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Release time: 2021-12-05 07:06:00 Update time: 2021-12-05 07:06:08
Published on December 5, 2021 at 7:06 a.m. Eastern Standard Time
Authors: Praveena Somasundaram and Elise Mahon, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Wilmington, North Carolina — February 20, 1865, on the eve of the end of the Civil War, Union soldiers were sent to Fox Road, south of Wilmington, to meet with the Confederate Army. They intend to occupy Wilmington.
1,600 Union soldiers lacking supplies and gunboat support confronted 8,500 Confederate troops in the swamp. For two days, the soldiers fought cruelly.
But later on February 21st, Union soldiers saw smoke billowing from Wilmington. It is reported that the Allies are planning to abandon their strongholds. The Union soldiers charged forward, fighting more enthusiastically than the day before.
Before dawn the next day, the Confederate army retreated. But the federal army is facing serious losses, as they did in many small civil wars.
Although the Civil War ended in six weeks, the now-known Battle of Fox Road was not an important turning point. The difference is that it is mainly fought by the black Union soldiers of the American forces of color. Its story has been hidden for more than a century and no one knows.
Josiah Bennetone sat as much as possible.
He breathed slowly through his nose and closed his eyes so as not to mess up the plaster gauze on his face.
Bennetone, 37 years old, is a descendant of a soldier of the United States Army of Color. But for 27 years, he did not know the complete history of his ancestors who grew up in Wilmington.
Ten years ago, Sonya Patrick, Bennetone's mother and leader of Black Lives Matter Wilmington, told him that all four of his relatives had fought in the USCT regiment-his great-great-grandfather Pvt. Henry Williams, great-great-great-grandfather , Cpl. David Jackson and great great grandfather, Cpl. Dennis Perkins and Cpl. James Perkins.
Now, 156 years after the Battle of Fox Road, Bennettone’s casting is part of Wilmington’s first physical memorial to honor USCT soldiers, which was opened at the Cameron Museum of Art on November 13.
This monument is a sculpture called "Boundless", with 11 life-size figures-a flag bearer, drummer and three rows of soldiers, their arms connected.
Next month, the name of 1,820 USCT will be engraved on the sculpture to commemorate all the black soldiers who fought in the Battle of Fox Road.
Bennetone was quiet when sitting on his casting, leaving him alone to think about the soldier-and his ancestors-sacrifice and bravery.
"They are not free, but they are still fighting for freedom, and this is what they don't have," he said. "It reminds me to always do something greater than myself."
The history of these forces and Bennetone's ancestors has been lost for more than a century-until a historian discovered it in the 1980s.
On April 29, 1980, 22 years before the relocation of the Cameron Art Museum to the historical site of the Battle of Fox Road, Chris Fonvielle Jr. and the late World War II veteran Robert Tredwell ( Robert Treadwell) visited the site together.
At the time, Fonvielle was the curator of Blockade Runners at the Federal Museum in Carolina Beach. Treadwell, a local history buff, didn't know what happened at the scene. But a few years ago, he found some artifacts in the area, including fragments of artillery shells.
The local historian and UNC-Wilmington professor told Fonvielle that there was no fighting there. However, Fonvielle, 68, cannot ignore how he felt when he first visited the site.
"I know there are many more stories," he said.
In the following years, Fonvielle discovered lead and iron cans fired by artillery, and fired bullets used during the Civil War. He also found brass buttons and belt pieces on his uniform.
All of this proves that there was a battle—a battle, and because he discovered it, Fonvielle named it "War of the Crossroads".
In February 2020, he published the book "The Glory of Wilmington: The Battle of Fox Road", revealing the details of a battle that has been forgotten for more than a century.
"After years of excavation and research, I have come to the conclusion that the Battle of Fox Road was a relatively small conflict, with relatively few casualties on both sides, and had no significant impact on the final result of this road," von Willer Write.
He also discovered that the battle was mainly fought by soldiers of the American forces of color.
Although Fonvielle has been working for decades to help tell the story of Wilmington USCT, there is still work to be done-a job he could not accomplish as a white historian.
"I can never really explain the African American experience," he said. "I just can't do it."
When Fonvielle's book was published, the United States was on the verge of renewing attention to the "Black People's Fate" movement and the discriminatory treatment of black Americans. Last month, journalist David Zucchino published his book "The Lies of Wilmington," about the rise of white supremacy and the 1898 coup in Wilmington.
In June 2020, two monuments in downtown Wilmington were demolished overnight. One commemorated George Davis, the Confederate statesman, and the other commemorated two Confederate soldiers.
At the same time, North Carolina artist Stephen Hayes is making this sculpture to commemorate USCT soldiers.
"For my artwork, I try to change the way people or the media think about people who look like me," Hayes said.
"Boundless" is five miles from where the two Confederate monuments once stood.
For 13 years, Heather Wilson has had a conversation in his mind.
Wilson, the deputy curator of the Cameron Museum of Art, once talked to a member of the North Carolina State Council of Arts about her biggest dream for the museum-bridging the gap between her work and the historic site of the Battle of Fox Road.
When the museum moved to its current location in the early 2000s, it had become the steward of the site. Although Wilson and her colleagues knew the story of the battle from Von Vier's work, they were not sure how to commemorate this period of history and where they could find resources to do so.
In 2019, the Cameron Museum of Art received funding from the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation to fund a physical artwork to commemorate the USCT soldiers on the land where they fought. The foundation supports public art that helps to share the untold stories of the people and events of North Carolina.
"Not many people know this story," Wilson said. "We think this is very important and vital to our community."
When Wilson and her colleagues looked for an artist to commission, one name they kept hearing was Duke University professor Stephen Hayes.
This opportunity matches Hayes' goal of most of the works of art depicting the experience of black people.
For "Borderless", Hayes selected repeat actors, veterans, community leaders, and USCT descendants to blend into their history and connect them to the sculpture.
"Getting offspring is more about connecting the past and the present," Hayes said. "I want to get the characteristics of these people because they have the same characteristics as their grandfather and are still thinking about today and how this battle still applies today."
Hayes met with 18 people at the museum for a whole day.
When talking to them during the casting process, Hayes said that some people felt that they were not worthy of being part of the sculpture. But when they finished casting, they were grateful that it was an opportunity to represent their ancestors in "Boundlessness".
"After all, their grandchildren will come here, and they will say,'Oh, that's my grandfather' or'That's my great uncle,'" Hayes said. "He is part of this monument. It represents the army of colored people that came here through Wilmington."
For Bennetone, the sculpture and his castings are an opportunity to bring the forgotten history of USCT back to life.
He said: "We have some visual things to truly preserve this heritage and keep this memory alive." "This is a powerful thing."
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