"…in a shanty I have constructed of planks, logs, and sand:" Final Interpretations for the "Peace-ful" Investigations of Temporary Civil War Barracks at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site

Summary

Constructed in 1862 over the ruins of the Colonial port of Brunswick, Fort Anderson was part of the Confederate coastal defense network designed to protect Wilmington, North Carolina.  Early archaeological work in the 1950s documented the presence of Civil War-era chimney falls comprised of recycled colonial bricks and ballast stones in an undeveloped, wooded area of the public historic site.  Archaeological investigations undertaken within this area by the 2009 and 2011 William Peace University archaeological field schools were designed to provide interpretive data for the site’s Civil War sesquicentennial commemorations.  This presentation details the interpretive results of these architectural and archaeological features as rudimentary barracks quickly constructed by Confederate forces in January 1865, hastily abandoned in February, immediately reoccupied briefly by Federal troops, and possibly then by formerly enslaved African-American refugees.  In particular, it explores the promise and challenge of identifying particular barracks design and specific personnel associated with them.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Off the Public Walkways: Expanding Interpretations of a a Colonial Era Town and Civil War Fort at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 631