It is unclear whether or not the Pikes were Confederate loyalists or Union sympathists. This example provides evidence that without the security that surrounded Goldsboro anyone was susceptible to a bummer attack, no matter your social standing. In this instance, Pike, who was well known throughout Wayne County, yet her home and Sherman’s forces destroyed the township. As we will see later in the city, individuals of power or wealth were often treated better than most citizens within the city. A peculiar instance in Pikeville occurred with the destruction of Sarah Pike's property as well, who was the widow of the man in which the town was named after, Nathan Pike.
It had been known to house Confederate soldiers when they were in Wayne County during the early stages of the Civil War. They were used for travelers going from New Bern to Fayetteville. These two buildings were noted due to the popularity of them. The article stated that the local tavern and inn (two of the only buildings in Pikeville at the time) were burned to the ground and pillaged for everything it had in them. A newspaper article in the Goldsboro News-Argus in 1947 described the account of Sherman's "bummers" entering the township and destroying practically everything in it. To the north of Goldsboro, lied a small township, Pikeville, which was pillaged like Everettsville. She discovered that even though instances like this sought to instill fear into Confederate loyalists eyes, it appeared to do the opposite, especially to Southern women. This would make sense and line up with what Jacqueline Glass-Campbell described in her book mentioned earlier in the Introduction. This encounter with a Union man fueled her dislike for the Union and grows a seemingly already strong Confederate pride in her. On the other side of this encounter, Elizabeth Collier appears to be a resilient Confederate woman who will not give away her supplies to the Union cause. The more desperate an individual was, the more desperate measures they would take to secure some type of sustenance for oneself. This certainly factored in to how the treatments of citizens were undertaken by Union pillagers. Much of the march through the Carolinas the army had been living off of the land of the states and had become dependent on it. This instance shows the desperation for supplies throughout Sherman's entire army. Her resistance to assist the Union pillager resulted in a course of action that seemingly displeased the man so much that he pulled a gun out on the women. She wrote: "On Monday morning the 20th the first foraging party made their appearance at Everettsville.They asked for flour and seeing that we were disposed to give it, made a rush in the house and took it himself-the cowardly creature even pointed at us- helpless women." (Item 664) In this encounter with the "bummers" Collier described them as desperate and essentially needy. In it she discussed the treatment from the "bummers" and the actions they took. In the small village of Everettsville, south of Goldsboro, Elizabeth Collier detailed her encounter with Union "bummers" in her diary entry on April 20, 1865. Encounters with these Union forces were often times hostile and tension coursed throughout the countryside as Union forces sought to make sure that their needs were met by any means necessary. Towns outside of Goldsboro like Everettsville (to the south) and Pikeville (to the north) were practically destroyed so that Union forces could survive. They had to craft ways to protect their property, food, valuables, and sometimes even their lives.
It was a difficult life for many of the citizens outside of the city. This essentially viewed as no different than any other treatment of southern citizens, except for the fact that protection was given to those within the city. These citizens in the outskirts of Goldsboro were at the mercy of the pillaging and foraging of the Union forces. Bummers were the main culprits during Sherman's march that contributed to unsanctioned and sanctioned raids of southern citizens. Citizens that lived outside the city of Goldsboro, and its protection from the Union army, lived a completely different life than those within the city limits.
Item #835: In this excerpt, Barrett described a skirmish that occured in Pikeville in which a small group of Union soldiers were attacked by bushwhackers that were Confederate loyalists.įrom the previous section we had a picture of Sherman's entrance to Goldsboro, and saw that destruction seemed to trail him wherever he went.
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