Someone carved initials on a New York monument at Gettysburg's Little Round Top. Now the park is seeking the public's help in holding him accountable

Man being sought after vandalism;12th New York plaque is on the tower, behind leaves (NPS photos)

A man etched initials on a bronze tablet at the “Castle” monument on Gettysburg's Little Round Top, and the park is seeking the public's help in its investigation.

“Acts of vandalism will not be tolerated in our national parks, and we are committed to holding those responsible accountable,” Gettysburg National Military Park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket following the Sunday afternoon incident at the 44^th and 12^th New York monument.

The park posted an image of a bearded, white male on social media and asked for the public’s help.

A good Samaritan, heard scratching, took the photo and alerted authorities, said Martz. The individual carved the initials “LJR” on the edge of a tablet about the 12^th New York. The tablet is affixed to the Castle’s tower and abuts the second-floor parapet/landing. Martz told Fox 43 a pocket knife was likely used.

Dedicated in 1893, the large stone monument sits near the summit of Little Round Top, famous for dogged fighting on July 2, 1863, that left about 1,800 casualties. It was designed by Col. Daniel Butterfield of the 12th New York and stands 44 feet high.

Martz said the park will make repairs, but the timing is uncertain. “Our preservationists are amazing.”

Heavily visited Little Round Top reopened in July 2024 after a two-year rehabilitation.

The 44^th New York monument underwent repairs and upgrades to its base and sidewalks. (The 12th plaque is on the far left in this NPS photo)

According to news reports, boulders at Little Round Top had graffiti damage in August 2024, and park officials similarly decried defacement of sacred ground where men were killed, wounded or left missing.

Those with information on Sunday’s incident are asked to call the National Park Service tip line at 888-653-0009.

Artifacts in the round: Archaeologists provide fascinating conservation update on shattered wagon wheel, Confederate munitions found in S.C. river cleanup

Wheel before treatment began and in shower stall more recently for cleaning, 6-pounder and 12-pounder shells (SCIAA); George Barnard photo of damage in Columbia after the Civil War (Library of Congress)

Maybe it’s just me (it probably is), but an unusual Civil War artifact undergoing conservation in Columbia, S.C., looks like a king crab or spider with a few of its legs missing.

There, I said it.

I have been fascinated by the remnants of a wagon wheel believed destroyed on Feb. 19, 1865, when Federal forces sacked the South Carolina capital and dumped captured Confederate ammunition and materiel into the Congaree River.

A metal detector first noticed the round object buried in the bed of the Congaree. Archaeologists surmised it was a just another rubber tire -- one of many found during an extensive river cleanup a few years back. More than 500 Civil War-related artifacts were recovered during the project, and this is among the most unexpected.

Jim Legg, public archaeologist for the South Carolina Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology (SCIAA), this month provided an update to the Picket on the conservation of the artifact and other pieces, none of which were believed to be fired. (At right, a sample of grapeshot and canister, SCIAA photo)

Hundreds of items emerged in 2022 and 2023 as crews removed century-old coal tar along the Congaree shoreline. Since then, Legg’s office and TRC Companies, a subcontractor for Dominion Energy, have been working to conserve items with a wide range of dates.

The completed military part of the collection will go to South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia for eventual exhibit.

The wheel hub, which has evidence of charring, will take at least another year to preserve. Archaeologists did not find any other wheels, metal hubs or large pieces of wood near the artifact.

“I have always thought the wheel was from (an) explosion. One thing that threw it off was that black rubber disk in the middle of the hub (left, TRC companies photo),” Legg wrote in an email.

"I finally just took it out to see what it was, and found that it was the rubber wheel from a 20th century kid's wagon. Either it floated into that location, or maybe one of the EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) guys picked it out of the junk pile and dropped it in there. It was a perfect fit.”

Even with that oddity, Legg is comfortable calling the fragment a casualty of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s troops.

The features are consistent with a 1860s wagon wheel and it was found where at least one heavy wagon was blown to pieces.

“There is no record of any guns or gun carriages being destroyed/dumped in the river,” he added.

Something blowed up real good at river

Federal troops threw Confederate war materiel into the river after they took what they wanted before marching to North Carolina. Much of the state capital went up in flames, from a variety of sources, after its surrender.

Sean Norris, program archaeologist for TRC Companies, previously said of the wheel:

William Waud depiction of the burning of Columbia in 1865 (Library of Congress)

“The official records mention the explosion and the destruction of a wagon and a team of mules in a couple correspondences. It seems possible that what was left of the wagon after it was destroyed was thrown in the river along with everything else that was being dumped. There would be no specific reason for the wagon parts to be discarded elsewhere.”

The wheel at first was treated in a basic solution at the Relic Room before Legg moved it to his laboratory. Most of the recovered iron items considered the most important have been conserved.

The wheel has presented some challenges

Legg keep the wheel fragment in a shower stall for about a month during rinsing and hand cleaning. The artifact then went into a small tank, where it is undergoing polyethylene glycol (PEG) treatment for about another year.

“For size comparison this thing appears to be the same size as those seen on the NPS field artillery carriages -- fairly massive,” Legg wrote. In any case, they are the same basic design as a heavy wagon wheel hub.” (A gun carriage wheel at Chickamauga, Jim Legg photo)

I asked Legg whether the wheel has presented a conservation challenge.

“Yes, the fact that it is heavily encased in wrought iron hardware. Ideally, it would be cut apart, and the iron bands would be treated with electrolysis while the wood underwent the PEG process, then reassembled.” He said the cost for that would be enormous.

“I did a lot of manual cleaning of the iron before I started the PEG, but the bands are still fairly crusty. The iron will pretty much have to fend for itself, and I can only hope that it is not too unstable after the process is done. I can probably do some hand cleaning at that stage, perhaps with air abrader (a tool used to reduce corrosion), which will at least make it look better.”

A few items are distinctively modern

Norris said the project encountered Native American ceramics and projectile points and typical historic glass and ceramics that you would expect to find in river a flowing through a city.

The Relic Room exhibit on the Congaree finds will include a few non-Civil War items. Legg provided a photo (above) with a range: A brass hose nozzle, an iron sash weight, a Waterbury Clock Company winding key, an iron fork with wood handle (possibly Civil War), a silver plate fork from the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, two .50-caliber BMG cartridges dated 1944, a pocket knife and a fire department button from the 1890s. 

Legg will produce a report on 1865 ordnance dump and a exhibit, possibly to open in 2027, at the Relic Room in Columbia.

“I have recently had some preliminary discussions with the museum about the exhibit, and the permanent curation of the collection there,” he said.

A group of 24-pounder and 12-pounder Confederate canister plates (SCIAA photo)

I asked Legg, who has helped produce three exhibits at the museum, how it might interpret the hundreds of historic artifacts found in the Congaree River cleanup.

“My thinking right now is to put the ordnance dump in the more general context of the Federal destruction of military resources in and around Columbia. I will also want to cover the pollution mitigation project itself, which was an amazing thing to see, even aside from the archaeology component.”

The Picket has reached out to the Relic Room for comment.

Recent view of the wagon wheel hub undergoing conservation in Columbia (SCIAA photo)

Craftsman has a window to the history of a home where South Carolina's governor fled to avoid Yankees. Robert Schmitt is working on its windows while the Dawkins House in Union awaits more funding for restoration, campus use

Robert Schmitt at work on windows and sashes (provided photo), McMillan Pazdan Smith Architecture rendering of completed alumni house; how the weathered Dawkins dwelling looks today (Preservation South Carolina)

Robert Schmitt appreciates the craftsmanship and materials that went into mid-19^th century homes across the Piedmont region of South Carolina. For years, as a restoration expert, he’s rolled up his sleeves and touched the results of what workers created generations ago.

Schmitt, 74, sank a lot of money, passion and knowledge into restoring the stately Nathaniel Gist Jr. house outside of Union (Gist was first cousin of Confederate Brig. Gen. States Rights Gist).

Now Schmitt is helping repair windows at Union’s Dawkins House, a residence at the center of an interesting chapter in Civil War history. Union briefly served as the capital of the state after Columbia fell to Union forces in 1865.

The nonprofit Preservation South Carolina is working with partners to restore the dilapidated dwelling into an alumni and corporate events center for the University of South Carolina-Union.

Schmitt is removing old glazing and replacing any rot (Preservation South Carolina)

Schmitt is taking out old window glass, removing rot and replacing weathered glazing.

“These old windows were put together with mortise and pins and wooden pegs. That makes them reasonably easy to work on,” he said in a recent interview. “I like to preserve as much as the original as I can.”

Not surprisingly, the windows are much more substantial than modern ones.

“Part of that reason is the material they were made of. You can’t get that type of lumber anymore,” said Schmitt, adding the old yellow pine was heavy because of high rosin content.

Schmitt is working in the house’s yard in a “between” stage of the Judge Thomas Dawkins house restoration. The $300,000 state-funded Phase 1 shored up the building.

This fall, Preservation South Carolina (PSC) and the campus will launch a campaign to raise up to $1 million for the next phase. No state or federal funds are currently available, officials said. “Credible interest has already been expressed by potential corporate sponsors to participate in the funding,” said PSC.

Bill Comer, a Union native and head of the PSC’s Dawkins House rehab project, said Schmitt is taking good care of the windows, which have Roman numerals (right) that the original carpenters used to number each sash.

“He thinks about all the people who have looked through that pane,” Comer said of Schmitt.

'Putting the bones back in' deteriorated house

PSC just featured an update on the project in its September newsletter, sharing a rendering of what the property will look like after restoration is complete. Those stopping by the house -- purchased by PSC in 2023 -- will note there is a long way to go, with support beams in place and the roof sagging. Hurricane Helene in September 2024 caused further damage.

Phase 2 will be much more extensive and expensive, enabling PSC to hand over the house to the university for finishing and customization. Joanna Rothell, director of outreach and preservation for PSC, said Phase 2 will include:

-- Installation of new piers on concrete footings in the crawlspace;

-- Strengthening of porch, first and second floor framings, the roof system and all walls;

-- Installation of the required framing for a new interior staircase where the original historic, spiral staircase was located in the central hall. This will entail strengthening the floors and walls in this area, including any necessary new footings in the crawlspace.

“We are putting the bones back in it where the bones should be,” said Comer.

Interestingly, the Gist home (left) where Schmitt lives features a floating spiral staircase similar to what once was present in the Dawkins House. “I can’t help believe but the same craftsmen were involved,” Schmitt said.

PSC said It will measure the Gist staircase for creating construction drawings.

When Judge Dawkins built his residence in 1845, he expanded upon a pre-existing, two-story structure,” the organization said in its newsletter.

“Further examination has revealed that the materials used in the construction of the older portion of the house dates closer to 1760, rather than the previously estimated 1800s.”

Governor had to run to keep from hiding

The Dawkins House, on North Church Street, was nicknamed “The Shrubs” and was occupied by Judge Dawkins and his English-born wife Mary Poulton Dawkins. The 1850 Federal slave schedule indicates they owned about 30 enslaved persons before the war. 

The property is best known for several weeks in spring 1865.

Gov. Andrew Magrath, before fleeing Columbia as Federal troops closed in, got in touch with college chum Dawkins about using the home and others nearby to conduct business amid the chaos.

South Carolina already was the symbol of the South’s rebellion. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and his troops entered the state from Georgia with an eye on a full prosecution of the war. While they are behind some fires that ravaged Columbia, others were caused by other parties.

Union was a community with a small business district and nearby plantations.

From about Feb. 15, 1865, until sometime in March or early April, Magrath ran the state from the Dawkins House. He apparently worked in an informal library near the drawing room. Chaos ruled across South Carolina.

According to histories and local legend, Magrath and his subordinates burned possibly incriminating documents and correspondence in the fireplaces. (The building served as South Carolina's capitol while the city was briefly is capital.) Magrath and his staff raced away from Union as Federal troops moved in. He was eventually captured on May 25 and imprisoned at Fort Pulaski near Savannah, Ga., until release that December.

Comer said Magrath’s stint in Union is not well-known or covered in textbooks.

“Also, per a University of South Carolina Southern studies professor with whom I spoke recently, not many documents exist about that period … which I suspect is because most government documents were burned in the house’s eight fireplaces to avoid the identification of Confederate operatives who would be captured and tried for treason.”

Looking to Wofford for inspiration

Annie Smith, USC-Union marketing and development director, previously told the Picket an alumni association was being established to enhance recruiting efforts, develop a community between current, former and future students, and to provide outside funding and resources.

The small campus with about 1,400 students this year is celebrating its 60^th anniversary.

Given the age of the Dawkins House and wear, any college or community events will need to occur on the main floor. The upstairs won’t be able to handle large crowds, so it likely will be office space, according to PSC.

Looking for ideas and inspiration, a team of campus officials in July toured the alumni house (left) at Wofford College in nearby Spartanburg. The Kilgo-Clinkscales House previously was a dwelling for campus leaders at Wofford.

“The Wofford Alumni house was stunning and (has a) very similar layout to Dawkins,” said Smith. “The visit gave us a helpful look at how another institution transformed a historic residence into a vibrant and usable location. We came away with great ideas about how our space can serve multiple purposes -- welcoming alumni, community events, space for corporations to meet and more.”

An 1840s Georgia house with Civil War ties was moved in May. RaceTrac wants to build a controversial gas station on the site where cavalry clashed. The company says it is agreeable to doing an archaeological survey and saving artifacts it finds

Robert McAfee, the current empty lot at Bells Ferry Road (Picket photo); the house in the 1940s (Digital Library of Georgia) and a map showing troop positions in June-July 1864; note McAfee House (Library of Congress)

Opponents of a proposed 24/7 service station in a suburban Atlanta county have raised a list of concerns, from traffic congestion and storm water runoff to the possible impact of alcohol sales and gas vapors on a nearby elementary school and day care center.

But they also lament the loss of what stood for generations at the corner of Bells Ferry Road and Ernest Barrett Parkway in Cobb County, a few miles north of Marietta. The Robert and Eliza McAfee House dated to the 1840s, and their sprawling farm was a fixture in the Noonday Creek area. The property owner wants to sell the remaining two acres to RaceTrac.

The home -- which briefly served as the headquarters for a Union general and was in the middle of cavalry movements and clashes in summer 1864 – this spring was moved to adjoining Cherokee County after a long effort to save it from destruction. 

Now the Cobb County government must decide whether to allow a rezoning to make way for the RaceTrac location, which would feature a convenience store.

The planning staff has recommended approval and the matter came before the planning commission on Sept. 2. After hearing arguments for and against approval, the board tabled a vote until October in order to learn more about potential traffic and development impact on the neighborhood. If the planning commission backs the project, it will still need an OK from the county board of commissioners.

McAfee House in Ball Ground a couple months after its move (Civil War Picket photo)

The nonprofit Cobb Landmarks, the Bells Ferry Civic Association and the county’s historic preservation staff all recommend an archaeological survey of the site if the rezoning is approved. That and a report should occur before construction begins, the staff urges.

Any artifacts discovered during the survey should be donated to an appropriate museum, the preservation staff recommends.

“Prior to any development on this property, it is essential that a thorough search be conducted for Indian and Civil War artifacts, trenches, gravesites, and other items of historical significance,” the Bells Ferry Civic Association said in a letter to the planning commission.

Mandy Elliott, a Cobb County historic preservation planner, told the Picket such a recommendation is common for sites like the McAfee House.

“I’m not sure what might be found,” she said.

That’s more than a fair point. Most of Atlanta’s Civil War landscape was paved over long ago and there are only a few sites where remnants of earthworks and other battle features remain. Among them is Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, just a few miles from the neighborhood. (Picket photo of cut house section before move north)

Interestingly, the bomb squad in Cobb County is called in two to four times a year following the discovery of metal objects that look like Civil War ordnance. In some cases, the items are authentic.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said of the McAfee site: “I'm tempted to guess at the usual archaeological suspects: brass buttons, horseshoe nails, fountain pen nibs, household trash (broken pottery, spoons), etc.”

For its part, RaceTrac has said the location is appropriate for the neighborhood and vowed to comply with any county requirements about safeguarding artifacts.

“RaceTrac is agreeable to the comments from Historical Preservation and is very willing to conduct the additional studies, documentation, etc. as recommended,” attorney Kevin Moore, who represents the company and property owner, told the Picket in an email.  

“To date, as part of due diligence, there has been preliminary study of the first 3 feet, which has not revealed anything of note. However, such study is not considered the historic type study to be conducted,” he said.

Of course, it's possible much of the property has been picked over many years ago..

Fate of the house was up in the air for years

The McAfee House had no designated historic protection because the owners did not seek it, according to Cobb County officials, and is not on the National Register of Historic Places.

Trevor Beemon, executive director of Cobb Landmarks, said the county’s park system years ago did visit the site and prepare a restoration estimate for the house, should it buy the property. “However, at the time, the costs were deemed too high. The property also would have sat for several years waiting for SPLOST funds to become available.”

Cobb Landmarks tried for several years to find someone to move the home, including when a car wash was proposed. That idea was eventually withdrawn. 

The house was empty for several years, and preservationists worried it would fall to the wrecking ball. Eventually, the owner donated the house to Cobb Landmarks so it could find someone to move it before a development could be built at the busy intersection.

Cobb Landmarks earlier this year sold the house for $1 to entrepreneurs Lee and Brittani Lusk, with the main requirement it be moved and restored. The couple moved the sturdy residence to near their home in Ball Ground, where it awaits foundation work. The Lusks are still deciding on its future use.

I asked Brittani Lusk whether they found any Civil War-related artifacts on the property when they were slicing the home into six pieces for the move. “Sadly, we didn’t,” she replied.

They did find some fascinating (and more contemporary) items inside the house, including a small can for baby powder, a newspaper clipping on World War II food rations and a peso note issued by the Japanese during their World War II occupation of the Philippines (photos above and below, courtesy Brittani Lusk).

Cavalry troops roamed and clashed here

The McAfee House served a few weeks in June and early July 1864 as the headquarters for Brig. Gen. Kenner Garrard (below) and his three brigades during the Atlanta Campaign. After the seizure of Big Shanty (Kennesaw) by Federal forces on June 9, Garrard’s cavalry division was posted on the left flank during operations on the Kennesaw Mountain front. While there were some small towns, including Marietta and Big Shanty, most citizens lived on farms.

The Federal troopers clashed almost daily near Noonday Creek with Confederates led by Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler.

Cobb County was the scene of significant combat action and troop movement as Confederates tried to stall Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s relentless campaign on Atlanta, which began in May 1864 in North Georgia.

The McAfee farm was believed to have been occupied by Confederates, too, during the action around Kennesaw Mountain. The house is said to have been used as a field hospital.

Brenda Burns, a McAfee descendant, came by the property and spoke to Lee Lusk when he and a crew were preparing to move the house to Ball Ground.

During the Civil War, she said, the family left for a few months when the Union army took over the home; they expected it to be burned to the ground.

They fled to Smithville in southern Georgia, about 10 miles from Americus. Burns, 74, said Robert's brother William operated a hotel there famous for its chicken pie.

Burn's grandmother, Imogene McAfee Buder, was the last member of the family born (1912) in the Cobb County house. She related to Burns what family lore says Robert and Eliza saw when they got back to their house.

Imogene M. Buder, who died in 1999, at the old homestead (Courtesy Brenda Burns)

“She said they were all surprised. It was barren but the house itself was in good shape. There were a few bullet holes maybe in the walls.” 

Imogene M. Buder lived her first few years at the McAfee House. "She would just remember -- she was young -- playing around the barn and playing in the yard," Burns told the Picket. "Going down to the creek and jumping out of the hay loft.”

The McAfee family moved to Atlanta around 1920 and sold the house shortly after.

Click to enlarge map showing Civil War clashes in Cobb County (ABPP)

RaceTrac says it agreed to site changes

Moore and a RaceTrac representative earlier this month met with neighbors who raised concerns about the gas station. The company said it has agreed to stipulations and its updated plans show the convenience store would be a little farther from the elementary school than first proposed. It argues the property is a proper location for a gas station.

Further, RaceTrac argues, the location would largely draw its customers from those already on the road.

Opponents say it would generate more than 5,500 in-and-out vehicle trips per day. A traffic study is being conducted.

“How will the applicant mitigate the negative environmental impact of cramming a too intense, ill-suited, polluting, 24-hour-a-day traffic mill onto what was once a historic site?” the Bells Ferry Civic Association said in its letter.

The Picket reached out to Cobb County Commissioner Erick Allen, who was at the meeting, and to the real estate agent representing the property owner where the gas station would sit. Thus far, they have not replied. (Above, the house before its move. Photo: Cobb Landmarks)

How much old stuff is left to be found?

It’s possible that this many years later no Civil War artifacts will be found during a survey. But other items would still help tell the story of old Cobb County.

“As a historic homestead site, and a Civil War site, it is very likely that variety of artifacts will be recovered,” said Beemon.

The property is just a tiny portion of the farm, which included more than a dozen enslaved persons before the Civil War.

A 1947 photograph (above) of the McAfee House was taken by Beverly M. DuBose Jr., a renowned Atlanta relic collector whose gifts to the Atlanta History Center are the backbone of its impressive wartime artifacts collection.

All that remains at the site are the foundations of the barn and house, bright yellow zoning notices and a 1954 marker erected by the state along Bells Ferry Road.

While the house has moved, the marker is staying on site, though it is unclear where it would placed after construction, should the rezoning be approved. RaceTrac said it will safeguard the sign.

The Georgia Historical Society operates the state's marker program. Elyse Butler, manager of programs and special projects, said the society is working with a couple volunteers to keep it updated on the project.

"As with any construction project, we ask to be notified if the marker is temporarily removed or relocated," Butler said.

Burns, who lives in Canton, Ga., told the Picket she is relieved her great-great-grandparents' home was saved. (At right, her great-grandparents Robert Wiley McAfee and Jessie Laura Spillman McAfee. Wiley's parents were Robert and Eliza).

“It was sad to see it being cut into pieces but at the same time (I am) grateful they were able to save it. I am a positive-thinking person. I am trying to look at the good side of it. It could have been demolished.”

READ MORE: Details of the rezoning request are here

Two Civil War veterans buried in England will get official headstones

Two American Civil War veterans buried in Derby, England, are set to be given official US markers. Samuel Lander Hough, of the 2nd New Jersey Cavalry, and Henry Nathaniel McGuiness, of the 65th New York Infantry, are buried in Nottingham Road Cemetery. Both men moved back to England after the war and became friends. They never received appropriate headstones when they died but in October their graves will be marked like those at Arlington National Cemetery. – Read article