Preserve – Educate – Explore: Today’s unofficial motto of Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site says a lot about what we value here at the site, namely preservation, education, and exploration. Today we’re focusing on the final third of that phrase: Preserve.
Did you know? May is National Preservation Month!
Organized by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this month is a time to celebrate the many wins for historic preservation in the past and also rededicate to continue preserving historic sites, viewsheds, and stories. This year we’re celebrating ‘People Saving Places’ – a perfect time to tell the story of the people who saved this place, the people who continue to preserve this story, and the future of Bentonville.
Learn more about the work of the National Trust here! And learn more about our partners at the American Battlefield Trust here!
The information and images in this blog post are sourced from and a small hint of the work contained in the newest published book on Bentonville: Images of America: Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site. This book takes a new approach – using images to tell the story of Bentonville as a historic site, the stories that made it, the people that preserved it, and everything in between! Check it out at our gift shop or order online here!
The First Hundred Years: Commemorating Hallowed Ground
For decades after the battle, the small community of Bentonville recovered from those bloody three days in March 1865. In that time, some veterans returned to walk the ground where they lost friends and comrades. Unlike many of the larger Civil War battlefields, however, there was no major push for preservation or even permanent memorialization. While battlefields like Gettysburg and Chickamauga saw massive campaigns by veterans and civilians to honor the actions that happened here, things stayed relatively quiet in Bentonville.
The Goldsboro Rifles, a North Carolina State Guard unit from – you guessed it – Goldsboro, were the first group to seriously consider a permanent memorial to soldiers who died at Bentonville. After much fundraising, the monument was erected on land donated by John Harper and officially unveiled on March 20, 1895. Former Confederate cavalry chief Wade Hampton spoke as the keynote speaker at the dedication, however torrential rains limited attendance at the event to a few hundred people.
To the right: We’re lucky to have one of the original badges worn by attendees of the event, including the 1890s spelling of the area – Bentonsville, NC (adding an ‘s’).
To the left: The monument photographed not long after it was erected with the Harper House visible in the background.
In the following years, fewer and fewer witnesses to the battle remained alive in the area and the battle faded into the ‘mystic chords of memory.’ Battlefield tours began to pop up led by avid historians like Fred Olds, founder of the NC Museum of History, and Herschel V. Rose, a local farmer and Johnston County Clerk of Court known as the local expert on the battle. In 1927, the United Daughters of the Confederacy and North Carolina Historical Commission erected the second monument on the battlefield – dedicated to the North Carolina Junior Reserves. Although a 1930s survey of the battlefield advocated for its preservation by the federal government as a National Park, funding never materialized.
Establishing a Historic Site
Finally in 1957, nearly one hundred years after the battle, pen was finally put to paper to permanently preserve a portion of the battlefield. On August 30, 1957, Jake and Pauline Dunn signed a deed selling the Harper House and 51 acres to the State of North Carolina for $50,000 – half of which was appropriated by the General Assembly, the rest raised by Johnston County and private donors. Seen as his crowning achievement, Herschel Rose became known as the ‘father of Bentonville restoration’ by the time of his death two years later.
Although the land and house were preserved, there was still much work to be done. First, representatives from North Carolina Historic Sites had to survey the land, inspecting the original earthworks constructed by the 1st Michigan Engineers and Mechanics, as well as the historic Harper House.
A Bentonville Advisory Committee was named and a full-time Site Specialist, Nicholas Bragg, was hired to begin the process of preparing the site for the public. Over the next 8 years, work continued in remodeling and renovating the Harper House and its outbuildings as well as constructing a Visitor Center and designing exhibits for both.
Opening in 1964, the new Bentonville Battleground visitor center featured modern, state-of-the-art exhibits and a massive, detailed diorama to educate visitors on the battle and the surrounding area. However, the grand event came in March 1965 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the battle – the brand new site hosted a massive living history event and reenactment featuring reenactors and speakers from as far away as Texas.
After eight years of hard work from staff, volunteers, and local citizens, Bentonville Battlefield was finally a historic site. Only 51 acres of the more than 5,000 acre battlefield, much work was still to be done. But the groundwork was laid and over the next several decades the site continued to preserve, educate, and explore – with regular living history events and adding more memorials to honor the fallen and signage to educate about what occurred here.
By 2000, the stage was finally set to expand the preservation across the battlefield. With a Visitor Center remodel in 1999 and the hiring of Donny Taylor as Site Manager in 2000, the site expanded its partnership with the Civil War Preservation Trust (now American Battlefield Trust) and like-minded organizations to further preserve this hallowed ground. By 2024, more than 2,000 acres have been preserved – approximately one-third of the 6,000-acre battlefield. Along with preservation comes education – with 10 tour stops along a 10-mile driving tour and more than 6-miles of walking trails, access has never been greater for visitors like you to explore the battlefield.
In the end, people make the Bentonville story – from the early veterans and families who honored the fallen in the aftermath of battle to the descendants, employees, volunteers, and visitors who have walked this hallowed ground over the last 160 years to the many more to come – all here to Preserve – Educate – Explore.
Article by Colby Lipscomb. If you enjoyed this article, check out his book co-authored with staff member Derrick Brown, Images of America: Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site.