News and Notes….

There is an article in today’s Star News Online about a second excavation at Fort Anderson/Brunswick Town. Check it out here.

The Salisbury Post reported on a recent Confederate Memorial Day in Salisbury. Check it out here.

An interesting article on North Carolina's Confederates buried at Arlington can be found here.

There is going to be a living history in Hot Springs June 6 and 7. You can get more information here.

There was also an article in the Mount Airy News about a recent Confederate Memorial Day service there. Check it out here.

Salisbury

Sorry for the lack of post for the last week. We spent the week at my mom and dad’s in Florida, and I planned to continuing posting from their house, but their internet was so slow, I could barely get my email checked.

Recently, I was in Salisbury, and visited the National Cemetery connected with the POW camp that was there during the war. Here are a few photos I planned to post yesterday.

A look around the Old North State…

There is an interesting article about St. Mary’s School in Raleigh in the Raleigh Public Record. The article describes a few of the events that took place at the school during the war. Check it out here.

An article about an upcoming event in Onslow County can be found here.

There is a very interesting article on Earl James and his researching into North Carolina’s Black, or free persons of color Confederates, recently in the Raleigh News and Observer. You can check out this article here. This article is interesting if read in light of the recent article in North and South. This also coincides with research currently being done by Dr. Rhonda Jones at NC Central University

Sold out and 58th NCT update.

Well, yesterday I received a order for a copy of my book on the Thirty-seventh North Carolina Troops. A gentleman in New York has purchased my final hardback copy that I have on hand. The book is being rereleased next month by the publisher in a paperback edition.

Also this week, I finished chapter twelve of my book on the 58th North Carolina Troops. The regiment surrendered at Greensboro (actually they were in Jamestown), stacked some of their arms, and started marching for home. Yesterday, I started the last chapter of the book – at least, unless I decide to do something different with one of the appendixes. Almost done.

John M. Houston

While out and about on Sunday afternoon, I photographed another grave on Henson’s Creek (Avery County) that I thought I would share with you. No, I don’t have any questions, or great stories, I just like the way the photograph turned out. John M. Houston was September 15, 1846 and died September 16, 1916. He served in Company E, 6th North Carolina State Troops.

Will the real Robert Milton Pittman please stand up

I started writing this blog yesterday, but I hit a road block. I’ll explain shortly – here is what I wrote:

I like lists. And I look to know who is first, and last, on my list. But sometimes those names and numbers are hard to come by.

Recently, I’ve been editing a book for our local historical society. It is a collection of obits for people who died in Avery County prior to 1950. After going through this book, and through my own records, I believe that the last Confederate soldier to die in Avery County was Robert Milton Pittman.

Here is what I have been able to piece together. Robert Milton Pittman was born “at the head of Mine Creek,” in what was then Yancey County (now Mitchell) on June 10, 1845. He enlisted in Company I, 29th North Carolina Troops, on July 11, 1861. He was discharged for an unknown reason in October 1861 – a fairly short time to be in service. According to his obituary, “He was the son of Wilson Pittman and Bettie Stewart Pittman. He was a Confederate soldier during the Civil War and served under Capt. John W. Blalock, Co. I, 29th N.C. S.T. His wife was the former Miss Mary Burleson of Toecane who died seven years ago at the age of 75. He is survived by one son, W. C. Pittman of Spear and one daughter, Mrs. Hettie Ingram of Ingalls. 17 grand children and 11 great grandchildren Three grandchildren are now serving in this war. Funeral services were conducted by Revs. T. W. Clapp and J. P. Hall at the cemetery. Burial rites were under the direction of the Hughes funeral home.” Pittman died on August 31, 1943, and is buried in a little cemetery on Henson’s Creek. Not only is there a VA tombstone to mark his grave, but also a privately purchased historical marker.


But now for the sticking point: the Robert Pittman that served in Company I, 29th North Carolina Troops, claimed to be 39 years old – a birth date of ca. 1822. I dug hard yesterday into the 1860 census – the area would have been Yancey County. I found two Robert Pittmans, aged 39 and 42, respectively. There was a Wilson Pitman, but he does not seem to have a son named Robert. He does have a son named Milton. However, Milton was born ca. 1855, not 1845. This is confirmed by looking up Milton Pitman in the 1880 Mitchell County census. He is listed as being 25 years old, with his wife, Mary.

So, I’m stumped. Pitman even received a pension for his service in the Confederate army (I do not have the pension, but I will look it up next time I am in Raleigh – I sure wish they would get the rest of those placed online). I could easily say that the compiled service records are wrong in regards to age, or maybe there are two Pitmans in the 29th NCT and that this Robert Milton Pitman joined late in the war and there is no record, save pension, of him being in the 29th NCT. I have been told that the records of the 29th NCT are the poorest of all North Carolina regiments.

Confederate Memorial Day

As you read this, the 142nd observance of Confederate Memorial Day in North Carolina is drawing to a close. There were numerous activities throughout the state yesterday and today. I had the chance to attend two: the service in Burnsville (Yancey County) on Saturday morning and the candlelight service in the old Bakersville Cemetery in Bakersville (Mitchell County). I was hoping to attend a couple of others, but pressing projects kept me away. The program in Burnsville started at 9:00 am, and included the flying of a first national on the flag pole in front of the court house, the reading of the names of 148 Confederate soldiers from Yancey County who died during the war, and the laying of a wreath at the Confederate monument on the courthouse grounds. Three volleys were also fired in honor of the common Confederate soldier. The photograph to the right was taken at the monument.

The second service was conducted at dusk on Saturday evening. This service was almost rained out, but fortune favored us and the rain held off. There are eleven Confederate soldiers buried in this cemetery. The event was well attended by the public, who braved the possibility of foul weather to honor those who sided with the South during the war.

I hope you had a chance to get out and attend one of the many services being conducted across the Tar Heel state yesterday. If you have any pictures, please send them to me, and I will try and put them up.

NC Confederate Memorial Day

Well, it is that time of year – for Confederate Memorial Day services. We’ve been having Confederate Memorial Day services in North Carolina since May 10, 1867, when the Ladies Memorial Association of Wake County placed flowers on the graves of Confederate soldiers in the Oakwood Cemetery in Raleigh.

Here is a list of a few of the Confederate Memorial Day service planned throughout the state.

Saturday, May 9
Alamance County – Old Courthouse in Graham, 8:00 am
Buncombe County – Smith-McDowell House, 2:00 pm
Burke County – Old Burke County Courthouse, 9;00 am, 5:00 pm
Cherokee County – Peacthree Memorial Church, 2:00 pm
Henderson County – Henderson County Heritage Museum, Hendersonville, 11:00 am
Mitchell County – Old Bakersville Cemetery, Bakersville, 8:00 pm
Orange County – UNC Chapel Hill Campus, “Silent Sam” Monument, (no time listed)
Rowan County – Old Luthern Cemetery, Salisbury, 11:00 am
Wilson County – Maplewood Cemetery, Wilson, 2:00 pm
Yancey County – Yancey County Courthouse, 9:00 am

Saturday, May 24
Wayne County – Willowdale Cemetery, 2:00 pm

Sunday, May 31
Durham County – Maplewood Cemetery, Durham, 2:00 pm


I am sure that there are many, many more, those are just the times and dates that I have available to me. Many of these events have living histories connected to them are and great ways to learn more about local soldiers, and the life of a soldier.

News and notes...

A quick look around.

There is a article on Blue Ridge Now on the Civil War display at the museum in Henderson County – check it out here.

In the Salisbury Post, there is an interesting piece on Lorenzo Deming, a US Navy sailor who participated in attack on the CSS Albemarle in October 1864. Deming, along with ten others were captured, and Deming later died in the prisoner of war camp in Salisbury. Check out the article here and learn why Deming cannot get a VA marker.

The Daily Advance reports that the CSS Black Warrior, a Confederate schooner, were recently found in the Pasquotank River. You can read the article here.

Recently, there was an article in the News and Observe on the Bennett Place. You can check out the article here.

The Rocky Mountain Telegram reports of a recent living history in their area. You can read about it here.

Trip Recap

Glad to be back home from my short trip to Roanoke. I spoke and signed books Monday evening for the Fincastle Rifles Camp #1326 of the SCV. They are a great bunch of folks. I actually took my son, Nathaniel, along on the trip. This was his first time out with his “old man.” We spent the night, and then on Tuesday morning (Nathaniel’s birthday), met Camp Commander Robert Barbour for breakfast. He took us to visit the small park established to commemorate the 1864 battle of Hanging Rock. We next took off to Franklin County were we visited the Jubal Early house. The Confederate general was born and lived in the house until he left to go to West Point. He later hid out in the house at the close of the war, and lived in the house for many years afterwards. The local SCV camp, along with some help from the UDC chapter, saved the house from a bull dozer. The house is being restored and will be open to the public sometime in the near future. Nathaniel and I next took off and went to the Virginia Transportation Museum, and spent a couple of hours amongst the trains and trucks and other displays. We then headed back for a special birthday dinner and time spent with the folks. A good trip was had by all.

Hickory's Cold Mountain

Greetings folks! Kim Wetmore will be presenting a program at the Hickory Public Library entitled “Hickory’s Cold Mountain” on Tuesday evening. Learn more here. If you get a chance, stop by and visit with her.

Disturbed

I’ve been more perturbed over the events last week at the Pine Hill Cemetery in Auburn, Alabama, than I care to even admit. If you are not aware of the events, here is a summary. Last Thursday, Auburn City Councilman Arthur L. Dowdell “was picking up his daughter from Auburn Junior High School near the cemetery when several people told him they ‘had a problem’ with the flags.” The “flags” were Confederate flags placed on the graves of Confederate soldiers in the Pine Hill Cemetery in Auburn. Yesterday, April 26, was the annual celebration of Confederate Memorial Day in Alabama. When Dowdell arrived at the historic cemetery, he found it decorated "like a Klan rally or a skinhead rally." Dowdell then took several flags from different graves, broke them, and placed them in his car. “It might have snapped itself,” Dowdell said. “If it did, so what? If I had my way, I would have broke them all up and stomped on them and burned them. That flag represents another country, another nation.” “I’m going on the record that this will never happen again,” Dowdell said. “This will never happen again as long as I’m on the city council.”

Interesting enough, the City of Auburn, via the mayor, soon thereafter released this statement:
The views and actions by participants in that incident in no way reflect the views or policies of the City of Auburn. The flags were placed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy on private graves to commemorate fallen Confederate soldiers for Confederate Memorial Day, which is an official state holiday. Their removal was not an action taken by the City of Auburn. I cannot condone the removal of private property from a privately owned grave site. The sanctity of the final resting place of one’s family or forefathers is certainly one of the most intensely private and sacred of things in our society.

It is easy to see that the mayor is trying to put as much distance between himself and Dowdell.

Interesting enough, Dowdell has served on the Auburn City Council since 1995. The placement of flags on the graves of Confederates has gone on for decades. I wonder (actually, I don’t) why Dowdell did not have a problem with the flags in the previous thirteen years he was on the city council. Why does he feel emboldened this year?

Regardless of Dowdell’s actions, the planned Confederate Memorial Day services in Auburn went on as scheduled yesterday. You can check out an article and a video clip here.

Had I not been off to Roanoke for a book signing in Roanoke this afternoon, then I probably would have driven to Auburn yesterday to attend the memorial day service. Why? And what does this have to do with North Carolina and the Civil War? Not only are there numerous Alabama Confederate soldiers buried in the Pine Hill Cemetery, including Col. James F. Dowdell (hmmm, I wonder…) commander of the 37th Alabama Infantry, US Congressman, and one –time president of what is today Auburn University (had two ancestors to fight under him), but also one that we here in North Carolina hold dear: Brig. Gen. James H. Lane.

Lane was a Virginian by birth and educated at VMI. Right before the war began, Lane was teaching at the North Carolina Military Institute in Charlotte. Lane was major and lieutenant colonel of the 1st North Carolina Volunteers, and then colonel of the 28th North Carolina Troops. He succeeded Branch as commander of the Second North Carolina Brigade after Branch was killed at the battle of Sharpsburg. The Second North Carolina Brigade was composed of the 7th NCST, 18th NCST, 28th NCT, 33rd NCT, and 37th NCT. Lane successfully commanded the brigade until the end of the war, and even taught for while in the Old North State before moving to Auburn where he also taught. The school still owns his house.

That is why I care.

I do find the actions of Councilman Dowdell disturbing. One reason why Southerners were allowed to erect monuments and place flags on graves after the war was to help heal our divided land. The monuments and markers and flags (North and South) were an effort to help remind us of where our inability to work out our problems could lead us: 625,000 dead. And it was people with an attitude just like Dowdell that fanned the flames that led to 625,000 dead Americans. Obviously, here is an individual who wants to make trouble (and unfortunately, there are far too many people willing to rise to his baiting). We can only hope that more reasonable heads will prevail and that Dowdell will be properly shamed for his grave descrecration rather than becoming the target of threats or other responses that only give him what he wants: angry people who fit the stereotype he wants to enforce.

A look around the Old North State

Several interesting pieces in the news this week. There is an article in the Durham Herald – Sun this week about upcoming events at the Bennett Place – you can check it out here.

Last weekend, a monument was placed in Fredericksburg, Virginia, honoring Confederates, including some North Carolinians, buried in now developed parts of the city. You can read about in here in the Free Lance Star.

There is also an article about the marking of graves of soldiers killed in the battle of Whitehall in Wayne County, North Carolina. The article appeared in the Goldsboro News – Argus and you can read about it here.

On News14 from the eastern part of the state, they have a video clip advertising the upcoming events at the battle of Plymouth reenactment. Check it out by clicking here.

What do you think

I think I have said (written) this before: writing history often presents more questions than it does answers. Here is my question of the week: what happened to Col. Washington M. Hardy? Not so much after the war. I wrote about that in a previous post here. What happened to him the last days of the war?

I wrote last Friday in my manuscript about the 58th and 60th North Carolina regiments. The new organization was known as the 58th North Carolina Consolidated, or the 58th North Carolina battalion. The field and staff of the new regiment was made up of just-promoted Maj. G. W. F. Harper, formerly Captain of Company H, 58th NCT and who had commanded the 58th NCT through the battle of Bentonville, and just-promoted Lt. Col. Thaddeus C. Coleman, who had been serving on the staff of General Hood at the rank of Captain.

Actually there are a couple of things I don’t understand. Why promote Coleman, a staff officer (he had started the war in an artillery company), over Harper, who had combat experience, and who had been associated with one of the two regiments since its inception? And why would Johnston, who was aware of Hood’s scathing report about his tenure as commander of the Army of Tennessee, appoint one of Hood’s staff officers?

But, back to my original question: what happened to Hardy? Hardy had served as Colonel of the 60th NCT since May 1863. He had commanded Reynolds’s brigade for a time, and commanded his own brigade at Bentonville. According to what I wrote previously, he was present on March 31, 1865, but nine days later, was gone. I can find no parole papers. I can find no presidential pardon.

So three possibilities. One: Hardy had been ill at other times during the war. Maybe he took this opportunity to go home on furlough and the documentation to prove this is missing. Two: maybe he could not command the new consolidated regiment as colonel because Col. John B. Palmer, 58th NCT, outranked him. Palmer was promoted to colonel in July 1862. However, Palmer had been assigned to the department of western North Carolina since November 1863. He never rejoined the regiment, but was still listed as colonel. Third: Maybe because Hardy’s performance at Bentonville was so poor, he was declared supernumerary and went somewhere else.

Any thoughts?

58th NCT update

I finally finished writing about the battle of Bentonville yesterday afternoon. I think the chapters on the 58th NCT’s involvement at Bentonville, Missionary Ridge, and Chickamauga are the best. Why? Probably do to the amount of secondary sources. Here is my process: I take secondary sources and read through them, take notes, and then compare them to primary sources, like personal letters, diaries, and official reports. Then I write. Often, I agree with the secondary sources. Sometimes, I do not. If I don’t agree, then I will take a end note and tell you why I disagree.

Last evening, I started reading This Astounding Close by Mark Bradley – you know what theat means, the war is almost over.

News and Notes...

Well, time for a look around.

A few days ago, the Winston-Salem Journal ran a short piece on the excavations at Fort Anderson. You can read it here. The short piece is about half way down. My thoughts? If this is the quality of reporting at the Journal, well… no wonder so many newspapers are in trouble. Why might I write this? Well, Fort Anderson is not in Western North Carolina – it is about as far from Western North Carolina as you can get. And I don’t think I saw anything about a cannon being found. Remnants of a platform yes, cannon, no. And, cannons are offensive weapons, not for “personal defense.” Well, it appears my comments are longer than the article.

There is an very interesting article in the Richmond Daily Press about anew marker being installed for Jewish Confederates in the Hebrew Cemetery in Richmond. You can read that article here. I did some further digging and found a list of men in this cemetery. You can view the list here. There are two North Carolinians listed. The first is G. Wolfe and the second is M. Aaron.

The Fayetteville Observer has a article about North Carolina Sharpshooter commander Capt. Benjamin Robinson (Co. A, 5th NCST). You can read the article here.

There is a very article in the New Bern Sun Journal, entitled “Pro-Union connection hard to find.” The gist of the article is that evidence of the strong pro-Union element in New Bern that we have been told was there, may not be true. I wonder if eastern North Carolina has been operating under the same mis-information that western North Carolina has been. You can read the article here.

There is also a blurb (and video) about the end of the war in Raleigh in the Raleigh Public Record. You can find this interesting link here.

On the road again

Greetings folks! Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be speaking tonight (actually the meeting starts a little after five pm) in Boone at the quarterly meeting of the Watauga County Historical Society. The meeting will be at the Watauga County Public Library. Topic will be gravestone art, something I’ve been interested in for 20 plus years. I hope to see you there.

By the way, this is post number 300!

A Wasted Hour

I had the misfortune to watch Gettysburg: The Battle That Changed America on the Military Channel last night. There were a few appropriate-looking actors and a few good special effects (like the guy losing a foot to the cannon ball), but the majority of the program was basically the contents of the old outhouse! I’ll just hit a few highlights: their Meade looked ok, but their Lee looked horrible. They totally left out Federal cavalry commander General Buford's and Confederate General A. P. Hill’s roles in the opening of the battle – I mean totally left it out. There was no mention of the great deeds of the Tar Heel state at the battle, which considering that twenty-five percent of the Confederate losses at Gettysburg were from North Carolina, that at least should get a line or two. Not much attention was given to Longstreet’s role in the battle, just…. I don’t even know where else to go. I let my son stay up and watch this with me – I was constantly telling him what was wrong.

If the Military Channel shows this again, don’t bother watching it. The few good special effects are not worth the bad history.

More information on dig at Fort Anderson

For those of you who want to keep up with the dig at Fort Anderson you can check a couple of sources. The first is from WECT TV6 – this post even includes a video. You can find it here.

There was also a small blurb on the web site of WWAT TV3, which you can see here

There is also a small article in the online Star News, which you can find here.

I would personally love to go down and visit the site while the excavation is going on. Maybe even be one of their volunteers, if they would let your humble scribe man a trowel. But alas, Fort Anderson is about seven hours from my house. If you have not visited Fort Anderson and the ruins of Brunswick Town, let me encourage you to go. It has probably been about five years since I was there, but the earthworks are the most impressive that I have ever seen.

William Young Farthing

In the mass of email I have answered today (did I get to yours?) I had someone ask about William Young Farthing. Here is what I know about him:

William Young Farthing was born June 29, 1812, in Orange County, North Carolina. His father was John Farthing, and his mother was Lucy Goss. William Y. Farthing married Annie Watkins on October 29, 1840. He had these children: John S., Mary H., Reuben P., Rachel L., Winfield S., Harriet N., Lucinda W., James E., and Martha E. He was a farmer and lived in the Beaver Dams area of Watauga County. On September 18, 1861, he enlisted in Watauga County in the Watauga Minute Men. He was elected Captain the same day. The Minute Men became Company E, 37th North Carolina Troops, on November 20, 1861. Farthing was captured during the battle of Hanover Court House on May 27, 1862. He was confined at Fort Columbus, in New York Harbor. Later, he was transferred to Johnson’s Island, Ohio, where he arrived on June 21, 1862. He was then transferred to Vicksburg, Mississippi, arriving on September 20, 1862. On November 10, 1862, he was declared exchanged. On November 12, 1862, Farthing submitted his resignation to his superiors, stating that

In 1861 I brought into service my Co. and enlisted it for twelve months. Last April I re-enlisted ‘for the war’ and induced most of my company to follow me. I am fifty years old and have two sons; one of my sons is now a member of my Co. and the other is about to enter the army being subject to the Conscription law. I own no slaves, therefore my wife and daughters are left without any male assistance on the plantation.

Farthing’s resignation was accepted on November 12, 1862. However, he most likely did not know about his release from the army. He died that same day, and is buried in the Stonewall Cemetery in Winchester, Virginia.

A tragic fate for one of North Carolina’s soldiers.