George Washington Kirk
George Washington Kirk | |
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Born |
Greene County, Tennessee | June 10, 1837
Died |
February 17, 1905 67) Gilroy, California | (aged
Allegiance |
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Service/ |
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Years of service |
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Rank |
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Commands held | 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry |
Battles/wars |
George Washington Kirk was a soldier who served in American Civil War. Born and raised in Tennessee, he married Marie L. 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.[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 has 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 his own brief arrest and the impeachment of Governor Holden.[1]
References
- 1 2 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.