Can't stand the heat....

Can't stand the heat?  Move the kitchen out of the house.

This pre-Civil War kitchen house is part of the grounds at the Bentonville Civil War battlefield.  It was the kitchen house for the Harper family whose farm turned into the battlefield in 1865.  

Many homes of that period had kitchen outbuildings.  With large fireplaces to do the cooking, the danger of fire and the heat from the cooking made it best to keep the kitchen away from the house.  President Andrew Johnson was born in a kitchen house attic in Raleigh (here).  The heat must have been unbearable.

The last Witness

This old oak was alive in 1865 for the battle of Bentonville.  It is the last Witness tree on the site.

The roots hold firmly into the soil.

Bentonville Triage

During the Civil war Battle of Bentonville, the Union army took over the home of the Harper family as their field hospital.  The ground floor was used for operating (mostly amputating).  The Harper family continued to live on the floor above.  There was a lot of Chloroform used, and the odor must have permeated everything. 

The house has been restored, and is now part of the Bentonville Battlefield State Historic Site.  

Bentonville Civil War Battlefield

One of the last battles of the civil war was fought near Bentonville, NC when the Confederate army tried to keep Sherman's Union army from reaching a critical railroad hub at Greensboro, NC.  After 3 days and over 4000 casualties from both sides, the confederate side withdrew.  A month later the war was over.  (see here)