confederate conscription act and the hardships of war fostered resentment. Draft evaders and deserters found refuge in the mountains. Some formed gangs, raided farms and communities, and caused hard feelings that lingered for years.

Flat Rock

The church cemetery

Christopher G. Memminger’s grave the Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederacy.

Lieutenant Cotesworth Pinckney Seabrook grave- killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville

Charles de Choiseul grave- Lieutenant Colonel of the Seventh Louisiana Infantry. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Port Republic. His body was returned to his two sisters in Flat Rock where the family had a summer home and he was buried here.

Carl Sandberg Home National Historic Site- 1800 Little River Road, Flat Rock. The home was once owned by Christopher G. Memminger the Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederacy.

Hendersonville– see separate post for the museum.