Marshall McClung
Even as far removed from national events as present-day Graham County was during the time of the Civil War, one would have thought it could have escaped an event that claimed 620,000 lives -- or almost as many Americans dead as in all the other wars the United States has fought in combined.
Of that, 31,000 of those killed in the Civil War were from North Carolina. As small as Graham County was, it was sharply divided by supporters for the Union and the Confederacy – even splitting individual families apart.
But Graham County – which was still a part of Cherokee County during the Civil War – did not escape unscathed.
Far from it.
There were no major battles fought here, although there was a small skirmish at Robbinsville in November 1864 between Companies C and G of the 3rd Tennessee Mounted Infantry – a Union Army outfit – and Thomas’s Legion of the Confederate Army, which was made up of mostly Cherokee Indians.
The 3rd Tennessee Mounted Infantry is also credited with killing two young boys – John Stratton and Tom Mashburn – on Oct. 3, 1864, in the Rock Creek area near the Goldmine community. Both boys were around age 17 and were buried in a single grave on a small ridge near where they were killed.
This outfit then killed Jesse Kirkland, Jr. – a member of the Kirkland Bushwhackers – near Stump Ford in Graham County. They next raided Andrews on their way to Murphy, where they burned the Cherokee County Courthouse. Since Graham County was still part of Cherokee County, a lot of old records pertaining to Graham County were destroyed.
Two battles in Tennessee near Ball Play on Dec. 4 and 7, 1864, claimed the lives of some men from Graham County and leaving others wounded.
Pvt. Jesse Williams, 35, was killed; and his brother, Pvt. Marion M. Williams, was wounded.
Others who were either wounded or captured included John Brown, 42 from Stecoah; George Williams, 29; and Bart Williams, 22.
By far, the most notorious group to come on the scene during the Civil War was the Kirkland Bushwhackers, led by John “Bushwhacking” Kirkland. They are credited with a number of killings in Graham County and in nearby eastern Tennessee.
John Stratton was ambushed and killed by them on Sept. 2, 1864 near Ball Play, for his new Spencer rifle. Jack Roberts was with Stratton and died from his gunshot wounds two days later.
The Kirklands ambushed a Union Army patrol near Lemmons Branch in the Tsali area, killing seven soldiers who were escorting some of the Kirkland kin to a military prison in Asheville.
An unknown person is buried near the Mud Gap trailhead on the Cherohala Skyway. His headstone reads that he was killed by the Kirkland Bushwhackers.
The Civil War divided America and left deep scars that were slow to heal – if they ever have.
Marshall McClung is the historical columnist for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, mcclungs@email.com.