Beyond the 150th at Bentonville

As the 150th Anniversary of Bentonville fades into memory, I thought it would be appropriate to share some of the ongoing efforts by their wonderful staff to interpret the battle beyond the Sesquicentennial. The following is a brief excerpt from “Preserving the Bentonville Battlefield” by Donny Taylor, the site supervisor at the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site. It appears in “Calamity in Carolina: The Battles of Averasboro and Bentonville, March 1865” by Daniel T. Davis and Phillip S. Greenwalt (Savas Beatie, LLC. March 2015)

In progress is a walking tour of approximately three miles. This tour takes the visitor from the visitor center through the battle of March 19 along both Union and Confederate earthworks, ending at the Junior Reserve Tour Stop. Along the line of battle, brigade markers will be placed to correspond with unit positions on the battle maps. We are also working with the Howell Woods Environmental Learning Center, a part of Johnston County Community College, to enhance the walking trail and expand the interpretation to include information about the flora and fauna of the battlefield. Once this trail is completed, future plans are to loop the trail south of the Harper House Road to interpret the battle below the road and return to the visitor center.