By Steve Huffman
shuffman@salisburypost.com
A few months ago, Luther Sowers and Mickey Black, both local history buffs, were discussing an exhibit for Rowan Museum.
“Mickey wanted a military exhibit,” Sowers recalled.
He and Black talked about a Civil War exhibit, though they eventually concluded, as Sowers said, “The Civil War gets all the attention.”
Next came discussion of an exhibit of Revolutionary War artifacts. But the trouble, Sowers said, is that almost no such items exist.
He said that in the entire United States, there are only two uniforms that remain from the Revolutionary War.
Rounding up much from that war for an exhibit for Rowan Museum would have been nigh-on impossible, Sowers and Black agreed.
Finally, Black hit upon an interesting idea.
“Mickey suggested an exhibit of the North Carolina militia in the period between the Revolutionary War and the Civil War,” Sowers said.
The exhibit they settled upon ó “North Carolina Militia: 1820-1850, The Eagle Spreads its Wings” ó opens with a reception from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.
After Sunday, the exhibit can be viewed during regular museum hours: 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday and 1-4 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. There is no admission fee though contributions are accepted.
Sowers, a member of the museum’s board of directors and exhibit coordinator, said the uniforms that militia members wore from about 1820 to the late 1850s were greatly mixed, comprised largely of holdovers from previous military engagements.
“Peace time has a tendency to make uniforms impractical,” Sowers said. “In peace time, all the military tends to do is parade and look good. Uniforms during those periods are flashy and showy.”
As opposed, he said, to wartime when a soldier’s concern with survival tends to overshadow his fascination with uniforms adorned with flashy plumes and the like.
One coat ó made of blue wool with a high collar lined with silver bullion ó is on loan from the N.C. Museum of History. The coat was worn between 1832 and 1850 by Joseph Blount Gregoire Roulhac, who lived in Wake County.
The rest of the items in the exhibit belong to private collections or are from Rowan Museum’s collection.
Sowers said there were 152 militia companies in North Carolina in 1858. Members generally consisted of men between the ages of 16 and 50.
Of those companies, membership per unit ranged from less than 30 to more than 150.
“All the companies had titles,” Sowers said.
Some of the more popular included the Rowan Rifles, the Guilford Grays and the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry.
Sowers said he and others associated with Rowan Museum have accumulated a goodly number of items for the upcoming exhibit.
They have a collection of epaulettes (the snazzy shoulder insignias that adorned the uniforms of officers), coats, hats, pins, buttons and more that militia members wore. They’ve also got weapons and paperwork ó including letters ó of the era.
There are even a handful of photographs ó one of the Rowan Rifles ó tossed into the mix.
“We’ve got a good cross-section of what would have been going on during the era,” Sowers said. “I promise that people will be seeing lots of stuff they’ve never seen before.”
He said despite the fact there were no major wars between 1820 and the late 1850s, and exhibits concerning major wars are what typically draw crowds to museum exhibits, he expects a nice turnout for “The Eagle Spreads its Wings.”
“Hopefully we’ll have a good number of people,” Sowers said. “It’s a period in our history that no one knows about.”

Rowan Museum is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-Friday and offers group tours by reservation. No admission is charged, but contributions are accepted.
For more information about the exhibit, call Rowan Museum at 704-633-5946.