The following was supplied by Lucille Cobb Cesaletti of Harrisonburg, VA. as was told by her uncle Evander Cobb. It is an eyewitness account of what went on at the homes of our people when Sherman's Army came through Robeson Co., NC in 1865.

When General Sherman broke camp in Savannah, GA in the spring of 1865, his army began the march northward through South Caroline and on into North Carolina. He divided his army into several smaller armies, each one following one of the main roads through the state. His plan was to meet and defeat Gen. Joseph Johnston who had a sizable army in the central part of North Carolina and then continue into Virginia and join forces with Gen. Grant for the final assault on Richmond. One line of march came through Robeson Co., NC where our people lived. Grandpa Cobb was away from home at the time in the service of the Confederacy and Grandma was at home alone with her five children. One of them, (I believe it was Uncle Jeff) was very sick. Knowing via the grapevine that the Federals were on the way, Grandma and Aunt Mary Jane Cobb took all the family valuables and all else that they could hide, into a field far from the house and hid them in what they hoped would be a safe place. When word came that the Army was approaching Red Springs, they drove the horses and cattle to the 'far pasture', as Uncle Evander called it and left them there in hopes that the soldiers would not find them. (And they didn't) Uncle Evander was nine years old at the time and had a vivid recollection of the day that the Yankees came, and told us the story many times.

It was a very chilly and windy morning in early March, when they saw the soldiers coming. There were men on horseback, foot soldiers with their guns and many wagons. Uncle Evander said that "the whole road was filled with soldiers." When they came to the house a dozen or so of them turned into the yard and the others continued down the road toward other plantations. The first thing that they did was to turn their horses into Grandma's garden where some collards and young spring greens were growing. Then they barged into the house, kitchen and barn to search for any Confederate Soldiers who might be hiding there. They found none, so they turned their attention to a more thorough search of all buildings. Their orders were to "find and destroy anything and everything that could possibly be of any use to the Confederacy." In the house, they turned all furniture upside-down, pulled pictures from their frames and emptied all wardrobes, chest, dressers and drawers of their contents and threw them on the floor or out into the yard. They pulled all mattresses from the beds and took Grandma's nice feather beds and pillows outside where they split the tickings and let the feathers fly in the strong March wind. Uncle Evander said it looked like a heavy snowstorm with feathers whirling and swirling in every direction. Some of her nice hand-made quilts and counterpanes, they tore to shreds--others they rolled up carefully and took with them. They found an old shot gun in the house and took it outside and beat it against a tree until it was bent into an almost complete circle. While doing this, the soldiers laughed and joked, whooped and hollered, sang songs and generally made a nuisance of themselves during the time that they were there, which was most of the day. However, at no time did they lay a hand on anyone and for the most part, ignored the family.

The soldiers in the kitchen tore down the stove pipe and emptied the pantry of all that was stored there. They took several sacks of dried beans and corn meal and put them in their wagons--but most of it they just poured out on the ground. Uncle Evander said that they seemed to have a deathly fear of being poisoned and were afraid to eat any food stuff that they found. One rather funny thing happened there that day. Grandma had some frizzly chickens on the yard and the soldiers had never seen a frizzly chicken. They were convinced that Grandma had poisoned the chickens in the hopes that they would kill and eat the chickens and thus be poisoned themselves. So they shot all the frizzlies and 'playfully' tossed several of them onto the roof of the kitchen. The barn was emptied of its contents. The corn was loaded on the wagons but the fodder crib and smoke house were both burned. All the tools that they could find were broken into bits or bent so completely out of shape that they could never be used again.

Grandma spent most of the day sitting by the big fireplace in the kitchen with her sick child on her lap. The other children stayed close to her and to the fire. Once in a while the soldiers would come to the fireplace to warm themselves and would bring in more wood for the fire. Toward evening the plantation was a shambles, and the order was given to "Move on." They seemed to think that they had done a "good job" there but Uncle Evander said that the young officer who was in charge seemed to be a little bit sorry for what they had to do and ordered the men to put the stove pipe back up and bring in some stove wood. Then he gave Grandma back a sack of the beans and one of the corn meal that they had taken from the pantry and, also, he politely tipped his hat to her and rode back toward the main road--leaving her to "pick up the pieces" and start putting her life back together again.

While this was going on at Grandma's house, a few miles up the road at Great-grandfather James Conoly's house, the same sort of destruction was in progress. Great-grandfather was at home that day with Great-aunts Mary Jane and Eliza. Early that morning he had sent his trusted slave and house-servant, Joe, with Uncle Francis into the deep woods. Uncle Francis had lost his right leg in the war and Great-grandfather told Joe to find a secure place and hide him there. Joe did as he was told. Having found a very secluded spot he bedded Uncle Francis down and covered him with blankets. He left food and water within easy reach and then returned to the house to await the arrival of the soldiers. As soon as they came--and for reasons known only to himself--he sought out the leader and told him where he had hidden Uncle Francis. He also told him where he had hidden some of the family silverware several days before. The soldiers soon found Uncle Francis and rudely dragged him from his hiding place. Uncle Evander said that they called him lots of 'ugly names'. One of them gave him several sharp lashes across his shoulders with his horse whip, but because he was crippled they decided not to take him prisoner and left him there in the woods. They found the silverware and took that with them. When they left that afternoon, Joe went with them, but came back a few days later, begging forgiveness for what he had done. Apparently he was forgiven for he lived out his life on the old plantation. Although there was never any indication that Uncle Francis ever tried to avenge the indignities that he suffered at the hands of the soldiers, Uncle Evander said that Joe was always afraid that he would and went to great lengths to avoid contact with him.

After that day the homes were not raided again, but it was a week or so before the Army was out of the area. During that time the entire countryside was kept under surveillance and soldiers were often seen on the side roads and near the houses. Scouting patrols on horseback often galloped down the road in the dead of night and as Uncle Evander said, "It was a very scary time." Ex-slaves from plantations farther south were a problem. Having followed the army northward, these people were now hungry, cold and tired and perhaps, they were homesick. They were trying to make their way back to their plantations and often stopped at homes along the way begging for something to eat. Grandma both feared and pitied them. She had little to give them, but they were grateful for just a piece of corn bread.

So the War, for our people, was over, but the devastation and privation it left in its wake would be with them for years to come. A way of life that had been theirs for generations was gone and sadness stalked the land. Beautiful plantations that had been the homes of prosperous planters and their happy families were in ruins--some left with not so much as a spade to dig up a garden spot. Many of the young men of the area who had taken up arms for their beloved Southland would never come home again--dead on far-flung battle fields. One of these was Uncle Calvin Cobb. Others, like Uncle Francis Conoly came home crippled for life. It was a 'time that tried men's souls' but our people were 'magnificent in defeat.' Never conquered in spirit, they set about the task of re-building their lives and fortunes, and with unfailing faith in God and a courage that matched the courage of their soldiers of the field of battle; they put their shoulders to the wheel. The example that they set of courageous determination during those dark days is, to us, a priceless legacy and one of which we, their descendants, can always be justly proud.

That was written by Mrs. Lucille Cobb Cesaletti in 1964.