Civil War Coverage

Nikki Haley’s Civil War Uproar Risks Eroding a Moderate Coalition

Prominent Democratic donors, anxious about the increasingly authoritarian language of Donald Trump, have been calling on Democratic voters and independents to thwart the former president’s comeback by voting for Nikki Haley in open Republican primary elections.

Jonathan Weisman and Jazmine Ulloa, New York Times

'Gone forever:' Highway project could destroy Civil War battleground in NC

A proposed bypass of US Highway 70 would take up 55 acres of land, including the land of the Wyse Fork Battleground. Supporters of the bypass say it would ease traffic in and around Kinston, but historians fear the bypass would destroy the site of one of the last major battles of the Civil War.

Keenan Willard, WRAL eastern North Carolina reporter

Historians fight to save civil war battleground

Historians in eastern North Carolina are fighting to stop the state from building a highway expansion on the site of a civil war battleground.

New effort to keep Trump off ballots has roots in North Carolina and Jan. 6 attack

The 14th Amendment disqualifies anti-government insurrectionists from holding federal office. Some of Trump's opponents say it should be invoked against him because of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Conservatives say it doesn't apply to Trump.

Will Doran, WRAL state government reporter

Editorial: Political expediency gets legislative win over common sense

Tuesday, March 28, 2023 -- Anyone who might still wonder if the North Carolina General Assembly has abandoned common sense and consistency to reflexive political expedience need only look at two pieces of legislation the state House of Representatives passed last week for proof.

Should US history and government be a required college course? NC lawmakers say yes.

'They think Judge Judy is on the Supreme Court': North Carolina lawmakers propose forcing college students to pass a test on US history and government before they graduate.

Will Doran, WRAL state government reporter

NC Civil War history center will feature personal stories

Planning continues for the North Carolina History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction that will be built in Fayetteville. A meeting on Monday was one of a series to seek public opinion about what should be included in telling the story of the lives of North Carolinians affected by the conflict.

Public stories and suggestions sought for Fayetteville Civil War history center

Planning continues for the North Carolina History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction that will be built in Fayetteville.

Gilbert Baez, WRAL Fayetteville reporter

Tar Heel Traveler: Johnston County Register of Deeds Office preserves hundreds of thousands of historic records

The Johnston County Register of Deeds Office in Smithfield has land grants, real estate and miscellaneous contracts that provide records of the Civil War.

City of Fayetteville plans to allocate $6.6 million for Civil War museum

The North Carolina History Center on the Civil War, Emancipation and Reconstruction will be located on Arsenal Avenue near downtown Fayetteville.

Mark Bergin, WRAL senior multiplatform producer

Talk of ‘Civil War,’ Ignited by Mar-a-Lago Search, Is Flaring Online

Soon after the FBI searched Donald Trump’s home in Florida for classified documents, online researchers zeroed in on a worrying trend.

Ken Bensinger and Sheera Frenkel, New York Times

NC voters worry of civil war, brace for possibility of political violence

A Meredith College poll found that 61% of Republicans believe use of force may be needed to save the country from a perceived disappearing way of life.

Bryan Anderson, WRAL state government reporter

Exploring Bennett Place

Bennett Place is the historic location where Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and Union General William T. Sherman met to negotiate terms of surrender.

Tandra Wilkerson, WRAL contributor

Private Anderson: Soldier saved others by risking his own life during Battle of Fort Fisher

One of the Union Army's heroes at that battle was a Black man named Bruce Anderson. Private Anderson saved lives by risking his own and for his actions was awarded the Medal of Honor.

A Civil War-Era Time Capsule Is Opened. Inside Are More Mysteries.

After about five hours of meticulous prying and poking, the time had come Wednesday afternoon for Gov. Ralph Northam to lift the lid of a time capsule that had been hidden beneath a statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, since 1887.

Eduardo Medina, New York Times

'Boundless': A new Civil War memorial in Wilmington honors Black Union soldiers

Even though the Civil War ended six weeks later, what is now known as the Battle at Forks Road wasn't a significant turning point. What distinguishes it is that it was fought mostly by Black Union soldiers of the U.S. Colored Troops, and its stories were hidden and unrecognized for more than a century.

By Praveena Somasundaram and Elise Mahon, UNC-Chapel Hill

SC archeologists working to learn more about sunken ship

Archeologists are exploring off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, to find out more about the ship that H. L. Hunley submarine sunk during the Civil War.

Re-enactors honor the service of the United States Colored Volunteers in New Bern

It's an unusual sight: African Americans dressed in the blue uniform of Union troops, marching in public in New Bern. They are reenactors who want people to know of the bravery of the United States Colored Volunteers who served in the Civil War.

Brunswick Town: Ruins of a Colonial ghost town in North Carolina

If you've ever walked along Carolina Beach, you've been within a few miles of one of North Carolina's oldest ghost towns.

Heather Leah, WRAL multiplatform producer

NC parents upset over assignment with pro-slavery perspective

Fourth graders at Waxhaw Elementary were told to write tweets in the perspective of people who lived during the Civil War. Some students wrote statements like "slavery for life" and "slavery forever."

Parents outraged by pro-slavery Civil War assignment at NC elementary school

Fourth graders at Waxhaw Elementary were told to write tweets in the perspective of people who lived during the Civil War. On the writings: Statements like "slavery for life" and "slavery forever."

NBC Newsource

NC parents outraged at pro-slavery Civil War assignment

Parents of elementary school students in Union County, North Carolina, are expressing outrage after a pro-slavery Civil War assignment was given to fourth graders.(WCNC)

Bentonville Battlefield has intriguing story of family during Civil War

Scott Mason, our Tar Heel Traveler, takes us to the Bentonville Battlefield in Johnston County with the intriguing story, not of fighting during the Civil War but of family and a unique connection.

'Gone with the Wind' back on HBO Max with disclaimer

"Gone With the Wind" has returned to HBO Max, with a disclaimer saying the film "denies the horrors of slavery."

Backers want inclusive center to mark NC role in Civil War

Since plans were developed for the NC Civil War Reconstruction and History Center in Fayetteville, attitudes toward Civil War history have changed.