N.C. Surrender 145th Programs At Bennett Place On April 17, 18
DURHAM, N.C. — On April 17-18 Bennett Place Historic Site will host commemorative events marking the 145th anniversary of the largest surrender of the Civil War. Reenactment of one of the war’s last surrenders will highlight a week of free commemorative events. Gens. Joseph E. Johnston and William T. Sherman will arrive on horseback at 10 a.m. at on April 17 and 18 for negotiations, just as they did 145 years ago to the day. The final agreement was a military surrender of nearly 90,000 soldiers that ended the war in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida. They will meet Bennett family reenactors. Visitors will be allowed into the parlor to witness the negotiations at various times. Other activities will include performances by the Huckleberry Brothers Civil War band and demonstrations of blacksmithing and of Civil War-era photography, where pictures will be taken for a fee. On Saturday Jim Wise will talk about his books Sherman’s Trial and Murder in the Courthouse, Reconstruction and Redemption in the North Carolina Piedmont. Jeff Toalson will speak on his publication, No Soap, No Pay, Diarrhea, Dysentery, and Desertion: The Last 16 Months of the Confederacy. Civil War historian Mark Bradley, author of This Astounding Close: The Road to Bennett Place, will speak on Sunday. A stacking of arms and furling of colors by the Army of Tennessee and a wreath-laying at the site’s Unity Monument also are planned for Sunday. For additional information call (919) 383-4345, e-mail Bennett@ncdcr.gov or visit www.bennettplace.nchistoricsites.org.
|
