Union Colonel George W. Kirk and Confederate Captain Stephen Whitaker
"Final Surrender Memorial" at Franklin, North Carolina: The Union's 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment's Colonel, George W. Kirk, and
Captain Stephen Whitaker, commanding, Company E, 1st Battalion (AKA Walker's Battalion), Thomas' Legion. East of the Mississippi River, Whitaker surrendered the last Confederate soldiers to Colonel Kirk on May 12, 1865 (with the last signature recorded on May 14, 1865), at Franklin, North Carolina.
The Union Army recruited two mounted Infantry regiments within North Carolina; both mounted regiments were principally raised from Western North Carolina counties: William C. Bartlett, Union 2nd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment;
and George W. Kirk, Union 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment.
Recruitment of these regiments epitomized the "Brother's War" and the men serving in the two Union mounted infantry regiments were commonly referred to as "Home Yankees."
(I am very indebted to Carolyn Ellertson, Bruce Whitaker, Linda Anders, Barry LeRoy Burdett, and the Macon County Historical Society & Museum for their dedication, assistance and contributions with the James and Stephen Whitaker information)
(I am very indebted to Carolyn Ellertson, Bruce Whitaker, Linda Anders, Barry LeRoy Burdett, and the Macon County Historical Society & Museum for their dedication, assistance and contributions with the James and Stephen Whitaker information)