Return to 1863: Gettysburg will restore grassland, biodiversity and historic views to a portion of Cemetery Ridge, the powerful attraction in the center of the battlefield

An older view of grasslands on the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania (NPS photo)

Gettysburg National Military Park has launched its latest effort to restore endangered grassland, with the goal of restoring 160 acres of Cemetery Ridge to their 1863 appearance and providing improved habitat for birds and native grasses and wildflowers.

The project, which is expected to last three to five years, was launched in early May.

“Herbicide will be the main strategy for removal due to project scale and cost-effectiveness,” park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket in an email. “There may be potential for some mechanical removal of invasive trees via chainsaws as well.”

A news release said the restoration project near Hancock Avenue will maintain “open views” that define the 1863 battlefield and reflect the appearance of the agricultural landscape present during the Battle of Gettysburg. "Visitors may experience temporary trail closures or see areas that appear sparse during early stages of restoration." 

Restoration area along Hancock Avenue and west of the Pennsylvania memorial  (NPS)

The work is concentrated around the Pennsylvania Monument and the Eternal Light Peace Memorial, located in the area of Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863. I asked Martz to describe how those monuments would benefit.

Eternal Light Peace Memorial: As visitors drive north toward Oak Hill, the monument dominates the landscape. Once the native warm season grasses and wildflower mix take hold and replace the non-native cool season grasses, visitors will notice more color from the flowers and will have the opportunity to bird watch as native ground nesting birds return.

North and west of the Pennsylvania Memorial: These areas of heavy fighting on July 2 and 3 are dominated by non-native cool season grasses that ground nesting birds can't take advantage of. “Once the native warm season grasses and wildflowers take hold within the next three to five years, this area will pop with color and will become a haven for ground-nesting birds,” Martz added.

Officials told Fox 43 visitors will notice the enhanced landscape. (At left, file NPS photo of grasslands at Gettysburg)

"The battlefield is what tells the stories," Martz said. "You can read all the books you want. You can watch all the documentaries that you want, but none of them compare to the place.”

The National Park Service’s Eastern Grasslands Initiative is restoring grasslands across 39 sites in the East.

A 2011 article on the park’s blog discussed the importance of such efforts.

“Abundant in the 1800s when settlers had cleared much land for hay fields and pastures, today grasslands face danger from fires, human development, and changes in agriculture technology. Grasslands are important because they protect large amounts of open space and provide wildlife and nesting habitat for specialized species.”

The habitat is especially important to birds such as the Bobolink, Savannah sparrow and the Eastern Meadowlark. 

Kevin Levin, in his Civil War Memory Substack blog, noted the Gettysburg landscape “has been continuously shaped, interpreted and reimagined since the guns fell silent in July 1863.”

Another section of the restoration project (NPS)

Visitors in recent decades have gravitated to Cemetery Ridge and the open fields traversed by Confederate troops during Pickett’s Charge, he wrote last month.

“Every decision about what to clear and what to plant, what to make visible and what to allow to disappear, shapes the story that future visitors will encounter,” Levin wrote. “The rehabilitation of Cemetery Ridge is not simply horticultural. It is an act of historical argument, one that will influence how millions of people understand what remains the most popular Civil War battle and Civil War battlefield.”

RaceTrac loses its bid to build a 24/7 gas station at an Atlanta-area site where a Civil War house stood, cavalry clashed. Proximity to school, day care led to defeat

The sturdy home was cut into six pieces before its move in spring 2025 (Civil War Picket photo)

A two-acre parcel caught up in Civil War cavalry clashes northwest of Atlanta is destined to house some kind of business. But a proposed 24/7 RaceTrac gas station and convenience store that would have been built right across from an elementary school appear to be out of the running -- at least for now.

With very little discussion – unlike other hearings related to the controversial proposal – the Cobb County Board of Commissioners voted 5-0 on Tuesday morning to rebuff RaceTrac. The tally was followed by applause from opponents.

The Robert and Eliza McAfee home, built 20 years before the Atlanta Campaign, had been empty for years.

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 – last spring was moved to Ball Ground, adjoining Cherokee County after a long effort to save it from destruction.

It stood at the corner of Bells Ferry Road and Ernest Barrett Parkway. (At right, a map showing troop positions in June-July 1864; note McAfee House, Library of Congress)

Because the owner of the property never sought an historic designation or protection, and Cobb County declined to purchase the property, it is inevitable some kind of commercial development will come to the site. 

Neighbors suggest medical buildings or businesses that would generate less traffic than a gas station. A proposal to build a car wash was withdrawn a couple years back.

The nonprofit Cobb Landmarks, the Bells Ferry Civic Association, which opposed the plan, and the county’s historic preservation staff all recommended an archaeological survey of the site if the rezoning was ultimately approved.

RaceTrac and opponents on Tuesday repeated their arguments pitched over the past year at various meetings.

The latter have cited concerns about traffic, crime and gas vapors affecting Bells Ferry Elementary just across the street and a nearby KinderCare. The Bells Ferry Civic Association showed a map Tuesday (below) highlighting the proximity of a station to both places. A playground for the elementary school is within a few hundred feet.

RaceTrac – which intended to apply for alcohol sales -- said very little harmful benzene will escape from the 16 pumps and storage tanks. Neighbors claimed the potential health risks are too high.

Kevin Moore, attorney for the company and property owners, said the station would not contribute significantly to traffic congestion at Bells Ferry Road and Ernest Barrett Parkway. RaceTrac was willing to add a full right turn lane at the corner.

“RaceTrac is a proven community partner and supporter/partner of local schools,” it argued. The county's planning staff had endorsed the project.

But more than two dozen people who attended the hearing saying this particular parcel would not overcome concerns about air quality and young children being exposed to gas fumes.

The Cobb County Planning Commission earlier this month voted 3-2 to back rezoning of the property, but added stipulations that would not allow alcohol and fuel sales.

RaceTrac had previously approached the Board of Commissioners -- which has the final say -- but withdrew it before consideration. Tuesday, the consideration did not take long before the 5-0 vote.

Work last month on the McAfee house at its new home in Cherokee County, Ga. (Civil War Picket photo)

A couple commissioners lamented the lack of guidelines or rules in the county for the location of gas stations near schools. Moore pointed out dozens of stations in Cobb County are not far from schools.

The Civil War Picket reached out to Moore and Erick Allen, the district county commissioner for the neighborhood, for comment, but had not received a response as of Wednesday evening.

Officials said the decision effectively ends the case, unless RaceTrac decides to bring a lawsuit.

The property owner donated the land to Cobb Landmarks, which for years had tried to find a home for the house. Cobb Landmarks then sold it 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 former home in Ball Ground and have been working since on its foundation. The couple says they expect the house to either be rented as a residence or an Airbnb-style arrangement.

Civil War reenactors present at Navy ship commissioning in Cleveland had hoped to fire artillery salutes. Gun #179 did fire a volley in 1865 at Lincoln funeral there

Original Napoleon (foreground) and 3-inch ordnance rifle at Saturday's event (1st Ohio LA, Battery A)

Ohio Civil War reenactment crews present for the commissioning of a U.S. Navy combat ship in Cleveland on Saturday displayed two cannons, including one that reportedly saluted assassinated President Abraham Lincoln during his funeral train stop in the city in 1865.

They had hoped to fire the guns but increased security ahead of the ceremony precluded the booming display, officials said.

Gun #179, an 1864 Napoleon that was at the Lincoln events, was transported from the Statehouse grounds in Columbus to Cleveland, which saw the first U.S. Navy commissioning in Ohio in 250 years. A 3-inch ordnance gun was placed next to the Napoleon. Both were pointed toward Lake Erie.

Lake Erie made a picturesque setting Saturday morning (U.S. Navy photo)

Littoral warship USS Cleveland was launched three years ago; Saturday morning brought its formal commissioning in military service before it is deployed to Naval Station Mayport in Florida.

The guns were placed about a 100 yards from the stern of the ship so the public could learn about Civil War artillery, said Tim Daley of the USS Cleveland Legacy Foundation.

The 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A reenactment unit brought the Napoleon “for a much happier occasion” than the wake for Lincoln on April 28, 1865, according to a news release from Battery A and the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board.

Cleveland was one of several Lincoln funeral train stops between Washington, D.C., and Springfield, Ill. Church bells and cannon firing were part of the public viewing of Lincoln and procession in Cleveland. The 1^st Ohio Light Artillery saw extensive service in the Western Theater.

The 19th Ohio Light Artillery from the Cleveland area showed off the 3-inch gun (above, in foreground, courtesy Wes Smith).

Saturday’s ceremony was full of Navy tradition, and speakers mentioned Cleveland’s contribution of steel and welding to the construction of the vessel. One pointed out the city’s service to the U.S. military intensified with manufacturing during the Civil War.

“This crew is ready to sail. This crew is ready to fight. This crew is ready to serve,” said its commander, Capt. Bruce Hallett near the completion of the ceremony.

Members of both reenactor groups on Cleveland waterfront (Special to the Picket)

In a Facebook post following the events, the 19th Ohio Light Artillery wrote:

"We were treated like royalty, being police-escorted from Berea, Ohio, to Cleveland Lakefront! Although we were unable to fire the guns we were put pretty close to the ceremony and able to mingle with the public and witness history."

They were able to tour the ship, though one participant had to remove her outer hoopskirt in order to take the stairs and maneuver in tight places.

I contacted both reenactment groups ahead of the event, and the following provides background: Responses have been edited for order and brevity.

Background on 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A

Reenactors man 1864 Napoleon on the Cleveland waterfront (1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A)

From Capt. Duane Rezac:

Q. Do you have a history of gun #179? Where was it from October 1864 until the Lincoln assassination?

A. I have done research on the history of the four cannon on the Statehouse grounds. The cannon were part of a purchase of two batteries of 6-pdr and 2 batteries of 12-pdr guns for the newly formed Ohio National Guard in 1864. At the start of the war, the states provided arms and equipment for troops going into federal service. By mid-1863, Ohio had sent 40 6-pdr field guns with Ohio troops going into federal service. When the process of disbanding the Ohio militia and forming the Ohio National Guard began in 1863, Ohio had no functional artillery remaining in the State Arsenal. The few artillery pieces that remained with the Ohio militia were in poor condition and were unserviceable.

The Ohio National Guard was authorized to have 20 2-gun batteries of artillery, but they had no equipment for them. A requisition was sent to the U.S. government requesting that the 40 6-pdr field guns be replaced. The request was denied, with the response including, "If we provide the guns, it will set a precedent and the other states will request the same, and we cannot do that in a time of war.”

The business end of gun #179 in Cleveland ((1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery A)

Ohio came up with a solution. They would purchase four batteries of artillery, two 6-pdr batteries, 2 12-pdr batteries and 200 horses. The 6-pdr batteries would be used to train Ohio National Guard batteries so they would be prepared when more guns could be procured. The first two batteries to be trained would be expanded to a six-gun strength, and on the completion of their training, would be issued 6 12-pdr guns and 100 horses. These batteries would be stationed in Cleveland and Cincinnati to provide protection for the cities and borders of Ohio. The Ohio Statehouse has one gun from each of the batteries purchased.

Gun #179 was one of 6 12-pdrs issued to the 8th Independent Battery Ohio National Guard. The 8th was stationed in Brooklyn Ohio (now a suburb of Cleveland) and maintained an armory there.They kept the 100 horses they were issued stabled close to Brooklyn; however I have not been able to determine its exact location. In fall of 1864, Gen. Hooker wrote a letter to the governor of Ohio requesting that an Ohio Battery be made available to him in Cleveland. Gen. Hooker had information from spies that Confederate refugees in Canada planned " an early decent upon Detroit or Cleveland for purposes of Plunder and incendiarism" and he requested a battery for support in the event the attack occurred. The 8th was given that assignment and were on active duty from fall of 1864 until spring of 1865 with orders to provide Gen. Hooker any support requested.

Lincoln's casket was brought to Public Square (Courtesy The Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio

When President Lincoln's funeral was at Cleveland, the 8th was selected to participate. The 8th fired the 36 -gun National Salute on the arrival of the train carrying the president’s body ( gun #179 would have fired six volleys). The 8th was a part of the honor guard escorting the casket from the train to the square where the president’s body was on repose, and the 8th fired salutes through the day.

Q. What kind of cannon is it? How long has it been at the Statehouse grounds?

The cannon is a M1857 12-pdr field gun commonly referred to as a Napoleon. All of the cannon were manufactured by Miles Greenwood of Cincinnati. #179 refers to the foundry number on the trunnion of the gun. While I am still researching to determine the exact date the guns were placed on the Statehouse grounds, I have a photograph from 1879 of the Statehouse that shows a cannon in the same location they were when the renovations to the Statehouse were done in the late 1980s. During that same time period, the inventory reports have a column of “Items at the State Campground or otherwise assigned by the Adjutant General’. This column contains two 12-pdr guns and two 6-pdr guns. While there is no way to definitively prove that these four guns are the Statehouse guns, I believe that it is highly likely that they are.

Q. How many members of the battery will be there? Do they have experience with this weapon?

A. All of our battery members are experienced operating muzzle-loading cannon with experience from new recruits to over 20 years operating cannon. We currently have nine members that are planning to attend

Q. Has this gun been fired before, in recent years?

A. While I can't say exactly when the last time this gun was fired, all four of the guns are maintained in operating condition. Due to logistics of handling the guns without horses, we typically use one of the lighter 6-pdr guns. Since 12-pdr #179 served in Cleveland during the war, we are very happy to return it back to where it served 161 years ago. When the Ohio Statehouse underwent major restoration in the late 1980s, all four of the cannon were completely reconditioned and new carriages built, using as much of the original hardware that was salvageable, with the remainder being newly manufactured by Cannon Ltd. In Coolville, Ohio (now out of business). The cannon are maintained by our battery and the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, who are responsible for the Statehouse, grounds and monuments.

Background on the 19^th Ohio Light Artillery

From Capt. Wesley Smith

The 19th Ohio Light Artillery is a reenactment group that portrays the original 19th Ohio Independent Light Artillery, which was formed in the Cleveland area in September of 1862. They fought mainly in the Western Theater. Our reenactment group was formed way back in the 1960s during the centennial of the Civil War. Through the years, we’ve been reenacting and doing living history displays all over the mid-Atlantic states through Ohio and Michigan, also. We are a member of larger reenactment organizations like The Artillery Reserve and Birney’s Division. We take great pride in safety and historical accuracy while in the field. Our group is a very tight knit family group. Most events we field at least two cannons with limbers.

A trip to the lab: It was a thrill to briefly hold a conserved Enfield rifle and see one going into a preservation tank at Georgia state park. These weapons and 18 others were found in a blockade runner wreck. The goal is to put them on exhibit

Josh Headlee prepares to place an Enfield in preservative dolution (top right); at bottom are a brass trigger guard and a piece of the wooden crate used to keep rifles in place during shipment from England (Civil War Picket photos)

There are fun days and then there are really, really fun days. Today was one of the latter.

I began my adventure by hopping into my old SUV for the leafy drive to Panola Mountain State Park near Stockbridge, Ga., below Atlanta. I was excited about finally meeting Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

We have stayed in touch by phone or email for nearly 13 years about a conservation project he calls “a labor of love.”

Of course, I was equally excited about seeing the fruits of that project: Two Civil War Enfield rifles that were part of a crate of 20 lost when a Confederate blockade runner ran aground in Charleston, S.C., in 1863. South Carolina divers brought them up in the late 1980s; the artifacts eventually came to Georgia, which had larger facilities to handle them.

The conservation of the rifles last year reached a significant milestone, with the first walnut stock emerging from treatment and appearing to be doing well outside a wet environment.

I had a chance to briefly hold the rifle stock this morning before we drove over to a laboratory housed in a former golf course building. Adrian Fox, interpretive ranger at Sweetwater Creek State Park, and I had the honor of watching Headlee dip the second gun into a preservation for a two-month bath (Picket video, above).

The British-made weapons have been displayed for nearly 15 years in a 300-gallon aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County as corrosive salts are removed. Headlee, who cleans the tank a couple times a year, chose guns 9 and 10 as the first to be treated with a preservative.

Visitors to Sweetwater Creek – about 50 miles from Panola Mountain - are a bit puzzled when they first see the aquarium, said Fox and Headlee. After all, shouldn’t it contain fish or turtles? And the mass of guns, a crate and lead lining appear to be a jumble.

Park employees tell them the gun cache is inherently interesting.

Rifles in aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park; below a replica used to provide context (Georgia DNR)

“It gives folks a rare glimpse to see historic preservation in action,” Fox told me. Staffers often hold a replica rifle near the tank to help them visualize what’s inside.

Conservation is a long process, so there is no timetable on when the weapons  – which have been in salt or freshwater for 163 years -- are completed. And there has been no decision on where they might be exhibited, finally free of a watery environment.

Headlee says Fort McAllister State Park below Savannah might be appropriate, given the Rebel blockade runner CSS Nashville was sunk there by the Union ironclad USS Montauk.

Blockade runner wreck served up a treasure

The Pattern 1853 Enfields were carried by the blockade runner CSS Stono and were bound for Charleston, S.C., in 1863. The rifles, stored in a wooden crate, were placed in an alternating butt-to-muzzle pattern, and blocks were used to prevent the weapons from shifting. 

The Stono, laden with precious arms, munitions and goods from Europe, ran aground on a submerged sandbar off Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor while trying to evade Federal ships.

The crate likely took a hard fall, breaking a few rifles, according to Headlee. (Picket video above and photo, right, of conserved rifle, piece of crate)

Saltwater destroyed most of the iron components, including barrels, locks and bayonets. The trigger guards, butt plates and nose caps at the end of the barrels are made of brass and are still intact.

Interestingly, the nose cap is the only metal piece still attached to the wooden stock of the treated rifle. It appears to be riveted in place and conservators don't want to risk breaking the fragile stock to remove it for treatment. 

Officials did not initially know how many of the highly prized Pattern 1853 rifles were inside, their position or condition. 

Each weapon originally weighed about 9 pounds and was approximately 53 inches long. The bore is .577-caliber. 

The treated rifle I hoisted weighed probably half of that, because much of the metal (iron) had corroded away.

The brass pieces survived. The iron, not so much

Adrian Fox and Josh Headlee with untreated rifle, gun parts and piece of crate (Picket photo)

The craftsmanship involved in the manufacture of the guns was very good, Headlee previously said. “Enfield was top quality.” It was the second-most widely used infantry weapon in the Civil War after the Springfield.

The 1851 and 1853 Enfields, made for the British army, were an important technological advance from smoothbore to rifled muskets, increasing the accuracy and distance.

At least one of the weapons bears the mark, “T. Turner,” believed to be a Confederate inspector of the rifle. His name was on a stamped cartouche in the wood.

Iron in barrel (left) and ramrod area (right) of treated gun are gone; at center is the end of the stock where brass butt plate was attached (Picket photos; click to enlarge)

A tin and lead lining that sealed the cargo from salt air and ensured the rifles were not tampered with is in bad condition. Officials are not sure how much of that can be salvaged for display. The wooden lid to the box did survive and is resting in a freshwater tank with other components.

There is a silver lining to all of this: Components made of brass withstood the onslaught of corrosive saltwater.

Iron or steel screws holding the butt plates in place deteriorated over the years and the plates just slid off, said Headlee.

Conservators years ago found in the crate a bullet mold, tools and tampions -- cork and brass plugs inserted into the muzzle to ward off moisture. The team counted 20 tampions “in various states” of condition. 

Tampions are used on cannons and rifles to keep debris from falling into their barrels. (Picket photo, left, of tampion and other items at Panola Mountain.)

Headlee reached out to Enfield experts in England and elsewhere about the half dozen remnants of iron bayonets found stacked together. They told him bayonets normally would be shipped in a separate box.

“Why bayonets were in this crate I have no idea,” Headlee told the Picket last year. “They are all but gone. The fact we have this much is amazing.” The pieces are about an inch and a half long.

The Enfield fired a Minie ball. No ammunition was found in the crate.

A jug of preservative and a case of nerves

Headlee in 2022 selected two rifles  to be treated with a solution made by Preservation Solutions. Conservators previously used SP-11 to treat an intact coffin found in 2013 on the edge of the marsh at Fort McAllister, a Confederate river outpost below Savannah. Results on the coffin led to use on the Enfields.

Before the chemical treatment, the rifles are kept in water, which protects their cellular structure. 

Josh Headlee pours SP-11 preserver into tank with Enfield rifle (Picket photo)

The treatment takes about two months and the rifle is turned once.

Without immersion in a preserver, pieces of wood will shrink, warp and crack.

“They could literally just fall apart,” Headlee previously told the Picket.

SP-11 is designed to displace water in the wood with preservatives that help to solidify the wood so it can be permanently exposed to the air. (At left, butt plate and other components, Picket photo)

The curator has been watching the preserved rifle to see whether there is leaching, cracking or splitting of the wood. 

He has seen no problems; a white film appeared on some of the stock as it emerged from the tank, but it was successfully cleaned off, he added.

“So far, it looks good,” Headlee said during my visit.

If the second rifle does as well as the first, another two rifles will be selected for the preservation treatment, perhaps this summer. In the meantime, he will travel back to Sweetwater Creek in the coming weeks to clean the tank and inspect and care for its contents. Fox, the interpretive ranger, said the staff there is very interested in the progress of the work.

The curator concedes he was nervous when the first gun emerged from its bath, and he will probably want to babysit the second a bit, as well.

As for me, it was exciting to see the Enfield components up close, especially the wooden block (Picket video above) that held the rifles in place when they were crated more than 160 years ago. I just imagined a craftsman cutting the grooves in which the barrels rested.

Oh, what a day.

With groundbreaking, South Carolina hopes people across the country will help pay for a monument to Robert Smalls, the Black Civil War and civil rights hero

Basil Watson's rendering of the memorial (Robert Smalls Monument Commission)

The campaign to raise up to $2 million for a monument of Robert Smalls, an enslaved South Carolinian who became a Union hero after commandeering a Confederate vessel, officially gets under way Wednesday morning on the grounds of the State House.  

Officials in Columbia will hold a 9:30 a.m. ceremonial groundbreaking to kick off the Robert Smalls Monument Commission’s efforts. While the endeavor has state backing, it must be paid for through “grassroots” private dollars.

The state that was the first to secede from the United States -- and was ruled for generations by white supremacists -- will honor Smalls (below) with its first monument to a single African-American individual on the Capitol grounds.

Gov. Henry McMaster previously signed a bill setting up a commission that was tasked with coming up with a design and location for the monument. While that has been accomplished, some $1 million to $2 million must now be raised before the monument becomes reality.

At the start of the Civil War, Smalls, 23, was a pilot on the steamship CSS Planter. On the morning of May 13, 1862, Smalls led the takeover of the ship by its slave crew, sailed past Charleston harbor's formidable defenses and surrendered the vessel to the Union blockade fleet. His wife and children were among those on board who gained freedom.

Smalls met with President Abraham Lincoln and lobbied him to recruit black men to serve in the Union army. The former slave served as a pilot on the ship USS Crusader.

Smalls returned to his hometown Beaufort and bought his former master’s home. After the war, he served in South Carolina’s Legislature, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served several terms.

The congressman fought against the disenfranchisement of black voters across the South, according to the American Battlefield Trust.

The groundbreaking and monument will be on the lawn in the foreground (SC Dept. of Administration)

He also fought against segregation within the military, advocated for compulsory education in South Carolina, opened a school for black children and published a newspaper, among other accomplishments.

Choosing from three finalists, the commission last year chose a statue that depicts Smalls in a three-piece suit, at the height of his power in Congress.

Artist Basil Watson of Lawrenceville, Ga., created the winning design.

The monument site is located in the northeast quadrant of the State House grounds, near the visitor entrance to the building. 

McMaster will be among the speakers at the groundbreaking. State Rep. Brandon Cox will also make remarks; at an April meeting of the Smalls commission, he said the fundraising is “going national, going real big.”

Another view of the Smalls monument area (South Carolina Dept. of Administration)

As the Post and Courier newspaper pointed out, the monument will be on a 22-acre property in Columbia dominated by Confederate memorials.

“Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton, who enslaved people, has a statue, as does Benjamin Tillman, the former governor and white supremacist whose brother George used violence and intimidation to rob Smalls of his seat in Congress before his colleagues eventually removed him from office.”

Watson’s design was straightforward, with a single likeness of Smalls, rising above panels on the base describing his service and patriotism.

One panel includes a famous line uttered by Smalls in 1895:

“My race needs no special defense, for the past history of them in this country proves them to be the equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life."

Brooke Bailey, spokesperson for the State Department of Administration, told the Picket about $41,000 has been raised so far, with some of that earmarked for marketing and publicity.

To donate to the Smalls monument, go to this page and hit the “Donate” tab.

Click Robert Smalls Monument Commission map above to see where his statue will stand (near the star, on the State House grounds in Columbia.)