Burning Depot - Laurinburg, NC - Civil War Discovery Trail Sites on Waymarking.com

Trails sign located in the town park at South Main and Church streets. "As Wilmington was threatened in early 1865, some of its railroad facilities and citizens relocated here, a stop on the Wilmington, Charlotte and Rutherford Railroad. Sherman's forces entered the town on March 7 and destroyed the depot, shops and other railroad facilities.
After making his famous "March to the Sea" to Savannah, Ga., in late 1864, Union Gen. William T. Sherman cast his eyes northward toward the Carolinas and a possible link-up with Gen. U.S. Grant, who then was tightening his noose around Gen. Robert E. Lee at Petersburg, Va.

TrailsSherman's army of 60,000 entered South Carolina in February 1865 and moved quickly north, burning the capital at Columbia and destroying and looting countless civilian farms and plantations.

Entering North Carolina the first week in March, Sherman marched toward Goldsboro, an important railroad junction sitting on what had been "Lee's Lifeline." Union forces quickly captured Fayetteville and burned the arsenal there. Confederate resistance at Averasboro was swept aside.

Confederate commander Gen. Joseph Johnston managed to assemble a force large enough to put up a fight at Bentonville March 19–21, but the weight of Sherman's advance eventually overwhelmed him.

Johnston withdrew, his army ending up west of Raleigh. After more than a week of negotiation near Durham, Johnston surrendered his troops April 26, 1865.

More reading

Last Stand in the Carolinas: The Battle of Bentonville by Mark Bradley, published by DaCapo Press 1996

This Astounding Close, The Road to Bennett Place by Mark Bradley, published by the University of North Carolina Press 2000

Sherman's March through North Carolina by Angley, Cross and Hill, published by Division of Archives and History, North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

Map / Brochures

Free, full-color map/brochures are available from the following sources:

* Fill out our Free Info form for the map plus information about more Civil War sites in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina and West Virginia
* Call 800-VISIT-NC
* Visit www.visitnc.com
* Download a PDF version [612K]."
(quoted from: (visit link)

Type of site: Transportation Route or Facility Address: Main Street and West Church Street Laurinburg, NC USA 28352 Admission Charged: No Charge Website: [Web Link] Driving Directions: From east or west on I-74/US 74 take exit for US 401 Business into Laurinburg, travel north approximately 2 miles to intersection of West Church and Main Streets, across street from Methodist Church. . From north or south US 401 Business into business district, site is at intersection of West Church and Main Streets, across street from Methodist Church. The actual site of the depot and yards are approx 1/2 mile north a the current CSX main line track and to the east of the intersection of the RR track and N.Main street. Phone Number: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   08/29/2020 Markerman62 visited it 06/20/2010 NCDaywalker visited it

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