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Storyline

The end of the Civil War in Orange County, 1865

Johnston’s Hillsborough headquarters, the Chapel Hill skirmish and the Bennett Place surrender (site now in Durham County).

In briefIn April 1865 David L. Swain and William A. Graham pressed for peace from Hillsborough as Johnston's army fell back through the county. Wheeler's cavalry fought Union pursuers at New Hope Creek on April 14, Union troops occupied Chapel Hill on April 17 under orders to protect the university, and Sherman and Johnston met at the Bennitt farm on the Hillsborough road, then in Orange County, where Johnston surrendered on April 26.

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10 works about The end of the Civil War in Orange County, 1865 are indexed here. 1 held at OCPL →

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The Alexander Dickson House, Hillsborough, Johnston’s headquarters in April 1865
The Alexander Dickson House, Hillsborough, Johnston’s headquarters in April 1865

In the chronology

Events in this storyline, in date order. See these 31 dated events in the chronology →

  1. Anderson's Confederate cavalry sign their paroles at Paul Cameron's house Highlands At the end of the Civil War, Confederate troops used Highlands, Paul C. Cameron's house south of the Eno, and the paroles of Anderson's cavalry were signed in the old part of the house. People: Paul C. Cameron Place: Highlands, 205 US 70A, HillsboroughThe News of Orange County (Hillsborough), April 28, 1955, p. 3 · Also: Hillsborough Historic District National Register Additional Documentation
  2. George Moses Horton leaves Chapel Hill with the Union cavalry The enslaved poet George Moses Horton, who for decades had written verses for students, lived near Chapel Hill until Federal cavalry arrived in 1865. He left with them and went to Philadelphia with a Union officer after the war. People: George Moses Horton Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 604
  3. Hillsborough Military Academy closes for a time at the end of the Civil War After Charles C. Tew left for the army in 1861, the academy stayed open through the war under Maj. William M. Gordon. Its 1865 term began in February, but that spring, with Sherman's army in the adjoining county, the school closed for a time. It reopened on October 2, 1865, for its eighth academic year, without the military feature, under J. B. White, formerly superintendent of the South Carolina Military Academy. Gen. Raleigh E. Colston announced that it would resume under his direction on October 1, 1866, as a polytechnic school on a military basis. People: Charles Courtenay Tew Place: Hillsborough · Also named: William Gordon, Raleigh Edward Colston, J. B. WhiteNC State Historic Preservation Office: The Commandant's House, National Register nomination (OR0006), p. 5 · Also: Hillsborough Recorder, July 29, 1863, p. 3; The Daily Journal (Wilmington), August 28, 1866, p. 1; Open Orange: Hillsborough Military Academy; Hillsborough Recorder, September 20, 1865, p. 3
  4. James Phillips hides the family silver in Dilsey's cabin as Union troops arrive When a detachment of Sherman's army reached Chapel Hill, Professor James Phillips boxed the family silver, jewelry and watches and left the box at the cabin of Dilsey, a woman enslaved in his household, expecting the soldiers to leave her cabin alone. She buried the box for safety; it came back intact except that rainwater seeping in ruined the watches and harmed some jewelry. People: James Phillips, Dilsey Craig Place: Dilsey's cabin, Chapel HillJames Lee Love, Recollections (1920-1921), scan p. 277
  5. Wilson Caldwell walks out with President Swain under a white flag to meet approaching Union troops When Union troops approached Chapel Hill in 1865, Wilson Caldwell walked out under a white flag with President David L. Swain, Judge W. H. Battle and others to meet the incoming cavalry and seek protection for the town and the university. People: Wilson Swain Caldwell, William Horn Battle, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Carolina Story: Wilson Caldwell (1841-1898), Slavery and the University
  6. A Chapel Hill public meeting resolves to fight on after the peace talks fail Meeting on the evening of February 10 and again the next afternoon, Chapel Hill citizens under Jones Watson resolved that peace could not be had on acceptable terms and pledged their support to the army and to soldiers' families. Samuel F. Phillips tried to substitute a call for a state convention, saying slavery was no longer the real question, but the move lost 81 to 62 in a disputed count, and the resolutions passed with a preamble amended by David L. Swain. People: Jones Watson, Andrew Mickle, Samuel (Samuel Field) Phillips, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillHillsborough Recorder, February 22, 1865, p. 2
  7. Gen. Hardee's son is buried with military honors at Hillsborough Lieutenant Hardee, son of Gen. William J. Hardee, was buried in the Episcopal burying ground at Hillsborough with military honors, with many artillerymen camped near the town in attendance. The evening before, John Curtis, an artilleryman and son of the Rev. M. A. Curtis, had been buried at home after dying of a wound received in battle on March 19. Place: Episcopal burying ground, Hillsborough · Also named: Lieutenant Hardee, John CurtisHillsborough Recorder, March 29, 1865, p. 2
  8. David L. Swain writes William A. Graham urging a move to end the war Before daylight at Chapel Hill, university president Swain wrote to Graham at Hillsborough proposing that the two of them meet Governor Vance in Raleigh and press for steps to spare the state, its capital and the university. Graham answered that evening that Southern independence was hopeless and asked Swain to stop at his house on the way. People: David L. Swain, William A. Graham Place: Chapel Hill and HillsboroughCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 143
  9. Swain and Graham agree on a peace plan at Graham's Hillsborough house Swain spent the day at Graham's house in Hillsborough, where Graham wrote out a four-point plan calling for the legislature to meet and seek peace talks with the United States, and for the governor to ask Sherman for a halt to fighting. Swain carried it to Raleigh by the morning train, and Vance agreed to try it if General Johnston consented. People: William A. Graham, David L. Swain, Zebulon B. Vance Place: Graham house, HillsboroughCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 149
  10. Graham and Swain bring Governor Vance word of Lee's surrender at Hillsborough Returning from Raleigh with Sherman's invitation and safe conduct for the governor, Graham and Swain reached Hillsborough on the evening of April 14 and found Vance waiting in Graham's parlor. Neither Vance nor General Hampton had yet heard that Lee had surrendered. Vance chose to answer a summons from Jefferson Davis and left for Greensboro the next morning instead of going back to Raleigh. People: Zebulon B. Vance, William A. Graham, David L. Swain Place: Graham house, Hillsborough · Also named: Jefferson DavisCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 172
  11. Johnston's retreating infantry marches through Chapel Hill On Friday, April 14, divisions of Confederate infantry passed through Chapel Hill at a quick step without halting, bound west toward Greensboro. That afternoon General Wheeler rode in from the Raleigh road and knelt at a street corner with his staff to study a map of the state while townspeople watched. Place: Franklin Street, Chapel Hill · Also named: Joseph WheelerCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 174
  12. Wheeler's Confederate cavalry fought Union pursuers at New Hope Creek east of Chapel Hill Retreating cavalry under Joseph Wheeler destroyed the bridge over the rain-swollen New Hope and the other bridges on the road toward Chapel Hill, then attacked Union cavalry trying to cross on fallen trees and driftwood at the Atkins plantation, about eight miles from the village. Cornelia Phillips Spencer, writing from Chapel Hill, called it the last skirmish and perhaps the last blood of the war and recorded that several men were killed on both sides. People: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, Smith D. Atkins Place: New Hope Creek, near Chapel Hill · Also named: Joseph WheelerDocumenting the American South: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), chapter XII
Show all 31 dated events
  1. Wheeler's cavalry reaches Chapel Hill and posts a guard on the university Confederate cavalry under General Joseph Wheeler reached Chapel Hill, and at the request of alumnus James P. Coffin, Wheeler detailed Lieutenant McBurney Broyles and fifteen men to report to President Swain and protect the university's books and apparatus. Wheeler's headquarters were opposite the Episcopal church. People: David L. Swain, Charles Phillips Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joseph Wheeler, James P. Coffin, McBurney BroylesDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 741
  2. Swain returns to Chapel Hill with word of Lee's surrender Swain got back to Chapel Hill on the morning of Saturday, April 15, and found Wheeler's cavalry camped in the village. He brought the first sure news of Lee's surrender to the troopers there, some of them former students of the university. People: David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 175
  3. Sherman's orders protect the university and village of Chapel Hill When a Federal officer rode into Chapel Hill at sunset on April 16, President Swain told him of General Sherman's promise to protect the university and village, and the officer said he had received the orders. When Smith D. Atkins's cavalry took the town the next morning, Sherman's orders were obeyed and dwellings and university property were guarded. People: William T. Sherman, David L. Swain, Smith D. Atkins Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 743
  4. Sherman and Johnston first meet at the Bennitt farm on the Hillsborough Road William T. Sherman and Joseph E. Johnston met midway between their lines on the Hillsborough Road, seven miles from Durham Station, and moved to James Bennitt's nearby farmhouse. Before talks began Sherman showed Johnston a telegram announcing President Lincoln's assassination; Sherman offered military terms only, and Johnston asked for terms of a permanent peace. People: William T. Sherman, Joseph E. Johnston, James Bennitt Place: Bennett Place (Bennitt farm, then in Orange County)Search the index · NC Historic Sites: Bennett Place, History
  5. Union troops occupy Chapel Hill Wheeler's Confederates left Chapel Hill at midday on Easter Sunday, April 16, and a small Federal party rode in at sunset, met President David Lowry Swain and returned to camp. Smith D. Atkins's cavalry took possession about 8 a.m. on Monday, April 17, posting guards from the Ninth Michigan at houses that asked for them and quartering officers and horses in the college buildings. Ordered to Greensboro, the brigade left on May 3, leaving a guard at the university that stayed in the college buildings for more than two months. People: David L. Swain, Smith D. Atkins Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Joseph WheelerDocumenting the American South: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), pp. 166-179 · Also: Documenting the American South: True and Candid Compositions, Erika Lindemann
  6. Johnston accepts Sherman's basis of agreement at the Bennitt farm At their second meeting at James and Nancy Bennitt's farm on the Hillsborough Road, then in Orange County, Joseph E. Johnston accepted the "basis of agreement" William T. Sherman submitted, which offered an armistice, disbanding of the armies, recognition of state governments and a general amnesty. Jefferson Davis approved the terms, but Washington rejected them. People: Joseph E. Johnston, William T. Sherman, James Bennitt Place: Bennitt farm (Bennett Place), then Orange County · Also named: Jefferson Davis, Nancy BennittSearch the index · NC Historic Sites: Bennett Place, History
  7. Swain asks Sherman to stop the stripping of farms around Chapel Hill President Swain wrote General Sherman that Wheeler's men and then the Federals had stripped the country of forage and horses, leaving families such as the Rev. George W. Purefoy's fifty people with no food and no work animals. Sherman replied on April 22 that seizures would stop when the war ended. People: David L. Swain, William T. Sherman Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: George W. PurefoyDocumenting the American South: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I (1907), p. 743
  8. Johnston surrendered to Sherman at the Bennett farm, then in Orange County After meetings on April 17 and 18 whose terms Washington rejected, Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman met again at the farm of James and Nancy Bennitt and signed a military surrender covering forces in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. North Carolina Historic Sites describes the Bennitt farm as a 325 acre place in Orange County, on the Hillsborough road west of Durham Station. People: Joseph E. Johnston, William T. Sherman, James Bennitt Place: Bennett farm, Orange County (now Durham County) · Also named: Nancy BennittNorth Carolina Historic Sites: Bennett Place, History
  9. Charles P. Mallett wrote that federal troops had held Chapel Hill for fourteen days Writing from Chapel Hill, the merchant Charles P. Mallett reported that Union troops had held the village for fourteen days, that they had behaved tolerably where safeguards were posted but had stripped the surrounding countryside of horses and mules, and that General Judson Kilpatrick had held a review in the village the previous day. People: Smith D. Atkins Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Charles P. Mallett, Judson KilpatrickDocumenting the American South: Letter from Charles P. Mallet to Henry A. London, April 30, 1865
  10. A mortally wounded soldier from Selma, Alabama, dies in a Chapel Hill doctor's house A Confederate soldier from Selma, Alabama, wounded in the fighting east of the village, was carried to the house of one of Chapel Hill's leading physicians and nursed for two or three days. He died after the Union troops arrived and was buried in the garden there. Place: physician's house, Chapel HillCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 177
  11. Chapel Hill families feed paroled soldiers of Lee's army walking home During the Union occupation, unarmed men from Lee's army passed through Chapel Hill on foot, alone or in small groups, each carrying only his parole. Residents called them in to eat, and Spencer adds that Union soldiers who met them also gave them food. Place: Chapel HillCornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 196 · Also: Cornelia Phillips Spencer's 1865 journal as printed in Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill
  12. Confederate leaders gather at Hillsborough Wade Hampton and Joseph E. Johnston used the Dickson farm on the edge of Hillsborough as a temporary headquarters while Johnston negotiated with Sherman, and Confederate officials including Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge came there to work on terms. Johnston and his staff rode from the Dickson place along the old Hillsborough to Durham road to complete the surrender. People: Joseph E. Johnston, Wade Hampton, William T. Sherman, Alexander Dickson Place: Hillsborough · Also named: John C. BreckinridgeAlliance for Historic Hillsborough: The Alexander Dickson House
  13. The university keeps up morning and evening prayers through the Union occupation When Union cavalry took Chapel Hill, ten or twelve students, most of them village boys, were still keeping the college going. A professor rang the bell and prayers were held morning and evening while the troops stayed, though the two or three students from other counties walked home. Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillSearch the index · Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina (1866), scan p. 269
  14. General Smith D. Atkins leads his troops out of Chapel Hill Atkins, whose Federal cavalry had held Chapel Hill since mid-April, left the village with his troops on May 3, 1865. Only after he had gone did Eleanor Swain, daughter of the university's president, tell her parents in a short note that she meant to marry him; the wedding took place on August 23. People: Smith D. Atkins, David L. Swain Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Eleanor SwainInternet Archive: North Carolina Historical Review 42 (1965), p. 205
  15. General Couch leads 12,000 Union troops through Chapel Hill On May 5, 1865, a Union infantry column under General Darius N. Couch passed through Chapel Hill. Weeks put it at about 12,000 men; Spencer, writing in 1866, said twelve or fourteen thousand. Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Darius N. CouchStephen B. Weeks, The University of North Carolina in the Civil War (1896), scan p. 41 · Also: Cornelia Phillips Spencer's 1865 journal as printed in Hope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill
  16. The 1865 commencement graduates one senior before a crowd of Federal soldiers Of fifteen seniors on the rolls on June 1, 1865, only William Curtis Prout was allowed to finish the course, though three others who took part in the commencement exercises at President Swain's invitation were also given degrees. No visitors came from a distance; the only outsiders were about thirty Federal soldiers posted to keep order. People: David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill · Also named: William Curtis Prout, Edward G. ProutStephen B. Weeks, The University of North Carolina in the Civil War (1896), scan p. 40 · Also: Kemp P. Battle, History of the University of North Carolina, vol. I
  17. General Smith D. Atkins married Eleanor Swain, daughter of the university president The courtship began during the occupation, when Atkins called on President David Lowry Swain, met his daughter Eleanor, had his regimental band serenade her and gave Swain two horses. Atkins was mustered out in June and the two married in Chapel Hill on August 23, 1865; many invited guests stayed away, students tolled the college bell for three hours and hanged Swain and Atkins in effigy. People: David L. Swain, Smith D. Atkins Place: Chapel Hill · Also named: Eleanor Swain AtkinsDocumenting the American South: True and Candid Compositions, Erika Lindemann, "Civil War"
  18. The university opens its first postwar session with twenty-two students The university began its fall session with twenty-two students. The same day Swain told Spencer that the endowment was lost and the school had nothing but tuition to live on. People: David L. Swain Place: University of North Carolina, Chapel HillHope Summerell Chamberlain, Old Days in Chapel Hill (1926), scan p. 137
  19. Cornelia Phillips Spencer publishes The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina Encouraged by her friend, former governor David L. Swain, Spencer published her first book, an account of the war's last months in North Carolina that describes Wheeler's Confederate cavalry passing through Chapel Hill and the town's occupation by Union cavalry in April 1865. People: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, David L. Swain Place: Chapel HillSearch the index · Documenting the American South: Cornelia Phillips Spencer, The Last Ninety Days of the War in North-Carolina

Places in this history

Buildings, schools, churches and other sites named in the dated events on this page, the most often named first. The map shows them all.

Map tiles © OpenStreetMap contributors. Site locations from the N.C. State Historic Preservation Office survey, Open Orange, Orange County GIS, OpenStreetMap and a few other published sources named on each site’s page; town and community pins show approximate locations.

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Indexed works

Related works found in catalogs and archives across North Carolina. Each links to the institution that holds or provides it.

Undaunted heart : the true story of a Southern belle & a Yankee general

Barile, Suzy · 2009

Suzy Barile's account of Eleanor Hope Swain, daughter of the University of North Carolina's president, and Smith D. Atkins, the Union general whose troops occupied Chapel Hill in April 1865; the two married later that year. Published by Eno in Hillsborough in 2009, 237 pages with illustrations and portraits.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Library of Congress record: Atkins, Smith D (Smith Dykins), 1836-1913.

UNC CH Historical Society Library of Congress

The final fifteen days, excerpts from the "Narrative of military operations," by General Joseph Eggleston Johnston

1940 · General Johnston Headquarters House?

Folded leaflet issued at Hillsborough in 1940, printing excerpts from General Joseph E. Johnston's 'Narrative of military operations' on the final fifteen days of the Civil War in North Carolina, the period of his surrender negotiations with Sherman in April 1865. Its first page announces the opening of the restored house near Hillsborough that served as Johnston's headquarters that year. One sheet of four pages with illustrations.

Included because: Catalog heading in the UNC record: Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891.

UNC

Son Of Carolina

Long, Augustus White · 1939 · Duke university press

Augustus White Long's memoir of Chapel Hill and the University of North Carolina from 1865 to 1900, including higher education in the decades after the Civil War. Published by Duke University Press in 1939 in the series A segment of the American scene. 280 pages.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Durham record: Chapel Hill (N.C.) -- Description -- 1865-1900.

Reviewed in The Journal of Southern History (1940), The William and Mary Quarterly (1940), Journal of American History (1940).

Duke NC State NC Cardinal Durham Library of Congress UNC

Kimberly family papers

Kimberly, John, 1817-1882 · 2000 · Academic Affairs Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Letters of the Kimberly family of Chapel Hill, written during the Civil War and issued in 2000 as an electronic edition in the Documenting the American South project of the university library, within its Southern Homefront collection. The sections cover the Union invasion, disease and death, the homefront and morale, with page images of the originals. Kristofer Ray transcribed and annotated the letters.

Included because: Catalog heading in the NC Cardinal record: Chapel Hill (N.C.) -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives.

UNC NC Cardinal

Surrender According To Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman

Stephen Cushman · 2021

Stephen Cushman on how Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman each told the story of the Bennett Place surrender of April 1865 in their memoirs, and on their friendship after the war.

Included because: Catalog heading in the OpenAlex record: Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891.

OpenAlex

Civil War Collection

Military Collection, State Archives of North Carolina · 1860

Statewide Civil War collection of the State Archives of North Carolina, dated 1860 to 1965. It gathers pardon petitions, bounty payrolls, quartermaster vouchers and supply papers, disabled veterans' claims and letters about artificial limbs, regimental and unit papers, muster rolls, diaries, reminiscences, clippings and sheet music. Orange County is one of the many North Carolina counties represented.

Included because: Catalog heading in the State Archives of NC record: Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891.

State Archives of NC
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Papers,

Bennitt, James · 1820

Papers of James Bennitt, a Durham County farmer and artisan whose home was where Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to William T. Sherman in April 1865. The 159 items, starting in 1820, include letters, a diary, accounts, bills and receipts on local affairs and on the later history and restoration of the house, plus a Hillsborough militia regiment's muster roll. At Duke's Rubenstein Library.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Johnston, Joseph E. -- 1807-1891.

Duke

Atkins, Smith Dykins and Ellie Swain: photographs (Chapel Hill Historical Society)

Matching undated portraits of Smith Dykins Atkins and Ellie Swain. Atkins commanded the Union cavalry that occupied Chapel Hill in April 1865 and married Swain, daughter of university president David L. Swain, later that year.

Included because: Its title names this subject.

CH Historical Society

Everett family papers,

Everett (Family) · 1919

Papers of R. Oscar Everett and Katherine Robinson Everett, Durham attorneys and civic leaders, 250 items from 1919 onward. Most is correspondence on the Bennett Place Memorial Commission, the Durham-Orange County Historical Association and prohibition in North Carolina after repeal.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Duke record: Bennett Place Memorial Commission.

Duke

Sketches Of The History Of The University Of North Carolina: Together With A Catalogue Of Officers And Students, 1789-1889

1889 · The University

Kemp P. Battle's 1889 history of the University of North Carolina, paired with a catalogue of its officers and students from 1789 to 1889. Printed at Chapel Hill, the volume provides material for campus and family history.

Included because: Catalog heading in the Durham record: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865.

Durham UNC

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Picture: The Alexander Dickson House, Hillsborough, Johnston’s headquarters in April 1865. CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph by Warren LeMay; via Wikimedia Commons

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