 Aides to General Tryon established a northern headquarters at Benjamin Knapp's house at the intersection of Main and White Streets. Knapp's wife was ill at the time and bedridden. The aides commandeered every room in Knapp's house except the one where his wife was. The troops killed several of Knapp's cattle for food, butchering the animals on the floor of his house. The bloodstains and dents from the butcher's knife are said to have been visible for years to come. In fact, until the day the house itself was torn down.