“A Spelling Book in One Hand, a Musket in the Other: African Americans in Civil War North Carolina”

Join us at the NC Maritime Museum in Beaufort on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 3:00 PM, when Dr. Jeffrey Crow, Deputy Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, will offer a presentation on African Americans in North Carolina during the Civil War. More than 300,000 African Americans were in the state by 1860. Existing laws precluded slaves from learning to read, and more stringent restrictions were put in place during the Antebellum period. The Civil War and Union occupation were the avenue for freedom. Enslaved people escaped to Union forces and picked up arms for their rights and liberty. As an award-winning author, Crow has published “The Black Experience in Revolutionary North Carolina” and “A History of African Americans in North Carolina.” Join the North Carolina Maritime Museum in Beaufort for its Civil War Lecture Series the second Saturday of each month at 3 p.m. Discover a variety of topics by gifted authors and historians from around the state as they commemorate the Civil War. All lectures are FREE.

On the road...

Friends - I'll be on the road the next few days. Thankfully, the weather is really lovelyright now. Everyone thinks that we'll pay for this nice winter weather later. I like to think that this is the payback for the horrible past couple of years!

Thursday, February 2, 2012 - Watauga Historical Association -

Tipton Haynes Historical Site, Johnston City, TN

Saturday, February 4, 2012 - Lee-Jackson Banquet

General Morgan Inn, Greenville, TN

Tuesday, February 7, 2012 - Caldwell County and the Civil War

Caldwell County Public Library, Lenoir, NC

From the Mail Bag...

Friends, I thought I would share a response to a recent post I made. The post was from "Scarlett"; she wrote:

I think it's interesting that you call yourself a historian yet you refer to the American Civil War as the War for Southern Independence. At least you didn't opt for the classic, yet equally subjective, "War of Northern Aggression." Kudos.

Historians don't deny that African Americans "served" (and I'm using that term loosely) in the Confederate Army as physical laborers, cooks, or even soldiers. However, they do recognize that African Americans were were often threatened or coerced into serving in these roles. Historian Bruce Levine claims that “many of those who today make the Black-Confederate cause their own do so as part of a larger effort to vindicate the Confederacy and to honor their own southern ancestors…The claim of a massive black presence in southern armies is meant to accomplish something else as well: to demonstrate once and for all that the Confederacy did not stand and did not fight for slavery.” Could this be what you're doing, Mr. Hardy?

Try again to convince me that a people who were enslaved - who were the PROPERTY of another living person - fought in DROVES for a government that, at that time, didn't even consider them human. Did an African American ever willingly fight for the Confederacy - probably (it would be foolish to say no). But it is equally foolish to say they were a common occurrence.

First, thanks for the post, Scarlett. If you had read a little more deeply on this blog, you would discover that I have never believed (much less written) that there were “droves”—a dehumanizing, livestock-oriented, term in itself, mind you—of blacks (slave and free) who took up arms and marched under the Southern banner during the war.  That being said, after 29 years or research and reading,  I cannot deny that there were some, a few, who did so. My title for the blog post was aimed at those who ignore these documented individuals and steadfastly believe that there were absolutely none (and yes, there are “historians” who actually do believe this). To completely deny that there were a few blacks (slave and free) who voluntarily took up arms and fought is simply ignoring historical facts and denying these people their individuality and complexity as human beings.

You obviously have some predetermined agenda to suggest that I might deny that the war was fought over slavery... once again you have failed to read at any great depth into my many books and articles. Certainly, the institution of slavery played a great part in the discussion. The South was concerned that if Congress could limit or abolish slavery, then other rights and laws guaranteed by the Constitution would fall victim to the radical, or better termed liberal, politicians.  The North, under the battle cry of "the Union must be preserved" also fought to preserve the institution of slavery. How else could the burgeoning industrial revolution in the Northern States survive without the slave-picked Southern cotton? (Of course, it did survive, largely due a new exploitable workforce of freedmen and immigrants, but the Northern industrialists did not know that in 1861.) So, in 1861, North and South both went to war to preserve the institution of slavery.

It would appear that you aim to classify me as a neo-Confederate. Alas, others have tried launching those slings and arrows, falling victim to the temptation to thus stereotype any historian who does not unconditionally vilify the Confederacy and praise the Union. It is simply my intent to be fair and honest, unbiased in my quest to truly understand and to help others understand one of the defining points of American History. I'm sure that there are many who would agree with my intent.

Lastly - if you would conduct a little thoughtful research into the time period, specifically into what Southerners wrote in the 1860s (and not merely the writings of modern academics), you might understand the reference to "War for Southern Independence." That is how Southerners in 1861 defined the conflict they were fighting. The Southern States desired an independent nation, and, like their fathers and grandfathers, resorted to a revolution, albeit a failed one, to obtain a nation based upon the ideals of the founding fathers. 

Civil War events in Caldwell County

During the month of February, the Lenoir branch of the Caldwell County Public Library and the Caldwell Heritage Museum will join together with the North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources to display a series of Civil War photographs at the Lenoir Branch of the library. Entitled “Freedom, Sacrifice, Memory,” the exhibit is traveling the state through spring 2013 as part of the 150^th anniversary commemoration of the Civil War.

The photos will be on exhibit during the library’s regular hours from February 1 through Feb. 29.

In addition to the photo exhibit, two programs, sponsored by the Friends of the Library, are being presented. Both of the programs are free to the public.

February 7, 2012 – 7 p.m.

Michael Hardy will be speaking on Caldwell County’s role in the Civil War, based on his latest book, “North Carolina in the Civil Warm,” which was released in July 2010. The program will be on the main floor of the library.

February 21, 2012 – 7 p.m.

Kay and Patrick Crouch American Folk Music will present a program of Civil War era music on guitar, banjo, fiddle, flute, whistle, vocal, bugle, and percussion. They will concentrate of music relevant to the Western North Carolina mountain folk. The program will be in Room 6 on the Library’s lower level.

So I was humming along yesterday, reading through the applications sent by Mecklenburg County citizens after the war to President Johnson, asking for presidential pardon, when I found something really interesting.  On May 27, 1865, Johnston extended pardon to all former Confederates unless they fell into one of fourteen classes of citizens. Most of you are probably familiar with these classes. They included those who held the rank of colonel or above, those who held appointed or elected posta, like tax collector or post master. And then there are those who had $20,000.00 or more in property/real estate in 1860. There are 39 folks from Mecklenburg County who applied for a pardon. One was an army officer (D. H. Hill), fifteen worked for the postal department, and twenty-five fell under the $20,000 or more class.

As I am working my way through the list, going over each file, low and behold, I find an application for Mrs. Margaret M. Withers. I'll confess early: I don't recall ever coming across in my research a woman applying for a presidential pardon. So, I did some digging. Out of15,000 (or so) requests for pardons received by President Johnson from Southerners, only 389 were from women. Of that 389, only twenty-one were from North Carolina.  I'm not sure who the other twenty were, but I find the case of Withers intriguing.

Withers applied under the $20,000 or more section. She stated that her husband, Samuel M. Withers, enlisted in 1863 and died in 1864. I have not found his regiment, yet. She was asking Johnston for a "special pardon with restoration of rights of property in behalf of herself and infant children."

The author of an article I found on the subject ("Not Intended to Dispossess Females: Southern Women and Civil War Amnesty" by Bradley R. Clampitt) believes that women were afraid that their property would be confiscated at the end of the war, divided up, and given to African-Americans. I find all of this very interesting. Have you come across this? Drop me a line and let me know.

Confused...

Alright, something has me stumped, and maybe one of you has the answer for me. I keep finding references to paroles being issued to people in Charlotte before there were actually Federal soldiers there in the city.

The first Federal soldiers arrived in Charlotte on May 7, 1864. Paroles were not issued until May 12-14, 1865, when Brig. Gen. Thomas Rugers and the 1st Corps. XXIII Corps arrived in town. Now, I could probably understand folks like Gen. Samuel Cooper getting a parole. He was in Charlotte, and his parole was issued May 3, 1865. Maybe it was issued by Schofield and sent to Cooper in Charlotte. However, of the seven members of the 58th NCT issued paroles in Charlotte in May 1865, four of them were prior to the arrival of Federal soldiers. So, until I find something else, I am at a loss as to how the common rank and file got their paroles.

Any ideas?

Check it out - opening at the Charlotte Museum of History tomorrow!

Author to Speak on a Slave Escape from a Durham Plantation

RALEIGH - In 1848, Mary Walker fled slavery and the plantation that is now Historic Stagville in Durham, leaving behind her son and daughter. She spent 17 years trying to recover her family. Dr. Syd Nathans, professor emeritus with Duke University, tells of Walker's remarkable ordeal in the book "To Free A Family: The Journey of Mary Walker" at Historic Stagville on Sunday, Feb. 12, at 2 p.m., and at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh, on Monday, Feb. 13, at 11 a.m. The programs are free.

The tale of Mary Walker is representative of the secret labors of hundreds of women escaping bondage and trying to reclaim their families in the South. The story is also the basis for the Addy Walker doll in the American Girl doll collection.

Two extraordinary collections provide the basis for the story -- the letters and diaries of Walker's former North Carolina slaveholders, and those of the northern family who protected and employed her. In spite of her persistence and the assistance of black and white abolitionists, she was not reunited with her children until the end of the Civil War.

The programs are sponsored by the N.C. African American Heritage Commission (AAHC), whose mission is to preserve, protect, and promote North Carolina's African American history, arts and culture for all people. The AAHC is affiliated with the Department of Cultural Resources.

For additional information call Michelle Lanier at (919) 477-7103. The Division of

State Historic Sites and the Division of State History Museums are within the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.

Flag of the 16th North Carolina State Troops

It seems that I've been making an annual January  trip to Charlotte the past two or three years. The annual trip always seems to coincide with the annual meeting of the 26th North Carolina Troops, Reactivated. Last year it was to speak at the unveiling of the conserved flag fragments of the 58th North Carolina Troops. This year, it was simply to be a part of audience at the unveiling of the conserved flag of the 16th North Carolina State Troops.

The 16th North Carolina State Troops (6th North Carolina Volunteers) was the first regiment entirely made up of men from western North Carolina. They were mustered into service on June 16, 1861, in Raleigh. This regiment spent the duration of their service connected with Confederate armies in Virginia, and after mid--1862, members of the famed Light Division.

Following the battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863, the regiment was issued a new flag, a 3rd bunting Richmond Depot, with unit designation in yellow and battle honors in blue. This flag was captured on July 3, 1863, at the battle of Gettysburg, by Pvt. Elijah M. Bacon, Company F, 14th Connecticut Infantry. Bacon was later awarded the Medal of Honor. This flag was one of many returned to the states by the Federal government in the early part of the 20th century.

As many of you know, for the past several years, the folks in the 26th North Carolina Troops, Reactivated, have been raising funds to preserve Confederate battle flags (among other projects). The flags that they have conserved include those of the 26th NCT, 58th NCT, and 1st NCST. We should all commend them for the great work that they do.

No, I was not speaking this time. I just went to observe. But I did get to stand on the stage and have my picture made before they rolled the flag back into the vault. As I wrote on my facebook page, any day you get to stand beside a flag that bore the shell and shot of the battlefield, is a great day!