Greensboro, NC

At the time of the Civil War, Greensboro had a population of about 2,000. Local men, including forty-five members of the Guilford Grays, a local military unit, served in the Confederate Army. Although there were no battles in Greensboro, about 90,000 people were in the area during the last days of the war. These included refugees from the battle zones in eastern North Carolina, wounded soldiers arriving by train for care in makeshift hospitals, and Confederate and Union troops. (The Confederate officers received their paroles in Greensboro.) Confederate president Jefferson Davis and his cabinet arrived in Greensboro by train on their retreat from Richmond after Robert E. Lee’s surrender to Ulysses S. Grant.

Southern Railway Station, Greensboro, NC ca. 1929