Some say that Watauga County's name comes from a word meaning "beautifulwaters," yet during the Civil War, events in this rugged western North Carolinaregion were far from beautiful. Hundreds of the county's sons left to fightgloriously for the Confederacy. This left the area open to hordes of plunderingrogues from East Tennessee, including George W. Kirk's notorious band ofthieves. While no large-scale battles took place there, Boone was the scene ofthe beginning of Stoneman's 1865 raid. The infamous Keith and Malinda Blalockcalled Watauga County home, leading escaped POWs and dissidents from BlowingRock to Banner Elk. The four brutal years of conflict, followed by the morebrutal Reconstruction, changed the county forever. Join Civil War historianMichael C. Hardy as he reveals Watauga County's Civil War sacrifices andheroism, both on and off the battlefield.
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