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I was born and raised in the historic town of Beaufort, North Carolina. Upon graduating from East Carolina University in 1986, I entered the U.S. Army and after 25 years of Active Duty Service retired in the summer of 2011. I am now back home in Beaufort, where I try and devote as much time as possible with anything NC Civil War related.

My interest in the Civil War began at a very young age, and like many others, I can thank my grandmother, a Georgia girl, for sparking the interest. She told me stories about Fort Macon, which is just across the water from Beaufort, and how one of our relatives, Sgt. William C. Fulcher served there as a Confederate artilleryman. He survived the Union seige in April of 1862, but would die later that December during the Battle of Goldsborough Bridge in North Carolina.

Ironically, my father served at Fort Macon 80 years later as a member of the U. S. Army's 244th Coastal Artillery Regiment. Dad and his battalion were deployed to the North Carolina coast immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

My serious study of the Civil War started in 1988 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. My friend and fellow lieutenant at the time, Mike Haer, invited me to come along for a visit to Fort Donelson National Military Park. Before long, Mike and I made trips to other battlefields in Tennessee. Because of Mike's Illinois roots, I had to endure countless tales of General Sherman's Army or as how he liked to call them, "Uncle Billy's Boys" marching through the South. I guess I can blame Mike for my interest in "Uncle Billy." Since early 2000, I have devoted much of my Civil War research to studying Sherman's Carolinas Campaign of 1865.

Because of my Ordnance Corps background I focused my master's thesis on Sherman's logistics operations. Completed in 2002, "The Role of Union Logistics in the Carolinas Campaign of 1865" became the genesis for my first book, co-authored with Mark Smith No Such Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar" Sherman's Carolinas Campaign: Fayetteville to Averasboro. No Such Army is no longer in print, however Savas-Beatie Publishing has agreed to reprint an updated version in the fall of 2017.

I am happy to announce that my next book, "To Prepare for Sherman's Coming" The Battle of Wise's Forks March 1865 is available for purchase. Feel free to contact me at sokolosky1@aol.com for more information.

COL (Ret) Wade Sokolosky

U.S. Army