Bentonville Battlefield to hold annual fall festival
By Staff Reports
Published in News on October 22, 2017 1:45 AM
FOUR OAKS -- Take a ride on a wagon around the historic Harper House at Bentonville Battlefield's annual fall festival Oct. 28.
The program is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., but are subject to change without notice.
The program will include demonstrations by costumed interpreters and a festival atmosphere that will offer wagon rides provided by End of the Drive Mule Farm, carnival games, corn shucking contest, town ball, crafts, pumpkin hunt, and more.
Near the Harper House, historic interpreters will demonstrate the daily life of women and children.
Get a glimpse of their everyday tasks such as open hearth cooking, spinning and knitting. Visitors will be able to speak to the interpreters about how shortages affected their lives and what substitutions were made during the years of the Civil War.
Though admission for most games and activities are free, wagon rides will cost $2 each, children 5 and under are free.
The Southern Snack Shack will be selling concessions. Everyone is invited to join in a game of town ball, a form of baseball that was played during 19th century community gatherings.
The Battle of Bentonville, fought March 19-21, 1865, involved 80,000 troops and was the last Confederate offensive against Union Gen. William T. Sherman. Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site interprets the battle and the hospital, where many Confederates were left in the aftermath.
The site is located at 5466 Harper House Road, Four Oaks, three miles north of Newton Grove on S.R. 1008.
For more information, visit or call 910-594-0789.
Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site is part of the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
The department is the state agency with a vision to be the leader in using the state's natural and cultural resources to build the social, cultural, educational and economic future of North Carolina.
Its mission is to improve the quality of life in our state by creating opportunities to experience excellence in the arts, history, libraries and nature in North Carolina by stimulating learning, inspiring creativity, preserving the state's history, conserving the state's natural heritage, encouraging recreation and cultural tourism, and promoting economic development.
The department includes 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, two science museums, three aquariums and Jennette's Pier, 39 state parks and recreation areas, the N.C. Zoo, the nation's first state-supported Symphony Orchestra, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, State Preservation Office and the Office of State Archaeology, along with the Division of Land and Water Stewardship.
For more information, call 919-807-7300 or visit www.ncdcr.gov.