We tend to
write and talk a lot about Tar Heel regiments in the Army of Northern Virginia.
And rightfully so. That is where the bulk of North Carolina soldiers served. I
am "guilty" of this myself, having written a regimental history of an
ANV regiment, a history of a Virginia battle, and an ANV brigade history as
well, along with several articles.
There are,
however, many exploits to be explored concerning Tar Heel soldiers outside the
ANV and Virginia theater of the war. Here is one.
George N.
Folk was a Watauga County lawyer and representative in the General Assembly
when the war started. In early 1861, he resigned his seat in Raleigh, and spent
some time in Asheville before returning to Boone and raising a company for
Confederate service. The Watauga Rangers became Company D, 1st North Carolina
Cavalry in August 1861. Folk resigned on May 9, 1862. On September 12, 1862,
Folk was appointed lieutenant colonel of the 7th Battalion, North Carolina
Cavalry. The 7th battalion was composed of seven companies, including two from
Johnson County, Tennessee.
On September
26, 1862, Folk was ordered to move from the Asheville area, with three
companies, into Johnson County, Tennessee. Folk's orders read in part: "a
body of disloyal men who are reported by the Governor of North Carolina to have
escaped from that State and are believed to be organizing in the vicinity of
Stone Mountain for the purpose of resisting the authorities of the Confederate
States and joining the enemy in Kentucky. Should you succeed in capturing them
they will be sent under your guard to Salisbury, N.C., and turned over to the
provost-marshal at that place."
Due to the ongoing unrest in eastern
Tennessee, various Confederate regiments were sent into the area from time to
time in an attempt to curb the violence, and to shut down the routes used by
those coming from North Carolina, headed toward Union lines in Kentucky. In
September 1862, Lt. Col. George N. Folk, commanding the 7th Battalion, North
Carolina Cavalry, moved three companies from Asheville, into Johnson and Carter
Counties. His orders were to capture or disperse "a body of disloyal
men" from North Carolina, who were said to be organizing themselves into a
group to resist "the authorities of the Confederate States and joining the
enemy in Kentucky." Captured North Carolinians were to be sent to
Salisbury, while Tennesseans were sent to Knoxville.
 |
| 1904 map of Fish Springs |
Chief on the most-wanted list was a Jos.
Taylor, reportedly a captain in the 2nd East Tennessee Cavalry. According to
one story, Taylor had been captured, escaped, and made his way into east
Tennessee. He was preparing to take others into Kentucky. However, there does
not appear to be a Captain Taylor in the cavalry from Tennessee. William
Penland, a member of the 7th Battalion North Carolina Cavalry, wrote in January
1863 that Taylor had collected 70 men, and for some time had "been
capturing soldiers, stealing and plundering from the citizens in the counties
of Carter and Johnson." This was just the type of rogue that Folk was sent
to find. On January 23, Folk was out patrolling along the Watauga River with
about 40 of his men. Folk spied the members of Taylor's group on the other side
of a river. He ordered his cavalry to swim across. When Taylor's men saw they
were being surrounded, they abandoned their camp and moved further up the
mountain, positioning themselves on a bluff. As Folk moved in, Taylor's command
opened fire. Thomas Newman, a private
under Folk's command, was struck and killed. It is possible that another
private, David Wagner, was also killed in the skirmish.
As Folk's men dismounted and started up the
hill, the bushwhackers fled. Taylor was spotted, shot, and killed on sight.
Samuel Tatum was also shot while trying to escape, although one account states
he feigned death and survived the war. Three others were captured. Two of them,
George W. Kite and Alexander Dugger, were quickly tried, found guilty, and hanged
on the spot, while a fifth man, just a youth, was sent to Knoxville. There were
undoubtedly others who escaped, and several of Folk's men reported that shots
came close enough to produce holes in their clothing. It would have been better
for Folk to have sent all the guilty parties back to Knoxville. Folk and
several others were indicted after the war for murder. However, Unionists sent
to Knoxville had a way of being set free by the authorities, and the
depredations committed by Taylor seemed greatly to allow him a chance of
immunity.
Folk's 7th
Battalion was eventually combined with the 5th Battalion North Carolina Cavalry
into the 6th North Carolina Cavalry, and Folk was promoted to the rank of
colonel. The 6th North Carolina Cavalry was transferred out of the western
theater and spent the remainder of the War along the east coast of North
Carolina.
Most of us have heard the Vance anecdote - about how he was
in the process of delivering a speech for the Union when word arrived of the
firing on of Fort Sumter. Vance stated that he was "canvassing for the
Union with all my strength; I was addressing a large and excited crowd, large
numbers of whom were armed, and literally had my hand extended upward pleading
for peace and the Union of our Fathers, when the telegraphic news was announced
of the firing on Sumter and the President's call for75,000 volunteers. When my
hand came down from this impassioned gesticulation, it fell slowly and sadly by
the side of a Secessionist. " (Dowd, Life
of Vance, 441-442.)
