Tickets still available for largest Civil War re-enactment in NC

Advance tickets for North Carolina’s largest Civil War re-enactment, the 145th anniversary of the Battle of Bentonville slated for March 20-21, 2010, are still available, but organizers report that tickets are selling at more than twice the rate of prior years.

Tickets purchased in advance of March 1, 2010, are $8 for adults and $4 for children ages 7-12. After March 1, tickets will be $10 for adults and $5 for children. Children 6 and under attend free. The battle scenarios on Saturday and Sunday are the only events that require tickets. All other activities at the anniversary event — lectures, house tours, demonstrations and more — are free to the public.

“We expect more than 3,500 re-enactors and 30,000 spectators,” said Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site Manager Donny Taylor. “There are two battles and military and civilian encampments, plus unique educational programs.”

Bentonville Battlefield is the largest Civil War Battlefield in the state and the site of the only full-scale offensive battle to stop General William T. Sherman’s March north from Savannah, Ga. This was one of the last major battles fought during the Civil War, with over 80,000 troops engaged covering 6,000 acres of farm land in Eastern North Carolina.

The 2010 event is being sponsored by the Bentonville Battlefield Historical Association Inc. (BBHA), the Johnston County Visitors Bureau, The Civil War Preservation Trust, and the N.C. Division of Historic Sites and Properties, a division of the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources. All proceeds from ticket sales benefit battlefield interpretation and preservation.

Tickets can be purchased by visiting the online store at www.bentonvillebattlefield.com. Tickets can also be purchased by mailing a check to: Bentonville 145th Event Tickets, P.O. Box 432, Newton Grove, NC 28366. Checks should be payable to the BBHA. Any remaining tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis the weekend of the event.

The battlefield is located three miles north of Newton Grove on U.S. 701 and then three miles east on S.R. 1008. For more information, call (910) 594-0789 or visit the Web site at www.nchistoricsites.org/bentonvi/bentonvi.htm.

Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site is an agency of the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, the state agency dedicated to the promotion and protection of North Carolina’s arts, history and culture through such programs as “Treasure N.C. Culture,” a yearlong celebration that showcases North Carolina’s culture and heritage. For more information, visit www.ncculture.com.

Information from the news release sent to the WWAY NewsChannel 3 Newsroom.