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Members of the neo-Confederate group "Alamance County Taking Back Alamance County" (ACTBAC) suffer from a severe case of collective historical amnesia. Their vision of "heritage" just doesn't match actual Alamance history.
A (running) Lost Cause-mythbusting thread on Alamance...
A (running) Lost Cause-mythbusting thread on Alamance...
Fact: Before and during the Civil War, Alamance County was a hotbed of militant Unionists and resistance to secession and the Confederacy. In March 1861, Alamance voted overwhelmingly against leaving the Union: 1,114 to 254!
Fact: There was a strong Peace Movement in Alamance before and during the War. Rallies were held in the area in 1864, advocating a return to the Union.
Fact: Alamance was at the center of the NC "Quaker Belt" (incl. Quakers, Moravians and Wesleyans). Most held anti-slavery beliefs and many opposed secession and the Confederacy.
Fact: An org. called "Heroes of America" was formed in 1861 in the NC Quaker Belt and was very active in Alamance. Their goal: to bring down the Confederacy. They stockpiled arms & gunpowder for uprisings, acted as spies, and organized anti-Confederate guerrilla units.
Fact: The "Heroes of America" were sometimes called "Red Strings" for wearing a red string on their lapel as a secret sign of membership. Red Strings helped local Unionists, POWs and runaway slaves escape NC. They also advocated for wealth redistribution from the planter class.
Fact: The rate of enlistment in the Confederate Army for Alamance County in 1861 was 23.6%. The rate for the county for the entire war (1861-1865) was 57.6% (keeping in mind many, if not most, after 1862 were conscripted).
Fact: Rates of conscription (being drafted into Confederate service, instead of volunteering) were highest in the Quaker Belt (which included Alamance). In 1863, there were 11,874 Confed. conscripts in NC. Over 39% of those came from the nine Quaker Belt counties alone.
Fact: NC had about 1/9th of the entire Confederacy's population. NC supplied about 1/6th of all Confed. troops, more than any other. BUT NC also had the highest desertion rate of any Confed state: 22.9% (or 23,694 troops). This accounted for about 1/4th of all Confed. desertions.
Fact: Desertion and draft dodging was very common in Alamance and the rest of the Quaker Belt. Many successful deserters and dodgers became local folk heroes in Alamance for their creative forms of resistance.
Fact: In 1863/1864 the Confederate Army established an outpost in Alamance solely for the purpose of hunting deserters in the area (Camp Bethel, at Bethel Methodist Church near Snow Camp). "Hunters" stationed there harassed and attacked local families of alleged deserters.
Fact: In Dec. 1863 Confederate resisters in Alamance burned down a foundry, machine shops, and other buildings that were being used for the Confed war efforts.
