2019's top 10 Picket posts: Boy's diary, stirrup found at POW site, Hunley, USS Monitor, stolen guns and the Atlanta Cyclorama

A Georgia boy who wrote a fascinating wartime diary, a cool archaeological find, ironclads and a soldier’s grave lying beneath a Long Island church were among the most popular Picket posts in 2019.

We’ve got a few items in the works, so we look forward to rolling those and others out soon. Thanks so much for your interest – and Happy 2020!

Stolen Henry repeating rifle (Harrisburg police)

10. MUSEUM HEIST UNSOLVED:  A reward for information leading to the recovery of guns taken from the National Civil War Museum in February 2016 was increased earlier this year. The Henry repeating rifle and two revolvers were presented to Simon Cameron, Abraham Lincoln's secretary of war from March 5, 1861, to Jan. 14, 1862. The guns had not been recovered as of this week. • Read more

9. USS MONITOR’S ROOF: Crews using hydraulic lifts installed new support stands under the massive turret of the USS Monitor so that conservators can have better access to the famed ironclad’s roof. • Read more

Enfields at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Georgia

8. ENFIELD RIFLES STILL IN AQUARIUM TANK:  A crate of 20 British-made Enfield rifles that never made it into the hands of Confederate soldiers has remained in water ever since it was pulled from the wreckage of the blockade runner CSS Stono in the late 1980s. The rifles themselves are in great shape, as far as the wood goes. The remnants of the wooden crate holding them and its metal lining have not fared so well. • Read more

Leroy Wiley Gresham (LOC)

7. LEROY WILEY GRESHAM: He kept a compelling diary during the Civil War. The Macon, Ga., boy detailed daily life, what the family ate, the weather and what he gleaned from newspapers. This year, the final resting place for Gresham, who died at just 17, got a little TLC. • Read more

6. UNIQUE IRONCLAD FANTAIL: A Georgia museum is raising money to conserve the precisely built curved rear deck, or fantail, of the Confederate ironclad CSS Jackson. The section of armor and wood, which protected the vessel’s propellers and rudder, is a remarkable example of design and construction prowess. • Read more

(Trinity Episcopal)

5. GRAVE LIES BENEATH CHURCH: A Long Island, N.Y., church rededicated the grave of a young Union soldier whose headstone rested beneath the floor of the church for more than a century only to be uncovered last year during a renovation project.. • Read more

4. HUNLEY MYSTERY:  A new finding by those conserving the Confederate submarine Hunley revives the question of whether the eight-man crew ran out of oxygen after sinking a Federal vessel in Charleston Harbor. • Read more

3. BULLET AND BATON ROUGE:  A 2018 Picket article  resonated with readers curious about a Civil War bullet that was found during the renovation of a church ball field in the Louisiana capital. I decided to check back to see whether there has been anything gleaned about its origin. • Read more

Restored Cyclorama detail (Atlanta History Center)

2. REBRANDED ATLANTA CYCLORAMA REOPENS: Seventeen men who created the colossal painting would be pleased it is still around and presented the way they intended. The artists likely could not have anticipated how the painting would be misinterpreted and its message spun over the years. • Read more

(Camp Lawton Project/ GSU)

1. “OUT OF THE BLUE” FIND: A stirrup likely used on a Confederate horse is a surprise find during excavations at the Camp Lawton prison site in Georgia. Project director Dr. Ryan McNutt said a pretty good chunk of metal remains in the rusted stirrup, which he estimates weighs about a half pound. He did not find any evidence of surviving leather and does not know why it may have been discarded. • Read more