Joseph E. "Joe" Elmore at Marker Dedication

On Thursday, May 1, 2014-exactly 149 years after thousands of Union troops pitched their tents on the campuses of Louisburg Female College and Louisburg Male Academy before continuing their march from Raleigh to Washington, D.C.-the Tar River Center for History and Culture dedicated a Civil War Trails marker commemorating the event.

One of more than a thousand such markers located in Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee, it describes the encampment of soldiers from William T. Sherman's Army of the Tennessee and contains images associated with this momentous event. Although most of the troops left Louisburg on May 3, a small number remained in town until July 27, to maintain order and to ensure that area slaves had been freed.

The marker was dedicated in honor of Joseph E. Elmore, a local historian who has used original sources to bring to life much of the history of Franklin County. In addition, the TRCHC designated the evening's lecture by Michael R. Hill, "Full of Blue Coats: Sherman's Army in Franklin County," as the inaugural Joseph E. Elmore Lecture. Each year, one presentation in the center's lecture series will be named in honor of Mr. Elmore.

The Civil War Trails marker reflects the TRCHC's commitment to fostering heritage tourism in Franklin County and the Upper Tar River region. The Louisburg College marker has been added to a colorful map that shows the location of Civil War-related sites throughout North Carolina.