Bennett Place in western Durham, site of the largest Confederate surrender of the War Between the States, is trying something new this weekend: Reconstruction.
In North Carolina, that was the era from April 1865 until July 1868, when the state was occupied by federal troops. People don't know much about it, said site manager John Guss.
So Guss, always looking for ways to bring visitors to the restored farmstead at Neal and Bennett Memorial roads, thought of holding a re-enactment with Union soldiers encamped and Southern civilians (such as farmer James Bennett, seen above outside his home) struggling to survive.
"A different subject matter than what your typical re-enactment is all about," Guss said.
He had in mind a big event. Turns out, he said, "it's looking like a pretty small event."
The Southern civilians he's got, but as for the troops — "It's hard to get people to play Yankees."
(The show does go on, though, today and Sunday. Admission free.)
