Flags Over Hatteras Civil War event rescheduled for April 26-29  Flags Over Hatteras, sponsored by the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village and other organizations, is a four-day event that will commemorate the role of the island in the war. Flags Over Hatteras was first scheduled as a week-long event at the end of August last year, and it was set to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Forts Clark and Hatteras on Aug. 28-29, 1861. The battle was the first Union naval victory of the Civil War. However, Hurricane Irene changed those plans, and the celebration was cancelled as the hurricane approached. Now it has been rescheduled for Thursday, April 26, through Sunday, April 29.    Read More Hatteras Civil War artifacts are on exhibit at Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum As part of the commemoration of the events that happened 150 years ago on the Outer Banks during the Civil War, the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in Hatteras village is featuring an exhibit with artifacts from the Battle of Forts Clark and Hatteras and the “Chicamacomico Races.” The exhibit opened last August just before the Flags Over Hatteras Event that was cancelled because of Hurricane Irene. The event was rescheduled for April 26-29, and the exhibit will continue through the summer.  Read More Pulitizer Prize winning author to speak at Hatteras Civil War commemoration Pulitzer-prize winning author James McPherson headlines as one of three featured expert speakers at the upcoming “Flags Over Hatteras” Civil War sesquicentennial commemoration conference held by the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum. As a part of the April 26 – 29 event, McPherson will present “The Forgotten War: Coastal North Carolina, 1861-1865” on Friday evening April 27.  Read More The battles for Forts Clark and Hatteras gave the Union its first Civil War victory Forts Clark and Hatteras were built in 1861 by the Confederates soon after the start of the Civil War to guard Hatteras Inlet.  On Aug. 28-29, 1861, the Union began a merciless bombardment and in two days time, both forts fell into Union hands.  The action gave the Union its first victory of the war.   Read More Dig for Civil War cannons at Hatteras Inlet ends in disappointment They had maps, ground-penetrating radar images, and historical accounts all pointing to two buried cannons where the Civil War battle at Fort Clark raged 150 years ago at Hatteras Inlet.   Early one morning last August, under the direction of Cape Hatteras National Seashore historian Doug Stover and assisted by Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum executive director Joseph Schwarzer, Hatteras Island residents Danny Couch and Mel Covey joined an effort to recover the historic cannons in time to mark the sesquicentennial of the battle later that month.   Read More Historic Hatteras Lighthouse lens “lost” during Civil War The original 1854 first-order Fresnel lens was taken out of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and hidden in 1861 by Confederate troops to keep the beacon from aiding the Union Navy.  It was hidden so well that its whereabouts were unknown until 2002, when a Raleigh author and historian found it in a most surprising place. Read More Together again….The story of the reunion of the original Hatteras lighthouse lens and pedestal The original 1854 first-order Fresnel lens, installed in the first Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, was spirited away by Confederate troops at the beginning of the Civil War to keep it from the federal government.  Its whereabouts was a mystery until Raleigh author, filmmaker, and historian located it in a most unlikely place. The lens was refurbished and put on display at the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum in 2005.  In 2006, the original pedestal was removed from the lighthouse and the two were reunited at the museum, where they are on display in the lobby.  Read More