Catawba County: 1865

Few people have any inkling what defeat meant for the South. This brief history is intended to make the reader aware of the treachery and cruelty of the Union forces who entered Catawba County, intent upon pillage and destruction and intimidation of the citizens.

The following is the account given in A History of Catawba County:

The court ordered, in January, 1864, that 3,000 bushels of corn be purchased from the Confederate states. The record points out that the grain was to be distributed to wives and children of soldiers in need.

The corn was deposited at Alfred Ramsour's farm and district captains were called upon to distribute it.

Wounded and dying men were continually returned to the county. Their illnesses and deaths were not all attributable to explosives, for disease along the front lines and in prisons was alarming. It is estimated reliably that 20 percent of Catawba's dead were claimed by disease. A record held locally of certain men imprisoned on Johnson's Island points out that the soldiers died of illnesses such as "general disability," fever, consumption, bilious fever, eutietis, dysentery, typhoid fever, chronic diarrhea and phenumonia.

Although its "home guard" was unable to contribute services of magnitude to the Confederate government, Catawba was not without its civilian heroes. Large commissaries at both Newton and Hickory Tavern were stocked with food for the Confederate forces. The Hickory Tavern commissary was a headquarters unit, serving a wide area of Catawba and surrounding counties. Newton also was the site of a Confederate states depository. One of the first letters written by Secretary of the Treasury of the Confederate States George A. Treholm was received by Joseph Bost of Newton in September, 1864. (Treholm succeeded Christopher G. Memminger as Secretary of the Treasury after Memminger was forced to resign because of public clamor about the collapse of the Confederate currency, although he was not wholly to blame.) The letter is as follows:

  • "Sir: Your letter of the 17th instant, relative to the Old Currency remaining in your hands has been received.

    "You will please forward the money immediately by express .... "

    •

    Catawba Confederates distinguished themselves under fire. Many rose to responsible military positions. The most successful of these was Thomas Lafayette Lowe, who attained the rank of Colonel. Serving in a Virginia campaign, Col. Lowe died of pneumonia while sleeping amidst his men in cold and rainy weather. It is told that, although officers were invited into Southern homes, Col. Lowe declined, to remain with his forces.

    By the beginning of 1865, there was little room left for belief of any sort in the ultimate success of the Confederacy. The people's deep and tender, almost heart-breaking, solicitude for the noble soldiers seemingly turned to that sentiment which accompanies the realization of an ill-spent illusion. Still, they responded cheerfully again early in January, when an urgent and most pressing appeal was made in behalf of Lee's army. With this supreme effort, every available resource was taxed, every expedient of domestic economy was put in practice.

    Following untold suffering for almost four years, the tide of war, at this late date in the conflict, began to roll in upon Catawba. Countians were to learn the rigors of invasion in April, when Stoneman's foragers caused great dismay and widespread terror.

    It was at a time that all North Carolina experienced close contact with the war. The fall of Fort Fisher and the occupation of Wilmington, the failure of the peace commission, and the unchecked advance of Sherman's army northward from Savannah, were the alarming features of the time.

    In March, 1865, General Stoneman left East Tennessee moving through Taylorsville, Tenn., through Watauga county to Deep Gap in the Blue Ridge. On March 26 he entered Boone and on the day following the column was divided, one division marching toward North Wilkesboro, while the other crossed the Blue Ridge at Blowing Rock and went to Patterson in Cald-well county. Members of this column continued south to harass Catawba countians.

    Historians generally agree that the Stoneman Raiders were employed more as a morale-breaking force than as emissaries of conquest. Chiefly, they traveled, apparently without goal, the countryside, pillaging at major points and committing offenses of aggravating, if not serious, nature at other points.

    Those members of the Stoneman army who invaded Catawba county are believed to have been stragglers, and likely persons of undesirable character. Stoneman, himself, was not among them.

    It is contended by many historians, including Southerners, that Stoneman's personal conduct and his military policies were ethical. Cornelia Phillips Spencer, a North Carolinian, in "The Last Ninety Days of the War in North Carolina," points out: "... But General Stoneman's policy toward the inhabitants (of Salisbury) . . . is a very striking illustration of the principles which.., were the only true and generous and really politic guide for the commanders of an invading army. Private property was protected, guards were stationed, and General Stoneman repeatedly gave strict orders for the enforcement of quiet and protection of the citizens. He himself in person inspected the public stores, which were of course by the laws of war doomed to destruction, and refused to allow the Confederate Quartermaster's depot to be burned lest it should endanger the town .... Whatever plundering and insolence the people were subjected to--and there were a number of such cases--was very evidently the work of unauthorized bummers .... "

    The force which descended upon Catawba did, in fact, deal dastardly with the inhabitants. Newton's encounter with the Federalists is described by George Pope in a newspaper article which appeared in connection with the county's celebration of the 1947 Soldiers Reunion event at the county seat city. It is, in part, as follows:

    "On April 5th, 1865, General Stoneman's Cavalry raided Newton. They came up the old Laurel Hill road, which is on the right of the present postoffice, yelling, shooting and swearing. They then began to ransack the town. My mother, who was a very small child at that time, was terrible frightened by the din. The Union soldiers took my Grandfather Beard's cow, hogs and chickens. My grandmother, Nancy Hewitt Beard, went to the commanding officer and tearfully begged for the return of the cow because of her small children. The Yankee officer relented and the cow was returned. Incidentally, Grandmother Beard made costumes for the Ku Klux Klan and which were hidden in the attic of her home when not in use.

    Charley Connor was shot and killed by the Yankee soldiers as he tried to escape on his horse. My mother's aunt, Erie Hilton, was living in the county jail at that time and the Yankee Captain ordered her to move her things out and they burned the jail down and liberated several Union soldiers who were imprisoned there. They also burned down a large Commissary building which was located where the Cilley Hosiery mill now stands. Large supplies of food was stored in the Commissary and hungry children stood by crying as burning mollasses ran down the side of the hill.

    "Sherman was right in his version of War--For Such Is War."

    Major J. L. Latta affords a graphic description of Hickory's experiences under the heel of the Yankees. It is as follows:

    "Just before the close of the Civil War a horde of myrmidons, from God-knows-where, dropped down in the valley above Lenoir, scattering fire and destruction in every direction, and gathering up all the horses, mules and food stuffs that could be found. They burned Patterson factory, and were headed toward Hickory Tavern.

    "When the distracted residents learned of their coming this way, they moved everything possible from the Confederate commissary in order to prevent its seizure, but there were many supplies that could not be quickly removed. A great number of heavy sacks of salt were in the commissary and also over one hundred barrels of molasses, vinegar and brandy. The unfriendly visitors arrived on time, April 6, 1865, just three days after Lee's surrender, and Major E. M. Todd, manager, promptly set fire to the commissary building, which was soon reduced to ashes. Before firing the building, axes were used by Major Todd, the commissary keeper, to knock the heads out of all barrels, and the molasses, vinegar and brandy flowed down the railroad track toward the old mineral spring. After the fire, the scorched or roasted salt was gathered up and used by the residents of the village and surrounding community .... "

    Historians generally agree that Connor was killed following his refusal to halt upon command. Concerning the burning of the Hickory Tavern commissary, E. L. Shuford, in historical writings, said: "This wanton destruction incensed the country around and they appealed to Governor Vance to punish Todd." Todd, however, was not punished.

    [Courtesy of the Catawba County Historical Association, through their publication: History of Catawba County, pg. 278-281. Compiled and Published by Catawba County Historical Assn. Edited by Chrales J. Preslar, Jr., 1954 Printed by Rowan Printing Compant, Salisbury, NC.]

    THE LAST CATAWBA COUNTY SOLDIER TO
    DIE IN THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES

    CONNOR, CHARLES T., 2nd Lieutenant (Company K, 63rd Regiment, NC Troops, known as Co. K, 5th Regiment, NC Cavalry). Enlisted at age 22 for the war and appointed to rank from September 1, 1862. Submitted his resignation November 10, 1862 and it was officially accepted November 22, 1862. [North Carolina Troops - 1861-1865-A Roster, Vol. II:444]

    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. He left a widow and three children, namely, T. Frank Connor, doing a large business at Terrell in Catawba County, and Etta, who married the Rev. W. L. Sherrill, now living in Charlotte. The baby, Charlie Emma, married Dr. W B. Ramsay of Hickory. She died some years ago and is survived by Dr. Charles Ramsay and Mrs. Nina Hall and their father Dr. W. B. Ramsay.

    - TO BE CONTINUED -

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