Engagement in Burnsville - Burnsville NC - Battlefields on Waymarking.com

PARTIAL TEXT ON THE CIVIL WAR HISTORICAL MARKER

On April 9, 1864, in McElroy’s absence, about 50 Yancey County women “assembled… and marched in a body to a store-house… and (carried off) about sixty bushels of Government wheat.” The next day, McElroy reported, a band of 75 local renegades under Montraville Ray “came into Burnsville… surprised the guard, broke open the magazine, and took all the arms and ammunition. …The county is gone up.” Col. John B. Palmer soon marched 250 Confederate infantrymen here and attacked Ray’s force, capturing 15 and destroying the Ray family property. McElroy soon reestablished his headquarters here. In one of the last local acts of violence of the war, in April 1865, near here, Unionists shot and killed the Rev. Sam Byrd, whose son was a captain in McElroy’s home guard.

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John W. McElroy constructed this house about 1845, after he bought two lots here. He lived here until late in the 1850s but used the dwelling during the war. According to local tradition, after the April 1864 engagement in Burnsville, the house served as a hospital.

Name of Battle: Engagement in Burnsville Name of War: U.S. Civil War Entrance Fee: 0.00 (listed in local currency) Date(s) of Battle (Beginning): 04/10/1864 Parking: Not Listed Date of Battle (End): Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Post a photo of you in front of a sign or marker posted at the site of the battle (or some other way to indicate you have personally visited the site.

In addition it is encouraged to take a few photos of the surrounding area and interesting features at the site.

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log User Rating   04/10/2023 Don.Morfe visited it