Recommended Reading: Kirk's Raiders. Description: The mountains of East Tennessee & Western North Carolina were deeply divided in their loyalties between Union and Confederate causes during the War of the Rebellion. Colonel George Kirk of Tennessee led nearly 2000 southern boys against their brethren from 1862 until 1865, fighting at Warm Springs, Burnsville, Morganton, Erwin, Waynesville, Blowing Rock, and Lenoir. After the war in 1870, he returned to central North Carolina to suppress a KKK insurrection in Alamance and Caswell Counties. Mayhem, bloodshed, and controversy followed George Kirk wherever he went. This is his story. Complete rosters of the 2nd & 3rd NC Mounted Infantries are included, as well as nearly 50 never-before published photographs, letters, and maps. This is the definitive George Kirk study.