The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Monday, March 25, 2013

"Civil War Voices"-- Part 2: Joseph Henry Harris

This man served as the narrator of the story which takes place in an attic.  He was from Alabama and owned a plantation.  He was a Confederate, but not gung-ho.  I had never heard of him so looked him up.  I did not find out a lot, but what I did fit with what I learned from the play.

He enlisted as a private in Co. I of the 37th Alabama, somewhat surprising as I thought most plantation owners were officers.  He was  24 at the time and joined in Auburn, Alabama, May 6, 1862.  He became ill in camp and was furloughed home where he employed a substitute to take his place, Private Starling V. Belcher, who joined Co. I "for three years or the war" at Columbus, Mississippi.

Harris was a diarist and a well-to-do plantation owner, so his diary was used as a source in the play.

As near as I could learn, his plantation still stands, Oak Bowery, Alabama, which can be used for weddings and other events to this day.

Doing Some Background.  --Old Secesh

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