Confederate General Robert Vance, brother of North Carolina Governor Zebulon Vance, led a cavalry raid that captured a Union wagon train filled with provisions taken in Sevier County. He then planned to rendezvous with Lt. Col. James Henry at Jacob Shults Mill on Cosby Creek, but on January 15, 1864, the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry attacked his force near this location. Vance was captured and remained a prisoner until pardoned by President Abraham Lincoln on March 14, 1865.