The War was a seemingly "off-site" event for the
residents of the town of Boone. Oh, there were the parades and drills the
opening days, and there were those who came back maimed, or a few deserters or
escaped prisoners who were housed in the local jail, but that was pretty much
the extent of the war for its first few years. That changed on March 28, 1865,
when the lead element of a Federal column under George Stoneman rode into town
and got into a brawl with local home guard. A few locals were killed and
wounded in the fight. Twenty-four hours later, Stoneman was gone. Unfortunately
for the people in Boone, the War returned when a brigade of home Yankees rode
into Boone and set up camp. They were there to protect Stoneman's line of
retreat should he need to fall back through the mountain passes.
We will never know all that took place those weeks that the
2nd and 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry (US) occupied the town. We do know
that three members of the 2nd North Carolina Mounted Infantry took sick while
in Boone, died, and were buried, not within the confines of the main cemetery,
but in its rear, were local slaves were interred. The Federals' graves were eventually marked with stones from
the VA. Regrettably, those stones have been moved, and now lie near the
entrance to the cemetery, weathered and broken. Hopefully, they will be
replaced soon with new stones, near the spot were they were once planted.
This image was captured in June 2011.
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