If you have ever met Michael C. Hardy, one thing becomes apparent quickly: he is passionate about history.
He participated in his first re-enactment in 1982; he has written 13 (mostly North Carolina related) books; he has penned numerous articles; won numerous awards; served on various historical society committees; and has worked as a consultant to museums and other writers.
This past October, Hardy was honored for his work of preserving history for future generations by the North Carolina Society of Historians who named him the North Carolina Historian of the Year.
On April 13, at 6:30 p.m., Hardy will be speaking to the Rowan Rifles Camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans at the Rowan Public Library in Salisbury. The program is free, and everyone is invited to attend and bring a friend.
Recently, his 13th book was released and it focuses on one of the few North Carolina regiments to serve in the Army of Tennessee during the Civil War. The 58th Regiment was raised in western North Carolina after the passage of the Confederate Conscription Act. Instead of heading to Virginia to join the legions of Tar Heel regiments in the vaunted Army of Northern Virginia, the 58th Regiment found itself in Tennessee. The regiment fought at places like Chickamauga, Chattanooga, Resaca, Kolbís Farm, Jonesboro and the battles for Atlanta.
Toward the end of the war, the regiment was heavily involved in the battle of Bentonville in eastern North Carolina and then surrendered near Greensboro in May 1865. The 58th Regiment was the largest to come from the state, and probably had more deserters than any other Tar Heel regiment.
Hardy spent more than a decade researching the regiment and the soldiersí post-war lives.
The 253-page book has more than 100 photographs of members of the regiment and of locations where they fought, along with a wealth of maps detailing the places where they served.
This is Hardyís second regimental history. The first was on the 37th North Carolina Troops, the Tar Heel Regiment that lost the most men during the war.
For more information, visit www.michaelchardy.com.