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4 results for Kirk, George W. (George Washington), 1837-1905
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Record #:
8808
Abstract:
Captain George W. Kirk led an expedition of the Third North Carolina (Union) Volunteer Infantry into western North Carolina, in the summer of 1864. Kirk's men were stationed in east Tennessee, which was controlled by Union forces. Western North Carolina was still controlled by the Confederacy, but there were many Union sympathizers and Confederate deserters in the region. Kirk crossed into North Carolina on June 13, 1864. His forces reached a Confederate force at Camp Vance undetected. Comprised of reserves that were unarmed at the time of Kirk's arrival, the Confederates surrendered. Kirk failed, however, to capture a train on the Western North Carolina Railroad which he intended to take to Salisbury. There, Kirk had planned on rescuing Union prisoners held at the Salisbury prison. Without a train that could quickly take them to Salisbury, the Union forces decided to return to Tennessee. Union forces continued to raid western North Carolina until the end of the Civil War. Kirk was later called upon by North Carolina governor W. W. Holden to suppress Ku Klux Klan activities within the state in the early 1870s.
Source:
The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 51 Issue 6, Nov 1983, p11-13, il
Full Text:
Record #:
9942
Author(s):
Abstract:
In 1868, former Raleigh newspaper editor William W. Holden was elected Governor of North Carolina. Following accounts of civil unrest in Alamance and Caswell counties, Holden declared martial law and delegated enforcement to Col. George W. Kirk, who raised a force of 670 men, took over the courthouses in Graham and Yanceyville, made himself military dictator of the two counties, and arrested more than 100 persons. Subsequent to the Kirk-Holden War, as it came to be known, Holden was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of illegally arresting 105 citizens, recruiting soldiers illegally, and refusing to obey a writ of habeas corpus. Holden was convicted on six of eight charges and became the only North Carolina Governor to be removed from office by impeachment.
Source:
The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 40 Issue 16, Feb 1973, p11-12, il, por
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Record #:
15107
Author(s):
Abstract:
Bushwhackers, such as Bill Kirk's Raiders, spread a reign of terror through western North Carolina during the American Civil War. Ruthless and lawless bands would plunder, burn, and murder at random over the unprotected mountains. They became such a menace and serious threat to Confederate troops that detachments were sent to deal with the situation finally forcing them to yield to law and order.
Source:
The State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 8 Issue 35, Jan 1941, p1, 17, f
Full Text:
Record #:
44035
Author(s):
Abstract:
A political showdown between North Carolina Republican Governor William Woods Holden and the KKK, the Kirk-Holden War developed after the assassinations of an African American town council member in Alamance County and Republican state senator John W. Stephens in the Caswell County Courthouse. Holden's decision to send out the militia ultimately framed his impeachment in 1871.
Source:
Tar Heel Junior Historian (NoCar F 251 T3x), Vol. 62 Issue 2, Spring 2023, p28-29, il, por