July 14, 2022 at 6:30 pm
On the afternoon of March 17, 1865 a ceremony was held at the National Hotel in downtown Washington, D.C where the garrison flag from Fort Anderson was presented to Indiana Governor Oliver P. Morton. As fate would have it, in attendance were both President Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. Booth had planned to kidnap Lincoln that day, but Lincoln changed his plans and attended the ceremony instead, thus thwarting Booth’s kidnapping attempt. This presentation will trace the route of the Fort Anderson flag; from the February 18, 1865 attack on Fort Anderson; to Wilmington; Annapolis, MD; and then to D.C.
Jim was born in Winston-Salem, NC and now lives in Southport, NC. He attended Guilford College and graduated from Greensboro College. He received his MA, History from Southern New Hampshire University. He formerly worked for the National Park Service in Fredericksburg, VA and NC Maritime Museum in Southport. He is currently the site manager at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site, on the Cape Fear River. He is a speaker, author and contributor of several articles on Archaeological, Artillery, Civil War, and Colonial subjects. He is also nationally certified in 18th and 19th century artillery.