Rowan Co

Commissioned by the Robert F. Hoke Chapter No. 78 of the United Daughters of the Confederacy® this Memorial was dedicated on May 10, 1909 to the 2,500 Confederate soldiers from Rowan County. Among those attending the dedication service, held on North Carolina`s Confederate Memorial Day, were 162 Confederate veterans and Mrs. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson of Charlotte. This unique bronze grouping was sculpted by Frederick W. Ruckstuhl and sits atop a base of Rowan pink granite on land given to the Chapter by the City Council. There is a sister monument in Baltimore with the soldier carrying a furled flag instead of broken gun. In 1990 the Chapter had the bronze sculpture restored so that it could be enjoyed by future generations.

This research center is housed on the third floor of the Library. The Robert F. Hoke Chapter has helped raise funds for books and microfilm on the War Between the States. The Compiled Service Records of Confederate Soldiers Who Served in Organizations from the State of North Carolina and the North Carolina Confederate Pension Records are just two of the sets of microfilm that can now be used by all. One of the famous lithographs of the Salisbury Prison Pen is displayed in the hallway along with a pen-and-ink drawing of the Salisbury Confederate Monument by Virginia artist Henry Kidd that the Chapter commissioned in 1998.

The Prison Compound of 16 acres contained an abandoned cotton factory and some houses. A wooden stockade surrounded the Prison which was in use from 1861-1865. The facility was designed for 2,500 prisoners but was forced to handle four times this many after the Union stopped the exchange of POW`s in August 1864. Union General George Stoneman set fire to the Prison in April 1865 but he freed no prisoners as they had been transferred two months prior to his arrival. This Prison was the only prison burned and had the only Prison Commandant tried and found innocent of war crimes. The Salisbury Confederate Prison Symposium is held annually in April by the Hoke Chapter for individuals interested in the history of the Prison and those who were there.

Those who died at the Salisbury Confederate Prison were taken to a site Ľ mile SW of the compound for burial. After October 1864 a mass grave system was necessary. Eighteen trenches, each 240 feel long, were eventually needed for the estimated 4,000 POW`s. In 1866 Union dead from Lexington, Charlotte, Morganton and other North Carolina locations were re-interred here. The Salisbury National Cemetery was established in 1870 and contains three monuments erected to the men who died at the Salisbury Confederate Prison by the Federal Government and the states of Pennsylvania and Maine. The North Carolina Division of the UDC placed a marker in 1994 to help visitors see where the Prison actually was located in relationship to the burial sites.

Audio cassettes for tours of the Prison site and the National Cemetery can be obtained here along with the Bureau`s version of the Chapter`s "Searching for the Confederacy in Rowan County" pamphlet.

This home, restored and owned by Historic Salisbury Foundation, was once the residence of one of the medical doctors at the Salisbury Prison, Dr. Josephus Hall. His application as an officer for a pardon after the War and his pardon from President Andrew Johnson hang in the upstairs hallway. The house was taken for the use of General Stoneman when he and his Raiders invaded Salisbury.

John Willis Ellis was a practicing attorney in Salisbury when the War broke out. He lived with his widowed sister in the house she had built in 1850. As Governor he refused Lincoln`s call for troops after the firing on Fort Sumter by stating that "I regard the levy of troops made by the administration for the purpose of subjugating the Sates of the South as in violation of the Constitution and a gross usurpation of power. I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of the country, and this war upon the liberties of a free people. You can get no troops from North Carolina." On May 20,1865 North Carolina seceded from the Union. Ellis served as Governor of North Carolina from 1859 to his untimely death in 1861 at age 40.

Governor Ellis, who was originally buried in Davidson County, was re-interred here in April 1861 next to his wife, Mary White Ellis. There are a number of Confederate soldiers buried in this Cemetery.

On the Church grounds formerly stood an Incense Cedar tree that was brought from Asia to Mrs. Julia Smyth in 1855 by Wade Hampton (this tree had to be removed recently). Hampton later became one of South Carolina`s most famous Confederate Generals. The Church also owns a silver communion set donated by Mrs. Jefferson Davis, wife of the Confederate States President.

Colonel Charles F. Fisher, organizer of the Sixth Regiment NCST was buried here after being killed at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. Fort Fisher on the North Carolina Coast was named for him as well as the local chapter of the Children of the Confederacy. 175 tombstones for Confederate soldiers were installed in 1996 by the Hoke Chapter for those men who died in the local wayside and government hospitals and on the trains coming from battlefields such as Bentonville.

Established in July 1862 this hospital was supported by the local community to care for sick and wounded soldiers.

Constructed in 1856 this building served as the county's legal center until 1914. Legend says the Courthouse was spared from the torch by Union General George Stoneman due to pleas by fellow Masons.

Among the items the museum houses are memorabilia from Salisbury native Frances Fisher Tiernan ("Christian Reid"), daughter of Colonel Charles F. Fisher and author of more than 40 books in addition to the Confederate play "Under the Southern Cross" and poem "Gloria Victis".

From 1863 to the end of the War the Confederate Government was using the foundry at this location for the manufacture of all types of guns, ammunition, and horseshoes.

In January 1864 the Confederate Government erected fifteen buildings for hospital purposes on land donated by Archibald Henderson.

The graves of Col. Archibald Boyden, who served as Courier for Major General Robert F. Hoke, and Dr. Josephus Hall are located here. A new marker was placed in 1992 by the Hoke Chapter for charter member Frances Fisher Tiernan ("Christian Reid") who died March 24, 1920.

Union General Stoneman`s troops on their entrance into Salisbury on April 12, 1865 were met with resistance from Confederate defenders under the command of General William M. Gardner.

Some sources state that President Jefferson Davis spent the night of April 14, 1865 at the home of the Rector of St. Luke`s Episcopal Church on his retreat South from Richmond.

Polk`s parents moved to Tennessee shortly after his birth on July 10, 1833. In 1861 he joined the First Arkansas Infantry Regiment of the Army of Tennessee and rose to the rank of Brigadier General.

On April 13, 1865 Confederate forces under the command of Colonel J.C. Pemberton, former commander at Vicksburg, successfully defended the Yadkin River Bridge against a Union assault.

On April 1, 1870 General Robert E. Lee and his daughter traveled by carriage from the Salisbury Railway Depot to the Boyden House (later renamed Empire Hotel) for breakfast.