MCAS Cherry Point

 It was such a long drive from Ft. Bragg to Cherry Point... a whopping 152 miles, give or take a couple of miles.

The RV campground on MCAS Cherry Point is called Pelican Point. The campground is only 10 years old, and very nice. The nicest part of the sites is the concrete parking pads. We arrived before the rain did, but it wasn't very far behind us. By the time I signed us in, the weather dropped about 15 degrees, and the wind kicked up.

As you can see, we got set up before the rains came. The site were fairly spacious, with plenty of room to park, without having to move the picnic table. The weather was really a crazy part of our stay. The photo of the park entrance was taken during one of the sunnier days. The rain came around for a couple of days, then the sun would come out, then rain, then ice and snow.

The ice and snow (approx. an inch) came a couple days prior to our departure, forcing us to extend our stay a day before departing. Before we left, I was out removing snow and ice. I needed to climb on a ladder to remove snow and ice from the slide roofs, so we could close them for travel.

We didn't let the weather stop us from visiting the area around us. 

One of our stops was into New Bern, North Carolina, to visit the starting place of Pepsi-Cola.

The drink was created by Caleb Bradham, and served in the pharmacy under the name Brad's Drink. In 1898 the drink was marketed as Pepsi-Cola. Before 1935, Pepsi-Cola was independently bottled. Along comes the the Minges brothers in 1923, and open the Orange Crush Bottling Company, in Greenville, North Carolina. They became bottlers for other sodas too, and in 1935, began bottling Pepsi-Cola.

To this day the Minges family still bottles Pepsi-Cola, and is the market leader, and recognized as one of Pepsi-Cola's progressive franchises. Currently the museum is in the original building serving "Brad's Drink", there is a lot more to see, but it is stored away for now.

For a little town, New Bern has a lot to see in historic downtown. The locals are proud of Mitchell Hardware, so off we went, around the block. This family owned hardware store had a little of everything, including short stories...

For those of us that like large quantities of meat, it has a happy ending. After our stroll through the hardware store, we headed to lunch. Again we relied on the local folks as to a good eatery, they recommended Morgan's Tavern and Grill. The goal of this tavern/grill is to serve great food, in a casual and comfortable atmosphere, they succeeded.  The building began its life in 1912, as the New Bern Garage Company, Inc. The Garage Company sold Buicks, Hudsons, and Henderson motorcycles.

Carol and I entered through the door at the left, and walked down a hallway to the reservation desk. The dining area is on two levels. We sat down and looked the menu over, they have some interesting items on the menu. We ordered their Tavern Beer Cheese Dip as an appetizer. The beer is their local brew. I had their Hamburger Steak and Onions, Carol had their Shrimp and Fries. We got a kick out of their menu too, on the back was patronage to the four-legged customers.

The menu offered main courses like salmon with brown rice and raw broccoli, for dessert they offer an ice cream scoop w/milk bone. As long as your pet is of drinking age, they will be served, however, only horses will be served beer. As their menu says "walk up with your horse, and get a free beer".

From lunch we headed to the battle grounds of the Battle of New Bern. In the beginning, the late 1700s to early 1800s, the town was a diverse town. Free blacks owned businesses as well as whites, and yes, there were slaves too. 

Let's talk slaves and slave owners. Most people in today's culture believe that only whites owned slaves, that wasn't true back in the day. One such man was John C. Stanly, a slave,  whose mother was black, father a white slave owner. While a slave he opened a barber shop, at age 21 his owner made him a free man. His business was so good that he bought two slaves to help in the business. Those were not the only slaves he bought though, many were family members, which he in turn freed, an act called manumitting. He still had slaves to run his business and farm his fields. He was only one of many freed black slaves that owned slaves. Stanly owned over 160 slaves, making him the largest slave owner in the New Bern region, and North Carolina.

So why was New Bern important? It maintained its prominence in a growing nation's affairs. Before the Civil War, New Bern was part of the West Indies Trade Triangle. Its rich naval stores, and proximity to the National Road kept it linked to the national economy.

Now we come back to the story of the battlefield. On 13 March, 1862, Union General Burnside made his way from a victory at Roanoke to New Bern... his goal was to capture the city... and he did.

The gallant effort of the Confederate forces could not hold off the Union, largely because of the difference in troop sizes.

Part of the battle took place around these very railroad tracks, which were vital to the Confederates survival. One thing this picture does not show are the earthworks created on both sides of the line, we will see them later. The

battlefield is a self guided walking tour, with many signs to explain the troop locations and actions. The screen shot on the left is the area in the photo above. As you might be able to see, Colonel Avery's forces were in a bad way. Confederate forces were being surrounded, and forced to pull back from Redans 1 and 3. 

FACT: a redan is an arrow-shaped embankment forming part of a fortification. 

Avery's men fought their way through the heavy underbrush,

and into a clearing, only to find themselves staring at Union forces. A Union officer rode to Colonel Avery and demanded his surrender, or the artillery would rain upon them. Colonel Avery and his 150 men from the 26th and 33rd North Carolina laid down their weapons. This wasn't the only piece of the battle, the battle was also found across the marsh/water.

Fighting conditions are never desirable, and I would guess that it was no different for these forces, keep in mind that the weather was probably cold, or muggy with bugs everywhere. While the Union was beating up on the Confederates on the railroad side, the Union was sending volleys over from the other side of the marsh/water. Once Burnside arrived on the scene, he sent some of the forces on the railroad side to help with attacking forces on the other side of the marsh.

The marsh is not a river, it is only about a foot deep, and deep enough to breed mosquitoes... I'm glad we were there in the winter.

The Confederates put some thought into protecting their positions. During the time of the Civil War, earthworks fell into three classifications: breastworks, redans, and lunettes. 

Beastwork

Redan

Lunette

There are remnants of these fortifications throughout the battlefield. 

As bad as war is, there are always shining moments and people. Something that is seldom mentioned is the immigrants that fought for this country. One shining star in the "Battle of New Bern" was a young women, Kady Brownell, the wife of a sergeant in the 5th Rhode Island. Kady was born in South Africa, the daughter of a Scotsman serving in the British army. At the beginning of the war she petitioned the Army to follow her husband into battle. She fought alongside her husband at the battles of First Bull Run, and Roanoke Island. In these two battles she was given the honor of carrying the regimental colors. Here comes the shining moment... during an early engagement she saved the regiment from "friendly fire". She rushed out waving the regimental colors, saving many lives. As the battles intensified, the officers were concerned for her safety, so they wouldn't let her carry the colors anymore. Kady stayed in the woods treating the wounded. She continued to function as a nurse treating injured soldiers. Eventually her husband was injured and medically discharged. The Congress did make a smart decision, they authorized her a pension. Kady Brownell remained a legend throughout the Civil War.

Another shining star was an immigrant from Malta. This young man, Pvt. Orlando E. Caruana, received the Medal of Honor for actions in two separate engagements. 14 March 1862, the engagement at New Bern between the 51st New York and the Confederates which did not go well for the 51st NY. As Union Colonel Ferrero withdrew his forces, they took major casualties. Here comes the shining moment... the chaplain and several officers were killed, the color sergeant was shot. Pvt. Caruana went back under heavy fire to retrieve the color sergeant and the colors. The second half of his Medal of Honor was because of his actions at South Mountain in Maryland. He and three other soldiers volunteered to scope out the position of the enemy... only one came back, Pvt. Caruana... who provided the position of the enemy. He did not receive his Medal of Honor until November of 1890.

Through the battlefield, and the battle of ice, we will move on down the road. For sticking with it, you have received the Pepsi-Cola pin too.

See you down the road.