Asheville, North Carolina

===Civil War===
[[File:Asheville-loehr-1854-nc1.jpg|thumb|left|Asheville, 1854|240x240px]]
On the eve of the Civil War, James W. Patton, son of an Irish immigrant, was the largest slaveholder in the county, and had built a luxurious mansion, known as The Henrietta, in Asheville.<ref name="whisnant"/> Buncombe County had the largest number of prominent slaveholders in [[Western North Carolina]], many in the professional class based in Asheville, numbering a total of 293 countywide in 1863.<ref name="whisnant"/>

Asheville, with a population of about 2,500 by 1861, remained relatively untouched by battles of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. The city contributed companies to the [[Confederate States Army]] and to the [[Union Army]]. For a time, an [[Pattern 1853 Enfield|Enfield rifle]] manufacturing facility was located in the town.

The war did not reach Asheville until early April 1865, when the "Battle of Asheville" was fought at the present-day site of the [[University of North Carolina at Asheville]]. Union forces withdrew to [[Tennessee]], which they had occupied since 1862. They had encountered resistance in Asheville from a small group of Confederate senior and junior reserves, and recuperating Confederate soldiers in prepared trench lines across the Buncombe Turnpike. The Union force had been ordered to take Asheville only if they could accomplish it without significant losses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Asheville, Battle of |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/asheville-battle |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=NCpedia |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106155453/https://www.ncpedia.org/asheville-battle |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Anne |title=April 6, 1865 – Battle of Asheville {{!}} Western North Carolina Historical Association |url=https://www.wnchistory.org/april-6-1865-battle-of-asheville/ |access-date=2022-11-06 |language=en-US |archive-date=July 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706215113/https://www.wnchistory.org/april-6-1865-battle-of-asheville/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

An engagement was fought later that month at Swannanoa Gap, as part of the larger [[Stoneman's 1865 raid|Stoneman's Raid]] throughout western North Carolina, [[Virginia]], and Tennessee. Union forces retreated in the face of resistance from Brig. Gen. [[James Green Martin]], commander of Confederate troops in western North Carolina. Later, Union forces returned to the area via Howard's Gap and [[Henderson County, North Carolina|Henderson County]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Top 10 Civil War Sites for Asheville & Western North Carolina |url=https://www.romanticasheville.com/civil_war.htm |access-date=2022-11-06 |website=RomanticAsheville.com |language=en |archive-date=November 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221106155459/https://www.romanticasheville.com/civil_war.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> In late April 1865, North Carolina Union troops from the [[3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry]], under the overall command of Union Gen. [[George Stoneman]], captured Asheville.<ref>Hartley, ''Stoneman's Raid,'' p.&nbsp;362 (Blair, 2010)</ref> After a negotiated departure, the 2,700 troops left town, accompanied by "hundreds of freed slaves."<ref name="whisnant"/>

Later, the federal troops returned and plundered Asheville, burning a number of Confederate supporters' homes in Asheville.<ref>Hartley, supra, at p.&nbsp;350-358.</ref>

George Avery was among 40 enslaved people known to have traveled with the troops to Tennessee. There he enlisted in the [[US Colored Troops|U.S. Colored Troops]]. He returned to Asheville after being discharged in 1866. After the war, he was hired by his former master William W. McDowell to manage the South Asheville Cemetery, a public place for black burials. This is the oldest and largest black public cemetery in the state. By 1943, when the last burial was conducted, it held remains of an estimated 2,000 people.