Letters to the Editor

Originally published August 2022 · p. 2

Letter to the Editor from North Carolina Department of Transportation There were some mistakes in the article on the Kinston Bypass and its impact on the core area of the Wyse Fork Battlefield, a National Register District. The CWN reported that the proposed highway work would “eliminate or relocate the historic Cobb House, the Union headquarters” and that “Right of way acquisition is slated for 2023 so the final decision on impacting Wyse Fork has not yet been made.” A NCDOT spokesman wrote on June 14, 2022, that “We are not eliminating or moving the Cobb House – the house will not be impacted … This project will not impact or eliminate any historically significant buildings.” In response to a CWN sentence about the right-of-way acquisition beginning in 2023, NCDOT pointed out that “right-of-way acquisition is scheduled to begin in2026 for the section between NC 148 (Harvey Parkway) to US 70 East of NC 58. The Right-ofWay from East f NC 58 to near Dover has not been funded.” Finally, in response to CWN stating that Federal funds were being used elsewhere on the project but not in the Wyse Fork section, NCDOT noted that they “will not be using any federal dollars to construct this project” and that “NCDOT plans to ban or prohibit any borrow pits within the battlefield.” Civil War News regrets the errors. As an addendum, a 106 consultation meeting was held in Kinston, N.C., on June 15. At this meeting, the NCDOT and State Historic Preservation Office representatives stated the route’s right-of-way decision has been made and is final. The June 15 meeting was to discuss mitigation of adverse impacts. There were several mitigation suggestions including moving the planned route farther south, a decision that has already been rejected in finalizing the rightof-way. There was another mitigation option that seemed to be creditable. The second option was to move the interchange about a mile to the east where it would not impact the core area. This was not rejected out of hand. There was also discussion about the mitigation of the adverse impact on non-renewable archaeological resources and several suggestions were made about how to proceed archaeologically. These will be worked up and decided upon at another meeting prior to a memorandum of understanding between the governmental bodies and the consulting parties.

TO THE EDITOR: Your recent article on “Memoirs and First Hand Accounts” is most interesting. We are frequently cautioned to be skeptical of stories told years after the events and your reference to Sam Watkins of “Company Aytch” is very apropos to your thesis. I would guess that this reticence to accept almost any historical account should apply across the board even to include the Holy Bible. But then what are we left with? It seems to me that stories, fables, and creative license have a place in our lives. Years ago I was talking with a World War II vet about his experiences as an Army infantryman fighting across Europe in 1944-45. He recalled with clarity several traumatic events that affected himself and his comrades. ‘’Frank,” I asked, “how can you remember all those details after sixty plus years?” After a short pause he replied, “Bob, how can I forget?” How indeed! Keep up the good work. Regards from another Charlottesville lad, Bob Tatum