Near Old Fort in McDowell County, North Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Swannanoa Gap Engagement

"Blockaded and defended"

— Stoneman's Raid —

Swannanoa Gap Engagement Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, August 29, 2025

1. Swannanoa Gap Engagement Marker

Inscription.

Swannanoa Gap Engagement. "Blockaded and defended". , (preface) On March 24, 1865, Union Gen. George Stoneman led 6,000 cavalrymen from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina to disrupt the Confederate supply line by destroying sections of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Piedmont Railroad. He struck at Boone on March 28, headed into Virginia on April 2, and returned to North Carolina a week later. Stoneman's Raid ended at Asheville on April 26, the day that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham., Union Gen. Alvan C. Gillem led two brigades of Gen. George Stoneman's raiders from the Jonathan Logan Carson house on April 19, 1865, passing through Old Fort en route. Confederate Gen. James G. Martin, meanwhile, anticipated Gillem's movement and ordered all his forces in western North Carolina to the gap to your left. Martin later wrote: "They reached the gap before Gillem did and after cutting down some trees and making some other arrangements to receive the raiders, awaited their approach and when they advanced, repulsed them without any difficulty. The enemy spent two or three days at this Gap but were not able to effect a passage." Gillem, who reported Swannanoa Gap "effectually blockaded and defended," left Col. John K. Miller's brigade to hold the Confederates in place with feints while he led the rest of his men to Rutherfordton, 40 miles south of here.

"On the 19th I moved toward Asheville, by way of Swannanoa Gap, reaching the gap on the 20th. I found it to be effectually blockaded and defended by about 500 men with four pieces of artillery. Leaving Col. Miller to deceive the enemy by feints, on the 21st I moved to Rutherford, forty miles south of Swannanoa Gap, and by sundown on the 22nd I had passed the Blue Ridge at Howard's Gap with but slight resistance and was in the enemy's rear." , , Gen. Alvan C. Gillem

(sidebar) , Emma Rankin, who tutored Jonathan L. Carson's children, boarded with the family in the Carson House. As Gillem's cavalrymen approached, she supervised the "biggest burying" she had ever witnessed, concealing Corfederate money and hams in a piano-sized hole. Livestock were hidden in the woods. Troops ransacked the house before riding to Swannanoa Gap., (captions) , Gen. Alvan C. Gillem Courtesy Library of Congress , Gen. James G. Martin North Carolina Office of Archives and History , Route of Stoneman's Raid in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, March-April 1865.

(preface) On March 24, 1865, Union Gen. George Stoneman led 6,000 cavalrymen from Tennessee into southwestern Virginia and western North Carolina to disrupt the Confederate supply line by destroying sections of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, the North Carolina Railroad, and the Piedmont Railroad. He struck at Boone on March 28, headed into Virginia on April 2, and returned to North Carolina a week later. Stoneman's Raid ended at Asheville on April 26, the day that Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union Gen. William T. Sherman near Durham.

Union Gen. Alvan C. Gillem led two brigades of Gen. George Stoneman's raiders from the Jonathan Logan Carson house on April 19, 1865, passing through Old Fort en route. Confederate Gen. James G. Martin, meanwhile, anticipated Gillem's movement and ordered all his forces in western North Carolina to the gap to your left. Martin later wrote: "They reached the gap before Gillem did and after cutting down some trees and making some other arrangements to receive the raiders, awaited their approach and when they advanced, repulsed them without any difficulty. The enemy spent two or three days at this Gap but were not able to effect a passage." Gillem, who reported Swannanoa Gap "effectually blockaded and defended," left Col. John K. Miller's brigade

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to hold the Confederates in place with feints while he led the rest of his men to Rutherfordton, 40 miles south of here.

"On the 19th I moved toward Asheville, by way of Swannanoa Gap, reaching the gap on the 20th. I found it to be effectually blockaded and defended by about 500 men with four pieces of artillery. Leaving Col. Miller to deceive the enemy by feints, on the 21st I moved to Rutherford, forty miles south of Swannanoa Gap, and by sundown on the 22nd I had passed the Blue Ridge at Howard's Gap with but slight resistance and was in the enemy's rear."
— Gen. Alvan C. Gillem

(sidebar)
Emma Rankin, who tutored Jonathan L. Carson's children, boarded with the family in the Carson House. As Gillem's cavalrymen approached, she supervised the "biggest burying" she had ever witnessed, concealing Corfederate money and hams in a piano-sized hole. Livestock were hidden in the woods. Troops ransacked the house before riding to Swannanoa Gap.

(captions)
Gen. Alvan C. Gillem Courtesy Library of Congress
Gen. James G. Martin North Carolina Office of Archives and History
Route of Stoneman's Raid in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, March-April 1865.

Erected by North Carolina Civil War Trails, Blue Ridge National Heritage

Union General Alvan C. Gillem (left) & Confederate General James G. Martin image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, August 29, 2025

2. Union General Alvan C. Gillem (left) & Confederate General James G. Martin

Photo credits: Gen. Gillem (Library of Congress); Gen. Martin (North Carolina Office of Archives and History)

Area.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: War, US Civil. In addition, it is included in the North Carolina Civil War Trails series list. A significant historical date for this entry is April 20, 1865.

Location. 35° 39.065′ N, 82° 14.477′ W. Marker is near Old Fort, North Carolina, in McDowell County. It is on Mill Creek Road (State Road 1407 at milepost 0.4), 0.4 miles south of Graphite Road, on the right when traveling south. Marker is near the parking lot for Andrew's Geyser. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2111 Mill Creek Rd, Old Fort NC 28762, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in North Carolina’s Mountains. It is also in the American South,

specifically in the Upper South,

in Appalachia,

and specifically in Southern Appalachia. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Andrews Geyser (within shouting distance of this marker); Memorial to the Incarcerated Railroad Workers (within shouting distance of this marker); McDowell County (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Andrews Geyser (approx. 1.6 miles away); Wind Blowed Cold, Babe: The Swannanoa Stockade (approx. 2.6 miles away); Somebody's Dead: Swannanoa Tunnel (approx. 2.6 miles away); All Day Long: Building the Western North Carolina Railroad (approx. 2.6 miles away); a different marker also named Swannanoa Gap Engagement (approx. 2.6 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Old Fort.

Route of Stoneman's Raid in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, March-April 1865 image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, August 29, 2025

3. Route of Stoneman's Raid in Tennessee, Virginia, and North Carolina, March-April 1865

Another marker is no longer nearby. Swannanoa Gap Engagement (was approx. 2.6 miles away but has been replaced with another marker now near it).

Swannanoa Gap Engagement Marker near Andrews Geyser image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, August 29, 2025

4. Swannanoa Gap Engagement Marker near Andrews Geyser

Swannanoa Gap Engagement Marker near Andrews Geyser parking lot at Mill Creek Rd image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Mark Parker, August 29, 2025

5. Swannanoa Gap Engagement Marker near Andrews Geyser parking lot at Mill Creek Rd

Credits. This page was last revised on September 13, 2025. It was originally submitted on September 12, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. This page has been viewed 67 times since then and 18 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 12, 2025, by Mark Parker of Hickory, North Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.