"Pied Piper of History" Dinner and Lecture

Edwin C. Bearss, Head Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service and a Marine wounded in World War II, now affectionately called the “Pied Piper of History,” will speak at the Duplin Winery November 16 and 17 as a fundraiser for commemorating the Confederate States Armory, known locally as the “Kenansville Sword Factory.” You will recognize Ed from the Ken Burns Civil War series, the Smithsonian’s Great Battles of the Civil War, and his many publications. The Civil War Preservation Trust gives the “Ed Bearss Award” to recognize achievements in historic preservation. He speaks and leads tours all over the country and world and was among those responsible for raising/restoring the Union gunboat Cairo. He asked me once where I grew up. “Oh, yes,” he said, “the Yankees burned the depot in Warsaw.” He is well aware that Gettysburg, Vicksburg, and the destruction of the Sword Factory were concomitant.

Ed will speak on Civil War raids in eastern North Carolina, with different foci for the two nights: Monday, 16 November, Terry’s push through Duplin; Tuesday, 17 November, Foster’s attacks on Warsaw and Kenansville. Co-Sponsors are the Duplin Winery (505 North Sycamore Street, Rose Hill; www.duplinwinery.com) and The Confederate States Armory Sword Factory Foundation, with assistance from the North Carolina History Project/John Locke Foundation. Each event opens with a tour of the Duplin Winery and a wine tasting (4:00-5:00); a reception and book signing (5:00-6:30), with Duplin native Jane Veach Cooper at the harp; dinner in the Bistro Restaurant (6:30); and the Bearss address (7:30). The featured works at the book signing, though others will be available, are John W. McAden, Jr., and (Dr.) Chris E. Fonvielle, Jr.’s Louis Froelich, Arms-Maker to the Confederacy and Duplin native (Dr.) Lynn Veach Sadler’s Hearts Divided: Poems of the Civil War. The latter will be officially launched at these events, with all proceeds going to the Armory cause. Bearss (along with Roy Parker, Jr., military columnist for The Fayetteville Observer) has endorsed the Sadler book.

Reservations are due the Duplin Winery by November 9 (1.800.774.9634 or 1.910.289.3888). Each event is $40 per person, with a reduction to $70 per person for attending both nights. The Monday, 11/16, dinner is chicken; the Tuesday, 11/17, pork. One glass of wine is provided with dinner (two additional glasses @ $3.00 each). Send checks in favor of the Duplin Winery to P.O. Box 756, Rose Hill, NC 28458.