Wyse Fork Battlefield preservation needs your support
Please join with us and help save the integrity of this historic battlefield!
The Wyse Fork Battlefield is endangered because of planned highway construction. The NC Depart of Transportation wants to run the new highway 70 bypass with interchange through the heart of the battlefield where the heat of the battle took place. There is another route that could be used that is much cheaper and .2 mile shorter. Please help support a change in the route and the preservation of the Wyse Fork Battlefield.
THE UNITED STATES CONGRESS established the Civil War Sites Advisory Commission in 1991. The Commission was to identify significant Civil War sites. The primary battlefield findings were some 10,500-armed conflicts occurred during the Civil War ranging from battles to minor skirmishes; only 384 conflicts (3.7 percent) were identified as the principal battles of historic significance. The Battle of Wyse Fork and the First Battle of Kinston battlefields in Lenoir County North Carolina are among those recognized by Congress as significantly historic and worth saving.
The Wyse Fork Battle was a part of the Carolina Campaign occurring in March 1865. There were 20,500 forces engaged in battle. Estimated casualties were 2800. Kinston has a population of about 20,000 people. Just imagine every single person in Kinston out in the Wyse Fork Community in battle. This helps give you an idea of the number of lives that were involved not to mention the people that lived in the area.There is wide interest in saving the Wyse Fork battlefield. The Historical Preservation Group joined others in efforts to preserve the Wyse Fork Battlefield from the new Highway 70 bypass plan. That plan is going through and destroying landscape of a strategic part of the battlefield where a major part of the fighting took place. Not only that but a mass burial site is in this part of the battleground.
THE HISTORICAL PRESERVATION GROUP is the proud owner of about 56 acres of the Wyse Fork Civil War Battlefield. The 56 acreages include part of defensive earthworks and line along Southwest Creek. The earthworks at that site are now and forever being preserved in their pristine condition. The 56 acres contains the area where the 15th Connecticut was disarmed after the last mass capture of Union troops during the Civil War. The Wyse Fork Battle was the third largest battle in North Carolina.
This battlefield like many across this country had many soldiers on both sides to die or be wounded. Many soldiers were emotionally scarred for life. Like other battles of the Civil War the sacrifices and action made by these men helped to end slavery and for the first time showed the world that our country was a growing force in the world. This hallowed ground is truly worthy of saving. It is important that a tangible piece of our history should be remembered and preserved. It is an important teaching tool for students and others to learn about our history.
It is important that the state should have a sense of pride for having a part in preserving American history that helped mold the United States of America into the greatest nation on earth. It is an honorable and noble action by landowners and the state to revere an American Battlefield.
The purchase of Wyse Fork property by the Historical Preservation Group was made possible through a grant from the LAND AND WATER CONSERVATION FUND FROM THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, with matching funds from the CENTER FOR CIVIL WAR LIVING HISTORY.
THE AMERICAN BATTLEFIELD TRUST sent representatives to Lenoir County when efforts were beginning to preserve the Wyse Fork Battlefield and through the years have been supportive of its preservation. They provided funding for the Historical Preservation Group to aid in battlefield preservation. They have listed Wyse Fork among the most endangered battlefields. They provided the funding for A Lenoir County Civil War Cultural Resource Survey that has been completed. The survey is a report that documents the Civil War history pertaining to the battle and many other aspects of the Civil War in Lenoir County. The Survey was conducted by the noted historical research group, MUDPUPPY AND WATERDOG CONSULTING GROUP
Members of the LONDON CIVIL WAR ROUND TABLE of Great Britain after visiting Lenoir County donated financially to support the effort to preserve Lenoir County Battlefields and wrote of the Lenoir County battles in their magazine.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES found that the Wyse Fork battlefield is significant to the history of the Civil War and it deserves its place on the National Register of Historic Places. Thanks to DR. LYLE HOLLAND, Chairman of the LENOIR COUNTY BATTLEFIELD COMMISSION for making this happen.
CIVIL WAR TRAILS, INC. When Civil War Trails first came into North Carolina leaders from the Historical Preservation Group were a part of the committee that help make the Civil War Trails in NC a reality. The Civil War Markers on the Wyse Fork Battlefield were among the first in the state. Some of these markers will be removed and the story left untold if DOT uses the route they have selected.
KINSTON/LENOIR COUNTY VISTORS CENTER: A Wyse Fork Battlefield Driving Tour Brochure can be picked up at the Kinston/Lenoir County Visitors Center at the intersection of Hwy. 70 South and Hwy. 258. Kinston, NC. The new planned bypass route will make the brochure obsolete because one of the most important markers telling the story of that location will be removed and the battlefield map no longer accurate.
DR. LAWRENCE BABIT, PHD, a renowned historian and archeologist has written a long and informative article about the Wyse Fork Battle and the need for preservation of that battlefield in the June issue of Civil War News.
A PRIVATE GROUP OF CITIZENS raised $9000 to place a monument on the section of the battlefield where the worse fighting took place and the most lives were lost. If DOT present plan takes place this monument will be removed and the story of that site will go untold. At the present time you can visit this monument if you go to the Wyse Fork intersection. Pull over to the right of the store near the highway and you will see it and a Civil War Trails marker.
WYSE FORK HISTORIAN DENNIS HARPER has garnered many supporters across the country to save the Wyse Fork Battlefield though Face Book. See FACE BOOK PAGE, SAVE THE WYSE FORK BATTLEFIELD.
There have been many interesting articles and books written about the Wyse Fork Battle providing much information about what took place during that 3 and ½ days of fighting. It was a battle driven by the Confederate efforts to delay the Federal troops from joining up with Gen. Sherman’s army. The outcome of the battle was a Union win; however, the confederates achieved their goal of delaying the Union troops by 3 and a 1/2 days.
As you have read in this article there is much support from many organizations and individuals who want the battlefield preserved. However, DOT continues with their present plans.
Please let DOT and your NC General Assembly members know in order to preserve the battlefield integrity, you want the present planned route that goes through the heart of the Wyse Fork Battlefield be changed to one of the other alternate routes that have been studied. For more information, please contact: Dennis Harper 252 468 8318.
Jane Phillips, Past President Historical Preservation Group, Kinston, North Carolina June 12, 2022
