(Part 1 of 2) Mr. Mattocks, thank you for your comment. My hope is that people like us will see our African American neighbors as cousins in the human family, acknowledging that some of our ancestors who were citizens of Chatham County enslaved their ancestors and, even after praying and preaching in the name of Jesus, only wanted the Union to survive if they could “be unmolested in the enjoyment of [their human] property.” Also, it seems to me one would have to state that the populace, which includes our African American neighbors, was divided before, during, and after the Civil War. That’s especially true in Chatham County, which was part of the so-called Quaker Belt in North Carolina. An incredible book about that part of our history is William T. Auman’s Civil War in the North Carolina Quaker Belt: The Confederate Campaign Against Peace Agitators, Deserters and Draft Dodgers.
Brigadier General Collett Leventhrope doesn’t technically fall under the banner of “Our Confederate Heroes” as inscribed on the Confederate monument in front of the historic courthouse in Chatham County because he didn’t live there. However, as Supreme Commander for North Carolina’s Guard for Home Defense beginning in 1864, he does represent part of what it celebrates. I find it ironic that defenders of the Lost Cause often highlight how outsiders threatened the homes and way of life of North Carolinians without realizing that North Carolinians terrorized their own neighbors. Here’s how Auman describes what Leventhrope did not only in Chatham County but also in counties to the west of it:
“His troops scoured the Quaker Belt for deserters in this sixth foray by Confederate and state forces into the district during the war. His troops penned the wives, children, and elderly parents of deserters in makeshift prisons, where they remained for days with inadequate food, water, and shelter until the deserters surrendered to military authorities. In several instances, the troops tortured the wives of deserters to force them to reveal the hiding places of their husbands.”
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