New Battle at Bentonville?

Originally published May 2018 · p. 21

RALEIGH, N.C—In August of 2017, an online commenter inquired of the Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of N.C. Press, “When does the commission plan on removing all the racist confederate monuments?” Three days later, a replying librarian from the North Carolina Government and Heritage Library answered with links to various sources to contact including the North Carolina Historical Commission at http://www.history.ncdcr.gov and for the Office of Archives and History plus its staff page. This past January the Charlotte Observer reported that the N.C. Historical Commission (established in 1903 by the General Assembly, becoming in 1943 the State Department Office of Archives and History, today under the Department of Cultural Resources) named a five-member panel of historians, preservationists, and business people to study the possibility of relocating three Confederate monuments from the Old State Capitol grounds in Raleigh to join two others at the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site in Four Oaks, 40 miles northeast of Fayetteville. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper requested the move. No decision is expected until April 2018, after public comments and legal advice. There are 120 Civil War memorials honoring Confederate soldiers in North Carolina. The first Confederate monument was erected in 1868, in the Cross

Creek Cemetery in Fayetteville, N.C. According to the North Carolina Civil War Monuments Survey, www.ncmonuments. ncdcr.gov, the monument of General Joseph E. Johnston was dedicated on March 20, 2010, on private land near the battlefield. A Federal Union monument was dedicated in 2012.

Update RALEIGH, N.C.—At a March public hearing held by the advisory committee to the NC Historical Commission that must approve any removal of monuments, WRAL News reported that some 50 citizens spoke, the majority being against removing three Confederate statues on the Old State Capitol grounds. Over 4,000 online comments were received by the committee. Governor Roy Cooper-R, supports their move to a Bentonville Battlefield site. WRAL reporter Travis Fain said legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2015 only requires a move if needed to preserve monuments or to make room for construction; however, the law also requires relocation “to a site of similar prominence, honor, visibility and access.” Meanwhile the committee will continue to receive legal opinions and other submissions of information. A decision is expected by mid-May. For full story and speaker comments, see www. wral.com