KINSTON, N.C. – Lt. Frances Lyell Hoge served as the Executive Officer aboard the CSS Neuse from February 1864 through the end of the Civil War but lived a life much larger than his brief time in Kinston. Based on research conducted by NC Historic Sites Education & Interpretation Supervisor Andrew Duppstadt, this temporary exhibit explores Hoge’s life from his education at the United States Naval Academy to his career as a civil engineer in Wheeling, West Virginia after the Civil War. The new temporary exhibit, which includes numerous artifacts on loan from Hoge descendants, will be unveiled at the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center in downtown Kinston on Saturday, September 4. The official exhibit unveiling will take place at 10:00 a.m. Visitors will also have a chance to hear more about Hoge’s life during a presentation by the curator at 10:30 a.m. and again at 1:30 p.m. Reprints of Duppstadt’s article about Hoge, published in Fall 2019 in Civil War Navy, the Magazine will be available for sale in the museum’s gift shop.

Remember your 3 Ws!

WEAR - Wear a cloth mask over your nose and mouth.

WAIT - Wait 6 feet apart. Avoid close contact.

WASH - Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer.

The CSS Neuse is the only remaining commissioned Confederate ironclad above water. It was part of a new technology that the Confederacy used to combat the superior manpower and firepower of the Union Navy. Learn about this technological advance and warfare in eastern North Carolina at the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center. The Confederate Navy launched the CSS Neuse hoping to gain control of the lower Neuse River and New Bern, but ultimately destroyed the vessel to keep it out of Union hands

The Governor Richard Caswell Memorial is located at 2612 West Vernon Avenue, Kinston, NC 28504. 

For additional information, please call the site at (252) 526-9600 x222. The CSS Neuse Center and the Richard Caswell Memorial are within the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.