Elkin, North Carolina

            On April 1, 1865, the first brigade of Stoneman’s troops under Colonel William Palmer entered the town of Elkin. According to the Official Records, Palmer had established a camp and taken control of the town’s mills by 1:00 p.m. Palmer used three of the mills to grind corn meal for the Union troops, and also secured 500 bales of cotton.[1] According to local historian Ruth Minick, one soldier recorded that “a storehouse filled with flour, meat, honey, butter, molasses, tobacco, and chestnuts” was also found which was considered a “godsend to the soldiers.”[2] According to Hartley, the only significant target in the town was the Elkin Manufacturing Company, a cotton mill that produced Confederate uniforms.[3] Even so, there was enough successful foraging that the brigade remained in Elkin for a night while the rest of the command continued to wait to cross the Yadkin River.

            One interesting aspect of Palmer’s stay in Elkin is that the Elkin Manufacturing Company was not destroyed, even though it was significant to the Confederate war effort. One explanation for this anomaly is that the mill was spared because of the reception that mill owner, Richard Gwyn, gave the Union troops.[4] According to Hartley, Gwyn’s employees, about 60 female workers, welcomed the soldiers with “quite a reception.”[5] Gwyn also invited Palmer to stay the night at his own house, in which Palmer set up his temporary headquarters.[6] Hartley also presents another piece of information; according to local tradition, both Palmer and Gwyn were members of the freemason fraternity.[7] Freemasons take an oath to support their fellow brothers and provide relief in a time of need.[8] This suggests that Gwyn’s mill was spared because he was both hospitable to the Union Soldiers and had an established connection to Palmer through freemasonry.

            Many other instances of soldiers and citizens interacting are also recorded around Elkin. Gwyn’s Father, Dickie, did not have as much luck as his son when the soldiers took corn, fodder, and straw from his home.[9] In another case, John Cordel, a known unionist, was on his way to greet the troops when a post of soldiers confiscated his horse, saddle and bridle. Cordel testified before the Southern Claims Commission that he was taken to Stoneman’s Headquarters in Elkin, but his property was not returned.[10] In another case, John Tilley, an area resident who was once threatened by the home guard for his unionist views, also had his horse, saddle and bridle confiscated.[11] This is not surprising because a lack of good horses was a major contributor to the delay in the start of Stoneman’s raid.[12] Overall, Elkin fared well as compared to many other Southern towns, due in part to their cooperation in providing supplies.