The Asheville Convention & Visitors Bureau has compiled an interesting new itinerary of a number of points of area Civil War interest that Civil War buffs are likely to find very enjoyable. The first of its kind, the new Civil War itinerary provides an overview of the city's role during the war.

Rebecca Lambe, executive director of the WNC Historical Association, provided the impetus and a great deal of information for the new itinerary. According to Lambe, the Civil War profoundly impacted Asheville and Buncombe County. The 1860 census reported that 5,350 males resided in the county; approximately fifty percent of those listed served as soldiers for either the Union or the Confederacy, and ten percent of those men died. The economic hardship that resulted from their deaths would last for a generation.

Sights that have been included in the self-guided tour were somehow significant during the Civil War years, ranging from the famous to the nearly forgotten. The Zebulon B. Vance Birthplace (see third photo), just north of Asheville (911 Reems Creek Road, 828-645-6706) is listed. Vance served as North Carolina's governor during the Civil War, from 1862-65, and again from 1877-79. The birthplace is located on a beautiful sight on the Reems Creek valley, and contains the Vance home and several outbuildings, all furnished with Civil War-era furniture, tools, and utensils. The birthplace is open daily from April 1 through October 31 (closed on Mondays November 1 through March 31) from 9 AM-5PM Monday through Saturday, 1-5 PM on Sunday. Admission is free.

Notable among the special events at the Vance Birthplace this year is an appearance by novelist Sharyn McCrumb on August 9 from 2-4 PM. Ms. McCrumb will read from her new novel, "Ghost Riders," a Civil War-era narrative that, in part, is told from the perspective of Zebulon Vance. The novel is scheduled for a July 2003 release.

Riverside Cemetery (53 Birch Street, Asheville, 828-258-8480) is an oddly interesting destination due the large number of famous, infamous, and significant people of their times who are buried there. Thomas Wolfe, one of Asheville's most famous and successful writers to date, is among those interred at Riverside Cemetery; those with Civil War significance include Zebulon B. Vance, Martin James Green (Confederate general), and Robert Vance (Confederate general). But only a few people may be aware that Captain James H. Posey, one of Abraham Lincoln's bodyguards, was also buried at the cemetery. Posey died February 13, 1917, according to the February 14, 1917, edition of The Asheville Times. According to The Asheville Times, Mr. Posey, a widower who had moved to Asheville five or six years earlier "in search of his health and immediately became well known throughout the city as an exponent of the healing qualities of olive oil which he used faithfully as a medicine for many years." The obituary further stated that "Captain Posey came originally from the state of Virginia," and "before the close of the war he went to Washington city where he became the personal body guard of Abraham Lincoln and served in that capacity until the close of the conflict." Captain Posey, 94 at the time of his death (due to a "street accident which occurred on the afternoon of January 4 at the corner of Lexington and Patton avenues," the result of his failing eyesight), was well-known around town, in part due to his distribution of thousands of cards bearing a scriptural verse and the phrase, "Do Not Swear."

Riverside Cemetery is located in the Montford Historic District; to get there, take I-240 to the Montford exit, go north on Montford Avenue, left on West Chestnut Street, right on Pearson Drive, and left on Birch Street.

Smith-McDowell House Museum (283 Victoria Road, Asheville, 828-253-9231) was the home of William Wallace McDowell, who served as a Confederate major during the war. A lively and well-known character in his time, McDowell organized the Buncombe Riflemen even before North Carolina seceded from the Union; dressed in dapper uniforms that featured green velvet trim and top hats, the Buncombe Riflemen were hardly dressed for the crisis that would eventually come their way. But McDowell's home came to be used throughout the war by Union troops, who camped on his 650-acre farm several times. Family lore has it that, on many occasions, McDowell had to flee to the woods surrounding his home to avoid capture by Union soldiers; his children would give him a signal that it was safe to return by sitting on the fence that encircled his yard.

One of McDowell's slaves (he owned about 30 slaves, many of whom were children), George Avery, served in the Colored Unit of the Union Army; Mr. Avery is buried in the South Asheville Cemetery. The African-American community met Mr. Avery's death with tremendous respect, as his gravesite features a tombstone, instead of a large rock, which was more typical of the cemetery and its markers in that time period. The South Asheville Cemetery is currently the focus of a restoration effort by Asheville's present African-American community.

The Buncombe County Civil War Memorial is located in the backyard of the Smith-McDowell House. It lists the 580+ names of those who died while serving for both the Union and the Confederacy.

The Smith-McDowell House is also listed on the National Civil War Discovery Trail.

Smith-McDowell House Museum is open 10AM-4PM Tuesday through Saturday, and 1-4PM on Sunday. Admission is $4.50 for adults, and $3.50 for seniors, students, and children ages 5 to 18. Children under the age of 5 are admitted free.

(Photo of Zeb Vance Birthplace provided by Zeb Vance Birthplace.)

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