Chapter 2 North Carolina: Confederate Cats Summary and Analysis

Horwitz decided he would travel through the South, going to the same places where the Civil War was fought, and investigate how the war still resonated with people. He decided to begin in Charleston, North Carolina, where the war was traditionally thought to have started with the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861.

On his drive to Charleston, Horwitz stopped in the town of Salisbury and visited the site of a prisoner camp and cemetery. From the caretaker of the cemetery he learned about a woman named Sue Curtis, who headed a local chapter of the group called the United Daughters of the Confederacy. He contacted Sue Curtis, and she invited him to attend a meeting of the Sons of Confederate Veterans that evening.

Horwitz attended the meeting, which was being held in celebration...