Compelling Civil War artifacts are among 100 objects the Atlanta History Center is highlighting to mark its centennial. Among them: USCT flag, ammo crate, a girl's diary, Sherman calling card, Cleburne sword, a Union map and a revolver

Solomon Luckie, Union map of Atlanta, 127th USCT flag, sketch for Cyclorama (Courtesy AHC)

Through items big (the locomotive Texas weighing in at 53,000 pound) and small (less than an ounce for Gen. William T. Sherman’s calling card), nearly 20 Civil War-related artifacts are featured in “Atlanta in 100 Objects,” a book and accompanying exhibition that opens Friday at the Atlanta History Center.

The AHC, celebrating its 100 anniversary this year, is inviting visitors to examine artifacts in galleries, rooms and exhibits across its 33 acres. There is a big variety, from a disco ball and Peachtree Street sign (below right, AHC) to a letter from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and an Atlanta Crackers baseball jersey.

While many of the Civil War items, including the calling card and a map used by Sherman’s troops, are now on display, others (a diary by a 10-year old Atlanta girl and the fascinating flag of an African-American regiment) won’t debut or return until the July opening of “More Perfect Union: The American Civil War Era.”

Officials say visitors will see photographs of the Civil War objects being unveiled during the summer. That exhibition will feature breathtaking artifacts and a broader discussion of issues that engage the republic to this day: our belief systems, victory, defeat, reconciliation and the evolving meaning of freedom.

If you can’t travel to the history center to see the 100 objects, the $24.95 coffee table book (left) features photographs and descriptions “that offer a vibrant portrait of Atlanta through the objects that define it.”

The finely produced volume offers just a snippet of what's at the history center. There are thousands of items in the history center's collection, including those pertaining to Reconstruction and civil rights.

Here’s a closer look at the “Atlanta in 100 Objects” artifacts that are directly related to the Civil War.

Much of the information is from the AHC book, while other portions are from previous Picket reporting on these artifacts, many of which have been at the museum for some time.

Adapting the first map of Atlanta for military use

You know how annoying it can be: Unfolding and folding a road map often leads to rips in the paper. Commanders in the Army of the Cumberland besieging Atlanta were issued a linen version -- preventing that problem.

British-born engineer and cartographer Edward A. Vincent made a map for the young city of Atlanta in 1853. Of course, Atlanta was a much smaller town (about 2,600 residents) and Vincent created a circle with a one-mile radius.

“Vincent beautifully illustrated the curved lines that gave Atlanta streets their unusual layout,” a caption in the book states. The Western & Atlantic’s Zero Milepost was in the center (more on that below).

Sherman’s army adapted Vincent’s creation (he also designed Union Station). The one held by the AHC was made July 25, 1864. It was drawn and printed in the field by the topographical engineer office for the Army of the Cumberland, commanded by Maj.Gen. George H. Thomas.

The other two large Federal armies in Georgia were the Army of the Ohio and the Army of the Tennessee. (Photo courtesy Atlanta History Center; click to enlarge)

Solomon and Nancy Luckie

Amid the bustle of Civil War Atlanta, 40 residents were an anomaly. Neither white nor enslaved, they were free blacks -- but they were not free in the fullest sense of the word. The residents toiled under restrictions and were always under a cloud of uncertainty.

Among them were successful barber and bathhouse owner Solomon Luckie, his wife Nancy (left, courtesy AHC) and their three children. The AHC has portraits of the couple; in his, Solomon wears a waistcoat, jacket and gold pinkie ring.

Luckie’s success story ended on Aug. 9, 1864, when one of thousands of Union artillery shells raining on besieged Atlanta hit a lamppost. Shrapnel struck the businessman, who was conversing with white businessmen at the intersection of Whitehall (Peachtree) and Alabama streets. He died hours later.

The lamppost for years was at the Underground Atlanta venue. It was moved to the AHC nearly a decade ago. It can be seen in an upstairs gallery associated with the Cyclorama.

Nancy and their children survived the war. “His descendants would live to see decades of success and struggles for Black Atlantans,” the book says of Solomon.

Zero Milepost

The granite post that marked the birth of Atlanta and survived the Civil War today sits next to the locomotive Texas at the AHC.

Zero Milepost (Picket photo, right) was placed in the 1850s at the southeastern terminus of the Western & Atlantic Railroad in what is now downtown Atlanta, near Georgia State University. “It was this railroad that provided the impetus for the beginning and subsequent growth of the city of Atlanta and marks the center of the city from which the Atlanta city limits were measured,” says the National Park Service.

The Western & Atlantic was vital for the Confederacy, sending both supplies and troops to the front.

For 70 years, the marker sat in the open, but the growth of the city’s viaduct system led to the Central Avenue Bridge above it and the feature was enclosed in a building in the 1980s. With the exception of a few groups, the marker had not been visible to the public since 1994.

In 2018, the milepost was moved to the history center, sparking criticism by preservation and civic groups. A replica was left in the remote site. The museum and state officials said the original needed protection from planned construction work

At the time, an official with the Atlanta Preservation Center said news of the move was a dark day for preservation. “It is always better to leave things in their original location,” said David Mitchell.

The replica milestone as of this writing is inaccessible because of some kind of project being done ahead of the World Cup.

Battle of Atlanta revolver

In 2006, descendants of Union artillery Capt. Francis DeGress discovered a small pocket revolver (Picket photo, below) that their great-grandfather carried into the Battle of Atlanta on July 22, 1864.

In the Cyclorama painting, galloping furiously to the rescue of Union troops who were briefly overrun at the Troup Hurt house is Maj. Gen. John A. “Black Jack” Logan, head of the Army of the Tennessee. Behind him is a revolver-toting DeGress.

DeGress, already a respected veteran, is about to become a folk hero to the Northern cause. He retakes the four 20-pounder Parrott guns that briefly fell into Confederate hands.

“He is an example of the sort of mid-level officer who was a natural leader, on whom the troops really came to depend. On whom the battle depended,” said AHC senior military historian and curator Gordon Jones.

The 1863 weapon was made by L.W. Pond Machine & Foundry Company in Worcester, Mass. It has been on display with other artifacts in the Cyclorama galleries.

According to “100 Objects,” descendants found a letter by artist Theodore Davis, a witness to the battle, friend of DeGress and a historical adviser to the Cyclorama painters. “The letter revealed that it was Davis who recommended DeGress’s dramatic pose with this revolver.”

Capt. Francis DeGress gallops behind Maj. Gen. Logan (Picket photo)

Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama painting and sketch

There’s a lot that can be said of the immense painting, which was made in the 1880s by mostly German artists with the American Panorama Company. Photos are helpful, but you really have to see this depiction in person to appreciate the artistry and chaos of battle.

Visitors at the AHC today stand or sit on a viewing platform and enjoy a powerful presentation projected onto the painting (Picket photo, right).

The book includes a foldout, 360-degree view of the painting and a preliminary sketch of the focal point – the furious fighting at the Troup Hurt house.

The Cyclorama, which was painted in Milwaukee to show a Union victory, was later modified and misinterpreted in Atlanta as showing a Southern triumph – however brief.

“Through the Cyclorama (visitors) can explore the larger question of how our memory and knowledge about the past can be shaped or mis-shaped, in the convergence of history, art, entertainment and myth,” says the book.

Patrick Cleburne’s presentation sword

One of the most compelling items in the former “Turning Point” exhibit was a sword presented by Rebel troops to Irish-born Confederate Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne. It is expected to come back on view.

An unknown maker produced the sword in Solingen, Prussia, circa 1864. Hammond Marshall of Atlanta, a dentist and jewelry maker, engraved the weapon.

(Photo courtesy Atlanta History Center)

Soldiers of the 15^th Arkansas Infantry – Cleburne’s adopted state -- presented him the sword on April 18, 1864. The scabbard features an Irish harp and the state seal of Arkansas is on the blade.

Cleburne was among six Confederate generals killed later that year at Franklin, Tenn. Before he set out, the officer uttered, “Well if we are to die, let us die like men.”

The “100 Objects” book features this postscript:

“Cleburne staff sent the sword to his fiancée, Susan Tarleton, in Alabama. It remained in the Tarleton family until 1944. It was discovered in an umbrellas stand in a New England antique store in the 1950s, after which it was purchased and donated to Atlanta History Center.”

Sherman’s photographer George N. Barnard

The AHC in 2024 purchased a rare copy of George N. Barnard’s “Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign,” thought to belong to Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman and signed in 1886 by his son Philemon.

Barnard traveled twice in 1864 to Atlanta following the Confederate surrender. The volume -- featuring 10 x 13 inches images -- includes scenes of the occupation of Nashville, the 1864 battles around Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, the Atlanta Campaign, Savannah, Ga., and South Carolina. In May 1866, Barnard traced the route of Sherman's North Georgia campaign, taking pictures at Resaca and elsewhere.

(Photo courtesy Atlanta History Center)

Keith F. Davis, the leading authority on Barnard, said the photographer ranks among the top echelon of Civil War photographers – Gardner, O’Sullivan, Cook, Rees, Reekie, Gibson and Brady. “None of them surpassed Barnard in terms of technical or creative skill,” says Davis, a photography curator, author and collector. “It’s hard to say that any one of them was 'the best' but Barnard was second to none.” 

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, said Barnard's contract with the Army called for him to principally take photos of fortifications, and he took many.

“We're lucky that he had time to take photos of the Ponder house, car shed, etc.” says Crawford, who has led many tours of  key sites in Civil War Atlanta.

The “100 Objects” book includes this summary of the difficult work:

“Working with glass negatives, Barnard required a portable field darkroom and time to set up, chemically prepare the plates, expose the image, and develop the negative – all performed on site. Transported in wagons over dirt roads, the glass negatives were always at risk for breakage. His photographs are not enlargements, they are the same size as the glass negative, some as large as 12-by-15 images.”

Civil War diary – Carrie Berry

“We were fritened almost to death last night. Some mean soldiers set several houses on fire in different parts of the town. I could not go to sleep for fear that they would set our house on fire. We all dred the next few days to come for they said that they would set the last house on fire if they had to leave this place.”

Thus read the Nov. 12, 1864, journal entry of Carrie Berry, a 10-year-old girl living in Atlanta during the fall and occupation of the city. Hers is a very personal account of the shelling of her neighborhood, hiding in the family cellar and taking care of younger siblings.

(Photo courtesy Atlanta History Center)

In between were the seemingly mundane tasks of sewing and ironing. Carrie kept this diary from  August 1864 to January 1865.

The Berry family lived on Harris Street about a mile from the heart of downtown.

“Berry records her desires, reminding us that she is still a child,” according to the book.

In August 1864, she writes, ‘How I wish the federals would quit shelling us so that we could get out and get some fresh air. “Days earlier, she shared that it was her birthday, “But I did not have a cake – times were too hard so I celebrated with ironing.’”

Berry, who later married and had three children, died in 1921. She is buried at Oakland Cemetery, the resting place for Civil War soldiers and civilians alike.

The diary will go on display in July when “More Perfect Union” opens.

Confederate ammunition crate

(Photo courtesey Atlanta History Center)

On Aug. 20, 1960, construction workers digging the roadbed for interstate highways I-75 and I-85 near downtown Atlanta uncovered one of the largest assortments of Confederate artifacts in Atlanta’s history.

According to the history center, the find is known in local tradition as the “Expressway Cache.” (I was unfamiliar with the term). It was at a site that was near four railroad lines during the Civil War. Buried in the mud of a collapsed underground timber and earth supply depot were hundreds of muskets, projectile, railroad tools and other supplies.

The Atlanta Journal said “a mad scramble” of workers, highway department employees and onlookers looted the site.

This well-preserved crate, likely made in 1864, has a shipping address on one side: “To Gen’l Johnston / Atalanta (sic) / GA.”.

Locomotive Texas

A line of text in “100 Objects” makes a pretty grand assertion:

“Given Atlanta’s establishment as a railroad hub, the 1856 locomotive Texas is perhaps the most significant object in the city.”

The Texas is lit up at night and is visible from the road (Civil War Picket photo)

The Texas, saved from destruction years after its prominent role in “The Great Locomotive Chase,” can be seen through an AHC window along West Paces Ferry Road.

While it is most famous for the Andrews Raid in 1862, the steam locomotive – which was at Grant Park before it was restored in 2017 and relocated to the AHC – symbolizes something else about the city.

AHC officials have long stressed the engine tells a much larger story of the postwar growth of the city, and they decided to paint it in an 1886 scheme, rather than the bright colors it wore at Grant Park -- in part because its surviving parts date closer to that year than the Civil War.

Like the locomotive General, the object of the chase, the Texas was saved (in 1907) from the scrap heap. The General presides at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Marietta, Ga. The Texas and General are the sole surviving locomotives of the Western & Atlantic Railroad, which played a large part in Atlanta’s early development.

Silk regimental flag of the 127^th USCT

A prize artifact acquired in 2019 by the Atlanta History Center captures the essence of why about 180,000 African Americans volunteered in the Union army during the Civil War. It will go on display in July, officials said.

“We Will Prove Ourselves Men” reads the motto on the striking flag that belonged to the 127^th Regiment, U.S. Colored Troops, which was formed in Pennsylvania of free men and some who had escaped bondage. The reverse side features a bald eagle and the national motto, “E Pluribus Unum” –out of many, one.

(Photo courtesy Atlanta History Center)

This is one of three surviving examples of at least 12 USCT flags painted by David Bustill Bowser.

The 127^th trained at Camp William Penn near Philadelphia in 1864. It took part in combat during the siege of Petersburg and the surrender at Appomattox. USCT units -- which helped turn the tide in several campaigns and battles -- were led by white officers and it took time for soldiers to receive pay equal to their white counterparts.

They had limited opportunities and faced racism within the Union army. Some freed men captured by Confederate units were sold into slavery and in some instances, such as at Fort Pillow, black troops were victims of racially motivated atrocities.

Carpetbag

In the South, two terms of derision came to the fore in the years following the Civil War.

A scalawag was a white Southerner who did not conform to postwar expectations. They backed Reconstruction policies and, usually, the Republican Party.

Carpetbaggers were outsiders and, as the AHC says, “travelers from the North who came to the South to profit off the war; ravage local populations; and take advantage of efforts to rebuild the region’s economy, politics and social order.”

The AHC has a small carpetbag in its collection and describes such items this way:

“As the network of railways spread in the US during the prewar period, trains were connecting peoples and places quickly and efficiently. As a result, small industry developed to supply cheap travel bags. The bags were made from secondhand carpet scraps and sold for one or two dollars.”

Grand Army of the Republic reunion pot

The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a large fraternal organization made up of Civil War Union veterans.

This commemorative Boston bean pot was presented to GAR members in Savannah, Ga., by veterans from Beverly, Mass. Three sides are adorned with the coats of arms of the states of Georgia and Massachusetts, as well as that of the Grand Army of the Republic. (Photo courtesy Atlanta History Center)

According to the AHC, the pot was given in gratitude for the care of a grave of a Beverly veteran, Erastus B. Davis, who died in Georgia in 1887. Savannah veterans decorated his unmarked grave, pledging to “keep it in proper order and mount it with the flag for which he offered up his life.”

A chaplain at one graveside service for a veteran said, “The blue and the gray … now lie side by side. All strife has been ended and only the olive branch prevails.”

Gen. William T. Sherman’s calling card

In the 19^th century, these small items were the equivalent of today’s business cards, though most did not include contact information.

That’s because they were often mailed or given out at battlefields, veteran reunions and public events. Former generals dispensed them as a sign of goodwill, rather than the pursuit of business.

Such was the case in January 1879, when William T. Sherman returned to Atlanta for the first since he vanquished his foes there. Over three days, Sherman met with local and state officials and gave out cards. 

“Sherman received a warm welcome. Atlantans gathered at the train station to welcome the Commanding General of the United States Army, with only the occasional sly comment about fire,” says “Atlanta in 100 Objects.”

Other items with ties to the Civil War

-- Death mask of railroad engineer Lemuel P. Grant, who designed Confederate fortifications protecting Atlanta

-- Wallet, library card and driver’s license for Margaret Mitchell Marsh, author of “Gone With the Wind”

-- Wilbur Kurtz’s easel. The artist and historian (right) in the 1930s oversaw the restoration of The Battle of Atlanta Cyclorama and the addition of diorama figures.                                                

The AHC says patrons can enhance their experience through the Bloomberg Connects app, which offers additional audio and visual storytelling to enhance the “100 Objects” show.

Quick hits: National Civil War Naval Museum director Brandon Gilland explains work on ironclad CSS Jackson's fantail in four 30-second videos. Check 'em out!

Museum chief Brandon Gilland looks over pieces of the Jackson's fantail armor (Picket photo)

Longtime followers of this blog know I have a fascination with a component of the Confederate ironclad CSS Jackson, which was raised from the Chattahoochee River near Columbus, Ga., in the early 1960s.

As I wrote last month, the National Civil War Naval Museum is reassembling 28 heavy pieces of iron that made up the fantail of the Jackson.

The precisely built curved rear deck that protected the vessel’s rudder and propellers had sat outside the Columbus venue for decades, waiting for new life. But a 2020 arson fire that raced through a pole barn dashed hopes of conserving the fantail in its original form. While the armor was scorched, it survived. The timbers holding them together were ruined.

I recently paid a visit to the museum and shot videos of director Brandon Gilland explaining the project (please watch them in order as placed below). He and volunteers arranged the iron in the shape of a half moon, in preparation for flipping and placing the pieces onto a cedar base attached to blocks.

When the project is completed in a few months, visitors will be able to get an idea of how the armor built at the stern was constructed and protected the ironclad. (Note: The armor originally was placed above the wood on the Jackson; the videos show the iron pieces upside down; they will be at top in the exhibit.

The project is timed to the museum’s 25^th year in a large building situated on Victory Drive and a hundred or so yards from the river. Officials had originally hoped to build a full recreation of the fantail, showing its fascinating contours, but the idea was deemed too expensive and ambitious.

The Jackson (originally named the Muscogee) was designed to protect Columbus – a critically important industrial center for the Confederacy -- from Union navy marauders and blockaders. Construction on the Jackson began in early 1863. The underpowered vessel never became fully operational. (Picket photo at left; click to enlarge)

Remains of the Jackson and the twin-screw wooden ship CSS Chattahoochee are the star exhibits of the museum.

Both were lost in April 1865 at war’s end -- the Jackson set afire by Federal captors and the Chattahoochee scuttled by its own crew. Neither vessel saw action.

Georgia Battlefields Association meets at 'Great Locomotive Chase' depot in Dalton. Nonprofit based there will showcase its importance to commerce, culture and history

Iconic Western & Atlantic Railroad depot in downtown Dalton (Picket photo) and locomotive General in town in early 1960s for the Civil War centennial (Courtesy Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia)

Three dozen members of the Georgia Battlefields Association recently enjoyed dinner in Dalton, Ga., and received an update on the group’s preservation efforts, which began in March 1995.

Fittingly, the gathering occurred at the old Western & Atlantic train depot, itself the beneficiary of a commitment to honoring the past while looking to the future. The recently restored depot was one stop along the legendary “Great Locomotive Chase” of April 1862.

The Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia hosted the event during the GBA’s annual tour of sites, which this year focused on Union army preparations for the spring 1864 Atlanta Campaign and actions through the Battle of Resaca on May 15, 1864.

GBA president Joe Trahan said the nonprofit gave $150,000 last year toward Civil War battlefield preservation efforts. Joe Gaskin, who leads fundraising efforts, said several people have increased their membership levels and donations to the GBA’s “Limber Chest” fund.

Members of the Georgia Battlefields Association at the Dalton Depot (Courtesy CFNWG)

The foundation last year moved into the depot. One half of the restored building is leased by the philanthropic group; the other side currently is being converted into an English pub.

The foundation’s community gathering space features 25-foot ceilings, charming brick and Civil War-era architectural features. But it is a very up-to-date environment -- from modern furniture to TV monitors that are designed to prompt collaboration in today’s world.

The foundation is working with the Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia, part of Dalton State College, to develop a presentation or two in the building to provide context to visitors about the role of the depot in the city’s history and economy.

Andrews Raiders and pursuers rushed by in 1862

The Western and Atlantic Railroad line from Atlanta to Chattanooga, Tenn., was completed in the early 1850s and the Dalton depot opened in 1852 to provide passenger and freight service.

Union raiders on the General set fire to a river crossing in North Georgia (Wikipedia)

The depot was the hub for commercial growth in the Dalton area and the point of origin for surveys and maps.

The 12,100-square-foot brick building is “a pretty high-style example of Georgia depot architecture” and has Greek Revival features, with stone lintels, brick pilasters and door entablatures. (Picket photo, below)

The building had its moment of fame on April 12, 1862, when Northern raiders (the South labeled them spies) commandeered the locomotive General in Big Shanty. They chugged toward Chattanooga, intent on destroying parts of the railroad.

The pursuing locomotive Texas picked up a 17-year-old telegraph operator who rushed to the Dalton depot and wired Confederate troops to the north.

Although not all his message got through, Edward Henderson’s alarm sent troops toward the track. The Andrews Raiders were captured near Ringgold when the General ran out of steam. They had accomplished little. Many were hanged while others escaped. Several were the first to receive the Medal of Honor.

The depot remained in use as a rail stop for more than a century.

Center will help depot showcase area history

Foundation president David Aft (At left, with one of his painting, Picket photo) has communicated with Bandy Heritage Center director Matthew Gramling about ways to convey the depot’s vital role in the development of Dalton.

The focus will be on the cultural and economic networks the Western & Atlantic Railroad facilitated for Northwest Georgia.

Depot and other downtown buildings in 1932 (Courtesy of Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia)

“I am still in discussion with David regarding the exact display medium he wishes to use in different areas within the depot,” Gramling said in an email. “We will be providing him with local historical images on a jump drive for slide displays on a flat screen television in the main meeting area within the foundation.”

Among those images are a bank note issued during the Civil War, an old aerial shot and another of the locomotive General as it visited Dalton during the Civil War centennial. It is now housed at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, Ga., while its pursuer Texas is featured at the Atlanta History Center.

Bob Jenkins, a local attorney active in Civil War land preservation and head of Save the Dalton Battlefields, said he is impressed with the renovation work on the long building in the heart of downtown on Depot Street. (Picket photo of depot interior, right)

“For the first 100 years of Dalton‘s existence, the depot was the entry point for those traveling here as they would have disembarked a passenger train at the depot and gone through it prior to entering the streets into Dalton for the first time. Today, most travelers enter Dalton via one of the interstate exits from I-75 and are graded by a multilane road with multiple fast-food restaurants, gas stations and strip malls,” he wrote in an email.

Local bank note issued during the Civil War (Courtesy of Bandy Heritage Center for Northwest Georgia)

Between the 1840s and 1940s, the Dalton Depot was a gathering place as well as a place of exchanging of information, goods and services, Jenkins said. “(The foundation) recaptures that opportunity for the exchanging of information, goods and services for the greater good for our community and her people,” he added.

Choo-choos add character to meeting spaces

The building’s future was very uncertain just a few years ago.

Locals remember Dalton Depot, a longtime restaurant and club which operated in the brick building until about 10 years ago. 

The depot fell into hard times after the restaurant closed. The city contracted with the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation to market the vacant and deteriorated building. Officials wanted $500,000, but eventually sold it to local Barrett Properties in 2018 for $300,000. It took another seven years before the renovation and reopening occurred.

The foundation’s five employees work in an office nearly twice as big as its longtime more traditional offices across town. They facilitate meetings in a glass-lined board room and smaller “collaboration zones.” (At left David Aft with one of his paintings, Picket photo)

Working with charitable givers, the nonprofit provides grants and funding for organizations in the area. Some of the endeavors involve mental health programs, historic preservation, neighborhood revitalization and other civic projects. It also provides space for outside groups to hold meetings.

Affordable housing is a problem in Dalton and Whitfield County. That has an impact on charitable giving. “People give where they live,” said Aft.

Northern half of depot is being developed as an English-style pub (Picket photo)

Last month, I stopped by the depot. People marvel at the renovated space, Aft said. A large weight scale in the lobby area is a reminder of the depot’s role in commerce, he said.

I asked him whether the building has some particular characteristics because of its history and proximity to busy CSX and Norfolk Southern rail lines.

Heating the building on cold days is a challenge, he said.

Employees have gotten used to the train traffic and say it is not distracting. Aft noted empty trains are louder because they bounce on the tracks and send out a clickety clack signal.

“It adds novelty to the space,” said Aft.

Central meeting area in the refurbished Dalton Depot (Picket photo)

Legacy of the USS Montauk: Student at the Savannah College of Art and Design believes she has the blueprints for success to produce 3D model of ironclad for park

Blueprints are matched with 3D model; illustration of Montauk shelling Nashville

Like the Montauk itself, a 3D model of the noted Civil War ironclad must be watertight, with no problematic gaps or holes.

That’s one of many goals for Grace Stelmaszyk, a senior at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), who is working to produce and print a model of the Montauk for Fort McAllister State Park in Richmond Hill, Ga. The Montauk bombarded the Confederate fort and sank the raider Nashville (Rattlesnake) in February 1863.

The college previously produced interpretive panels about the Montauk and other Union ironclads for the park. Greg Johnson, interactive design and game development professor, has worked with students to make a 30-inch version of the Montauk, so it can be placed next to a model of the Nashville in the park’s museum.

Stelmaszyk (right) has picked up the project from another student, and she hopes to get it across the finish line in the next couple months. Johnson said she is doing “an amazing job” on the model, making sure it conforms with blueprints of the Montauk.

Key to the effort is a discovery made by park staffers several years ago: A matted long tube contained a precious copy of the USS Montauk’s blueprints, manufactured in dozens of sheets.

Johnson, after learning about the blueprints, used a custom-built rig to slide dozens sheets under a camera to obtain high resolution.

“Because I had to photograph the blueprints, since they were way too big to scan, there is a certain amount of distortion. Grace had to fix the distortion in the blueprints and then adjust the model to match,” Johnson said in an email.

Stelmaszyk, who is graduating with an interactive design and game development degree in May, hopes to have the model ready for printing by early summer.

“My current list of items to complete for a print-ready model are adding adequate thickness to all components of the model, combining all components so the model is ‘watertight,’ deciding how many pieces need to be printed separately and assembled (small things like the thin poles need to be separate since the printer may not print them right if they're part of a larger piece), and then sizing the model to the correct in-person length.”

Persistent Union ironclad finally got its prey

Working 3D Montauk model being produced for printing (SCAD photo)

The Montauk was one of 10 Passaic ironclads built relatively early in the Civil War.

Andy Hall, A Civil War naval expert and author, told the Picket the Passaic monitors were the first large-class of monitors and many of them served together, such as the campaign against the earthen Fort McAllister in 1863 and 1864.

The Union navy, as it continued its chokehold on Southern ports and readied for offensive operations, sent the Montauk and sisters Passaic, Patapsco and Nahant, supported by gunboats Seneca, Dawn and Wissahickon to bombard and capture Fort McAllister in January 1863.

The skipper of the Montauk was John Worden (left), famous for being the USS Monitor’s captain when it clashed with the CSS Virginia in 1862.

Capable Confederate gunners at Fort McAllister hit the ironclad 13 times in its first action, but caused little damage. A second attack on Feb. 1, 1863, found the vessel, according to histories, pounded by 48 shells. The Montauk's sister ships also took part in the action.

Its big day came on February 28. The sidewheeler Nashville, which was bottled up and hiding under the guns of Fort McAllister for protection, tried to get away from the Federal ironclads via Seven-Mile Bend on the Ogeechee River, but apparently ran aground.

The 215-foot blockade runner commanded by Lt. Thomas Harrison Baker became a sitting duck because of its lack of maneuverability and deep draft in a tight area, and the Montauk pounced.

“All the monitors were designed for littoral or riverine operations, and so drew as little water as possible,” says Hall. “Nashville was built as an ocean-going steamship, so had a fuller, deeper hull.” That proved to be a disadvantage at McAllister.

Montauk’s XV- and 11-inch Dahlgrens were able to destroy the former commerce raider.

Worden was pleased with his destruction of ‘this troublesome pest’” wrote John V. Quarstein, director emeritus of the USS Monitor Center in a blog. “However, Montauk suffered a huge jolt when it struck a Confederate torpedo en route down the Ogeechee River. Worden’s quick thinking saved his ironclad.” (Quarstein wrote a recent biography of Worden.).

The Union naval attacks on Fort McAllister itself were less successful. The low-profile earthen fort could withstand the shelling and repairs could be readily made. It eventually fell to land forces in December 1864.

The Montauk was scrapped in the early 1900s; the park grounds and museum have a large number of CSS Nashville artifacts.

USS Montauk (left) and USS Lehigh in Philadelphia in 1902 (Wikipedia)

While the monitors were mass-produced, they did undergo changes during the service, and SCAD students wanted to be sure the appearance of the Montauk matched the time it prowled off Fort McAllister.

SCAD is working from a Montauk paint scheme described in the work “Modeling Civil War Ironclad Ships” by Steven Lund and William Hathaway. 

The deck is lead gray, the turret and pilot house black with a narrow white ring, and the smokestack black with the upper one third in dark green.

Lots of tasks and challenges during project

SCAD and the park last year took measurements of the Nashville model and studied vital stats of both vessels, so the Montauk will be to scale. (Site manager Jason Carter below, Picket photo)

“This makes the USS Montauk model 30 11/16th inches or 780mm in length,” said Johnson. The ironclad, he says was slightly asymmetrical.

I asked the professor about the challenges of such a project.

“To build a complex 3D model like the USS Montauk and then 3D print it, you first need a solid understanding of 3D modeling fundamentals, know how to create clean geometry and also accurately match real-world measurements,” he responded.

“Software like Autodesk's Maya or 3dsMax is generally used -- so a very thorough understanding of that software is required. You must build the model specifically for printing by ensuring it is fully closed (watertight, with no holes in the geometry), has appropriate wall thickness, and accounts for overhangs or tolerances so that parts can be fit together after printing. Once the ship is modeled, it will need to be exported to a file readable by the 3D printer and then loaded into a slicer, where things such as layer height, infill, supports, and other print settings will need to be determined.”

After that is completed, the model must be assembled and painted.

Stelmaszyk said she is using Maya and ZBrush software.

The student said she joined the effort to help create something for the park and increase her knowledge on different types of projects that aren't only game-industry focused. “While maybe my knowledge on this ship isn't as vast as some, I enjoy the research that I get to do for the project to create for the public's enjoyment,” she wrote in an email.

“I'd say the most gratifying part of the experience is always working towards that end goal of printing and being able to hold it in my hands and see it in the world. All the little steps that are completed along the way also bring me a lot of satisfaction as I keep going forward. The most challenging part of this project would be predicting the final print. For example, predicting the thickness and what that will look like when printed or planning how you want to assemble the smaller, fragile pieces back onto the main body. But I've always loved solving puzzles.”

SCAD will be working from this paint scheme (Courtesy Steven Lund)