The Civil War held some of the darkest days in history for Salisbury, the South and the Union. Salisbury’s own Burton Craige introduced the ordinance of secession May 20, 1861, when during a convention vote, North Carolina joined sister states of the South in the newly formed Confederacy. During the war, Salisbury became home for a Confederate prison that toward war’s end would be a horrific place of disease, starvation and death. Salisbury also was a significant transportation and supply center for the Confederacy, making it a target in April 1865 for Union
Gen. George Stoneman’s Raiders.
Over two days, the Union forces captured and occupied Salisbury, while destroying the prison, key Confederate warehouses, the arsenal, distillery, depot and wagon loads of supplies heaped into large piles on Main Street. With the items ignited, the fire could be seen as far away as Statesville. Stoneman’s arrival came three days after Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, and his departure from Salisbury came three days before President Lincoln’s assassination in Washington, D.C. Rowan County provided more than 2,800 soldiers to the Confederate cause. In today’s Post, you’ll find a map, photographs, video and 20 points of Civil War interest.
Click on the map’s numbers below to hear narration from each site.

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