Tar River, N.C.-- Part 1: Washington, N.C., Evacuated

From Wikipedia.

The towns of Louisburg, Rocky Mount, Tarboro, Greenville and Washington, North Carolina are located on it.

When the Confederates prepared to evacuate Washington in March 1862  squads of soldiers were sent up and down the Tar River to destroy all cotton and naval stores.  At Tafts store they found 1,000 barrels of turpentine and tar.

This was too large to burn for fear of setting nearby buildings on fire.  So the barrels were rolled into the river where the hoops were cut and the contents dumped into the water.

--Old B-Runner