North Carolina: War-Time History

Approaching the Civil War, North Carolina set up a system of government to meet the needs of the people. There was much division in the state regarding secession, so the final decision was that North Carolina would not secede, but would reverse the act which made them part of the Union. It was the last state to leave the Union. Historic Civil War events in North Carolina include:

 

·        The Battle of Bentonville, March 19-21, 1865:  This was the bloodiest battle in North Carolina. Confederate soldiers were defeated by the Union troops.

·        Surrender at Bennett Place, April 26, 1865: At the home of James and Nancy Bennitt, outside of Durham, the largest Confederate surrender of the entire Civil War occurred.

·        May 6, 1865: The last Confederate troops in North Carolina surrender. 

The state of North Carolina suffered the largest number of deaths from the war. Then in 1868, the state was readmitted to the Union. After such loss in the war, the state did experience a lift when one of their own, Andrew Johnson, was elected to be the seventeenth President of the United States.

 

Another highlight for North Carolina was the first flight of the airplane by Orville and Wilbur Wright. But then, war begins again as the United States enters World War I in 1917. The main influence the United States’ involvement in World War I had on North Carolina was the development of Fort Bragg.

 

·        127,000 acres of North Carolina were turned into a key field artillery site on August 21, 1918

·        The site was named after Confederate General Braxton Bragg who was a native North Carolinian and a former artillery officer.

·        After 22 years of existence, the post had only 5,400 soldiers. However, with World War II looming, the post grew to 67,000 soldiers in only one year!

·        In 1942, the first airborne units were trained here. The 82^nd airborne was assigned here, and Ft. Bragg became known as the “home of the airborne.”

·        Today, Fort Bragg, with neighboring Pope Air Force Base, forms one of the largest military sites in the world.

 

Next, North Carolina experienced pains of the United States’ “war within”- the Civil Rights Movement. Greensboro, North Carolina became the home of the first sit-in to protest segregation at a lunch restaurant. This initiated sit-ins across the United States.

 

Finally, North Carolina participated in Viet Nam through the efforts of Fort Bragg.