Boone's Mill Fight

Boone's Mill Fight. Caught with Their Clothes Off. , On July 28, 1863, some of Confederate Gen. Matt W. Ransom's men were bathing here in the Boone's Mill pond, when suddenly bullets began splashing into the water. At the same time, Ransom and his staff galloped across the mill bridge shouting orders, with Union Col. Samuel P. Spear's cavalrymen fifty yards behind in a running shootout. Spear had thundered through Jackson en route to destroy the Wilmington and Weldon Railroad bridge over the Roanoke River at Weldon, and surprised Ransom half a mile outside town. Ransom's naked soldiers scrambled for their weapons, and Spear stopped and dismounted his men., Not all the Confederates were caught with their clothes off. Four companies of the 24th North Carolina Infantry were entrenched with two Macon Light Artillery guns near the millpond, with eight companies of the 49th North Carolina camped nearby. Skirmishers advanced against the Federals, but the 11th Pennsylvania Cavalry and two guns from Stewart's Mounted Battery soon pushed them back. As the Pennsylvania formed for a mounted attack, the 1st New York Mounted Rifles arrived in support, to strike the Confederate left and right flanks. The Federal battery began shelling the earthworks, but Spear's flanking attempts failed in the fading light. With his brigade isolated, Spear withdrew through Jackson to Winton, which the Federals then evacuated. Ransom had one man wounded, Spear lost six killed and 25 wounded. The Boone's Mill fight saved the Weldon railroad bridge, and much-needed supplies continued on to Richmond.,

"We met the Yankees … at Boone's Mill. … The mill was a small corn cracker built on a creek with a large pond above." , W.A. Day, 49th N.C. Infantry, The Landmark, Statesville, N.C., Nov. 28, 1933