Goldsborough Bridge Battlefield

Regular reader and fellow lawyer Randy Sauls, who lives in Goldsboro, NC, is the founder of the Goldsborough Bridge Battlefield Association. Randy has every reason in the world to be extremely proud of himself and of his organization.

In December 1862, Union General John G. Foster led 12,000 Union soldiers on a foray out of New Bern intended to destroy a vital railroad bridge over the Neuse River. 2,000 Confederate defenders awaited them. On December 17, 1862, the action occurred. Although Clingman’s Confederates fought valiantly and delayed Foster’s advance, the vastly larger Union force evetually overpowered the Southern defenders and the bridge was burned. Foster then returned to New Bern on December 20. The bridge was rebuilt within a matter of a few days and the railroad restored to service.

The battlefield languished for decades. About ten years ago, the county acquired 32 acres of the battlefield, and Randy and his group raised money and spent years developing those 32 acres into a nice little battlefield park. Randy sent along photos, and it appears that he and his group have done a first rate job of it. Their battlefield park was dedicated on December 13. The park features a Civil War Trails marker, four other interpretive markers, a restored fence lines, a walking trail, and a gravel parking lot. This project, accomplished with private dollars, clearly was a labor of love for Randy and his merry band. My friend Wade Sokolosky’s Confederate ancestor was killed in action during this fight, and Wade–a lieutenant colonel on active duty in the United States Army–was present in the uniform of a Confederate private.

Randy invited me to the dedication ceremony, and I would have loved to have made it. However, it was just a few days after Susan’s knee surgery, and I would not have felt comfortable leaving her under the circumstances. Consequently, I reluctantly passed on the invitation, even though I would have loved to have been there and to have been a part of their success.

Kudos to Randy and his gang for a first-rate job, and for providing us with a textbook illustration of how a group can accomplish a lot without a lot of public money while still preserving our heritage and history. I’m looking forward to visiting the battlefield in May, when we have our annual North Carolina vacation.

North Carolina seems to spawn these groups. The most notable one, of course, is the Averasboro Battlefield Commission, which has done a magnificent job with almost no public money. The folks in Kinston are trying to do something similar with the First Kinston and Wyse’s Fork battlefields through their Historical Preservation Group, and I likewise commend their efforts.

It seems to me that the rest of us could learn something from the success of these groups in the Old North State.