Stoneman's 1865 raid

Stoneman's raid in 1865 was a military campaign in the Upper South during the American Civil War, by Union cavalry troops led by General George Stoneman, in the region of eastern Tennessee, western North Carolina and southwestern Virginia. It began on March 23, 1865, in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Union soldiers were tasked with orders to "dismantle the country". They headed east into North Carolina, destroying towns and plundering along the way, then headed north into Virginia on April 2, where they destroyed 150 miles of railroad track belonging to the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad. On April 9, 1865, they re-entered North Carolina and traveled south to the twin towns of Winston and Salem, now Winston-Salem, and on to High Point.

Stoneman's 1865 raid
Part of the American Civil War
Historical marker in Blowing Rock, North Carolina marking location where Gen. Alvan Cullem Gillem led the cavalry during Stoneman's raid
Date March 23, 1865 (1865-03-23) – April 26, 1865 (1865-04-27) Location Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia Result Union victory
Belligerents
United States (Union)	CSA (Confederacy)
Commanders and leaders
George Stoneman Alvan Gillem	Unknown
Strength
4,000: 2nd and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry 8th, 9th and 13th Tennessee Infantry 11th and 12th Kentucky Infantry	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

On April 12, 1865, they entered Salisbury, a major railroad hub, military depot, and home to Salisbury Prison, the only Confederate prison in the state for captured Union troops. Originally built with a capacity for 2,000 prisoners, the prison eventually held 10,000, with resulting problems of malnutrition and disease. The Confederates evacuated the prison before Union troops arrived, but the latter set fire to the entire structure. The resulting conflagration could be seen for miles.[1] A detachment of 1,000 troops under Colonel John K. Miller then proceeded towards the Yadkin River on the Rowan-Davidson County line in attempt to destroy the railway trestle there. The rail line was protected by 1,000–1,600 Confederate troops stationed in Fort York atop a bluff on the opposite side of the river. Stoneman dispatched artillery to Miller's troops but they were unable to cross the river and after 5.5 hours they withdrew towards Salisbury, dismantling the railway track on the Rowan side of the river but failing to destroy the bridge.[2]

The Union troops traveled west in North Carolina, plundering Statesville, Lincolnton, Taylorsville, and Asheville, before re-entering Tennessee on April 26, 1865. Hundreds of freed slaves accompanied them as they left Asheville.[3]

This was the same day that Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to General Sherman at Bennett Place, in Durham, North Carolina. It was the largest surrender of Confederate soldiers and it ended the war. Stoneman's 1865 raid covered over 600 miles in total length through three states.[4]

The raid is famously referenced in "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down", a song written by Robbie Robertson and made famous by The Band. The southern anthem is a first person narrative of a poor white Southerner opening with the following lines:

"Virgil Caine is the name, and I served on the Danville train

Till Stoneman's cavalry came and tore up the tracks again". [5]