Help Save the Wyse Fork Battlefield

 Why preserve battlefields? That’s a great question. If we were to present that question to the millions of men who fought during the 1860s, what would they say? Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain once said (at the dedication of the Maine Monument at Gettysburg in 1888) that “In great deeds, something abides. On great fields, something stays. Forms change and pass; bodies disappear; but spirits linger, to consecrate ground for the vision-place of souls… generations that know us not and that we know not of, heart-drawn to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them, shall come to this deathless field, to ponder and dream; and lo! the shadow of a mighty presence shall wrap them in its bosom, and the power of the vision pass into their souls.” There is a lot to unpack there: bodies are gone but spirits linger… future generations will come to these “deathless fields, to ponder and dream.” Some battlefields are meticulously preserved. Shiloh, Perryville, and Sharpsburg come to mind as places where a person can stand and see what happened. However, it takes a great deal of work and perseverance to preserve these spots of land for future generations who want to come “to see where and by whom great things were suffered and done for them.”

The battle of Wyse Fork in North Carolina does not carry the name recognition that Gettysburg or Chickamauga does. Yet for the 20,000 plus Confederate and Union soldiers involved, it was just as real as some of the larger campaigns the armies waged. For the 2,600 who were killed and wounded . . . And now, the state of North Carolina wants to build a new interchange with US 70 and Wyse Fork/Caswell Station Road. This new interchange would destroy large portions of the March 10, 1865, battlefield.

Following the capture of Wilmington, Federal General John Schofield was ordered to capture Goldsboro and accumulate building supplies for Sherman’s army moving into North Carolina. Using New Bern as a starting point, Federal forces under the command of Brig. Gen. J. D. Cox advanced. On May 7, Federal forces ran into Confederates under Braxton Bragg at Southwest Creek, just east of Kinston. Bragg was hoping to delay or halt the Federal advance. Reinforced overnight by a division under D. H. Hill, Bragg planned to attack the Federals. The flanking force was a division under Robert F. Hoke, and he successfully flanked the Federal force, capturing artillery. Hill launched an attack later that day toward the Federal right flank and then sought to intercept the retreating Federals, which he never actually found. Bragg ordered Hill to return to his original position. Confederate forces captured over 1,000 Federals that day. Federal reinforcements arrived overnight and dug in. Early on March 9, Hoke again probed the Federal lines. That afternoon, Bragg ordered him to attack on the morning of May 10. Hoke attacked the Federal left, and Hill also advanced, but on finding twice their number, his troops were forced to fall back after the Federal force counterattacked. That night, they crossed the Neuse River and encamped near Kinston. (This summary was drawn from Barrett’s The Civil War in North Carolina. The best book on the subject is “To Prepare for Sherman’s Coming”: The Battle of Wise’s Fork, March 1865 by Mark Smith and Wade Sokolosky.)

While the American Battlefield Trust has preserved a small part of the Wyse Fork Battlefield, the location of the Federal counterattack on March 10 is not preserved and is in danger of being carved up into an interchange. There is an alternative spot to put an interchange that will not destroy a part of the battlefield. This is a state project. Please contact your state representatives in the General Assembly  (house and senate) and ask them to preserve this important piece of battlefield property and stop the proposed by-pass in Lenoir County. You can find your North Carolina representatives here. You can also contact the American Battlefield Trust and ask them to get involved. There is a “Save Wyse Fork Battlefield” group on Facebook.