Dysentery, Death and the Life of a Civil War Surgeon Featured at Bennett Place

DURHAM – More than 625,000 lives were lost in the Civil War, more than half due to sickness, not combat. Diseases were spread through infested military camps, and dysentery, typhoid, apoplexy, gangrene, and other horrible illnesses took the lives of fighters from both sides.

Bennett Place State Historic Site will recreate a Confederate field hospital on June 26-27, to share the experience of the surgeon, nurses and stewards who worked to save lives. Medical demonstrations will show the removal of a bullet and amputation procedures. The Saturday schedule is 10 a.m.-4p.m.; Sunday is 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Admission is free, and donations are accepted.

A Confederate postmaster will display the always important mail system. Visitors also can tour the Visitor Center and gallery to view the newly commissioned painting The First Meeting by Dan Nance. An exclusive exhibit of Bennett family personal effects will be displayed through Sept. 15. The Dawn of Peace will be shown in the auditorium on the half hour. Civil War and Bennett Place souvenirs and collectibles sold in the gift shop help support preservation of Bennett Place State Historic Site.

The farm of James and Nancy Bennett became site of negotiations of the largest surrender of the Civil War when Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston surrendered the armies of the Carolinas, Florida and Georgia to Union Gen. William T. Sherman. The mission of Bennett Place State Historic Site is to preserve and interpret the largest Civil War surrender and the lives of 19th-century yeomen farmers such as the Bennetts.

Bennett Place is located in western Durham at 4409 Bennett Memorial Road , Durham , NC 27705 . For more info rmation call (919) 383-4345, e-mail Bennett@ncdcr.gov, or visit www.bennettplace.nchistoricsites.org.

Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, Bennett Place is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency with the mission to enrich lives and communities, and the vision to harness the state’s cultural resources to build North Carolina ’s social, cultural and economic future. Information on Cultural Resources is available 24/7 at www.ncculture.com.