Bennett Place Historical Site

As I stated in a previous short post, it rained all night Saturday and most of Sunday.  Then the rain turned to sleet, then it got very quiet as the snow began to fall.  The snow didn't last long but apparently caused havoc on early commuters Monday morning as we heard of numerous accidents.  Schools were delayed two hours and by noon, the snow was pretty much gone!

Taken out the window when it first started.

After my appointment on Tuesday, we decided to visit the Bennett Place Historical Site.  We had seen the signs and wondered exactly what it was.

As it turns out, the Bennett Place was the site of the largest Confederate surrender of the Civil War.   We stopped at the Visitor Center where we saw a film, along with displays from the era.  Then we stepped outside and back in time.  

The simple farmhouse belonged to James and Nancy Bennett and was situated between Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston's headquarters in Greensboro and Union General William T. Sherman's headquarters in Raleigh.  On April 17, 1865, General Joseph E. Johnson and Major General William T. Sherman met at the farm house of James and Nancy Bennett to begin negotiations of the terms of surrender for all troops still fighting in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.  

Their negotiations would continue on April 18th and were finalized on April 26, 1865.  As a result of this peace treaty, 89,270 Confederate soldiers laid down their arms and returned home.  As I mentioned, this was the largest surrender of the American Civil War.  

This is actually a portion of the original Hillsborough Road, which connected Hillsborough from the West to Raleigh in the East, and the road the two generals traveled to meet at the Bennett farm.  Awesome to think about it actually being part of the road they traveled.

Although efforts were made to preserve the Bennett house, a mysterious fire destroyed the house in 1921.  The house that stands in its spot today was built in 1840 and belonged to the Proctor family, who lived 4 miles from the Bennett farm.  In 1960, this house was moved and placed on the original foundation of the Bennett house site.  

The rock fireplace is the only surviving artifact of this landmark.

We couldn't go inside, but we were able to look in the windows.

We learned from the film that the Bennett family left the main house and went  to the kitchen house to allow the two Generals to talk.  The kitchen was a separate building because of the intense heat and frequent fires that often occurred in the kitchens.

A lot of lives were lost during the Civil War -- more than 625,000.  We enjoyed seeing a small part of history and learning about one of the significant steps in reuniting the country.

Today was my last day of regular radiation.  Tomorrow I will start eight days of the "boost," where the radiation will exclusively target the area where the tumor was.  That means that after this week, I have one full week and one day left.  We are so excited to be near the end -- the six weeks have flown by.  Thanks to all of you who have prayed for me and encouraged us during this time.  We have committed to a workamper job in Cherokee, North Carolina, for the Summer and are looking forward to checking out the Smoky Mountain area.

Thanks for stopping by -- May God bless each of you and keep you safe!