Reburial of Civil War Soldiers Confirmed at Bentonville
FOUR OAKS —Archaeologists announced on Friday, Jan. 25, that they have confirmed longstanding stories about a number of Civil War soldiers who died in the 1865 Battle of Bentonville being reburied at the site in the 1890s. Assistant State Archaeologist John Mintz and Wake Forest University Director of Public Archaeology Kenneth Robinson reached this conclusion after conducting archaeological investigations at what now is Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site and studying period photos and records. N.C. Historic Sites sponsored this project to resolve questions about the battle’s aftermath, enhance preservation of the battlefield and honor the brave men on both sides of the conflict who fought and died at Bentonville. Click here to see a recent story by NBC 17’s Frank Graff.
Fought March 19-21, 1865, the Battle of Bentonville was the largest offensive ever mounted in North Carolina and the only significant attempt to defeat the large Union army of Gen. William T. Sherman during its march through the Carolinas in the spring of 1865. After the battle, which took place east of the family home of John and Amy Harper, Sherman’s army left the Bentonville area, taking with it all of its wounded.
Left behind were many bloodied and broken Confederate soldiers treated in the Harper’s own house, which served as a field hospital during the battle. Many of these men later died and were buried on the family farm. Sometime in the 1890s, their remains were moved and reburied elsewhere at the battlefield site. Over the years, the exact location of this grave site was lost.
Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site’s mission is to preserve and interpret the history of the Battle of Bentonville, North Carolina’s largest Civil War battle.
The site is located three miles north of Newton Grove on Highway 701 and then three miles east on SR 1008. There are marked exits from both I-95 and I-40. For more information on Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site, call (910) 594-0789 or click here.
Administered by the Division of State Historic Sites, Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site is part of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, a state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history, and culture. Join the Cultural Resources 2008 theme observance of “Telling Our Stories”. For more information, visit www.ncculture.com.