Fort Hamby: Bushwhackers in the backwoods

The North Carolina Highway Historical Marker on N.C. Highway 268 east of Goshen in Wilkes County reads:
FORT HAMBY
“Fortified stronghold of band of robbers & army deserters, was captured by force of citizens in May, 1865. Stood one mile north.”
There is much more to the story than that.
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Many Americans believe that when Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia to the Union’s General U. S. Grant at Appomattox Court House, Va., on April 9, 1865, that the Civil War just suddenly ended.
It may surprise many that even after the combat on the battlefields  stopped, many soldiers found themselves fighting again once they reached home.
By 1865, after four years of war, entire communities had been economically devastated; many of the men were either killed, wounded or still in the process of getting home. 
There was little law and even less order. While  most of the men who wore Confederate gray or Federal blue had had their fill of death and fighting, there were some men who decided to desert and turn to banditry.
Wilkes County was the site of one such gang of Union deserters, probably augmented by Confederate deserters. These men owed allegiance to no flag, and to no cause other than their own greed and wantonness. A group of some 30 "bushwhackers" was led by a “Captain” or “Major” Wade, formerly of the Union Army. The core of these men are believed to have been deserters  from Gen. George Stoneman’s Raiders.
A second set of bandits, under the command of a man named Simmons also preyed on locals and sometimes, when it suited their purposes, the two gangs worked together.
They terrorized Wilkes and neighboring  Alexander, Caldwell, Iredell and Watauga counties for several months during the spring of 1865.
Rape, murder, and theft were their calling card.
One account of Fort Hamby occupants written in 1919 described the brigands in these terms: “These bands would ride into a yard, dismount, place their guards, and enter the house, covering the cowering occupants with loaded pistols and warning them with oaths that ‘if you open your mouths, we will drop you in your tracks.’ Some of the band would seize all the horses and cows, while others would search the house, rifling trunks, and drawers and taking anything they wanted.”
For their headquarters, these desperados fortified a substantial, oak-timbered two-story house and called it "Fort Hamby," from the name of previous occupants. The structure and several outbuildings, including a kitchen, was on a hill close to the Lewis Fork of the Yadkin River. Wade’s men repelled several organized citizen groups that attempted to end their lawless reign.
From their strategically located stronghold, several men were killed at great distances by rifle fire as they approached the bandits' lair. It was noted that the bandits had selected their hideout's location in the Brushy Mountains with defense in mind. Almost all of the approaches to the fort were cleared of trees, giving the bandits a full field of fire for about half a mile. These men had the latest military repeating rifles.
Several attempts were made to dislodge the desperadoes, but to no avail. Any opposition to the bandits' will was ruthlessly crushed. One local civic leader, the Rev. J.B. Greene, tried to organize a group to eliminate the bandits, however word reached Captain Wade of this plan.
Dressing up as Confederate soldiers, the bandits attempted to assassinate  Rev. Greene and his son one rainy night. Had it not been for the bravery of five of the reverend's servants who were brought into the Greene house and armed, the assassination might have been successful. 
Word spread through the area of the deviousness of the bandits and of the failed attempts by the local citizenry.
It was finally decided to conduct a full-scale  military siege to eliminate the bandits once and for all.
Some two dozen returning Confederate combat veterans, including Iredell County men, were organized and placed under the command of Col. Washington Sharpe of Statesville. These men were joined by groups from other counties under former Confederate officers.
Wade and his bandits were finally pursued back to their fort, and quietly surrounded.
On the night of May 24, 1865, one of Sharpe's men was able to approach the kitchen building and set fire to  its lower level. The raging fire soon spread to the main, fortified building.
After a desperate battle that lasted through the night, the surviving bandits realized how out-numbered they were and their “fort” was filling with smoke and flames.
By morning the survivors — probably four had died in the fighting — threw down their arms and surrendered.
Wade and another man who had been in the fort  made good their escape  during the confusion of the final assault, but four of the bushwhackers were taken alive, tried by an impromptu court martial, sentenced to death by firing squad, tied to stakes and executed.  
Most of the men who assaulted Fort Hamby were Confederate veterans, just returned from Virginia battlefields, many still wearing remnants of their Rebel uniforms.
The fire in the main building was extinguished. After the gang’s stolen goods were removed, the once-formidable fort was set afire again and reduced to smoldering ashes.
Interestingly enough, a company of Federal troops occupying  Statesville had been dispatched to bring the deserters and renegades to justice. These Union cavalry troopers met the returning former-Confederates under Col. Sharpe on the road, and when informed that the bandits had received proper justice, the commander of the Federal troopers quickly ordered three cheers for these men who had been their enemy until recently.
For, at that moment, there may have  been a dawning realization in both groups that we were all Americans again, and that our house had to be put back in order. 
The siege and capture of Fort Hamby has been called by some “The Final Battle of the Civil War.”
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The outdoor drama, “Tom Dula: A Wilkes County Legend,” is now performed close to the site of the battle  at Fort Hamby Park’s Forest’s Edge Amphitheater. The actual site of the fort is now under the waters of the W. Kerr Scott Reservoir.
To get to the state park from Statesville, go north on I-77, take exit 73B to US 421, go left at Reaction/Recreation Road.  The 55-mile trip should take about an hour.