FOUR OAKS - The evocative aroma of assorted homemade dishes cooked over on open hearth will fill the kitchen at Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site during a fall civilian living history program scheduled Saturday, Oct. 4 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Because of shortages, food substitutes such as sweet potato coffee, “artificial oysters” (corn substituted for the shellfish) and “No Matters” were commonly found on southern dinner tables during the American Civil War as women did their best to feed their families. Discussions on the hardships the common Southern woman endured during the American Civil War, particularly in terms of running farms and taking care of families, will also be presented throughout the day. This living history program is free and open to the public.
Though food was abundant at the beginning of the war, it soon became scarce for Southern civilians as well as soldiers. The Northern ports blockade, less food being grown in the South, poor transportation and distribution systems, and a lack of food containers caused this crisis. Salt, sugar, wheat flour, coffee, tea and many other staples became quite scarce. Ingenious substitutes were tried including parched wheat, rye, corn, peanuts, acorns, sweet potatoes, and persimmon, okra, and watermelon seeds, which were made into fake coffee. Sassafras roots and holly, orange, sage and blackberry leaves masqueraded as tea. Vinegar was transformed into apple cider, molasses, honey, and persimmons, figs, Mayapples and beets. Folks even became desperate enough to brew beer from corn, potatoes, sassafras, persimmons, and spruce or pine needles.
Other demonstrations planned include natural dyeing, sewing, knitting, candle making, children’s games and demonstrations of period dancing. All activities will be presented in and around the kitchen area, which is adjacent to the circa 1855 Harper House. Although most Bentonville programs focus on the 1865 battle, this living history program gives the visitor a rare opportunity to see how civilians lived while America’s bloodiest conflict raged. All activities are subject to change without notice.
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 go to http://www.nchistoricsites.org/bentonvi/bentonvi.htm.
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.
