Battlefield Merchant / Bentonville Battleground

Fair Oaks Sutler / Bentonville Battleground, North Carolina

Dennis D. Boettcher, proprietor of Fair Oaks Sutler, followed Civil War reenactors to the 140th anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville.

Fought March 19-21, 1865, the Battle of Bentonville was the last major engagement of the Civil War and the largest battle ever on North Carolina soil. Fewer than 15,000 Confederate troops faced a Union force of 60,000, led by Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman.

Less than a month later, the horrible war ended with Lee's surrender at Appomatox, Virginia.

During the Civil War, sutlers were traveling merchants who followed the troops about the countryside. Sutlers sold garments, matches, tobacco and other necessities not issued by the Army. Sometimes, Dennis Boettcher says, sutlers even provided a nip of whiskey for thirsty troops.

Fair Oaks Sutler, of Spotsylvania, Virginia, was one of many merchants who journeyed to rural Johnston County, NC., for the Battle of Bentonville reenactment, which is held every five years.

Hundreds of reenactors participated, recreating some of the sights and sounds of 1865. This time, however, the meeting of the Blue and the Gray was bloodless.

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USA-Canada / USA-North Carolina

Lat: 35° 20' 50" N
Long: 79° 20' 6" W

Elevation: low and swampy

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Fuji S2; Nikkor 10.5 mm; Manfrotto 303 SPH head; Photoshop CS; PTMac; CubicConverter.