The plan is to establish a
mutual visiting
program of members of the 1st North Carolina Cavalry worldwide. The
visitor bears the costs for the trip and will be housed by the comrades
he is visiting.
On the
occasion of the
wedding of Cpl. Gernot Duda and Monika Brummer on July, 14,
2001,
Major Dave Acevedo, Co. A, and 1st Sergeant Gary
Edmisten, Co. D, came the long way to Germany
to
participate in the festivity. Gary
presented a North Carolina
State Flag,
which was certified as
having been flown over the Capitol in Raleigh,
NC, on March, 21, 2001.
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The visit of the comrades from the US was not solely for the purpose of attending the wedding, but allowed them the opportunity to learn more about the home country of their German comrades. The members of Co. G acted as personal tour guides for their American friends.
In May 2002, Cpl. Duda
and his
wife travelled to the US to visit 1st Sergeant Gary Edmisten
in
North Carolina. As a surprise, Pvt. Richard Hunter from Co.
A, in
California, travelled the long distance from the west
coast
to see his German friends. The first highlight of
the trip
to
North Carolina was a barbeque, arranged by 1st Sergeant
Edmisten
for his guests. During the next two
weeks they
visited a
lot of historical and interesting sites, like Ft. Fisher, Ft. Macon,
the Bennett Place and Old Salem.
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Acevedo and Pvt. Richard Hunter showed him a lot of interesting sites in their home state, including a three day trip through the Gold Country.
The highlight of this trip was getting to participate in one of Californias largest ACW reenactments, in Moorpark. In the photo you see Sergeant Duda (on the left, as Private) together with his comrades of Co. A.
Major Acevedo (2nd on the left) commanding the guard of honor
Travelling
back to the
other side, Gernot and Sabine
Duda started their three
week tour through the eastern
and southeastern
US in September, 2009. First they visited
with 1st
Sergeant Gary Edmisten, and
his wife Teresa, and
spent two wonderful days at their home in North Carolina. The
trip then continued on to Charleston, SC, and
then on to Savannah
and Atlanta in Georgia.
In Asheville, NC, 1st
Sergeant
Duda did some research to find the old site of Camp Woodfin, the
"birthplace" of Co. G.
The
next highlight
of the tour was
Raleigh, NC, where the visitors met with Tom Belton, Curator of the North Carolina Museum
of
History, and Capt. Maynard Riddle, Commanding
Officer
of Co. I. Tom Belton allowed
them a view "behind
the scenes" down in the secret halls of the museum,
and presented for their viewing original uniforms
and arms from
the Civil War. At
this time
1st Sergeant Duda took the opportunity
to present a $50 donation from Co. G to the
museum for
preserving North Carolina Battle Flags. Later they
had
lunch with Capt. Riddle and
got to know each
other better.
Gernot Duda, Tom Belton und Maynard Riddle
Next stop was
Winston-Salem,
NC. In Old Salem, Gernot and Sabine Duda met with
Chris
Hartley, author of "Stuart's Tarheels." After lunch in the Old Salem
Tavern, Chris graciously signed Gernot's copy of his
book.
Chris Hartley and Gernot Duda infront of the Old Salem Tavern/Winston-Salem
At Sharpsburg, Maryland, the visitors met with Dick Weeks. He offered to be their personal tour guide on the Antietam Battlefield. During this tour Dick related to them a lot of interesting, fascinating and sometimes funny stories and facts about this battle in 1862.
Dick Weeks and Gernot Duda infront of the Visitors-Center Antietam Battlefield
In 2013, 4 members of the "Buncombe Rangers", Gernot Duda, Svend Tennigkeit, Daniela Hoerl and Manuel Ebel, made the trip to the US for thebiggest event in history for Co. G, 1st NC Cavalry. The bugler sounded "To Arms" for the 150th anniversary of the battle of Gettysburg/Pennsylvania and the "Buncombe Rangers" from Germany followed the call. Supported by Co. C, 1st NC Cavalry, who supplied them with arms, black powder and food they had awesome 5 days on the reenactment at Bushel's Farm near Gettysburg. Overall members of Co.'s B, C, D and G were present on this event and the german reenactors found a lot of new friends.
Members of the 1st NC Cavalry at Gettysburg
After the event at Gettysburg, the "Buncombe Rangers" started their tour through North Carolina. At Raleigh they met Tom Belton, former curator of the North Carolina Museum of History. He showed them the 150th Civil War Anniversary Exhibition at the museum. At this time 1st Sergeant Duda took the opportunity to present a $100 donation from Co. G to the museum for preserving North Carolina Battle Flags.
On July,4th, the four german fellows visited 1st Sgt. Gary Edmisten at his home in Matthews, NC to celebrate Independence Day. Gary Edmisten presented to them a home made company flag designed by himself. Later they were invited to spend an evening with the local goup of the American Legion what they accepted deeply grateful.
Manuel Ebel, Svend Tennigkeit, Gary Edmisten, Gernot Duda and Daniela Hoerl with the modern Co. G flag.
Gernot Duda and Hakan Nordstrom