Greek Revival Farm Home of John and Amy Harper

First floor entry hall

Upper Parlor, Operating Room

Dining Room, Operating Room # 2

Lower Parlor, Minor Sugery

Master Bedroom, Officer Recovery

Second Floor Hallway

Southeast Bedroom, temporary parlor

Northeast Bedroom, temporary kitchen

Southwest Bedroom

Northwest Bedroom

Built around 1855 for the Harper family. The house served as the 14th Army Corps field hospital during the Battle of Bentonville, March 19-21, 1865. The front yard and surrounding grounds served as a recieving/triage area for the incoming wounded.

The furniture within this house are from the period of 1810-1860; however they are not the original pieces from the Harper family.

Hospital stewards would bring severely wounded patients into make-shift operating rooms similar to this. Despite popular belief regarding the availabilty of anesthetics during the war, Choloroform and Ether were used as widely by both sides during surgery. If the limb was beyond repair, the surgery resulted in amputation, which would last approximately 15-30 minutes.

To make room for the operating table, the hospital stewards would push aside any larger furniture as seen here. Straw and blankets would be placed on the floor for absorbing blood and water.

The lower parlor represents a minor sugery area. Minor wounds such as flesh wounds, burns, and broken limbs would be treated in this room but would have to wait for treatment by an assistant surgeon. This area is similiar to a modern-day emergency room. Also, this room was used to record the incoming patients to the field hospital.

Several recovery areas were established within the field hospital, however, commissioned officers recieved preferred treatment in a small room such as this. This was commonplace to segregate officiers from enlisted personel. However, in both recovery areas, pain medicine such as morphine, laudnum, opiates, and quinine were available despite common misconceptions.

To make room for the family and their items, various pieces of furniture were moved into the hallway such as small dresser, a rocking chair and trunk full of china.

During battle of Bentonville, the Harper family resided on the second floor of the house. Instead of the parlor furniture being thrown out into the yard, the family took what possessions they could with them upstairs for the duration of the battle.

With the outbuildings such as the kitchen occupied with wounded soldiers, the family resorted to cooking upstairs in this back bedroom. Pots, pans, food provisions and along with other kitchen items can be found in this room.

This room represents the typical upper-class bedroom. Two beds occupy this room as well as a large blanket chest and washstand. Several children would share this bedroom during their childhood days.

This room represents the children's bedroom. During the battle of Bentonville, 6 of the Harper children were present, ranging from the ages of 9 to 26. Also present was two of the Harper grandchildren ages 3 and 5. A doll, jacks, and marbles are found in this room to represent the common games that children would play during the 19th century.