Lexington in the Civil War

President Jefferson Davis and his entourage paused here in Lexington on April 16-17, 1865, as the Confederate government fled south after the April 3 evacuation of Richmond, Virginia. While here, Davis telegraphed Gen. Joseph E. Johnston as to the whereabouts of Secretary of War John C. Breckinridge. The Civil War essentially ended after Johnston surrendered the forces under his command to Union Gen. William T. Sherman at Bennett Place near Durham on April 26, 1865.<br><br>Officers belonging to the 9th Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Union Gen. H. Judson Kilpatrick, were quartered in the Davidson County Courthouse for two months starting in May, as Reconstruction began in the South. The balance of the regiment bivouacked outside Lexington, and several companies patrolled the countryside. The flamboyant Kilpatrick established his headquarters nearby at Lexington’s finest residence, The Homestead.<br><br>On November 23, 1865, while Union troops still occupied the county, fire damaged the interior of the courthouse. The fire may have started in a ground-floor office and burned through to the courtroom. Some townspeople thought that the soldiers had set the fire, but local resident John McCrary observed many Federals helping to extinguish the flames and rescue important county records. Although little physical evidence of the fire remains, documents suggest that the damage was serious. The court soon resumed its sessions in the building nevertheless.<br><br>James M. Leach, an attorney and former Confederate congressman, petitioned the U.S. Congress for the costs of repairing the damage. His petition was never heard, and the county was forced to borrow money from private citizens to pay for the repairs.<br><br><i>(Sidebar):</i><br>The Davidson County Courthouse was completed in the Greek Revival and Italianate styles in 1858. The building continued to serve the courts until 1958, and has housed the Davidson County Historical Museum since 1976.