Charlotte Court House

Charlotte Court House. "We Did Not Rob or Burn". When mounted Union raiders clattered into town here late on the blisteringly hot morning of June 25, 1864, residents waited anxiously to see what destruction the invaders would bring., The raiders were part of a Union cavalry force under Gen. James H. Wilson and Gen. August V. Kautz that had been dispatched to destroy the railroads that supplied Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's army near Petersburg. As the main column carved a fiery destructive path along the Richmond and Danville Railroad, which ran 5 miles south of here, smaller parties rode out on the flanks to scout, forage, seize horses and mules, and "inflict incidental mayhem." On June 25, a detachment rode across the "rich and beautiful country" to Charlotte Court House., Union troops had burned buildings, sawmills, and other structures in and around Keysville and Drake's Branch earlier that morning, and fearful townsfolk here likely saw columns of smoke rising into the air. But when the raiders arrived, although they looted, seized, and vandalized, they spared the torch. Union Lt. Luman Harris Tenney described how soldiers "broke open stores, released two civil prisoners and did many things out of the way," but "did not rob or burn." A Richmond newspaper was more critical, reporting that the cavalrymen "employed themselves in stealing horses, destroying furniture, breaking open iron safes and robbing citizens of money, watches and jewelry," but confirmed that "They did not burn [any] building[s].", That afternoon, the raiding party rejoined the main column along the railroad, on their way to battle at Staunton River Bridge., (captions) , Union foragers - Courtesy Pennsylvania State University, Special Collections Library , Lt. Luman Harris Tenney From War Diary of Luman Harris Tenney.