“’REBELS AGAINST A REBELLION’: SOUTHERN UNIONISTS IN SECESSION, WAR AND REMEMBRANCE” by BARTON A. MYERS (Under the Direction of John C. Inscoe) ABSTRACT “’Rebels Against a Rebellion’” reconstructs the lost world of white-and-black uncompromising unionists who lived in North Carolina during the four years of the American Civil War. Here I use the phrase “lost world” because the history of this minority of the southern population was largely eradicated by the Lost Cause mythology of the Civil War, which asserted that the South and Confederacy were one and the same and that all southerners were either steadfast Confederates or loyal slaves. This project examines the life and death struggle of more than 360 North Carolina unionists who asserted their individual unionist identities while challenging the establishment of a Confederate government, state and the imposition of Confederate identity on all members of the southern population. This story is not one of triumph by the unionists but one of resistance, bravery and ultimately defeat as they were violently persecuted by a police state and then largely written out of the South’s Civil War history in the post-war years. INDEX WORDS: Southern Unionists, Civil War North Carolina, Irregular Warfare, Guerrilla Conflict, Military Occupation, Dissent “’REBELS AGAINST A REBELLION’: SOUTHERN UNIONISTS IN SECESSION, WAR AND REMEMBRANCE” by BARTON A. MYERS B.A., The College of Wooster, 2003 M.A., The University of Georgia, 2005 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY ATHENS, GEORGIA 2009 © 2009 Barton A. Myers All Rights Reserved “’REBELS AGAINST A REBELLION’: SOUTHERN UNIONISTS IN SECESSION, WAR AND REMEMBRANCE” by BARTON A. MYERS Major Professor: John C. Inscoe Committee: James C. Cobb Paul S. Sutter Stephen Mihm Stephen Berry Electronic Version Approved: Maureen Grasso Dean of the Graduate School The University of Georgia May 2009 DEDICATION For my parents Joseph Alan Myers (1957-1993) and Wendy R. Myers iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Almost every morning I worked on this project, I got up, rolled out of bed, and walked to the history department at the University of Georgia (UGA). Along my path to work, I strolled through Civil War history--the T.R.R. Cobb House, home of the scholar and Confederate general who wrote a legal treatise defending slavery and died in 1862 at the Battle of Fredericksburg, and then past the Ladies Memorial Association Monument in the center of Broad Street, which commemorated fallen Confederate soldiers of “the war.” I next walked through the UGA Arch, symbol of America’s oldest state chartered institution of higher education, and then by the site of the famed Robert Toombs Oak tree, where the future Confederate statesmen allegedly delivered an antebellum speech so eloquent that it drew crowds away from a UGA graduation ceremony nearby. Athens and UGA have been a delightful place to live and think about America’s greatest conflict during the past five years. In addition to the town and UGA community, I would like to thank the many hard working people who staff the counters and coffeemakers in Athens. During the past few years, you have all diligently passed me cups of joe when I needed them most. I would especially like to thank the fine people at Big City Bread Café, Espresso Royale Coffee and the Seattle’s Coffee on Alps Road for putting up with my near constant presence. The UGA history department has been a fantastic place to learn the craft of history and build a career. I’m so deeply indebted to my committee’s advice and friendship that indeed I’m bankrupt without any chance of ever repaying their kindness. I will never be able to reimburse John C. Inscoe, my mentor and friend for his sage guidance. While John is widely respected v among southern historians as the Dean of Appalachian history, what is less known is his tireless work on behalf of his graduate students. Simply put, John’s consistent support and brilliant critiques of my work, including advising the master’s thesis that became my first book Executing Daniel Bright, have made me the historian that I am today. Indeed, John’s mentorship example has become the standard in the field of both Appalachian and southern history. James C. Cobb’s work is respected among southern historians for its thoughtful argument, irreverent wit and engaging prose, but what is less widely known is how dedicated he is to training so many fine young graduate students at UGA. I’ve been truly blessed to have him as a committee member throughout my graduate career. As I developed the initial proposal for this project, UGA was fortunate enough to hire the talented cultural historian Stephen Berry, who has not only been a great friend but whose clear vision for the future of the American Civil War field has shaped my work and will shape the work of many to come. Paul Sutter, a leading historian of environmental history with a dazzling intellect, was gracious enough to provide excellent criticisms of my work from the time I first entered a graduate course. I would have been a much more intellectually impoverished historian if I had not made his acquaintance. I’m also very honored that Stephen Mihm, whose work on early America is impressive and wide ranging, agreed to serve on my committee and provide commentary on this dissertation. This work has benefited from so many archivists and librarians at a wide variety of institutions that I will doubtless never get a chance to thank them all personally. I would especially like to acknowledge the archivists at UGA’s interlibrary loan department, the North Carolina State Archives, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Southern Historical Collection and North Caroliniana Collection, the Perkins’ Library at Duke University, and the National Archives in Washington, D.C. and College Park, M.D. vi I would also like to recognize the financial support that this project has received. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, the UGA Graduate School’s University-Wide Dissertation Fellowship and Dean’s Award, the Willson Center for the Humanities and Arts, the North Caroliniana Society’s Archie K. Davis Fellowship, the Colonial Dames of Georgia’s Dissertation Research Award, the United States Marine Corps Historical Center’s Lily H. Gridley Fellowship, and Society for Military History’s Russell Weigley Grant for each providing funding for this project and various papers that emerged from my research. I would also like to extend a hearty thanks to UGA’s history department chair Robert Pratt, who always managed to find money to send me on conference trips to present this work. My family has sacrificed far more than I in order for me to write this and pursue a doctorate in history. My mother, brother, and grandmother have never failed to support my every move, even when it meant sending me across the country to do research or write for months on end. My dearest friend and partner throughout this process has been my dedicated, charming and radiant wife Molly. Without her love and affection, I would never have been capable of telling this story. Barton A. Myers Athens, GA March 2009 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES......................................................................................................................... ix INTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 1 SECESSION: “It Was Perfect Madness” ....................................................................17 2 CONFEDERATE OCCUPATION: “Such a Monarchical or Tyrannical Government”................................................................................................................73 3 RESISTANCE: “I never wanted any other flag to wave over my head” ..................113 4 IRREGULAR WARS: “A State of Insurrection Against the Laws”.........................162 5 MEMORY: “All Classes in the South United as by Magic”.....................................221 BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................256 APPENDICES .............................................................................................................................274 A TABLES 1-4 ..............................................................................................................274 B Evaluating the North Carolina Claims of the Southern Claims Commission ...........278 C Southern Claims Commission Standing Interrogatories............................................303 D North Carolina Confederate Congressional Districts ................................................312 E North Carolina Counties Where Irregular Wars Erupted by 1864 ............................313 viii LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1: Occupations of Unionists in 1860..................................................................................294 Table 2: Unionists’ Slave Ownership in 1860 .............................................................................295 Table 3: Unionists’ Real Estate Value in 1860............................................................................296 Table 4: Unionists’ Personal Property Value in 1860 .................................................................297