Located on the north side of the Yadkin River near the mouth of Lewis Fork, about eight miles west of Wilkesboro.
In the spring of 1865 about the time of the surrender of General Lee, a band of about eighty-five desperadoes
under the leadership of a man named Wade, a deserter of the Yankee army, made headquarters at Ft. Hamby
(Fort Hamby got its name because the house had been occupied by several ladies whose name was Hamby).
These desperados roamed the country on horseback in large numbers, living off the loot they pilfered and
robbed from the people in Alexander, Caldwell, Wilkes, and Watauga counties. They showed no respect
for the property rights of their victims. Women and children suffered at their hands.
The people were enraged at the conduct of these robbers and determined to drive them out of the country or
capture and destroy them. Defeated in their first attempt, the citizens were more determined than ever to burst
up the robbers at Ft. Hamby.
Men from Caldwell, Alexander, Iredell, and Wilkes joined forces and shortly before day surrounded the fort and
began the attack, slipping up to the kitchen and set it on fire. When Wade and his men discovered the kitchen
on fire they thought the fort would be certain to catch on fire and that they would either have to surrender or be
cremated in the fort.
Instead of surrendering, Wade escaped from the fort and made a break for the river. After the fort had burned
to the ground a court martial was organized and the four captured robbers were tried and condemned to be
shot at the stake. Wade hid in the river until late evening. He returned to the area, walked up and looked at
his comrades hanging to the stakes dead. He immediately left this country and was never heard of again.
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