Thursday, October 31 (7:30pm)-Saturday, November 2 (5pm)
Winston-Salem, NC
Led by Chris Hartley
Tour Registration: $295
In March 1865, in a driving rainstorm, Federal Maj. Gen. George Stoneman led a column of some four thousand blue cavalrymen out of Knoxville, Tennessee. They rode eastward, launching a cavalry raid that would take them deep into the heart of the Confederacy. Over the next two months, Stoneman’s cavalry galloped across six Southern states, fighting fierce skirmishes with Confederate forces and destroying enemy supplies and facilities. When the raid finally ended, Stoneman’s troopers had brought the war home to dozens of communities that had not seen it up close before. In the process, the cavalrymen pulled off one of the longest cavalry raids in U.S. military history, and left behind an impact that still echoes in The Band’s 1969 hit recording, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down.”
Stoneman’s 1865 raid was so vast it would difficult to cover the entire span in two days. But it is possible to understand the raid by focusing on one area. Yankee troopers rode through the Piedmont of North Carolina in early April. In this tour, we will visit sites in the Piedmont area that figured prominently in Stoneman’s operation.
On Friday morning we’ll visit Moody’s Tavern, Moratock Iron Furnace and Old Salem, a historical community which looks much like it did in 1865 when a brigade of Stoneman’s raiders briefly made its headquarters there. In Salem the town square, Home Moravian Church, Blum Printers, the Single Sisters House and the Boner House, sites of both drama and levity, will be interpreted. We’ll also visit the Moravian Cemetery. We’ll have lunch at the historic Salem Tavern. After lunch, we’ll visit Mendenhall Plantation and Store to understand the action at Jamestown. You’ll also see the Jamestown Mill, Jamestown Depot site and the gun factory sites.
On Saturday we will focus on Salisbury, where on April 12, 1865, Stoneman’s raiders found themselves confronted by multiple defenses bolstered by artillery. What followed was the largest battle of the raid. Our first stop will be Shallow Ford. We’ll include several stops related to the early morning battlefield outside town, including Davie Crossroads, the South Yadkin River, and the raiders’ main crossing spot along Grant’s Creek. We’ll also visit the Confederate left, where the fight lasted the longest alongside a railroad bridge that still stands. After lunch we will go into Salisbury, where we’ll see places where the raiders destroyed mounds of military supplies and razed the infamous Confederate prison at Salisbury. Other sites will be the baseball field site, Bradley Johnson’s headquarters site, the Josephus Hall House and the Mansion House Hotel site. We’ll also visit Fort York, where Confederate forces tried to ward off the raiders from a hilltop bastion along the Yadkin River.
We have the added pleasure on this tour of offering the historic Brookstown Inn as our headquarters hotel. Built in 1837 as a textile mill, it is on the National Register of Historic Places. Its hallmarks of exposed brick walls and wooden beams enhance its Early American decor. This historic setting is within a short walk of the restored 1766 Moravian village of “Old Salem.” Each evening you’ll enjoy a complimentary wine and cheese reception in the Parlor amidst high ceilings, unique Early American pieces, and countless antique furnishings
Stoneman’s 1865 Raid was the most important Civil War event to strike North Carolina’s Piedmont region. But did it really “Drive Old Dixie Down”, as the Band claimed in their song? This tour will help you answer that question for yourself.
Registration Fee: $295.00
What’s included: Motor coach transportation, two lunches, beverage and snack breaks, a map and materials package, all admissions and gratuities, and the services of an experienced tour leader and historian. Our hotel will provide a complimentary continental breakfast each morning. Tour participants are responsible for transportation to the headquarters hotel, and securing a room reservation, if necessary. Dinner is on your own. Tour goes out rain or shine. Please see our policy page for information about cancellations.
Hotel: We have arranged with our headquarters hotel for a group rate of $79.00 per night plus tax for a standard room (single or double occupancy) and $85.00 per night plus tax for a suite. Go online at http://www.brookstowninn.com/ for a description of the rooms and suites. Please call The Brookstown Inn, 200 Brookstown Ave., Winston-Salem, NC at 1-800-845-4262 and ask for the America’s History group rate. This rate will be guaranteed until October 1, 2013, so please make your reservations early
Our Tour Leader and Historian:
Chris Hartley, a native North Carolinian, is author of the recently published Stoneman’s Raid, 1865. His article on the raid also appeared in Blue and Gray magazine. He is a frequent speaker and has written numerous articles on Civil War topics. His first book was Stuart’s Tarheels: James B. Gordon and his North Carolina Cavalry.
Register Online:
Register by phone, e-mail or postal mail:
- Toll-free: 1-855-OUR-HISTORY (687-4478)
- Email us at: info@AmericasHistoryLLC.com
- Postal mail: America’s History LLC, P. O. Box 1076, Goochland, VA 23063
Visa, Master Card and Discover accepted. We take checks too!
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