'Stoneman's Raid' author here Tuesday

Hartley

By Deirdre Parker Smith

dp1@salisburypost.com

Chris Hartley starts his book, “Stoneman’s Raid,” with an interesting tidbit: Stoneman’s Raid is the only Civil War event remembered in a song, “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down,” and a Disney TV movie starring Jodie Foster.

In some cases, the raid, which came at the end of the Civil War, is not remembered at all, but Hartley has remedied that with an exhaustively researched work that makes readers feel as if they are reliving it.

Hartley, who grew up in Wilkesboro, passed the markers noting Stoneman’s Raid over and over. He first wrote about it in a paper for Dr. Gary Freeze, then of UNC-Chapel Hill, now of Catawba College.

“Stoneman is a much-maligned figure from the Civil War, and it’s not all of his own doing,” Hartley said in a phone interview. “He had a rough record and emerged with a better reputation in 1864 and 1865. He turned his career around and saved it.

“In the proper circumstances, he was a good general.

“He was a victim of conflicting orders and bad weather.”

Because Stoneman had suffered setbacks and failures earlier, his raid at the end of the Civil War is often overlooked, Hartley said.

“This is so compelling to me ... this is right in our backyard.”

Indeed, Stoneman visited Salisbury’s infamous Civil War cemetery. He led troops along Innes and Main streets, across the Yadkin River, into the warehouses of supplies in downtown Salisbury. Stoneman ordered the massive bonfire to destroy untold numbers of blankets, boots, gray cloth and ammunition right at the Square.

He left his mark, without a doubt, occupying Salisbury before he headed out to Mocksville.

And that’s just one section of Hartley’s account. The author follows Stoneman’s entire route, includes maps and rosters of soldiers — anything you’d want to know.

The names that appear in the Salisbury portion ring familiar, as well. Dr. Josephus Hall’s family packed a wagon of valuables and sent it out of town. Other citizens were named Ramsey, Ellis, Shaver, Kerr.

“It’s so hard to picture today,” Hartley said.

In explaining the huge store of supplies here that were ordered burned, Hartley pointed out that Salisbury was a supply post because of the railroad, much of which Stoneman’s raiders damaged or destroyed.

Hartley’s research started with the official records of the war. “It’s a natural starting place, information from the men on the scene.” Then he traveled to various locations to find diaries, manuscripts, letters, county histories. “I read a lot of those, but you have to take them with a grain of salt — people embellish their role ...”

He went to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., to study the muster rolls for each regiment and to look at the claims lodged after the way by people hoping to be reimbursed for some loss.

In his research and writing, Hartley said “I know them about as well as you can without being able to walk up and talk to the flesh and blood.”

He was particularly drawn to Miles Keogh, who survived the Civil War but died at Custer’s Last Stand. Another favorite is William Palmer, one of the youngest generals, who went on to become a railroad tycoon and founder of Colorado Springs, Colo.

“It’s a story filled with fascinating figures,” Hartley said.

The drama of the raid, Hartley said, is that it comes at the end of the Civil War, “the end of a period of history that shapes the country as much as any moment in history. ... It’s the final curtain of a would-be nation falling and then what comes next.”

While he wouldn’t describe himself as a Civil War buff, he is an American history fanatic, he said.

He was glad to have John F. Blair as the publisher, with the firm’s long-term interest in history publications.

Hartley jokes that he’s going to take a nap now that the work is finished.

His notes alone comprise 77 pages of the book, and it is not necessary to look at each one to follow the text. If you want to know more, you could certainly make a thorough study of the raid and the war through his sources.

Count that along with 19 pages of bibliography and a detailed index and you get an idea of what a massive undertaking this is.

Local people he thanks in his acknowledgments include Ann Brownlee, Ed and Sue Curtis, Freeze, the late Peter Hairston, Jo White Linn and Kaye Hirst of Rowan Museum.

He’s working on a reprint of his first book, “Stuart’s Tarheels,” a story of James B. Gordon of Wilkes County who served under J.E.B. Stuart.

He said “Stoneman’s Raid” is about “when the Civil War came to your town. We read about what happened in Gettysburg and Vicksburg, but this is what happened on Main Street.

“The hardest thing is to see and understand things through the eyewitnesses. “I love that whole process of diving into research, immersing yourself.

“A lot of people don’t know the Civil War came to town,” Hartley said.

This book will certainly let the entire state know where Stoneman left his mark, beyond those metal markers on the side of the road.

Reception and talk

Chris Hartley will be at Literary Bookpost Tuesday, 5-7 p.m. for a reception, book talk and book signing of “Stoneman’s Raid 1865,” published by John F. Blair, publisher.