Join Civil War historian Michael C. Hardy as he reveals Watauga
County's Civil War sacrifices and heroism, both on and off the
battlefield.
Some say that Watauga County's name comes from a word meaning beautiful
waters, yet during the Civil War, events in this rugged western North
Carolina region were far from beautiful. Hundreds of the county's sons
left to fight gloriously for the Confederacy. This left the area open to
hordes of plundering rogues from East Tennessee, including George W.
Kirk's notorious band of thieves. While no large-scale battles took
place there, Boone was the scene of the beginning of Stoneman's 1865
raid. The infamous Keith and Malinda Blalock called Watauga County home,
leading escaped POWs and dissidents from Blowing Rock to Banner Elk. The
four brutal years of conflict, followed by the more brutal
Reconstruction, changed the county forever.