Camp Site for Sherman's Army

Camp Site for Sherman's Army. Louisburg at the End of the War. On May 1, 1865, five days after Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham Station, approximately 12,000 to 15,000 troops of Sherman’s Army of the Tennessee camped in Louisburg en route to Washington, D.C. Commanded by Gens. John A. Logan and Oliver O. Howard, their tents filled the groves of Louisburg Female College (1857), where you are standing and of Louisburg Male Academy (1805) across Main Street, to your left. The college was housed in the four-story structure to your right, known today as Main Building. The male academy building was later moved to a site northeast of the performing arts center, where it remains., The troops stored so much corn in the academy that the floor collapsed. Some local residents hid in their homes, but former slaves expressed jubilation. A band played stirring “national airs.” Anna Fuller, who lived on Main Street, kept a detailed diary during the encampment. “I am bewildered, and my heart is sick,” she wrote on May 1. “The town is full of Yankee Soldiers riding and walking up and down every street, and coming into our yards and kitchens. …The reality is upon us, that we are a subjugated people.”, Most of the soldiers passed quickly through town, but on May 3, a regiment arrived to maintain order and to ensure that slaves had been freed. The troops finally departed on July 27, having caused little disruption., (captions) , (lower left) On April 15, the day President Abraham Lincoln died, Louisburg mayor William H. Pleasants, concerned that order would break down, wrote this letter requesting a Union guard for the town. Jones Fuller and Dr. Ellis Malone traveled to Raleigh and gave it to Union Gen. William T. Sherman. Provost guards were posted in Louisburg later in the month. Courtesy National Archives and Records Administration, (center) Gen. John A. Logan's XV Corps left Raleigh on April 29, crossed the Neuse River at Rogers's Bridge, and passed through Louisburg en route to Washington, D.C. Military Map of South-Western Virginia and North Carolina (1865) - Wilson Library, University of North Carolina, (lower right) Union Gens. Oliver O. Howard (standing, left) an John A. Logan (seated, left) with Sherman (seated, center) and other Union officers. Courtesy of Library of Congress