Four Oaks, South Carolina

Harper House

July 15, 2014 We are camped in Four Oaks RV Resort, Four Oaks, North Carolina. We arrived here yesterday from Columbia, South Carolina. Arrived here after one of our longest drives in a while, just over 200 miles. No Problems! Jump for joy!
Today we visited Bentonville Battlefield Historical Site, the site of the biggest and bloodiest battle fought in North Carolina in and around the 8,000 acre Smithfield Plantation. The battles raged from March 19th  to the 21st, 1865. Harper House, a farm house occupied by the Confederate Army for a field hospital, and the surrounding area are part of a North Carolina Historical Site. At that site over 350 confederate soldiers were buried, many of whom have been moved. We walked to see the earthen-work trenches dug by the Michigan Engineers as a fall back line for the Union troops and although the trenches were manned they never saw use in the battle. As there was a storm approaching the woods we hiked through were still, humid and buggy. There is a driving tour which gives you a picture of the scope of the battles fought and the lives lost.

Harper House, Kitchen cabin, and well

Field Surgery

 The small cabin in the pic to the left is the kitchen, located outside the home for safety from fire. The well is original, dug to 35 feet but the water table is 6 foot down. Harper House was owned by the Harper family, parents and 9 living children, lived in the home before it was commandeered by the troops. The family was relegated to the upstairs of the house as it was unusable for the hospital because of the curving staircase a litter bearing the wounded couldn't make the curve. Fourteen people survived the ordeal upstairs; the eleven Harper's, and 3 slaves.

Memorials to the Fallen