When We Fought Ourselves-Civil War Exhibit

Between 40 and 50 soldiers’ wives are rioting in the streets of Salisbury because of high prices. Thousands are being imprisoned just across the railroad tracks. Wounded soldiers are arriving daily and are being treated at local hospitals.
As a Salisbury woman, Margaret Beall Ramsey, a young widow, like many other Salisbury women whose husbands were away or dead, was looking out her second story window, while describing, "missiles ... flying thick and fast around and upon the house. ... Thousands of cavalrymen were in hot pursuit of our Confederate soldiers, through yards, gardens and fields on to the Town creek [south of Salisbury]."
The anniversary of the Civil War or The War Between the States is one of the greatest nation changers in American history, therefore, we cannot forget what those folks endured. This exhibit encourages people of all ages to come, learn and share their thoughts. We know what two of the men closest to the action thought. They shared them this way: "War is cruelty. There is no use trying to reform it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over." General William Tecumseh Sherman. Robert E. Lee summed up his feelings this way: "It is well that war is so terrible, else we should grow too fond of it."
Come, see the beginning, walk past the arsenal, stand outside the Way-Side Hospital, protest with the women, walk in the shadow of the prison wall, and see what General Stoneman did during his raid on our community.
The chance is yours April 10th through mid January of 2012. As Frederick Douglass, shared, "A battle lost or won is easily described, understood, and appreciated, but the moral growth of a great nation requires reflection, as well as observation, to appreciate it."
The Museum is located at 202 North Main Street. It is open Monday through Friday, ten o’clock a.m. to four o’clock p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, one o’clock p.m. to four o’clock p.m. For more information or to schedule group tours, call the Museum at 704-633-5946 or email rowanmuseum@carolina.rr.com