Looking for NC's Civil War - Boone City Cemetery

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.