Military
9
On April 19, 1865, Union Gen. Alvan C. Gillem led two brigades of Gen. George Stoneman’s raiders to the Jonathan Logan Carson house. News of the cavalry’s approach arrived before the Federals, and the family buried some valuables in the forest, concealed others in a nearby cabin, and hid Jonathan Logan Carson in the woods while loyal slaves remained to protect the women and children. Nearby, the raiders skirmished briefly with a few Confederate home guards, who quickly fled. Some of Gillem’s men rode into the house and plundered it, but one officer stopped the soldiers from burning the dwelling. The cavalry then camped there and received word of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender in Virginia. Their presence frightened the Carson family and Emma Lydia Rankin, a schoolteacher boarding there, who later recalled blue-coated soldiers swarming in, through, and around the house before riding on toward Asheville. Blocked at Swannanoa Gap, Gillem turned south to Rutherfordton.
Hear stories like this as you drive
ExploreHere reads historical markers out loud as you pass them: over 325,000 stories across the US. No account needed.
4.7 · 800+ ratings · Free
FIND IT
North Carolina · United States
