Collection (2005) of research material regarding the Battle of Wyse Forks, North Carolina, compiled by the donor for Through the Eyes of Soldiers: The Battle of Wyse Forks, Kinston, North Carolina, March 7-10, 1865, by Tom J. Edwards and William Rowland, edited by Ashleigh D. Brothers, published by the Lenoir County Historical Association, Kinston, N.C., in 2006, including typescripts of unit histories, excerpts from official records and published works, and manuscript maps of the battle.
Author Tom J. Edwards is the former Executive Director of the Lakeside Foundation, a nonprofit Ohio Christian family resort on Lake Erie, founded in 1873. During his time at Lakeside, Edwards secured a listing of Lakeside District properties on the National Register of Historic Places and implemented a successful plan of historic preservation for that community. Prior to his position at Lakeside, Edwards served as Administrative Assistant for the Darlington County, South Carolina, Superintendent of Education. While serving in the position, he assisted with getting listings of the St. John's (Darlington) Historical District placed on the National Register. Working with the University of South Carolina, he set up a colonial 18th Century archaeological display in the county's Historical Society Museum. Edwards earned the Freedom Foundation Award for Excellence for the county school district's bicentennial observance and served as president of the South Carolina Archaeological Society.
Edwards is also the co-author of From Through the Eyes of Soldiers: The Battle of Wyse Forks Kinston, North Carolina March 7-10, 1865 by Tom J. Edwards and William H. Rowland, edited by Ashleigh D. Brothers, and published by the Lenoir county historical Association, Kinston, N.C., 2006.
The Tom J. Edwards Collection consists of research materials compiled in 2005 and used in preparing the book Through the Eyes of Soldiers: The Battle of Wyse Forks, Kinston NC March 7-10, 1865 by Tom J. Edwards and William H. Rowland, edited by Ashleigh D. Brothers (Kinston, NC: Lenoir County Historical Society, c.2006). The collection is arranged in two series in original order.
Series I: Battle of Wyse Forks Research Materials, consists of typewritten excerpts from the regimental histories of the 3rd New York Artillery, 9th New Jersey, 23rd and 27th Massachusetts, 15th Connecticut, 17th, 20th, 36th, 40th, 42nd, 51st, 61st, 66th, 67th, 68th, 70th, 71st, 72nd North Carolina and 1st Battalion NC junior Reserves, Memoirs of the War of Secession by Johnson Hagwood, and the Official Records of the War.
Series I also includes orders of battle for both Union and Confederate forces, a paper presented at the 1887 reunion, as well as the official reports of XXIII Corps (including subordinate commands 1st Brigade, 120th Indiana, 124th Indiana, 128th Indiana, and 180th Ohio, 2nd Brigade, 123rd Indiana, 129th Indiana, 130th Indiana, and 28th Michigan, and 3rd Brigade, 174th and 178th Ohio) and the 1st and 2nd Divisions, District of Beaufort. Many of the excerpt passages lack bibliographic information.
Series II: Battle Maps: Battle of Wyse Forks 7-10 March 1865, including manuscript maps of the battle showing positions and movements of the armies in chronological order throughout the battle.
Gift of Tom J. Edwards
Encoded by Mark Custer, February 27, 2008; Preliminary Inventory by Jonathan Dembo, 2/26/2008; Arranged by Marshall Woodward April 2009; Rearranged, Container list & Finding aid by Jacquelyn Kennedy, 4/25/2013; Container list & Finding aid revised by Jonathan Dembo, 7/8/2013.
Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.