Know Your Park:  The Civil War on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands

Date: February 8, 2011
Contact: Cyndy Holda, 252-473-2111  Ext. 148

The National Park Service Outer Banks Group Know Your Park citizen science program series continues this winter with a presentation from Civil War historian Drew Pullen on Monday, February 28^th at the Fessenden Center in Buxton at 7:30 p.m. and on Tuesday, March 1^st at the Ocracoke Community Center at 7:30 p.m. The program is free and will last approximately 1 hour.

Civil War activities on Hatteras and Ocracoke Islands are a timely topic as the sesquicentennial (150 year anniversary) of these events is fast approaching. Some of these activities are important "firsts" during the Civil War, including:

* July 10, 1861 -The first hostile shots fired by the U.S. Navy at Southern-held territory on the oceanfront—The side-wheel steamer-boat Harriet Lane shelled Fort Hatteras and Fort Clark at Hatteras Inlet;

* July 21, 1861 – The first true naval engagement—The USS Albatross fought the North Carolina steamer Beaufort off Oregon Inlet;

* August 28, 1861 – The first amphibious landing – Union troops came ashore to capture Fort Hatteras;

October 1, 1861 – The first capture of a United States vessel—Confederate forces captured the Union tug Fannyin the Pamlico Sound; and

* November 18, 1861 – The first provisional Unionist government within a seceded state—Formed at Hatteras, it consisted of two men and did not last long.

Mr. Pullen is the author of two books on the Civil War, Portrait of the Past: The Civil War On Hatteras Island, North Carolina and Portrait of the Past: The Civil War On Roanoke Island, North Carolina.

The Know Your Park citizen science program series is designed to further connect the Outer Banks communities and residents with the rich natural world and cultural heritage of their neighboring National Park sites; Cape Hatteras National Seashore, Wright Brothers National Memorial and Fort Raleigh National Historic Site. "These presentations offer park visitors as well as local residents an opportunity to learn more about, and better enjoy, the coastal environment and their National Parks" stated Mike Murray, Superintendent, Outer Banks Group.