Please join us for our annual dinner meeting to be held at the Madeline Suite at UNC-Wilmington. James L. ("Larry") Walker, Jr., author of Rebel Gibraltar: Fort Fisher and Wilmington, C.S.A., will be our guest speaker. His book is: "the complete story of the Confederacy’s most important port and the forts that defended it throughout the entire Civil War." The book concentrates on the importance of Fort Fisher to blockade running and consequently to the survival of Lee’s army. Larry, who now resides in Charlotte, has roots in Wilmington that stretch back to pre-Revolutionary days. He is an avid Civil War buff, reenactor and historian, who has "studied and hiked nearly all the battlegrounds of consequence in the war." Larry would also like to inform us that he and his wife are now the proud grandparents of twin girls, Abbie and Lily Burton. Congratulations, Larry and Janice!

For your information, the directions to the Madeline Suite at UNC-Wilmington are as follows: Take S. College Rd. to Randall Dr. Take Randall Dr. into the college (Randall will turn into Reynolds Dr.), go past the parking deck (on your left) to Cahill Dr. and take a left turn; go two blocks to Lot FF. Park in this lot and to your north will be Wagoner Hall. The Madeline Suite is a wing of Wagoner Hall.

Miss Heather Wilson of the Cameron Art Museum spoke briefly at our last meeting on the upcoming "Battle of Forks Road." The fifth annual Living History event will be held on the grounds of the Museum beginning Friday 18 February and continue on Saturday, 19 February. Our own Dr. Chris Fonvielle will lead walking tours of the battleground, while "historians, encampments, artillery demonstrations and family activities" will abound. The Museum will play host to nearly three hundred school children from the area who will be introduced to that era of their history. The 145th anniversary of the battle is free to the public, with donation greatly appreciated. The Museum is located at the corner of S.17th St. and Independence Blvd. and their telephone number is 910 395-5999.
The Cape Fear Civil War RT has donated over $100 (and a special thank you to Col. Bruce Patterson who also provided additional support) to the event.

There will be yet another reenactment held at Fort Anderson/Brunswicktown this month. On Saturday, 20 February, the site will open at 9 a.m and later will host a talk by Mike Kochan ("Torpedoes and Other Infernal Machines"). There will be a nighttime lantern tour and the fort will close at 8:30 p.m. On Sunday (21st) it will again open its gates at 9 and at 11:45 there will be a talk ("The battles of fort Anderson and Town Creek") by Dr. Chris E. Fonvielle. The site will close at 3:30 p.m. that day. If you visited Fort Fisher during the reenactment held there, you know what else is in store to view: Confederate and Union reenactors, living history talks and walks through one of the most pristine Confederate forts still remaining.

We had a record turnout for Bert Dunkerly’s talk on the "Road to Appomattox and Greensboro" and suffice it to say that none were disappointed. Bert, who is a National Park Ranger at that historic site took us back to the spring of ’65; to when R.E. Lee struggled to hold the lines around Richmond and Petersburg. Early in April, the Union army cracked those lines and the long, hard retreat began. Lee, who was attempting to join Joe Johnston in North Carolina, was constantly forced to move westward to avoid the Federals who were always maneuvering to cut him off. There was constant fighting along the way and at Sailor’s creek, Lee’s army suffered a great loss with over 7,000 men and many generals captured. Virtually all of Lee’s III Corps were now prisoners of the Yankees. . The morning of the 9th of April, Lee found himself nearly surrounded and attempted unsuccessfully to break through the Union cordon. Later that day, he sent a messenger through Union lines to ask for a truce. He was responding to letters that U.S. General Grant had sent earlier. Soon, resplendent in his dress uniform and mounted on his horse Traveler, he rode to the McLean home to meet with Grant. Terms were discussed between the two and soon some 27,000 soldiers stacked their arms. After surrendering, the Confederates were given rations and the all-important parole pass. These paroles allowed them passage by train or government steamer and insured that the men were not molested by Union troops as they returned home.

"In North Carolina, by contrast," General Johnston has consolidated his army, with many units now done away with and the effect on the soldier’s morale is discernable. As soldiers of Lee’s army pass through Smithfield, word is received of Lee’s surrender and morale plummets even further (many of those first troopers were thrown in jail as deserters!) Johnston moves his army west to Raleigh and Chapel Hill and President Jefferson Davis, who has fled Richmond and is heading south calls for a cabinet meeting (the last one) in Greensboro, N.C. Johnston is invited to the meeting, along with General P.G.T. Beauregard and when Johnston inquires about negotiations, he is told to fight on. When Davis leaves Greensboro, Johnston realizes the futility of further resistance and is soon (17 April) meeting with his adversary, Union General W.T. Sherman. The meeting takes place at the Bennett House in Durham and the terms are much more lenient than those given to Lee. Sherman, it would appear, completely misjudged the mood in Washington, especially after the Lincoln assassination. When the terms given Johnston are rejected by Congress, the war is back on. Johnston’s army, when informed of the decision to continue the war, goes into a state of near mutiny. "Whole regiments refused to move" reported one South Carolina soldier and many men simply began to disappear as the days wore on.

Sherman and Johnston met again and this time the terms were virtually the same as those given Lee. The major differences were that most of Johnston’s men were allowed to keep their horses and wagons with the order to "stack arms" in place. Just how many actually surrendered their weapons is unknown, but 7/8’s of them were allowed to keep their guns. Union General George Hartsuff is sent to Greensboro to begin the long process of issuing paroles to the men of Johnston’s army. As Mr. Dunkerly pointed out, it would be interesting to learn of the general’s feelings, surrounded as he was by 30,000 Confederate troops! The process went well however, and by May many of the men are headed home. With the exception of a few other surrenders, the war had finally come to an end.

We had over eighty people attend our last meeting. Committee member Bruce Patterson attributed it to a "perfect storm" of sorts. The weather cooperated and many folks came to ensure a seat at our dinner meeting next month (as well as to get one for our March trip to Charleston). There were several new members, as well as visitors and guests and whatever the reason for the great crowd, let’s see if we can do it again!