Civil War Exhibit is Online

From 1999 to spring 2005, the exhibit North Carolina and the Civil War drew thousands of visitors to the N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh. Although the exhibit is closed, you can experience it online via the museum’s Web site at ncmuseumofhistory.org. The online exhibit features a virtual tour, detailed information from each exhibit section, close-up images of galleries and artifacts, a dramatic reading and much more.

This compelling exhibit tells the stories of North Carolinians who lived, served and sacrificed during the nation’s bloodiest conflict. These stories come to life through personal belongings, photographs, military items and close-up accounts of men and women who endured the conflict.

North Carolina and the Civil War highlights the diverse roles Tar Heels played both in battle and on the home front. Discover in-depth information about a soldier’s life in camp and battle, wartime industries, struggles at home and the uncertainties of postwar life. The exhibit explores the experiences of some 15,000 white and black North Carolinians who served in Federal regiments, as well.

Tom Belton, curator of military history, leads the virtual tour of North Carolina and the Civil War. Follow him through the 3,500-square-foot exhibit as he shares his expertise. See artifacts that range from a split-oak cotton basket used by enslaved people in Rowan County to Confederate soldiers’ weapons and a captured Union flag.

Listen to audio excerpts based on letters, diaries, newspaper articles and other primary sources. Hear the words of Brig. Gen. Lawrence O’Bryan Branch as he describes the fighting at Second Manassas on Aug. 29, 1862. Or follow an 1863 newspaper account reflecting the hardships at home caused by shortages and inflation. The article describes a bread riot in Salisbury, where approximately 50 to 75 women carried axes and hatchets to the depot of the North Carolina Railroad and escaped with 10 barrels of flour.

Watch a dramatic reading in which an actor portrays Thomas P. Devereux, an 18-year-old Confederate soldier from Halifax County. The monologue reveals Devereux’s thoughts in winter camp as he writes a letter home to Raleigh in 1864.

Learn about the wartime experiences of Tar Heels, such as Orderly Sergeant Alfred May, the son of a prosperous Pitt County landholder; Abraham H. Galloway, a slave from Brunswick County who escaped to Canada and returned to North Carolina during the war; and Catherine Ann Devereux Edmondston, a staunch secessionist who lived on Looking Glass Plantation in Halifax County.

The online exhibit concludes with a list of resources for further investigation of Civil War topics. Find out where to look for details about specific battles, Civil War-related historic sites and museums in North Carolina and many other topics.

Visit the museum’s Web site to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges North Carolinians faced during a long and agonizing struggle, which ultimately claimed the lives of more than 40,000 North Carolinians — the most of any Southern state.

For more information, call 919-807-7900.

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