Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the Francis T. Hawks Papers #4964-z, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy (filmed 2005-2006) available.

• Reel 1: Entire collection

Acquisitions Information

Received from Katherine Vaux McCauley of Bryn Mawr, Pa., and Mary James Vaux of New York, N.Y., in December 1998 (Acc. 98267).

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: John Foster, October 2000

Encoded by: John Foster, October 2000

Revisions: Finding aid updated in May 2005 by Nancy Kaiser.

Updated by: Laura Hart, June 2021

Funding from the Watson-Brown Foundation, Inc., supported the microfilming of this collection.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• Central Park (New York, N.Y.).
• Coast defenses--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Confederate States of America. Army--Officers.
• Confederate States of America. Army. Corps of Engineers.
• Engineers--Confederate States of America.
• Engineers--North Carolina--History--19th century.
• Fort Anderson (N.C.).
• Hawks, Francis T.
• Johnston, Joseph E. (Joseph Eggleston), 1807-1891.
• North Carolina--History--Civil War, 1861-1865.
• Sherman, William T. (William Tecumseh), 1820-1891.
• Whiting, William Henry Chase, 1824-1865.
• Wilmington (N.C.)--History--19th century.

Francis T. Hawks was born in New Bern, N.C. In 1858, he was hired as an engineer to work on the construction and landscaping of Central Park in New York City. In 1862, he joined the Confederate Army and was commissioned a captain in the Adjutant General's Department. He resigned this position in January 1863. In August 1863, he once again received a commission in the Confederate Army, this time a lieutenancy in Company A, 2nd Regiment, Engineer Troops (Corps of Engineers), which was formed in Wilmington, N.C., in August 1863. Subsequently, he served under General W. H. C. Whiting in the preparation of the coastal defenses at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. He was taken ill at the beginning of January 1865 and was in Greensboro, N.C., on sick leave during the Union campaign against the coastal defenses of North Carolina.

The papers of North Carolina engineer Francis T. Hawks are primarily letters received by Hawks during his Civil War service in the Confederate Army. Among these are letters to him from General W. H. C. Whiting relating to the Cape Fear defenses at Fort Anderson, hand-drawn maps of some of the defensive positions at the mouth of the Cape Fear River, a copy of a letter from General Joseph E. Johnston announcing his surrender to General William T. Sherman, and a field order from General Sherman ordering disbursement of non-essential supplies to the local populace. Also included are two stock certificates and a certificate from the City of New York acknowledging Hawks's work on the construction of Central Park.

• Microfilm reel (M-4964/1)
• Oversize paper folder (OPF-4964/1)