Revamped map in Pickett's Mill museum (Michael Hitt and Civil War Picket photos)
A large terrain map showing the trail system at Pickett’s Mill battlefield in Georgia has been saved from the dustbin of history and is
being modified to add troop and artillery locations and the names of blue and
gray regiments that clashed there on May 27, 1864.
The old map, which had been propped in the corner of an
adjoining room, was to be thrown away. It had no information about the battle but was rather a basic visual guide to the trails.
Hitt, a Civil War researcher, envisioned another purpose.
He has been working on its new use for about three weeks, putting in about 50 hours as of Friday, when I paid a visit.
Whereas the map formerly was presented at an angle, the interpretive version rests flat on a platform, enabling visitors at the site in
Paulding County to peer down from four angles, imagining the Confederate and
Union perspectives. (See Picket video above for more detail)
Hitt has painstakingly put in small labels made of board.
They denote military units, earthworks, mills and buildings present during the battle,
which ended in a Confederate victory during “The Hell Hole” series of clashes
there and at nearby Dallas and New Hope.
The Federal army suffered 1,600 casualties at Pickett’s Mill,
compared to 500 for the South. The advance on Atlanta was delayed about a week.
The board member with the Friends of Pickett’s Mill Battlefield painted the current trail system on the glass so people will be
able to superimpose those and the map labels.
“The Pickett's Mill story
will now be so much easier to understand,” the friends group said in a Facebook
post.
“The idea is after people view it, from all angles, then go outside onto
the battlefield, you should feel like you're in the model and you will know
what took place and where. Just trying it makes history more enjoyable, as the
park has only three historical markers.”For a sense of scale, a house fits
within a thumb nail, and a four-gun battery takes up the same amount of space. (Picket photos, above and left)
Unlike an electric map used in the old
days at battlefields, this one is static, so it needs to capture a moment in
time. Hitt chose 4 p.m., just before the futile Federal assaults began.
Hitt says the location of the map is a
bonus. People will be able to look up at a series of maps on a nearby wall and
see the progression of the fighting.
The volunteer would like to see more track lighting
in the room to improve illumination above the map, but that likely will have to come later.
Work on the labels has been
completed. Hitt on Friday showed me blue and gray construction paper and lists
of regiments (Picket photos, below) he will use on the edges of the table to show who fought in the
ravine and elsewhere on the well-preserved site. Asked how long it will take to finish the project, Hitt said it will be as long as it takes. (See Picket video above for more detail)
A reproduction 12-pounder howitzer that
rests in the same room is positioned before a painting of a wooded area.
Hitt
said that scene does not show trees and fauna that were at the battlefield, so
he would like to have it redone.
Hitt is hopeful the changes will make for a
better visitor experience.
“How can you make history more interesting to the average
person?”
The
visitor center and museum at Pickett’s Mill are open Friday-Sunday. The park is located at 4432 Mt. Tabor Church Road, Dallas, GA 30157
Under construction: The map and battlefield maps behind it (Picket photo)
Rear of house includes 1760s section at right; beautiful saw cuts on wood, reworked windows (Courtesy Robert Schmitt)
About $1.1 million has been procured to fund
the next phase of restoration for a home in Union, S.C., that briefly served as
the office for the state’s governor after he fled Columbia during the Civil War.
Construction is expected to begin next spring.
The nonprofit Preservation South Carolina made the announcement on
social media this week, saying Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill last month
allocating $800,000 for the ambitious project. Another $300,000 was garnered
from corporate and private donors in Union County.
“Together, we
are one step closer to preserving the Dawkins House for generations to come,”
PSC said of the project milestone.
Stabilization
of the once-dilapidated structure largely concluded
in March 2025 and officials set about raising and seeking funds to perform the second
phase. (January 2026 Picket photo, below)
But that doesn’t mean efforts related to the house are largely at a standstill.
Craftsman Robert Schmitt has continued to repair windows and sashes
dating to the 1840s and a class at the University of South Carolina Union is
digging up little-known facts about the Dawkins House and the people –
free and enslaved – who lived there before, during and after the Civil War.
The house, a terminus residence situated on the USC Union campus at the end of Church Street, was nicknamed “The Shrubs” and was
occupied by Judge Dawkins and his English-born wife Mary Poulton
Dawkins. The 1850 Federal slave schedule indicates they owned about 20 enslaved
persons before the war, but there may have been more on other properties the couple
owned.
Union, which is south of Spartanburg, briefly served as the
Civil War capital of the state after Columbia fell to Union forces in 1865 and
Gov. Andrew Magrath (right) fled to the town. From about Feb. 15, 1865, until
early April, Magrath ran the state from the Dawkins House. He
apparently worked in an informal library near the drawing room, which survives
today.
According to histories and local legend, Magrath and his
subordinates burned possibly incriminating documents and correspondence in
the home’sfireplaces. (The building served as South
Carolina's capitol while the city was briefly is capital.)
Magrath and his staff raced away from Union as Federal troops
moved in. He was eventually captured on May 25, 1865, and imprisoned at Fort
Pulaski near Savannah, Ga., until release that December.
Breaking down the project expense, timeline
The $300,000 state-funded Phase 1 of the work shored up the
building. Phase 2 will be much more extensive and
expensive. Objectives include:
-- Installation of new
piers on concrete footings in the crawlspace;
-- Strengthening of
porch, first and second floor framings, the roof system and all walls;
-- Installation of the required
framing for a new interior staircase where the original historic, spiral
staircase was located in the central hall. This will entail strengthening the
floors and walls in this area, including any necessary new footings in the
crawlspace.
Extensive repairs, upgrades are needed in structure (Preservation South Carolina)
Bill Comer, a Union native who is heading up the Dawkins House rehab project for PSC, told
the Picket in an email Charleston-based
Bennett Preservation Engineering will begin engineering design work in a couple
weeks. Design, procurement and construction contracting are expected to be
completed by the end of the first quarter of 2027, with Phase 2 construction
beginning no later than April, he added
PSC said the final phase will cost about $500,000.
The group has been working with the USC Union campus and
local leaders to rehabilitate the house into an alumni and corporate center for
the college.
Robert Schmitt keeps at it, one pane at a time
One of nearly three dozen windows at the property (Robert Schmitt photo)
Robert
Schmitt, 76, has thus far repaired 15 windows at the Dawkins House. The restoration
expert has taken out old window
glass, removed rot and replaced weathered glazing.
He has identified nails that were used in the
original section of the house built in the 1760s, and some that were used to
build the 1845 addition. Some of the glass panes are original to the 1845
house, but Schmitt has taken about a dozen from his stock for replacements.
Schmitt first completed the 10 windows and 20 sashes at the
front of the dwelling. He is keeping them at his home until the house is
farther along.
“The front
wall is very, very wavy,” he told the Picket.
He said the
old windows are wonderful because of their craftsmanship. “These parts were
probably not made on site. Most of the mill work was from Charleston.” He
doesn’t believe any of the windows date to the 1760s.
About 70 percent of the glass in those windows is original.
The
attractive transom at the front entrance likewise should be temporarily removed
when work resumes, Schmitt added. “It is probably a step up from what you
usually see.”
Unfortunately, he said, the top of the feature is obscured by the
low roof above the porch. (At left, Picket photo of Comer (left) and Schmitt in front of the transom.)
Schmitt
recently completed work on five attic windows, but says about 19 windows on the
house are still to be repaired. “I am ready to crank back up.”
College class spotlights the enslaved
Andrew Kettler, assistant professor
of history at the two-year USC campus at Union, has been
teaching a new course related to the Dawkins House for about a month.
“HIST 480-701 -- Internship in Public History” is
heavy on research, with a focus on library, courthouse and genealogical
records. (Excerpt from a Kettler PowerPoint, below)
The two students, working like detectives, are digging up records from
myriad sources, such as death schedules and wills. If they can find a Dawkins
will, it may list enslaved persons and what they may have received upon
Thomas’s death. That could help the effort to find out more about those
individuals.
There’s a lot at
stake. Supporters say it’s important the full history of the home
and its occupants be told, warts and all. Union County has a long segregation
history and the area was known for Ku Klux Klan activity and postwar lynchings.
There have been recent efforts, however, to acknowledge that history. Kettler
said there is much more to learn.
Officials say they want the building also to be aimed at the
future and bring new attention to USC Union, which has a growing enrollment.
Currently, it has about 1,400 students; many are affiliated with the athletics
programs.
“This
is the first time for PSC to have a class that is going on at the same time as
one of its preservation projects,” said the professor.Kettler
said students will begin a formal Dawkins family tree next week. They are
currently writing short essays based on letters (one at right) written in the early 19th century.
The USC Union Reasearch Club will be assisting the endeavor. "We aim to cultivate an atmosphere of intellectual curiosity on the USC Union campus among students, faculty, and staff, which will nurture a more general love of learning," the group says of its mission.
The falling
water and shoals of Sweetwater Creek west of Atlanta attracted mill operators a
decade or so before the Civil War came calling.
Besides the New Manchester textile site, which was famously burned in July 1864 by
Union cavalry and the workers subsequently shipped north, two other mills were
close by -- the Ferguson mill upstream and James M. Alexander’s timber and
flour operation just to the south. They were near the small community of New Manchester in what is now called Douglas County.
Adrian Fox,
interpretive ranger at Sweetwater Creek State Park, recently showed me a small part of
the ruins of the Angus Ferguson timber and flour mill, which also had a small
cotton gin. A few stone pilings remain in the creek.
Click to see details on three mill operations along Sweetwater Creek (Picket photo)
Records show
Ferguson ran up a white flag of surrender to Union forces. Did it prevent
destruction?
Let’s step
back a moment, before attempting to answer that question.
Union Maj. Gen.
William T. Sherman had a specific strategy for his troops when they came across mills.
“One of his objectives was to destroy any industry that might
be of use to the Confederate government. Now in many cases, he would leave a
flour mill, because he was uncertain how long his own troops would be here, and
if they were here for a prolonged period of time, they might need flour,” Charlie
Crawford of the Georgia Battlefields Association told Georgia Public Television
several years ago.
“And so he didn’t destroy every flour mill. But a paper mill
or anything that was essentially superfluous to his efforts, but yet might aid
the Confederacy, was fair game.”
There’s no
evidence Alexander’s mill was burned, but there are conflicting accounts on
Ferguson’s (left), which was on the part of the creek called Factory Shoals. (A road by
that name is the main road in the park.)
Lisa Land Cooper, in her blog “The Story Behind the History,” wrote farmers brought grain to be ground into meal and flour, timber from nearby forests was cut into lumber, and locally produced bricks supplied construction projects throughout the area.
“It was a staple resource for the folks who would have lived out here especially prior to the New Manchester mill being built” in the 1840s, said Fox.
“There
nothing in the official war correspondences saying the Ferguson mill was
burned. We can see its only mention (above) is the usage of the bridge at that site to get across Sweetwater Creek,” said
Fox.
“We know the
Ferguson mill immediately surrendered when the union arrived," she added. "The worst damages
the Ferguson mill sustained were the loss of grain to feed horses and a few
burned bags of wool, but both the building and the machinery were left
untouched.”
Scenic shoals at Sweetwater Creek (Georgia State Parks)
While Cooper acknowledges some accounts show little damage by Union
troopers, she cites an alleged letter by a relative of Ferguson, saying the
mill and workshop were burned. It was later rebuilt, Cooper said
Fox said the
mill, in fact, was left standing, and the primary miller on site after the war
was Orange Bowden, who was formerly enslaved.
A faded sign along
Sweetwater Creek (Picket photo, below) details the New Manchester company store and
Ferguson’s brick-making operations (at left), which employed enslaved workers and made
bricks for the New Manchester mill. At five stories,the mill was the tallest
structure in the region.
Cooper’s
article said remains of a second Ferguson mill were an attraction into the 20th
century, drawing fisherman and campers. Angus is buried in a small family cemetery inside
the park.
(Photos Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park)
Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park -- nearing the end of a major safety improvement
project --- has officially reopened Mountain Road with marked lanes for
walking and bicycling. A shuttle van will continue to take riders to the summit.
No private
vehicles are allowed on the 1.6-mile paved road to the top of the Civil War site
northwest of Atlanta. For a time, there will be continued education of visitors
about the changes.
“We know new
markings can take a little getting used to, so thanks in advance for your
patience and for looking out for fellow visitors,” the park said Wednesday about the nine-month project.
Ray Hamel, chief of interpretation, said Thursday there
will be increased patrols to help ensure everyone is following the new
regulations:
--
Pedestrians can walk only in a designated lane, keeping left on the way up,
right on the way down. “We’re aware of (social media) comments about
pedestrians spreading out across the road, and we’ll continue addressing that
through both education and enforcement,” Hamel told the Picket in an email.
-- Cyclists
may use the road seven days a week, within the designated hours and marked lane.
For summer, that is 7:30 a.m.-9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m.; for winter, 7:30
a.m.-9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m.
-- The summit
shuttle bus runs daily 10 a.m.-4:30 p.m. There is no charge to ride beyond the
standard park entrance fee. It has a powered wheelchair lift, and the van can
accommodate riders using wheelchairs.
-- Private
vehicles are not permitted. “There is a gate at the bottom of the road that
will prevent unauthorized vehicle access. Since reopening, we’ve had very few
incidents of private vehicles getting through, and when it happens, we respond
quickly,” said Hamel.
Superintendent
Patrick Gamman said a sidewalk to the Mountain Road bus turnaround should be
completed by next week. A soft opening for Mountain Road was held Tuesday, he told
the Picket.
Park officials say Mountain Road had seen increased
traffic incidents and medical emergencies before
work began late last year. (At left, Picket photo from before lane striping)
While cars, when not attended
to properly, are the most inherently dangerous of the three modes of
transportation, pedestrians and bicyclists often have close calls and
incidents. That’s why each bicyclists and pedestrians will now be in separate lanes.
As the
surrounding area has continued to grow, the park has become one of the last
remaining greenspaces in the metro Atlanta region. That growth has brought
challenges in accommodating an increasingly recreation‑centered visitor base,
park officials said.
“Following an
increase in near misses and accidents, the new design is intended to facilitate
safer accessibility for pedestrians, cyclists, and runners, while better
supporting the park’s evolving role in the community,” said Hamel.
Some
commenters on social media lament restricted hours for bicyclists and the end
to auto travel to the top.
For those who
do venture up, you get great views
of the skyline and buildings below as you travel the winding road. Many visitors undertake the popular walkup trail. (For the
curious, the summit is 1,808 feet above sea level.)
A few signs along the road indicate Confederate cannon and
defensive positions from June 1864.
There’s a few for Maj. Gen. Edward Walthall’s division,
namely the Quarles and Reynolds brigades. At the top while visiting
in January, I used a marker to match views of Marietta and Atlanta and saw one
listing 14 Georgia generals who fought for the Rebel army at Kennesaw Mountain.
A marker provides details on what can be scene from near the summit (Picket photos)
And above that is a cool stretch of emplaced cannons
mimicking the Confederate positions.
The park
thanked visitors for their understanding.
“Visitor reactions have been generally positive,” said Hamel. “Patrons have
adjusted smoothly to the changes, and we’ve heard appreciation for the improved
flow and safety features.”
Bruce Paulson (left), his son Bernie, center, and Bruce's brother, Bernie, at right)
Bernie and
Bruce Paulson were born to work with their hands. As teens, the Wisconsin twins
invented a mechanized bean picker, and an advertisement claimed with enthusiasm
that it could outwork 100 laborers.
The lads made other farm products, but their hearts – and hands – eventually focused on
full-time production of artillery ammunition, gun carriages and parts for
reenactors and government-operated parks.
It was a
great fit, given they had been fascinated by the Civil War since childhood.
“We would
make toy guns out of wood and arm all the kids … and play in the neighborhood,”
Bruce said of their years in Clayton, Wisc.
Making huge
guns kept Paulson Brothers Ordnance Corporation busy for decades. But now, sadly, the business in Clear Lake will
be largely shutting down. It’s the proverbial end of an era.
Bernie, 85, died last month, of a likely heart attack, family
members say.
“Bernie
always said he would die at PBO. That’s pretty much what he did,” said his
nephew Bernie. (The twins named
their sons after each other).
Now, Bruce is
navigating life without a sibling he worked with his whole life. “I knew him
like I know myself.” While Bernie came into the business nearly every day,
Bruce had slowed down a bit.
He is ready
to retire.
“We are still
selling online. I am trying to sell off a lot of the inventory, if I can,” Bruce
told the Picket in a recent phone call. Bruce’s son will continue to make
ammunition and use the company website.
The identical siblings -- who dressed in matching green work clothes -- were renowned in the
field for their craftsmanship and attention to detail.
Exterior of PBO in Clear Lake, Wisc. (Courtesy Bernie Paulson)
I spoke with Bernie in 2024 after the U.S. Army
turned to experts when an unusual artillery shell – believed at
first to possibly date to the Civil War -- was found on a training range
at Fort McCoy, Wis. It
turned out to be a replica made and fired by the Paulson brothers decades ago.
Thomas Bailey, who operates Historical Ordnance Works in
Woodstock, Ga., participated years ago in Midwest gun firings with the Paulsons. Some might say his company is a competitor of PBO, but Bailey calls it a “working partner relationship.”
Bailey drove to Wisconsin last week to reminisce with the
Paulson family and purchase a wagon and gun carriage parts.
A few artillery
pieces sit in front of the one-story facility not far from where Bernie lived.
Their operation is about an hour east of Minnesota’s Twin Cities. (At right, a traveling forge in the facility, courtesy Bernie Paulson)
Bailey, 69, who
was born in Pittsburgh during the heyday of American steel, said the restoration work requires
blacksmith, carpentry and painting skills.
Many of his
cannon barrels and carriages are made for the National Park Service, including
the Vicksburg and Shiloh sites. “The reenactor segment is pretty much dying
off,” he added.
Bailey said a
tool and die maker from Toledo, Ohio, provided services for him for about 15
years.
He mentioned
the craftsman in a way that evokes the work of the Paulson brothers.
“How do you
replace somebody like that? You don’t. When we die off, a lot of skills will go
away.”
Zinc in shell fired at Army fort provided a big clue
Stephen Osman, retired site manager of Historic
Fort Snelling in Minneapolis, was among those contacted
by the Army after the July 2024 mystery find at Fort McCoy. Could this be an
authentic Civil War shell, as first believed? That seemed unlikely since the
fort began operations in 1909.
The shell found at a Wisconsin training range (Claudia Neve/U.S. Army) and Bruce and Bernie (right) Paulson on the set of "The Blue and the Gray" miniseries in 1981 (Courtesy Stephen Osman)
“There was no Civil War battle around here, no training from
that era, so it left us wondering: how did it get here?” said garrison
archaeologist Ryan Howell, according to an Army news release.
Osman took a look at the photos and determined the round was
non-ferrous and – most importantly – was made by the Paulson brothers and fired
by them at Fort McCoy, back when the Army allowed certain groups to use the
site.
The siblings were known for using zinc, an element used postwar.
Two years
ago, while working on that post, I contacted Osman, who has it turned out had been pards with Bernie and
Bruce Paulson for 50 years. They traveled in the 1970s to historic sites around
the country, setting off cannons and having a good time along the way.
“They’re just characters. I spent a lot of time with them,”
said Osman, who served with the twins in the First Minnesota Volunteer
Infantry reenactment group.
He described them as exuberant and a force of nature, barging
into a museum or military site with a host of questions. (Bruce, at left, and Bernie at their shop. Courtesy Bruce's son Bernie)
Their inquisitiveness,
creativity and resolve made them leaders in the field of replica artillery,
according to observers. Bernie was the more garrulous of the pair.
A relative said he will be remembered for his passion for history and craftsmanship. "He also love the excitement of shooting cannons at many different sites and sharing this unique hobby with family and friends," Carrie Paulson wrote on Facebook.
'There has to be absolute discipline'
The replica 10-pounder shell fired at Fort McCoy was an early
prototype when the Paulsons were still figuring out how to make quality
reproduction weapons. The shell either never made firm impact or the fuse
popped out upon landing.
Bernie, then 83, told the Picket he and Bruce were making
these in the 1970s and before they found drawings that helped them improve design
and construction.
“You talk about crude,” he said of their fuses in the early
days.
The Paulsons went to the West Point foundry and
a New York library to dig deep into Civil War artillery, including the work
of Alfred Mordecai and a muzzle-loading cannon and ammunition created by 19th-century
inventor Robert Parrott.
The important thing, Bailey recently said, is to know what
you are doing and be safe -- attributes he claims the Paulsons had.
“They didn’t
just build the gun carriages. They were historians. That is part of it. If you
have never seen an original carriage, what do you do?”
Making
artillery components and firing pieces requires common sense and a devotion to
safety.
A Paulson mortar being set up for Fort Sumter 150th event (Picket photo)
Bruce Paulson
said he and Bernie had a perfect safety record when firing on ranges. Before
9/11, some military installations allowed trained outsiders to use the ranges,
often to teach new soldiers about the evolution of artillery.
At those ranges, unlike public events, crews could fire live
rounds.
“Follow the
manual. When you are operating a cannon, go by the manual,” said Bruce. “Count
off. Each man has a responsibility to do the job. There has to be absolute
discipline … by doing that, you will be safe.”
Twins were fixtures in the community
Bernie Paulson is being remembered for his outgoing and
unforgettable personality.
“They did
everything together. I worked for them a few years,” said his nephew Bernie, 60,
who does maintenance for an area school district. “They were like a married
couple. They would get in their arguments. Five minutes later, it was like it
never happened.”
Bruce recalls
the brothers starting three businesses. They worked at farm equipment makers Pixall
and Oxbo before working full time at PBO. (Newspaper ad about their green bean picker, left)
“I am
generally the guy who takes care of the book work, the purchase orders and
paying the bills.” Bernie was more of the online guy.
“That is what I am
learning to do right now,” said Bruce.
He said the long-term goal is to sell their building once
the inventory is gone. That includes a traveling forge, caisson, 20-pounder
Parrott, a Rodman and more weapons and parts. All the cannon tubes are
original.
“If you happened to visit the PBO shop
you needed to be prepared to be there for several hours,” says Bernie's obituary.
The twins served as the “chain gang” for
many Clear Lake football games with Bernie manning the down marker, the obit
says. “They also traveled to California to be the cannon team experts on the TV
show “Junkyard Wars.”
Bernie S. Paulson is survived by his
wife, Heidi, son, Bruce (Annie), and grandson, Willie.
A celebration of his life is set for
Oct. 3 at the Barn Again event center in Clayton.
