George Washington Kirk

George Washington Kirk was a soldier who served in American Civil War.[2] Born and raised in Tennessee, he married Maria Louisa Jones in 1860. At the start of the war he served in the Confederate States Army, but his views were Unionist and he left the state to join the Union Army. Advancing to the rank of colonel, in 1864 he raised the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry (Union) and led many raids into North Carolina.[3] Because of the regiment's guerrilla-like tactics, the regiment became known as Kirk's Raiders.[4]

George Washington Kirk
Born(1837-06-10)June 10, 1837
Greene County, Tennessee
DiedFebruary 17, 1905(1905-02-17) (aged 67)
Gilroy, California
Allegiance Confederate States of America
 United States
Service/branch Confederate States Army
 United States Army
Years of serviceConfederate States of America 1861–62
United States 1862–65
Rank Colonel
Commands held3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Reconstruction era

Spouse(s)Maria Louise Jones[1]

In 1870, Kirk was tasked by North Carolina Governor William Woods Holden to raise and lead a militia into Alamance and Caswell counties to quell the Ku Klux Klan. Though he was successful in breaking up Klan activity, none of the 100 men he arrested were charged by local authorities. In addition, the action led to Kirk's own arrest, and the impeachment of Governor Holden.[3] With the help of the United States Marshal, Kirk was able to escape from jail, and later was given a position as a police officer with the capital force in Washington, D.C.[5]

In 1890, it was reported that "several very rich finds" of gold, in the Maryland hills near the Potomac River, were discovered, and "being worked", on Kirk's land.[6]

  • Kirk with his wife Mariah Louisa Kirk
    Kirk with his wife Mariah Louisa Kirk
  • Kirk with his father Alexander (standing) and brother John (seated left)
    Kirk with his father Alexander (standing) and brother John (seated left)

See also

References

Bibliography
  • Bumgarner, Matthew. 2000. Kirk's Raiders; A Notorious Band of Scoundrels and Thieves. Piedmont Press, LLC.
  • Hardy, Michael C. 2018. Kirk's Civil War Raids Along the Blue Ridge. The History Press.

Citations and Notes
  1. Tennessee State Marriage Record, February 28, 1860, Greene County, Tennessee
  2. Philips, Michael M. (9 May 2014). "Still Paying for the Civil War". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  3. Trelease, Allen W. (9 Nov 2000). Powell, William S. (ed.). Dictionary of North Carolina Biography: Vol. 3, H-K. Chapel Hill, North Carolina: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807867136. Retrieved 2018-08-21.
  4. Bumgarner.
  5. "Cut-Throat Kirk; A Specimen Martyr in the Bloody Shirt Crusade". Daily American; Nashville, Tennessee, Pg 2. October 6, 1876.
  6. "Gold Near the Capital". The National Tribune, Pg7. October 16, 1890.


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