General W. T. SHERMAN, leader of the infamous "march through Georgia" captured the city of Wilmington, North Carolina in February, 1865. The war now centered on North Carolina. As SHERMAN's men moved westward, Confederate General Joseph E. JOHNSTON took up a postion on the Neuse River to head the "yankees" away from Raleigh. Meanwhile, a second Union Army under General STONEMAN entered the state from Tennessee. Stories of depredations of teh "Yankees" preceded their coming, and families hid their silver and other valuables, often burying them in nearby woods. What horses the Confederate Army had left them were also carried to the woods. Pillage and devastation was certain to come. It is said that the Bank of New Bern shipped a large amount of gold coin to the Company Shops at this time, and that the money was buried in the woods nearby. Some years later, the story adds, a negro farmer ploughed up some $3,000 in gold pieces near this same site. On the night of April 10, General JOHNSTON recieved a message from Confederate President Jefferson DAVIS that the South had been forced to evacuated Petersbrg, Virginia. JOHNSTON marched his troops to Raleigh, and the following afternoon recieved a dispatch saying President DAVIS was at Greensboro, and desired to see him. JOHNSTON took the train to Greensboro early next morning. He found both General BEAUREGARD and President DAVIS there, with headquarters set up in railroad cars. General STONEMAN's Union Army had captured a tremendous amount of Confederate supplies at Salisbury, and marching toward Greensboro on April 11, set fire to railroad bridges both north and south of the city. By a strange concidence, they barely missed the opportunity to capture the train bearing the Confederate leaders. Jeff DAVIS still maintained hopes that day, but when his Secretary of War, General BRECKINRIDGE, arrived a short tiime later, he admitted that an effort should be made to end the war. Generals JOHNSTON and BEAUREGARD agreed with him. President DAVIS, himself, sat in his railroad car at Greensboro, and dictated a note to Gerneral SHERMAN, And General JOHNSTON signed it. Meanwhile, SHERMAN had entered the city of Raleigh, and the troops which JOHNSTON had left there evacuated the capital to the Union Army. SHERMAN received JOHNSTON's note and sent word that he would be glad to see the Confederate commander at a place five miles west of Durham on April 17. General JOHNSTON assembled his tattered and war-fatigued men around him at Company Shops and with tears in his eyes, he told them goodbye. "Be men," he said, "Be men--wherever you go!" As quietly as the war had come to Company Shops, it also came t an end. The proud but defeated General walked to the depot, whre a single car waited for him, and with Captain W. H. TURRENTINE of Company Shops at the throttle, the engine puffed out of the shop yards and headed for the historic meeting with General SHERMAN. All of today's postings are from; Centennial History of Alamance county 1849-1949 Whitaker. Note: This book does not carry a copywrite. Quoting from the book: " In order that material from this book can be used as widely as possible, it does not carry a copyright. Proper credit to the source of information, however, witll be appreciated." Memo: I checked this book out at the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. I wanted to copy as much as I could before I must return it. So, please excuse (or at least forgive) all my typo's. Carol ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange GENDEX at http://www.gendex.com/gendex/ has over 1500 databases on line