Bushwackers, Raiders, and Scavengers

During the Civil War, bushwackers, raiders, and scavengers became a real threat to citizens, especially in the Appalachian Mountains. Raiders came in all forms. Bushwackers were a lawless group, mainly made up of deserters. They preyed on the small, remote farms that dotted the Appalachians, and they enjoyed terrorizing others. Scavengers usually did so to find food and basic needs, and, as the war progressed and supplies dwindled, the armies became scavengers. 

The first guerrilla raids in the North Carolina mountains spilled over from Tennessee in 1862. Then, beginning in 1863, Kirk's raids became notorious. Since so many of the records from his activities come from Confederate sources, it's hard to determine how true they are, but the reputation that preceded him certainly brought terror to citizens. However, George Kirk was a Union soldier and had been commissioned to do what he did. Many others had not.

In my newest historical novel set in the Appalachians, Uprooted by War, Leah and the others with her at the farm had to contend with all these groups at one time or another. Here's what happened when Kirk's Raiders came:

     The Union soldiers rode in bent on destruction. Leah met them at the side of the house. Some soldiers had already started to uproot plants in the garden, pulling up cornstalks from horseback and trampling other plants.
     “Stop that this instant!” Leah shouted at the top of her voice.
     The colonel looked at her and laughed. He had a wild, reckless look about him. “We support the Union,” she told him quickly. “My husband is off fighting in your army.”
     “Sure he is, like every other farm in North Carolina. Most of them are Union sympathizers when we come.”
     “Stop them, and I can prove it.”
     “Hold it a minute, men. I want to see this.”
     The men rode their horses back to wait behind their colonel. Leah ran to get Luke’s enlistment papers. When she came back out, Patsy stood behind Moses, watching.
     “If you’re Union, what’re you doing with slaves?” the colonel asked.
     “They’re not slaves. Patsy’s free, and here are her papers to prove it. Moses ran away from a plantation. He can’t talk, because some owner cut out his tongue. Here’s my husband’s enlistment papers.” She handed him the papers, and he looked them over.
     He looked up at her with a different expression. “My apology, Mrs. Moretz. I’m Colonel George Kirk. My men were sent to North Carolina to help some mountain boys get out of the grips of the Confederacy and into Tennessee to fight for the Union. My troops have also been destroying some Confederate strongholds to aid in the war effort, but there are enough Rebel places to hit. We don’t need to be making things hard for the families of our Union soldiers.”
     “Thank you, sir,” she said as she took her papers back.
     “The best to you, madam.” He tipped his hat, and they rode away.

(All my profits for my books go to a scholarship fund for missionary children.)

But Kirk's Raiders had not been as bad as the bushwackers would. They would not only threaten material goods but also the family's very lives.

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