HISTORIAN RE-EXAMINES NUMBER OF DEATHS OF STATE’S CIVIL WAR SOLDIERS

New research reveals surprising findings about the number of North Carolina soldiers who died during the Civil War. Josh Howard, Research Historian at the N.C. Office of Archives and History, has spent more than a year spearheading the North Carolina Civil War Death Study. The project has uncovered information that changes long-standing figures about the state’s losses. Virginia , South Carolina and Ohio are conducting similar research.


Howard will highlight his investigations and share stories he has discovered during History à la Carte: Recounting Civil War Sacrifices on Wednesday, July 27, at 12:10 p.m. at the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh . He will explain how he researches the topic and will discuss some of the soldiers’ unusual experiences. Admission is free. Bring your lunch; beverages are free.

Howard has painstakingly examined not only official military records, but records from hospitals, cemeteries, churches, prisoner-of-war camps, pensions and more. He has combed through archival and newspaper accounts, diaries, census data and other sources to try to determine military deaths among North Carolina Confederate and Union units.

Howard notes that traditional accounts of Tar Heel deaths did not include the approximately 2,000 African American and white North Carolinians who died serving in the Union army.

Drop by the Museum of History and hear more during this informative lunchtime lecture on July 27.

For more information call 919-807-7900 or go to ncmuseumofhistory.org or Facebook. The museum is located at 5 E. Edenton Street , across from the State Capitol. Parking is available in the lot across Wilmington Street .

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Museum hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. The Museum of History , within the Division of State History Museums, 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 is available 24/7 at http://www.ncculture.com/.