as also was its route into
Petersburg.
Railroad rolling stock had been sent to Wytheville both from
the East and the southwest to keep it from falling into
Union hands. All
kinds of military supplies, from guns to harnesses, were
stockpiled in Wytheville.
Union General George Stoneman was headquartered in
Knoxville, and with the goal of facilitating Lee’s ouster
from Petersburg, and an end to the war, he and his 5,500
mounted troopers started up the tracks of the Virginia
Tennessee Railroad.
His goals were to seize the mountain passes
connecting the Great Valley of Virginia with the interior of
North Carolina to prevent the uniting of the Army of
Northern Virginia with Joseph E. Johnston’s army that was
retreating before Sherman, to destroy the railroad and to
cut off succor to Lee, to destroy the Salt Works, and to
destroy the Lead Mines.
The Confederates called out 2,500 of the last of the
old men and boys to oppose Stoneman.
Nothing slowed him down.
He went up the railroad all the way to Wytheville,
destroying bridges as he went.
He destroyed the stockpile of military equipment
stored there, as well as the railroad rolling stock.
They then went to the Lead Mines and destroyed them.
He then turned around and went to Saltville.
There were no troops to oppose him.
A few shots seem to have been fired by someone, but
the “Second Battle of Saltville” was largely just an
occupation. The
Salt Works were destroyed, and Stoneman returned to
Knoxville.
Both the Salt Works and the Lead Mines were up and
running soon however, and both remained in production until
the end of the war in April 1865.
The rail line remained closed, however, and its loss
figured significantly in Lee’s having to vacate Petersburg.
Lee was retreating back up that railroad line
attempting to gain the mountains of Southwest Virginia when
he was over taken at Appomattox.
Stoneman was in process of invading Southwest
Virginia a second time when Lee surrendered.
The best summary of Saltville’s contribution to the
Confederacy was given by its Commissary-General, Lucius B.
Northrop, who stated 1-25-65, “The supply of salt has always
been sufficient and the Virginia works were able to meet the
demand of the army.”
Saltville and
Slavery
Comparative data is lacking, but it seems likely that
the Salt Works at Saltville was the largest employer of
slaves in Virginia, if not the Confederacy.
It is a matter of record that 2,000 slaves were
employed at one time there.
One cannot think of any other operation that could
have owned and employed so many.
The largest other industrial plant in war time Virginia, if
not the South, was the Tredegar Iron Works at Richmond.
They leased slaves during the off season on the
plantations. It is
unclear whether the canals and railroads owned or leased
slaves. Ruins of
slave quarters are still visible at the site of construction
of canal
... Continue
to PAGE 45
44
Return to Big Stone Gap Publishing.com
Copyright © 2014 Lawrence J. Fleenor, Jr.
All Rights Reserved