Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 40.djvu/191

Rh of the navy yard battalion under Capt. Tabb, the other companies remaining to garrison Charlotte, and were surrendered together with the rest of General Johnston's army when the army capitulated at Greensboro, N. C, April, 1865.

"You will note by above that Charlotte, although several times menaced by hostile forces, and at one time the central focus of the Confederacy, was never actually captured by the enemy, their forces not coming into Charlotte until after the surrender at Greensboro."

(Signed) A., "Late Chief Engineer, C. S. N. and Lieut.-Colonel C. S. A. "Baltimore, Md., March 1910."

Miss Alexander was unable to obtain data concerning Commander John M. Brooke, referred to by Capt. Ramsay. Mrs. John Wilkes, one of Charlotte's most patriotic and beloved women, at Miss Alexander's request prepared the following sketch of the Charlotte Navy Yard. This article was read by Mrs. Wilkes before the U. D. C., of which she was one time historian, in April, 1910. A manuscript copy is filed with the U. D. C. Chapter, and it appeared in the Charlotte Observer and the Charlotte News, April 3, 1910.

Mrs. Wilkes' article reads as follows:

"As the existence of a navy yard in Charlotte, N. C., has been doubted and derided, it is well to tell its story while there are some persons surviving who know of it and worked in it. I have found a number of workmen and persons, whose memory has aided mine, and here give a true history of the Charlotte Navy Yard.

"Soon after the fight between 'The Monitor' and 'The Merrimac,' it became apparent to the Confederate government that