3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry The 3rd North Carolina ( Volunteer ) Mounted Infantry ( 3rd NCMI ) was an all - volunteer mounted infantry regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War . The regiment was predominantly composed of Union Loyalists from North Carolina and Tennessee , but also included volunteers from several other Southern states . The 3rd NCMI , under the command of Colonel George Washington Kirk , became associated with unconventional and guerrilla - like tactics . Consequently the regiment became known as Kirk ' s Raiders and the men were labeled " bushwackers " . The members of the regiment were also known as " mountaineers " because the majority of the men hailed from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee . Service . February 1864 - Formation . The 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry was formed by Special Order Number 44 , on February 13 , 1864 , when Major General John Schofield ordered Major George W . Kirk to raise 200 men to " . . . descend upon the rear of the rebel army under [ Gen . James ] Longstreet and destroy as much as possible of his stores and means of transportation . . . [ Y ] ou will move along the railroad into Virginia , damaging the road as much as possible by burning bridges , trestle - work , water tanks , cars , etc . , and by tearing up the track . . . " From June , 1864 until February , 1865 , the 3NCMI was attached to the 2nd Brigade , 4th Division , 23rd Army Corps , Department of Ohio . From March , 1865 until August , 1865 the regiment was attached to the 2nd Brigade , 4th Division , District East Tennessee , Department of the Cumberland . June 1864 - Raid on Camp Vance . Camp Vance , near Morganton , North Carolina , was a training camp for Confederate conscripts . The 3rd NCMI easily captured the camp , but did not achieve its primary mission to destroy the railroad bridge over the Yadkin River north of Salisbury , North Carolina . February 1865 - Raid on Waynesville . Following is the inscription from the North Carolina Civil Wars Trail Marker that can be found in Maggie Valley , Haywood County , North Carolina - " " On February 1 , 1865 , Col . George Kirk , 2nd North Carolina Mounted Infantry ( U . S . ) , left Newport , Tennessee , with 400 cavalry and 200 infantry for a raid into Haywood County . He passed through the mountains at Mount Sterling , following the Cataloochee Turnpike up Jonathan Creek Valley to Waynesville . While in the valley , his men killed former Confederates Absolom B . Carver and James E . Rice . Kirk and his raiders also burned the home of Young Bennett in Cataloochee and then burned a school that served as a makeshift hospital for ailing Confederate soldiers . " Kirk reached Waynesville on February 4 and sacked the town , ordering his men to burn the home of Revolutionary War hero Colonel Robert Love . The raiders also opened the Waynesville jail , liberated its prisoners ( mostly local Unionists confined by Confederate authorities ) , and destroyed the building . " After wreaking havoc on the village of Waynesville , Kirk marched his troops toward Tennessee and camped at Balsam Gap , where a small contingent of Home Guards and farmers attacked the raiders . Kirk retreated first to Waynesville and then to Soco Gap . As Kirk approached Soco Gap , Lt . Robert T . Conley ' s sharpshooters of Thomas ' s Legion attacked . Kirk ordered a swift retreat to Balsam Gap , where the Federals escaped into Tennessee less than a week after the raid began " . " There is also a sidebar on the monument that deals with a resident of the area . That is also quoted here - " " In 1863 , local resident Solomon Finger enlisted in Co . E , 29th North Carolina Infantry , at age 44 , leaving his wife and five young children at home . He was captured on July 22 , 1864 , during the Battle of Atlanta and imprisoned in Camp Chase , Ohio . When a flu epidemic later struck Maggie Valley , he was informed by telegram that all five of his children had died . Released at the end of the war , Finger survived a walk of more than 100 miles and a murder attempt during his long journey home . He and his wife , Eliza , later had four more children . Finger and his entire family are buried nearby " . " March 1865 - Stoneman ' s Raid . In support of Major General George H . Stoneman ' s order to disrupt railroads in Southwest Virginia and North Carolina , Kirk and his men were assigned to hold Deep and Watauga Gaps near Boone , North Carolina . This was necessary to keep the mountain roads open for Stoneman ' s men when their mission was complete . August 1865 - Discharge . The regiment was mustered out on August 8 , 1865 . Total strength and casualties . There were 960 men in the 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry throughout the war . Sixteen were confirmed killed in action , and 23 were captured .