"It was beyond description.  There lay the formidable fleet of large and small vessels off Forts Clark and Hatteras ... It was hard at times to distinguish between a bursting of a shell in the fort and a gun fired from it..."

    -Diary of Major Thomas Sparrow

    29 August 1861

 

 

    Hatteras Island has achieved a well-deserved reputation as a summer getaway and a wildlife refuge on North Carolina's coast.  However, most visitors are unaware of the crucial role that Hatteras played in the Civil War.  "Portrait of the Past" offers a new view of Hatteras' history, interweaving historical facts, archival drawings, and current photographs of how the Island looks today.  In addition, this book reveals the largely-unknown journals of Edwin Graves Champney, a Union soldier who was stationed on Hatteras from 1862 to 1863.  Champney's prose and artistic talents, along with the photographs of soldier Charles F. Johnson of the Ninth New York, shed new light on the experiences of Civil War soldiers stationed on the Outer Banks during that time.

 

    "Portrait of the Past" is a fascinating history of how one of America's most treasured islands played a significant part in the Civil War.  It will appeal to anyone from a curious reader to a Civil War collector or enthusiast.

About the Author

    Drew Pullen is a graduate of Houghton college and a former history teacher.  He currently manages the Hatteras and Ocracoke offices of the East Carolina Bank.  As an amateur historian, he has written several articles on the Civil War for local newspapers.  His wife Jo Anne is from a local Hatteras family and her great-great grandfather was stationed at Fort Hatteras during the Civil War.  Drew continues to research Civil War action in eastern North Carolina for future books.

Price $29.95