 Though the men of North Carolina fed the armies of the conflict and forts of the eastern coast played roles throughout, the Civil War came to the state of North Carolina almost entirely in the final months of battle.
Nevertheless, North Carolina was home to a railroad system that kept the Confederacy alive, to two pivotal late battles, and the site of the surrender of the Southern forces in the aftermath of the earlier Appomattox agreements.
Civil War enthusiasts will find a number of reenactments, museums and remains of forts and battlefields, particularly in the central and eastern parts of the state. All the details have been gathered into “trails” and can be found on the www.civilwartrails.org web site. Once on the site, just click on the “North Carolina” sign.
In addition to a very detailed map available as a PDF download, the site also outlines several different groupings of historic sites. The main one, called the Carolinas Campaign, traces the steps of the Federal troops heading northwards from successes in Georgia and South Carolina. Battlefields at Averasboro and Bentonville are joined by other skirmishes and the surrender site at Bennett Place, near Durham.
But the war in North Carolina also included ironclads, submarines, coastal defenses and blockade runners. Additional sections of the Civil War Trails program include Coastal & Eastern, Central, and Foster’s Raid.Conveniently, the site can also be reviewed by town and city names.
Plans are underway to add information on the western part of the state and more guidance on the sites associated with Stoneman’s Raid.
As diverse and variable as the individual stops on the trails might be, they do have one thing in common: newly-placed North Carolina Civil War Trails signs, which can be very helpful in locating them on a driving tour.
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