Sixty Ninth Regiment
May 6th
1865:
While Confederate General Joe Johnston has surrendered all the Confederate forces in North Carolina back in late April, that news takes a while to filter down to all the far flung Confederate troops. Especially those in the mountains.
One of these last units is officially the 69th North Carolina. Unofficially, they are Thomas' Legion, a Confederate Army unit from Western North Carolina composed of Cherokee Indians and Highlanders. William Holland Thomas was Principal Chief of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the only white man ever to be a chief of the Cherokee.
When North Carolina secedes from the Union and joins the Confederacy Thomas recruits his Legion, and like other Confederate 'Legions' it is a combined unit force of infantry, cavalry, and artillery. This is the only 'Legion' from North Carolina and has the distinction of having never been defeated by any Union force it engaged or engaged it.
After serving with Confederate General Jubal Early in the Shenandoah Valley throughout 1864, Thomas' Legion is dispatched to defend western North Carolina when Early leaves the Valley to rejoin Lee at Petersburg. Its mission: guard against Union invasions through the Cumberland Gap or over the mountains from Knoxville.
On this day, while moving through the woods near White Sulphur Springs (modern day Waynesville), the Legion discovers the camp of a Union unit that had been raiding and burning homes in the area. Quickly forming a skirmish line, they rout the Yankees, who flee back into White Sulphur Springs. The Legion occupies the ridge tops around the town, builds bonfires to let the Union forces know they are there, and as a bonus, treats them to Indian war chants throughout the night. The Yankees surrender.
The following day, Thomas moves down into the town to accept the surrender of the Union forces, where he discovers from the Union Commander that Gen Johnston has surrendered and that the war in North Carolina is over. This prompts a rather curious negotiation in which both sides, having been surrendered, agree under the circumstances to just quit and go home.
And so ON THIS DAY, the last shot of the Civil War in North Carolina has been fired, and the last organized Confederate unit in the state has 'surrendered.' Or as Thomas himself said: “I say 'surrender,' but a better word would be quit, for I don’t think we really ever did surrender. In fact, we just disbanded and carried our guns and cartridges home with us."
Pictured: Confederate veterans of Thomas's Legion at the New Orleans Confederate Convention in 1903.
SOURCE: Facebook page, North Carolina Expatriate, May 6, 2017
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