On hold: Work on the Wallis House at Kennesaw Mountain is on the back burner. Site of Howard HQ and field hospital won't be repaired, open any time soon

The side and front of the closed Wallis house in 2024 (Picket photos) and Union Maj, Gen. O.O. Howard

For a time a couple years ago, Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park was formulating a report that was to guide decision-making on the future of  the Josiah Wallis house, which briefly served as the temporary headquarters of Union Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard and a field hospital for both sides in June 1864.

The park had hopes of repairing and providing access to the house, with the goal of interpreting Federal strategy at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

But the project is now on hold -- another setback in a long effort to save the house, give it permanent protection and have it help tell the story of the Atlanta Campaign,

“There are no active plans or established timelines for additional work or interpretive development currently,” Superintendent Patrick Gamman said in an email reply to a Civil War Picket inquiry.

Thousands of cars travel past the house each day (Civil War Picket photo)

“While the park continues to recognize the site's historical significance and interpretive potential, competing priorities and available resources have contributed to the project's current status,” Gamman added. “Work associated with the Wallis House is not moving forward at present.”

The superintendent had no further comment. "Any future developments will be shared publicly through the park's normal communication channels."

Key to the project was the completion of a Historic Structure Report (HSR), which was supposed to be completed in spring 2025 and used as a launching point on recommendations for use of the house and a nearby hill that served as a Federal signal station.

The report appears to be unfinished, given it does not appear on a National Park Service database. Once reports are put online, the public can weigh in on recommendations.

Even with a report, there is no guarantee property upgrades will be done. Officials have to consider the cost of the project, its risks (concerns about vandalism) and rewards (enhanced interpretation).

The two marked park parcels at left, features of the Wallis house at right (NPS, click to enlarge)

Rising near the circa 1853 home is Harriston Hill, which was a perfect spot for the signal station because of its sweeping view of the valley leading to the Confederate lines atop Kennesaw Mountain.

Major improvements on both NPS parcels could run into the millions of dollars. One feature now in place is a parking lot at the entrance of a subdivision allowing access to Signal Hill.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said the latest development is “not a surprise.

“(The) house needs work before it can be opened to tourists. ADA compliance, HVAC upgrade, etc. I'd characterize it as indefinite hold.”

The dwelling has been vacant for more than two decades.

Georgia Tech student created model, drawings of house

The Wallis House survives, though it is in fairly rough condition. The public is not allowed on the small NPS parcel in Cobb County, Ga. The home and Signal Hill are separated by the subdivision, which is just off a busy road.

In 2024, a master of architecture candidate at Georgia Tech in Atlanta used LiDar (remote sensing technology) and a drone to create a model of the Wallis House. He produced drawings for use in the HSR.

“Any time you have a chance to get to know a building is exciting, to understand it’s story a little more,” Danielle Willkens, an associate professor of architecture at Georgia Tech, said at the time. “You are on hallowed ground and that is palpable. There is another level of responsibility attached to the site.”

Willkens and student Thomas Bordeaux worked with the park’s first archaeologist, who said the goal was to have the two-bedroom residence available to park visitors at some point, after repairs and upgrades.

The site includes the home, original well and remains of two chicken coops and a smokehouse. Postwar additions included a kitchen, laundry room, bathroom and back porch. An earlier NPS report suggested removing modern features.

A 1953 Wallis house marker along busy Burnt Hickory Road (Picket photo)

There was excitement at the time and rangers were incorporating interpretive information in their talks. But the archaeologist left the park a year ago and there has been no news of further work.

Willkens told the Picket last week said she did not “have any updated work to share.”

It took years to protect and transfer site to park service

The Georgia Tech survey and a November 2021 NPS cultural landscape report on the Wallis farm and Signal Hill appeared to bring new energy to the site, which has largely been out of the headlines in recent years.

The Wallis house was in “imminent danger” of being demolished, according to an NPS official who provided a statement to Congress in June 2010 in support of enlarging the park to include the sites. A developer had purchased 27 acres, including Harriston Hill and the Wallis homestead, in 2002, according to the official. 

Crawford, with the Georgia Battlefields Association, recalls arguing against a rezoning for much of Signal Hill. “Although the Wallis house parcel was not part of the rezoning application, I said that the house and Signal Hill were both parts of a whole, both contributing to the site’s significant history.”

Working with the Cobb Land Trust, the Cobb County government acquired seven acres from the developer, including the farm and hill. About 43 homes are in the subdivision (left).

The land was donated to the federal park years later, in 2019, after Congress finally permitted expansion of the boundaries. The Covid crisis slowed action in 2020.

“I certainly agree this has been a long struggle,” Crawford told the Picket in a 2024 email.

The house is off-limits, but could that change one day?

Today, the setting is hardly bucolic. Cars whizz by on two busy highways – Burnt Hickory Road and Ernest W. Barrett Parkway – and the subdivision separates the Wallis house and Signal Hill. The park has no trespassing signs around the house, which is largely obscured by trees and vegetation. It allows no visitors to the property, citing safety and security concerns. Walking along Burnt Hickory is not recommended.

In 2024, the Wallis House was considered relatively structurally sound, thought it would need a lot of work.

(Civil War Picket photo)

The cultural landscape report detailed ways to interpret the sites. At Signal Hill, some of the trees could be thinned so that visitors could get a view of Big and Little Kennesaw mountains. A trail to the entrenchments, which need to be stabilized, and other features could be built, along with interpretive markers. The Wallis farm could feature an outdoor education area, parking, restroom and signs.

The clash at Kennesaw Mountain was a costly, but brief setback during the Federal advance on Atlanta. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, commander of Union forces, was at the Wallis house during the Battle of Kolb’s Farm to the south.

Park and local officials hope the home can eventually tell several stories, possibly featuring an exhibit on the role of African-American soldiers and civilians during the Civil War.

“General Howard is an important historical figure because of his successful leadership on the battlefield and his post-Civil War support of former slaves as head of the Freedmen's Bureau and founder of Howard University,” says the NPS.

Watkins Banks wore this red jacket while in a Georgia militia unit. The excitement of impending war faded to gray, and he was one of three brothers killed in battle

Georgia Pvt. Watkins Banks' red jacket, his name written on interior lining (Courtesy Columbus Museum) and an ambrotype of him, at left, with first cousin Willis Butt, who also served (Courtesy John Sheftall)

Dashing young men from high society filled the ranks of volunteer militia companies across the South in the decades leading to the Civil War. They dressed smartly in stylish uniforms, rubbed elbows at social events and trained for whatever military purpose they could fulfill for their states.

The Columbus Guards in the west Georgia city by that name were considered among the best-drilled in the region. They formed in 1835 and provided more men for Confederate service than any other militia unit in the city. Its members, many from slaveholding families, participated in more than 30 battles as part of the Army of Northern Virginia. 

A Columbus Guards ”Red Jacket” worn by Watkins Banks at the beginning of the war is the only such jacket known to still exist. I admit to never tiring of gazing at it whenever I stop by the Columbus Museum on Wynnton Road, not far from where Banks grew up.

The bright red jacket features insignia, brass buttons and, as I noticed last week, small faux epaulets.

Banks was one of seven brothers who fought for the Confederacy and one of three to die, within months of each other, in 1864. 

There were no signs of the coming sacrifice when the Columbus Guards – who fired a small brass cannon for salutes -- traveled to Montgomery, Ala., in February 1861 for the inauguration of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Banks wore this jacket in Montgomery and during the Guards’ departure from Columbus to join the Confederate army.

“It’s quite striking in the gallery, where it rotates with Confederate Col. Peyton Colquitt’s gray coat,” Rebecca Bush, curator of history and exhibitions manager at the museum, told me several years ago.

Banks identified his jacket by writing ‘Wat. Banks’ and ‘1861’ on the coat’s interior lining, notations which are still clearly visible.

Six original buttons remain, the rest were likely cut as mementos for the family after he was killed near Atlanta in 1864. New buttons were cast. They bear the initials “CG” and an eagle.

The buttons have drawn scholarly interest, as they have never been identified on any other militia or federal uniform, despite extensive research, according to the museum.

Bush told me this week the Banks jacket has been on view since late May and will remain out for about a year.

“Most of the jacket is made of Melton cloth (or Melton wool) with white cotton lining and, of course, the brass buttons,” she said in an email. “We do not have one known maker for the jackets. In December 1861, a notice appeared in the local newspapers that ‘the goods for the uniforms’ of the Guards had arrived at the store of Ellis & Livingston, with instructions that family members should pick up ‘the goods, have the suits made and returned for packing.’ I suppose it’s possible that a similar home manufacture model was used before the war as well.”

Watkins paid a substitue, but returned to service

John and Sarah Banks, both from Elbert County, Ga., came to Columbus in the 1830s. They built The Cedars in 1836.

John Banks was a successful businessman and lawyer who owned plantations in Georgia and Alabama and about 200 enslaved people.

Photo of The Cedars in Columbus by David Seibert, HMdb.org

Columbus attorney John Sheftall, who lives in the Banks family home called The Cedars, said the couple had nine sons and three daughters. One of them, Josephine, is his great-great grandmother. (Watkins Banks is his great-great-great uncle.) Sheftall said his children are the eighth generation to live at the stately home.

Only two of the Banks boys did not serve with the Confederacy (all nine are buried in the Banks family lot at Linwood Cemetery in Columbus.)

According to one history, Watkins Banks and about 135 others joined Company G of the 2nd Georgia Volunteer Infantry when the war broke out. The unit wore the red jacket for a few months before receiving their new issue of gray. The regiment, which served in Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia, had its most famous moment at Antietam, where it held the heights above Burnside’s Bridge with the 20^th Georgia.

Sheftall said Banks fought in Virginia, returned home and at some point joined Nelson’s Rangers with a brother.

In 1863, the bachelor paid for a substitute, lived in Columbus and then returned to service during the Atlanta Campaign. The private was killed during a skirmish on Aug. 11, 1864, outside Atlanta. He was 31.

An obituary in the Columbus Sun newspaper (right) said Watkins had a “lofty sense of honor.”

“A brother, Lt. Eugene Banks, as noble hearted a young man as ever lived, was killed in May, at Resaca, another Capt. Willis Banks, fell at Atlanta the latter part of July – three brothers killed in three months – and all young men of the finest mould. Is it not folly to speak of reconstruction or affiliation with a hated foe who thus daily is robbing the South of her noblest sons?”

Eugene and Willis Banks – also unmarried -- served with the 39^th Alabama Infantry.

A funeral for the three siblings was held Aug. 14, 1864, at St. Luke Methodist Church in Columbus.

After the Battle of Columbus in April 1865, which saw the city fall to Union forces, a potion of occupying troops camped for a few days east of The Cedars, Sheftall wrote in an email this week.

"There was one particular marauding party of soldiers who came to the house, took away lots of supplies, food, and livestock, ransacked things inside to some extent, stole some silver, and insulted John Banks, who was by that time partially paralyzed and sitting on the front porch while all of this was going on.

"(None of the sons were there, four already being dead, only John and Sarah and their three daughters, plus the slaves.) When one soldier insulted John Banks and knocked his hat off, daughter Lucy blessed them out and they left.  Subsequently, her mother, Sarah Watkins Banks, paid a call on the commanding officer at the nearby camp, and he agreed to post a guard at The Cedars, which resolved things until the Union forces left and moved east toward Macon."

The end of the war brought an end to slavery and John Banks wrote about that in an autobiography. (HMdb.org photo, left; click to enlarge)

Sheftall said about 27 enslaved people had been at The Cedars. Others worked at a plantation south of Columbus on the Chattahoochee River and at three locations in Russell and Macon counties in Alabama.

Some of the formerly enslaved stayed on with the family as laborers.

Family papers are at the University of Georgia

The Columbus Museum acquired the red jacket from Sheftall through a partial gift and purchase in 2012.

The letters CG are part of the brass buttons on the Watkins Banks' jacket (Courtesy Columbus Museum)

“After acquisition, the Museum sent the jacket to the Williamstown Art Conservation Center in Massachusetts for stabilization and restoration. This process included the insertion of a red cotton interlayer to disguise losses in the original red wool, as well as the casting of replacement buttons,” says a page about the garment.

The University of Georgia Libraries has a John Banks papers collection, including his autobiography, at the Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library in Athens, Ga. The collection includes letters from Watkins during the Civil War.

Sheftall has an ambrotype (top of this post) showing Watkins Banks on the left with his first cousin, Willis Banks Butt.

“He was the son of Moses Butt and Priscilla Banks, sister to John Banks, said Sheftall. “Willis survived the Civil War, married Julia Treutlen of Eufaula, and settled there.They both lived a reasonably long life but had no children.”

Willis Butt died in 1899 at age 59.

Dedicated surgeons at a Manassas field hospital were unable to save a teen soldier in 1862. A rubber comb found in a limb pit with his remains will be buried with him soon at Arlington National Cemetery. Here's why

This hard rubber comb will be buried with the soldier at Arlington National Cemetery (NPS photo)

(Updated Oct. 16) -- Under horrifying circumstances, Union surgeons covered up to their elbows in blood worked feverishly to save lives at a makeshift field hospital on the Second Manassas battlefield.

The ground had been won by the Confederates in August 1862, but the surgeons had been granted permission to treat the Federal wounded, many of whom had been without care, food and water for days in the sweltering heat..

Hard choices on who to treat had to be made, according to a study written after the 2015 excavation at Manassas National Battlefield Park of two bodies and several limbs placed in a surgeon’s pit. Numerous amputations were conducted to save lives.

“They rendered aid as they were able until surgeons became uncertain whether operations could be tolerated by men already so weakened from their ordeal,” the paper says. “The medical party found itself impaired from continued disorganization and Confederate control that led to the continued lack of ambulances, supplies, and food.”

One of the recovered New York State buttons (NPS photo)

There was a third man buried in the pit, but his remains were not discovered and recovered until 2024. Officials this year announced he will be buried in the fall at Arlington National Cemetery, where the other two soldiers rest. No date for the burial has been announced.

The teen will be placed in a coffin with a hard rubber pocket comb found under his left femur. A report asserts the comb likely had been in his back pocket.

The soldier was apparently buried in a New York infantry jacket. Archaeologists found six brass New York State Excelsior jacket buttons and seven brass cuff buttons with the soldier, who was between 16 and 19 years old.

The National Park Service this week released photos of many of those artifacts, which include wooden buttons and a metal clothing hook (left).

Only the comb will be interred with the soldier, NPS officials on Oct. 16 said. That's because it was a personal object. "The other artifacts are government property, having been issued as part of a uniform. The future use of these artifacts has not yet been determined," a spokesperson said.

An associated NPS document says the comb was mass-produced, machine made and undecorated. “It does not represent a distinctive type, material, or method of construction/manufacture. The artifact has been subjected to high-resolution 3D scanning, physical replication, and photography, and that information will be stored by the NPS and made available for research and interpretation. The potential for extracting additional information from the object is low.”

The field hospital was established at the John Dogan farm, not far from the Deep Cut section of the battlefield. The property was known as Rosefield at the time. The pit was dug between Sept. 1 and Sept. 6, 1862.

Union soldiers occupied this property on Aug. 29, 1862, first using it as an artillery placement site, and later as a hospital after surgeons “took control of the house” for the remainder of the three-day battle, the NPS said.

Excelsior jacket buttons, comb, metal clothing hook and wooden buttons (NPS photo, click to enlarge)

The Excelsior Brigade, made up of several New York regiments and a veteran of multiple campaigns, fought near the Dogan farm and Deep Cut. The soldier may or may not have been in the Excelsior Brigade or wounded near Deep Cut.

It's possible he was wounded the evening of Aug. 29 in the fight at Groveton. He apparently suffered a neck wound.

There’s no way to know what treatment he may have received at the field hospital, but he showed no signs of amputation.

Park officials say they have not been able to identify the soldier or his New York unit. 

An archaeologist uses a brush for fine work in 2024 at Manassas National Battlefield Park (NPS)

Soil conditions, historic plowing and backhoe excavation during the water line project led to his remains being in poor condition, according to the NPS.

Roughly 40% of the remains were intact, and “no complete long bones were present. Historic plowing of the area crushed and relocated the skull (minus an occipital bone) and right arm” documents show. “The knees may also have been affected by the backhoe during waterline excavation. Fragments of assorted bones and teeth were found in soil within the excavated area. Little of the pelvis remained.”

The Picket reached out Oct. 10 to Arlington National Cemetery, which is managed by the U.S. Army, for details about the upcoming interment. A media official on Oct, 16 said details of the event will be released in the coming week.

New York Excelsior jacket button found at Manassas in 2024 (NPS photo)

The 2023 article, written before the third soldier was found, said Second Manassas “marked an inflection point for combat military medicine by highlighting the urgent need for improved systematic recovery and treatment of the wounded.”

The authors say the work of the skilled surgeons is rarely known or acknowledged today. That dedication is worthy of remembrance, the study suggests.

“Events at Second Manassas should be fully acknowledged as part of the essential transformation that propelled American battlefield medical care toward the creation and implementation of an effective triage protocol and emergency-transport or ambulance system.”

He was called 'Old Reliable': To mark William J. Hardee's birthday, we asked experts to weigh in on legacy of noted corps commander, author of infantry tactics manual

Confederate Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee, an accomplished corps commander nicknamed “Old Reliable” by his troops, was born in coastal Georgia on this day (Oct. 12) in 1815.

Before the Civil War, Hardee fought in the Mexican-American War and served four years as commandant at West Point. He is known for writing a popular infantry manual used by officers in both the Northern and Southern armies in the Civil War.

To mark Hardee’s birthday, the Picket asked historians, battlefield experts and other Civil War experts to weigh in on his legacy.

Some remarks have been edited, and context added to more fully detail their points.

Keith Bohannon, history professor at the University of West Georgia

You should mention the superb biography of Hardee done by the late historian Nathaniel Hughes Jr. of Chattanooga. Nat was one of the finest historians who have ever written about the Western Theater of the Civil War.

(The Abraham Lincoln Book Shop in Chicago says “General William J. Hardee: Old Reliable,” published in 1965, is the definitive biography. “Often in consideration for army command, Hardee never quite gained Jefferson Davis’ trust, for many reasons that Hughes relates,” the shop says.

“The author finds Hardee an example of conservative military leadership that could not adapt itself to the practices of modern war. To the end he was a professional soldier of the classical school, fighting and even thinking in Napoleonic terms.”)

Bob Jenkins, executive director, Blue and Gray Education Society

1. His instruction book: “Rifle and Light Infantry Tactics” Biographer Nathaniel Hughes Jr. wrote, “It might be said that every officer of the war went into battle with a sword in one hand and a copy of Hardee’s manual in the other.”

2. I believe that the was the only officer at the corps and/or army commander level to have served in the Confederate Army of Tennessee (in all of its iterations) from start to end of the war: Shiloh to Bentonville.

3. His nickname was “Old Reliable.” In some ways. when considering his consistency and general competency and reliability in terms of not being absent from his post, and in following orders, this may be considered true. In other ways, he was not brilliant. He undermined Bragg with subordinates and did not take initiative well.

First on the Picket: Newly released photos of 2024 excavation of Civil War soldier's remains at Manassas battlefield. The teen will be buried soon at Arlington

National Park Service archaeologists with human remains at Manassas in March 2024 (NPS)

Sometime in the coming weeks, an unknown Civil War soldier whose remains were found in a surgeon’s burial and limb pit at the Second Manassas battlefield will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

The National Park Service in August announced the March 2024 discovery of the young man, saying he was apparently buried in a New York infantry jacket after his August 1862 death in Northern Virginia.

The Picket has been checking in since then with the agency regarding plans for burial and photographs of the excavation.

“The National Park Service is coordinating with the U.S. Army for the dignified burial of an unknown Civil War soldier later this fall. The date and time of the service are not being released at this time,” the agency said in response Thursday. 

National Park Service staff check in on the Manassas work in March 2024 (NPS))

The Picket on Friday received access to an NPS photo gallery; this post may be the first time the images have been published. Officials said they have only recently been made available to the media.

The limb pit was discovered in 2014 during excavations associated with water pipe maintenance at Manassas National Battlefield Park. Two bodies and seven (possibly eight) amputated limbs were removed in 2015. The burial occurred near the site of a field hospital.

The entire pit was not excavated at the time, apparently because of time and funding limitations. While archaeologists believed there were more partial remains, they did not expect a whole set to be found when they returned in 2024.

An archaeologist uses a brush for fine work in 2024 at Manassas National Battlefield Park (NPS)

Archaeologists found six brass New York State Excelsior coat buttons and seven brass cuff buttons with the soldier, who was between 16 and 19 years old.

NPS documents studied by the Picket indicate the excavation also yielded four new surgically amputated limbs. “Found in direct association with this soldier's interment was a rubber pocket comb,” the agency said. The Army has requested personal effects, including the comb, for burial.

In total, three sets of human remains and 16 amputated limbs were excavated and removed from the property in 2015 and 2024. The remains of the first two unknown soldiers were buried in a new section of Arlington National Cemetery in September 2018 

Marker at the battlefield includes sketch showing Dogan house, where wounded were treated (Devry Jones, HMdb.org)

The field hospital was established at the John Dogan farm, not far from the Deep Cut section of the battlefield. The property was known as Rosefield at the time.

Union soldiers occupied this property on Aug. 29, 1862, first using it as an artillery placement site, and later as a hospital after surgeons “took control of the house” for the remainder of the three-day battle, the NPS said.

Park officials say they have not been able to identify the soldier or his New York unit or exactly where on the battlefield he fought. He apparently suffered a neck wound.

Soil conditions, historic plowing and backhoe excavation during the water line project led to his remains being in poor condition, according to the NPS.

An archaeologist excavates human remains at Manassas National Battlefield Park (NPS)

Roughly 40% of the remains were intact, and “no complete long bones were present. Historic plowing of the area crushed and relocated the skull (minus an occipital bone) and right arm” documents show. “The knees may also have been affected by the backhoe during waterline excavation. Fragments of assorted bones and teeth were found in soil within the excavated area. Little of the pelvis remained.”

Asked by the Civil War Picket whether there has been an attempt to identify the soldier via DNA, the NPS in August said extensive archaeological and osteological analysis was done.

"Professional archaeological evaluations concluded that additional analysis was unlikely to yield significant new information. Throughout this process, our focus has remained on treating the soldier with dignity and respect while following professional standards and applicable preservation laws."

The Picket reached out Saturday to Arlington National Cemetery, which is managed by the U.S. Army, for details about the upcoming interment.

(NPS)