What to Expect: Heavy Thunder 2023
Hear the roar of cannon fire! Join us August 19th, 2023 from 10:00-4:00 for our annual Artillery + Infantry Program, Heavy Thunder! “The din of battle roared like one continuous peal of heavy thunder.” Capt. G.B. Gardner, eyewitness to the battle of Bentonville You’re not going to want to miss this chance to hear the…
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‘Site’ Seeing: Staff Development 2023
The staff has been seeing the sites lately! State historic sites that is. Over the summer of 2023, we have had the lucky ability to work on professional development for the entire Bentonville staff: full-time, temporary, and volunteers! We have conducted two staff trips and hosted a professional development workshop this summer alone. In this…
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Welcome to Summer 2023!
Although the official first day of summer isn’t until June 21st, we are already in the swing of the busiest season here at Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site! We have had a packed spring with tons of new and exciting projects, read along in this blogpost to catch up on everything that has been happening…
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Alfred Nugent and his Amputated Arm
Written by: Fred Claridge, Volunteer and Friends of Bentonville Battlefield Board Member Whenever we give a tour of the Harper House Field Hospital Site, we usually try to include some information about individual wounded soldiers who were treated there. Sometimes, we talk about the surgeons who performed the operations and cared for those wounded. We…
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“She’s a Real Veteran:” Lucy Nichols and the 23rd Indiana
Posted on February 16, 2023 December 1898, over 30 years after the end of the Civil War, the Owensboro Messenger Inquirer printed an article titled “She’s a Real Veteran.” “By a special act of Congress,” the article explains, “Aunt Lucy Nichols of this city will receive a pension of $12 a month.” Written so casually, it’s not immediately…
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Battlefield Receives Gift of Vintage Newspapers
Posted on February 1, 2023by fobbnc Article by: Fred Claridge Recently, Bentonville Battlefield received a fascinating artifact donation – two original newspapers from 1865 which reported on the battle here. The gift was received from Mr. Chris Lillie of Carrboro. Battlefield staff had met Chris at a conference on Civil War medicine held in Frederick, Maryland last…
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2023: The Year of the Trail
2023 is the Year of the Trail in North Carolina! With over 5 miles of walking trails and a 10 mile driving trail, Bentonville is excited to be a part of the celebration! From the Great Trails State Coalition, “In North Carolina, there is a trail for each of us. An open invitation for bikers,…
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2022: Year in Review
Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site had an incredible year in 2022! Check out some photographs and a few memories from the year below as we get ready for an equally as exciting 2023! Happy New Year! The first major event of 2022 was the 157th anniversary commemoration. With two events on one day and over…
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Christmas at Bentonville 2022
Posted on December 9, 2022by fobbnc This Christmas, for the first time ever, visitors experienced the Harper House not as a field hospital, but as a home. During the day and lamplit at night, seeing the house set up as a home brought a totally new and different perspective to the iconic house than has not been…
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Fall Festival 2022
Posted on November 12, 2022by fobbnc On Saturday, November 5th, Bentonville celebrated its annual Fall Festival! The return to Fall Festival saw a much larger and more exciting program than had ever been seen before! Read on for a quick recap of the event, some reflections, and of course plenty of photos! The event took place from…
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Bentonville at the Civil War Medicine Conference
Posted on October 7, 2022by fobbnc by: Colby Lipscomb, Chad Jefferds, Fred Claridge Over the weekend of September 30th-October 2nd, 2022, Bentonville staff members Colby Lipscomb and Chad Jefferds and volunteer Fred Claridge participated in the National Museum of Civil War Medicine’s 28th annual conference. The conference took place across three days and featured several tours of…
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James E. Hanger and the Development of Civil War Prosthetics
Posted on September 28, 2022by fobbnc by: Fred Claridge Editor’s Note: Fred has been an incredible volunteer throughout this year and an active member of our support group, the Friends of Bentonville Battlefield. This is the first of (hopefully) many blog posts Fred will contribute. Read along for a fascinating story of medical history and some insight…
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Meet the Intern 2022
Posted on September 14, 2022by fobbnc As the summer of 2022 draws to a close, we’d like to introduce our readers to someone who may be familiar if you’ve visited in the past few months. Aaron Williford was selected as this year’s Buck Dunn Memorial Intern and has worked with us from May to August 2022 in…
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Mystery Sword Comes Back to Bentonville
Posted on August 9, 2022by fobbnc Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in the September 2018 edition of ‘From the Trenches’ newsletter and was co-authored by former site manager, Donny Taylor who passed away June 23rd, 2022. Model 1850 Staff and Field Officer’s Sword owned by US Lt. Col Samuel Tolles of the 15th Connecticut Infantry now…
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Heavy Thunder 2022 Recap
Posted on August 27, 2022by fobbnc On August 20th, cannons roared and muskets rattled as we hosted our annual summer living history program, “Heavy Thunder.” While the event has evolved over the last few years to include separate artillery and infantry events, this iteration was a bit of a throwback as both infantry and artillery demonstrations were…
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Welcome
Posted on August 5, 2022by fobbnc Welcome to the new “From the Trenches” blog! Going forward, this will replace the quarterly newsletter of the same name. While the format is a bit different, our intention is to provide the same, quality content more frequently and in a more user-friendly and easily accessible format. Take a look around…
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Deeds of Valor: Bentonville’s Medal of Honor Recipients
Posted on August 6, 2022by fobbnc Civil War battles were often the breeding ground for incredible and noteworthy stories. The battle of Bentonville was certainly no different! The fighting during the three day battle that erupted near the small crossroads village of Bentonville was exceedingly heavy at times, especially during the engagement’s first day, March 19, 1865.…
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