Preserving the natural & historic resources of the Brandy Station area of Culpeper County, VA
BRANDY STATION FOUNDATION
Photo: M.A. Kleen
Upcoming Events
Reservation deadline is
April 1, 2026
Hearts Torn Asunder: PTSD and the end of the Civil War
presented by Ernest A. Dollar, Jr.
Brandy Station Foundation Speaker Series
When: Tuesday Apr 21, 2026 ⋅ 8pm – 9:30pm
(Eastern Time - New York)
Please join with Google Meet using the meeting link or joining by phone.
Meeting link
meet.google.com/njp-fqfz-yhu
Join by phone
(US) +1 510-736-4466
PIN: 834091766
The Civil War’s final campaign in North Carolina began on April 10, 1865, one day after Lee’s surrender. More than 120,000 Union and Confederate soldiers cut their way through the state’s verdant heartland. General William T. Sherman’s unstoppable Union troops faced General Joseph E. Johnston’s demoralized but still dangerous Confederate Army of Tennessee.
This chaotic time is chronicled in Ernest Dollar's new book, Hearts Torn Asunder, which explores the psychological experience of these soldiers and civilians during the chaotic closing weeks of the war. Their letters, diaries, and accounts reveal just how deeply the killing, suffering, and loss had hurt and impacted these people by the spring of 1865. Dollar’s presentation recounts the experiences of men and women who endured intense emotional, physical, and moral stress during the war’s dramatic climax. Their emotional, irrational, and often uncontrollable reactions mirror symptoms associated with trauma victims today, all of which combined to shape memory of the war’s end.
Durham native Ernest A. Dollar Jr. graduated from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro with a B.A. in History and B.F.A. in Design in 1993 and an M.A. in Public History from North Carolina State in 2006. He currently serves as the director of museums for the City of Raleigh Museum overseeing the City of Raleigh Museum and Dr. M. T. Pope House Museum.