Great Time At the Pender Roundtable

My aunt and I sharing laugh.

I had a great time at the Pender CWRT in Rocky Mount last night talking about the Civil War in North Carolina - things covered in my new book, The Fight For the Old North State. Great crowd, interesting questions, and tasty BBQ! It was also great to have my aunt and uncle, Beth and Ben Brinson, from Tarboro there.

"Blackens the Fair Fame": The Fire at Washington, N.C., April 1864

Map detail from The Fight for the Old North State

During my research for The Fight for the Old North State, I came across many interesting documents. One was the full transcript of a Federal investigation into a fire that consumed a good portion of Washington, North Carolina in late April 1864. The incident occurred as Union forces evacuated the town in the face of a Confederate push to retake key positions in the eastern portion of the state.

Though a short summary of the investigation appears in the Official Records, the full, unpublished transcript of the proceeding contains pages of eyewitness testimony and reveals how conditions in the town unraveled over the course of several days as Union troops, freed people, and white Unionists departed for New Bern and Fort Monroe. During this time, unruly soldiers began to loot the town as beleaguered provost guards struggled to control matters. On the final day of the federal evacuation, as the last remaining transports prepared to steam away, a fire broke out in stables formerly used by the 12th New York Cavalry. The flames spread through a good portion of the downtown killing at least one civilian and seriously injuring another.

According to the findings, the source of the fire was unclear. Some witnesses pointed to members of a Rhode Island artillery regiment. Others testified that Confederate sympathizers had ignited the blaze. In the end, the investigators did not pinpoint the culprits. However, in the end, blame mostly fell on the troops in blue and their commanders. An infuriated Innis Palmer, the Union commander in the state at the time, concluded that the unfortunate event “now blackens the fair fame of the Army of North Carolina.”

The End-Papers: The Fight for the Old North State

The end-papers in The Fight for the Old North State feature a sprawling, detailed 1863 map of Plymouth N.C. drawn by Lt. Felix Vinay of the 85th New York - courtesy of North Carolina State Archives. Kudos to University Press of Kansas for producing a great looking book.

The end-papers

map detail

the book

Talk at Rocky Mount CWRT, April 25

The first stop on my book tour (of sorts) for The Fight for the Old North State will be at the Pender Civil War Roundtable in Rocky Mount, NC on Thursday, April 25.

Time: 7:00 p.m. (buffet dinner at 6:00 p.m.)
Place: Gardners at 1331 N. Wesleyan Boulevard, Rocky Mount, NC

I will be talking about the events covered in the new book - including the New Bern expedition, the battle of Plymouth, and other aspects of operations in North Carolina during the first months of 1864. Looking forward to it!

Author Q&A: The Fight for the Old North State

It has been great to work with University Press of Kansas on The Fight for the Old North State. Recently, the Press posted an author Q&A about the new release on their website. Here are the questions below. Check out the answers at the Press website:

1.What’s your elevator pitch for The Fight for the Old North State?
2.What led you to research and write about the late-war Confederate resurgence in the Old North State?
3. What were some of the challenging aspects of researching the book?
4. Your book offers a compelling account of Confederate efforts in early 1864 to turn the tide of the Civil War in eastern North Carolina. What would you list as the most important decision made by the rebel leaders in their efforts?
5. Robert E. Lee’s proposal to take eastern North Carolina triggered one of the last successful Confederate offensives. What was the impact of these operations on the culmination of the Civil War?
6. What is one thing you would like readers to take from your work?