11. Battle of Grants Creek — West Innes Street at the creek. Union Gen. George Stoneman’s troops, on their entrance into Salisbury on April 12, 1865, met brief resistance from Confederate defenders under the command of Gen. William H. Gardner. The site of battle was near today’s Catawba College.
12. Hinton Rowan Helper marker — south side of West Innes Street at the Square. For three years, 1848-50, Helper clerked for merchant Michael Brown, whose store was on this site. Helper (1829-1909) authored “The Impending Crisis of the South: How to Meet It.” This influential and controversial book discussed the economics of slavery. It was reviled in the South and extremely popular in the North, where abolitionists used it prior to the Civil War to support their cause. Hostile feelings erupted in 1858 when Helper was charged with assaulting Salisbury Congressman Burton Craige in the halls of Congress. President Lincoln later appointed him consul to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
13. Site of the Rev. Thomas G. Haughton’s home — southwest corner of Innes and Lee streets. Haughton, rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, welcomed Confederate President Jefferson Davis and members of his party into his home on April 17, 1865. The fleeing Davis spent the night, then moved on to Charlotte the next day. Union forces captured Davis near Irwinville, Ga., May 10, 1865. The former Hardiman’s Furniture store building sits today where Haughton’s home was.
14. Government Hospital site — North Long Street and Bringle Ferry Road. In January 1864, the Confederate government erected 15 buildings for hospital purposes on the lands of Archibald Henderson.
15. Wayside Hospital site — northwest corner of North Lee and East Council streets. Established in July 1862, this hospital was supported by the local community to care for sick and wounded soldiers. It was not a government facility.
16. Joseph Ballard marker — 116-118 E. Council St. Ballard, a blacksmith, was born into slavery and freed with the end of the Civil War. Always a familiar sight in downtown Salisbury with his ox-drawn wagon, Ballard became active in politics and chaired the local executive committee of the Republican Party. For many years as chief marshal, he led the Memorial Day parade on horseback.
17. William Valentine marker — Innes Street side of building at 101 N. Main St. A barber and free man of color, Valentine purchased a home (the garrison house at 224 E. Bank St.) before the Civil War. That house, located outside the gates to the Confederate Prison, is considered the only surviving structure of the prison complex. The entrance to Valentine’s barber shop was near the sidewalk marker at Main and Innes. When he died in 1893, the local newspaper said, “he was the only barber here before the war — was free then; but conducted himself so as to secure the confidence and patronage of whites.” The Bank Street house is now an antiques shop.
18. Site of Col. Charles F. Fisher home — northwest corner of North Fulton and West Innes streets. Fisher organized the 6th Regiment and was killed at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861. His death was mourned throughout the city and state. He was father of Frances Christine (Fisher) Tiernan, who gained fame as the noted author Christian Reid. The name of her 1876 novel, “The Land of the Sky,” became a famous description of the Asheville region. The Fisher house no longer stands on the corner.
19. Chestnut Hill Cemetery — 1134 S. Main St. The graves of Dr. Josephus Hall, chief medical officer for the prison, and writer Frances Tiernan are located here. Proceeds from Tiernan’s “The Land of the Sky” helped to pay for the Confederate Monument.
20. Battle of York Hill — U.S. 29, on the Davidson County side of the Yadkin River. No, this isn’t in Salisbury, but it has connections to Stoneman’s capture and occupation of the town. On April 13, 1865, four days after Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, Confederate forces under the command of Gen. J.C. Pemberton, successfully held the Yadkin River bridge against a Union assault.