About this episode
The episode recounts how a railroad stationmaster's actions prevented the burning of Raleigh during the Civil War.
In March 1865, Sherman's army stood poised to burn Raleigh to the ground. What stopped it wasn't a general, a battle, or a treaty — it was a railroad stationmaster with no rank, no uniform, and a white flag he had no authority to wave. This is the story of how a desperate ride through Johnston County's pine woods, a "brisk skirmish" five miles east of Clayton, and a peace parley at a white frame house on the town square saved North Carolina's capital — and quietly set the stage for the largest Confederate surrender in the entire war.
Topics covered
- Civil War
- North Carolina
- history
- military strategy
Keywords
- Sherman's army
- railroad stationmaster
- peace parley
- Confederate surrender
Mentioned in this episode
Places: Raleigh, Johnston County's, Clayton, North Carolina's
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