Union soldiers robbed the Grey family farm

Someone came running through the woods to tell my family that the Yankees were coming. We think these were the soldiers who captured New Bern. The whole family–multiple generations–ran through the house and yard, grabbing what they could, and hid under the house in the root cellar. They watched the soldiers’ feet as they ran around the house, catching chickens and pigs, gathering grains and supplies, taking the mules. The family heard the soldiers walking in the house. The soldiers took everything they could carry, especially food. The family had to plow and plant again.