Burnside Bridge: TLC and lots of work go into preservation of Antietam landmark

Stones on walls were marked for guide when they are reinstalled (NPS photos)

Extensive work on the famous Burnside Bridge at Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland is nearing the one-year mark, and officials expect it to continue until the end of the year.

The $1.7 million preservation project is bringing repairs and stabilization to the stone structure, which was built in 1836.

Park Superintendent Susan Trail responded Friday to the Picket’s questions about the bridge project. She said the project is going “very well.”

Temporary dams were built for work on eroded pier bases. 

Q.  You said the piers would be repointed and the voids filled with grouts. Has that been completed? Was that the extent of the work on the piers?

A. All of the pier work was completed in late winter. The work was extensive, as concrete ribbon footers had to be poured for each due to extensive erosion.

Q. I saw some Facebook photos (above) last week of work on top of the bridge. What's that work? Looks like maybe some wall reconstruction and a new walking surface?

A. Most of the work on the stone bridge involved dismantling substantial sections and rebuilding them. This is the work that is going on right now. The wall sections were photographed and mapped, so that the stones could be returned to their exact locations prior to the dismantling. The repaving will happen later this fall when the stone work is complete.

Q. Can you briefly summarize what all has been addressed in this restoration/preservation effort?

A. The project addressed substantial voids and erosion in the two piers and the two abutments. It also addressed unstable parapet and spandrel walls that had deteriorated over the years, due primarily to water infiltration. It also will include new wood coping and asphalt paving, which will be done this fall.

East bridge abutment

Q. What do you hope will be the long-term benefit of the work?

A. This project will keep the bridge standing in good condition for decades to come.

Q. Anything unexpected come up during the construction/repairs?

A. The biggest unforeseen condition was the severe erosion of the pier bases, as this could not be seen before the project started.

On Sept. 17, 1862, America's bloodiest single day, a small force of Confederates on high ground for three hours defended the critical crossing against troops belonging to Ambrose E. Burnside's 9th Corps.

Portion of bridge that bulged, needed repairs

Critics say Burnside did not do adequate reconnaissance before the attack, which cost him about 500 casualties. 

"After taking the bridge at about 1 p.m., Burnside reorganized for two hours before moving forward across the arduous terrain -- a critical delay. Finally, the advance started -- only to be turned back by Confederate General A.P. Hill’s reinforcements that arrived in the late afternoon from Harpers Ferry," according to the NPS.

After the battle, the bridge was actively used for traffic until as recently as 1966, according to the NPS. The last significant work occurred in the late 1980s.

Bill would make Fort Sumter, Moultrie into a higher-profile national park

U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, the first black U.S. senator from the Deep South since Reconstruction, is proposing that the site where the Civil War began be raised in status to that of a national park. The Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill creating the Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Park as the nation’s 60th national park and second in South Carolina. • Article

16 unmarked graves receive headstones

Researchers and volunteers have completed a project to mark the graves of Civil War veterans in a Marshalltown, Iowa, cemetery. The Catholic Soldiers' Lot at Riverside Cemetery is the final resting place for 31 soldiers, but until recently, only about half of the graves were marked. Since there was no way of knowing the exact resting place of the men in the unmarked graves, volunteers got information about the 16 men by collecting census data. "We had their names, but little other information, so one by one, we had to research their identities and figure out dates of birth, death and years of military service," cemetery volunteer Jerry McCann said. "We know they were mainly of Irish descent, and some German, who when they died, wanted to be buried in this section." • Article

Bold colors or plain black? Atlanta History Center mulls options for locomotive Texas

The Texas has been soda blasted to remove rust, old paint (Picket photo)

For Nathaniel Watts and Max Sigler, a warm summer afternoon in the massive Back Shop of the North Carolina Transportation Museum just got a whole lot hotter. Plucking rivets from a super-heated oven, the team drives them into a water tank that fed a Civil War steam locomotive.

The locomotive, largely stripped of bright colors and almost drab in appearance, sits on tracks just 20 yards away. The effects of soda blasting give the visitor a real sense of the craftsmanship that joined wood and iron to create a mighty machine of commerce. This is the Texas, the engine that many call the hero of the Great Locomotive Chase in 1862.

The Atlanta History Center, which is paying Steam Operations Corp. to remove rot and rust and restore the locomotive at this shop in Spencer, must make an important decision: What will the Texas look like at its new home in Atlanta?

Max Sigler has worked months on the Texas (Picket photos)

Several years ago at old Cyclorama location

It’s not a process that’s being taken lightly – the AHC has a committee that will help determine the paint scheme. Rail company orders are being studied and the center is reaching out to experts and performing paint analysis.

“How can this engine best educate folks? What story do we want to tell with this engine?” asks Jackson McQuigg, vice president of properties at the AHC.

The locomotive, which sat in the former Atlanta Cyclorama building for nearly 90 years, is being moved (along with the painting of the Battle of Atlanta) to the AHC campus in the Buckhead neighborhood.

The story of the Texas, which was built in 1856, makes the color scheme choice a bit complicated.

Should the locomotive have a Civil War appearance? Companies such as the Western & Atlantic Railroad at that time had a livery of colors that might include bright red, blue, brown, gold and green wheels and accents.

(Picket photo)

“With the burst of railroad expansion and competition, the bright colors were (part of) an arms race in which builders muscled into the market,” said Jim Wilke, a railroad historian in California who has done extensive research on locomotive and tender paint schemes. “The more dazzling the locomotive, the better chance you had of getting a purchase.”

The bright-color fad lasted only a few decades. Like thousands of other locomotives, the Texas was converted from burning wood to coal. They didn’t look so fancy when covered in black soot.

But there was much more at play. Railroad companies were scaling up. They poured money into infrastructure, more powerful trains and extensive rail lines. Locomotives took on a plainer appearance as uniformity took hold.

The Texas was black by 1880, said Wilke, and it stayed that way until it ended service in 1907.

Will the restored Texas have that paint scheme? Wilke said he believes that’s an appropriate choice.

“The only period possible for this locomotive is 1886 to 1907,” he recently told the Picket. “The lettering was a deep yellow ochre to imitate gold. In the 1880s, it was shaded a drab color.”

Rivets are heated to join iron plates on tender water tank

But there’s more. The Atlanta History Center also is figuring in work done by Atlanta artist-historian Wilbur Kurtz, who saved the Texas from the salvage yard and in the mid-1930s restored it to more closely resemble what was believed to be its original appearance.

It’s here where the plot thickens.

While Kurtz spoke with Civil War veterans and was married to the daughter of the conductor on the General (the locomotive that was seized by Union raiders and chased by the Texas and other engines), historians have not been able to locate paint schemes for Danforth, Cooke and Company, which manufactured the Texas.

“It is a great mystery,” said Wilke.

Locomotives were rolling attention getters

The AHC’s McQuigg points out that the two locomotives present at the 1869 joining of Union and Central Pacific rails at Promontory Summit in Utah territory also were decorative.

Historic meeting of the railroads in 1869

Richard Carroll is an engineer at Golden Spike National Historic Site. His small team gives demonstrations three times a day (May 1 through Columbus Day) with replicas of the Jupiter and No. 119.

“We do believe our colors are accurate, as close as we know,” said Carroll, adding the park has consulted with Wilke.

“Locomotives were considered advertising pieces for the railroad as well as modes of power,” said the engineer. “For almost all of the engines of that era, it was very common for them to be decorative and ornate, with brass and gold leaf.” 

Replicas of the Jupiter and 119 (NPS photos)

He said the Jupiter’s blue features are particularly popular with visitors.

When the Western & Atlantic had the Texas built, railroads had “highly individualistic designs,” said Wilke. Bright color accents grabbed the public’s attention and were a form of advertising before logos came along. Locomotives were kept cleaned and polished. “This was a capital investment.”

Wilke, who has been contacted by the AHC, said the Texas’ small wheels up front provided more traction. They reflect the struggle “of keeping freight going on an antiquated system.”

AHC officials said the tender being restored was not with the Texas during the Civil War. Much of the locomotive itself was replaced over the decades, including its large boiler, wheels, parts of the cab and more.

Within two decades after the Civil War, changes in the nation’s rail system made it possible for “a (rail) car from Georgia … to roll all the way into Portland, Ore,” said Wilke.

'Wilbur got it right for his time'

The Texas with a different number in 1907 (Atlanta History Center photo)

The Texas finally ran out of steam in 1907, and it was bound for scrap, like the locomotives at Golden Spike.

But Kurtz stepped in and raised money for its eventual placement in the Cyclorama building at Grant Park in 1927.

He oversaw the locomotive and tender restoration in 1936. Regarding the colors, “Wilbur got it right for his time,” said McQuigg.

The balloon stack and cab, which still has some of its original wood, were painted brown. The wheels and cowcatcher became a bright red. The bands, or belts, around the boiler, the sand dome, some pipes and the valve chests were a dull gold.

Before he did that, Kurtz had the Texas partially sand blasted and looked at paint scheme orders the Western & Atlantic placed for other locomotives. He was, like restorers today, fighting rust and rot on the locomotive and tender.

The General on display in Kennesaw, Ga. (Picket photo)

Kurtz was consumed with the appearance of the General and how the Texas would compare.

“We have this group of Yankees who saved the Yankee engine,” McQuigg said. “Kurtz is trying to rescue the hero of the chase. He is not only trying to preserve it, but present it in an equally positive light as the General.” (The General is housed at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History in Kennesaw, northwest of Atlanta)

Wilke said he, too, believes Kurtz did the best he could. The artist-historian spoke with people who had memories of the engine, Wilke said. But nuances and precise details may have become lost.

“It is like asking them what color is the car your grandmother drove?”

Color scheme used by Kurtz on tender tank

Several factors will lead to decision

It’s possible the Texas had some bronze-green features before it was painted black by about 1880.

“Black was a new color coming into acceptance” and was considered a sign of progress. It reflected an emphasis on “putting your money into the road rather than frivolous trifles like a wine-colored locomotive," said Wilke.

(Picket photos)

The locomotive also underwent changes when the gauge, the distance between rails, was narrowed. That, too, would suggest a restoration to mimic its 1880s appearance, said Wilke. Locomotives might have planished iron with a blue/gray tint. "It was very bright in terms of the glittering metal."

The historian said whatever its choice, the AHC will do a good job with the restoration.  “It has a very high standard of display and organization. I am certain it will do just fine.”

AHC officials said discoveries about the Texas, including an 1874 date for the boiler, will inform decisions on the appearance of the engine.

McQuigg said painting the Texas black would be keeping with its appearance for much of its life. “The Civil War is important … but there are other stories as well.” And, he said, paint can be reversible.

The AHC does not look at the paint scheme deliberations as a dilemma, but an opportunity, he said. And it is not bound by Kurtz’ interpretation or the appearance of the General.

“We are going to try to determine how it best tells the story,” McQuigg said. “We may surprise folks with how it appears. We may not.”

Sigler cleans portion of water tank that fits on tender.

View from the boiler (Picket photos)

Prescribed fires this week at Gettysburg intended to restore July 1863 appearance

Fire area near Devil's Den (Gettysburg NMP)

The prescribed fires program at Gettysburg National Military Park is one of those projects “that will last forever,” according to its superintendent.

Ed Clark told the Picket last week that the park is ramping up its schedule of fires to remove vegetation regrowth. Such park management and preservation can be expensive: Gettysburg spent $70,000 removing it in a 10-acre tract.

Fires scheduled for this week are intended to “maintain the conditions of the battlefield as experienced by the soldiers who fought here; perpetuate the open space character of the landscape; maintain wildlife habitat, control invasive exotic species; reduce shrub and woody species components, and reduce fuels in wooded areas to reduce fire hazard.”

The current schedule, weather permitting: Eight acres at the Triangular Field near Devil’s Den on Sept. 7 (Wednesday), followed by a prescribed fire on 14 acres at Pardee Field on Culp’s Hill on Sep. 8 (Thursday). 

During the prescribed fire at Pardee Field, Geary, Slocum, East Confederate and Colgrove avenues will be temporarily closed, mainly in the afternoon.  During the prescribed fire at Triangular Field, part of Sickles Avenue and the Devil’s Den parking area will be closed from mid-morning through the afternoon.

Updated information on fire and smoke conditions will be posted on the Gettysburg social media sites, officials said.

Samurai and Civil War soldiers: Gettysburg becomes 'sister' park with Japanese battlefield

Samurai armor will be exhibit

In March, Gettysburg National Military Park Superintendent Ed Clark traveled to Sekigahara, a mountainous Japanese city that has its share of civil war history.

The largest gathering of Samurai warriors in Japanese history battled for six hours in October 1600. Rather than North versus South, as was the case at Gettysburg in 1863, this was the Eastern Army against the Western Army (more than 160,000 troops total).

The Eastern Army prevailed, ushering a new shogunate and more than 200 years of relative peace in the country.

Clark and officials from the Borough of Gettysburg were in the town for the inaugural World Battlefields Summit. Participants discussed the significance and preservation of the Gettysburg, Sekigahara and Waterloo (Belgium) battlefields. It was part of an initiative by the Japanese government to learn how to best interpret Sekigahara and boost tourism.

“I studied up on it,” Clark told the Picket this week. “It was an amazing experience and I learned a lot about that civil war and that particular battle and Japanese history, and the preservation challenges they have.”

Monuments and banners at Sekigahara (NPS photos)

Gettysburg National Military Park is playing a significant part in events marking a Gettysburg-Sekigahara “sister city” and “sister park” relationship.

The Gettysburg Heritage Center and Museum on Sept. 4 (Sunday) and 5 (Monday) will host a free exhibition of Samurai swords and armor, flags and other documents, said general manager Stephanie Lightner.

The museum’s website summarizes the link: “Two separate countries, both facing civil wars, both with high numbers of casualties, but in the end resulted in peace and preservation. We come together, as sister cities, to remember and honor our past, in hopes to learn and grow together in the future.”

(Borough of Gettysburg)

A 2 p.m. "sister city" and "sister park" signing ceremony will be held Monday at the Gettysburg Lincoln Railroad Station. The park is sponsoring “Samurai Warriors & Civil War Soldiers” programs, also Monday. Posters will outline the history of the Sekigahara battle and visitors will be able to try on replica Samurai uniforms.

Clark described Sekigahara as being in the “fledgling” stage of boosting the battle’s story. To the Japanese, the clash “is as famous as Gettysburg is to the American public.”

The Japanese battlefield is pretty well preserved, though the fields of battle are developed, with an industrial park and a housing complex. Japanese officials Clark said, are trying to determine whether they may need to remove some modern infrastructure and buildings to better interpret the battle and improve sight lines.

For Clark, such efforts are about trying to pull back modern encroachment on hallowed ground.

In recent years, Gettysburg park officials have endeavored, as the Washington Post reports, to “peel back decades of accumulated natural and man-made clutter to evoke a terrain much closer to the one awaiting the 163,000 Union and Confederate combatants who faced off here in the first three days of July, 1863.” That included removing an obtrusive observation tower in 2000.

The Sekigahara site includes a small visitor center, some displays, monuments, banners and an electric map that needs refreshing, Clark said. He was impressed by a trail system that linked generals’ camps at Sekigahara. The town is in a valley surrounded by mountains.

World Battlefields Summit (Borough of Gettysburg)

Park visitors can try on Samurai uniforms Monday (NPS)

Japanese officials have visited Gettysburg to get ideas that may lead to a new museum.

For now, Sekigahara mainly draws a local crowd, said Clark. “It is not international tourism. They want to make it more approachable for foreign tourists.” The summit was designed to educate Japanese about benefits resulting from an enhanced site.

Clark said that his park, too, has more preservation work ahead.

Little Round Top “has been loved to death.” The National Park Service is working with the Gettysburg Foundation to raise $10 million to deal with traffic and erosion problems. Some other efforts have focused on areas of the first day of the battle. And there’s the constant fight to reestablish proper vegetation and fight unwanted regrowth.

At the summit, Japanese and Belgian officials bemoaned “the lack of a real philanthropic culture we have in the United States.” Japan is trying to bolster public-private partnerships, the superintendent said.

The “sister city” and “sister park” relationship may yield tourism, visitation and other benefits in Pennsylvania, as well, officials said.

• Details on the Sept. 4-5 Samurai exhibit

• Plans for Monday “sister” city and park events

Edo period screen depicting battle (Wikipedia, public domain)