The 13th Tennessee Cavalry  

The 13th Tennessee Cavalry saw little action during its first year. In late 1864  the regiment fought General John C. Vaughn of East Tennessee’s Confederate forces. They also sent support to General Stephen Burbridge of the Union Army in a raid on Saltville, Virginia on October 2, 1864. The group continued fighting at Bull’s Gap and were defeated by the Confederate army.

     In December 1864 General George Stoneman replaced Burbridge. General Stoneman led a raid on important mines and railroads in Southwest Virginia and succeeded in wrecking the Saltville Saltworks. He destroyed iron forges in Smyth County, Virginia, and shops in Wytheville. He later wrecked the lead mines in Wythe County, Virginia.
     Stoneman’s troops spent the remainder of the winter of 1864/1865 in quarters.
     Stoneman’s last campaign was through Watauga County, North Carolina into Wilkes County, into Surry, and back into Southwest Virginia. Little was accomplished on this raid.

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