2024's Top 12 Picket posts: Fort Fisher earthworks, Meade's cool hat, replica gun at Walmart, USS Monitor mystery, Burning of Darien survivor -- and much more

Clockwise: Enfield rifles conserved in Georgia; Herb Peck collection auction, Adam Strain building in Darien, Ga., deadline at Andersonville prison, George Meade's slouch hat and Fort Fisher's new replica traverses

Posts about a rescued tabby warehouse that has an interesting Civil War connection, Fort Fisher's rebuilt earthworks and new visitor center, George Meade’s cool slouch hat and rusted Enfield rifles being kept in an aquarium tank were big reader draws in 2024.

The top 12 Civil War Picket posts – by Blogger page views – covered a wide array of topics (two pertain to North Carolina's Fort Fisher).

Chad Jefferds, assistant site manager at Fort Fisher State Historic Site, recently told the Picket: “The reconstructed earthworks are already a major hit, and we hope to be adding more interpretation to them in the coming months. Visitors have also been very pleased with the exhibits, along with the views from the second-floor windows and balcony. We have seen a dramatic increase in visitation – this November’s total was 56% higher than November of 2023.”

We’ve got a few items in the works (including an update on Enfield rifles under conservation and Georgia troop markers at Manassas) and we look forward to rolling them out in early 2025. Thanks so much for your continued interest. Please tell a friend or two about us. And Happy New Year!

Drum roll, please ....

12. PRECIOUS PORTRAITS AUCTIONED: The family of the late Herb Peck Jr. enlisted the help of law enforcement, other collectors and Military Images magazine in their hunt for 117 photographs taken during a 1978 burglary at their Nashville home. Forty-eight recovered images sold for $292,000 in a March sale. – Read more

11. CROSSING “DEADLINE” MEANT DEATH: The light railing at Andersonville in Georgia was made from posts 3 to 4 feet long and driven into the ground. Horizontal pieces of wood topped the design, which was roughly 18-19 feet inside the stockade wall. Confederate guards in sentry boxes kept a sharp eye for POWs who extended any part of their body past the deadline. – Read more

10. LITTLE ROUND TOP BACK IN BUSINESS: A two-year rehabilitation of the Gettysburg landmark tackled erosion, overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, and degraded vegetation. This January post ahead of the reopening summarized the major project. – Read more

9. HOW THEY CLEAN ENFIELDS KEPT IN WATER: A team with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources uses a garden hose, small pump, spray nozzle and a wet-dry vacuum to periodically clean and refill a 300-gallon aquarium tank that holds -- of all things -- 18 Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles. The artifacts are awaiting long-term conservation. – Read more

8. VANDALS TRASH KENNESAW MOUNTAIN: Vandals destroyed or damaged six signs, several sections of split-rail fencing and caused minor damage to Civil War earthworks at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield in late January. As of this month, no arrests have been made. – Read more

7. Q&A WITH GETTYSBURG SUPERINTENDENT: The Picket asked Kristina Heister (right) about her priorities and initiatives, current and future projects and her ancestors. Many fought in the Civil War and two were at Gettysburg. – Read more

6. GEORGE MEADE’S COOL HEADGEAR: If I ever get around to writing “Cool Hats of the Civil War,” my top choice (spoiler alert!) will go to Union Maj. Gen. George Meade’s slouch hat, followed closely by those of Ambrose E. Burnside and J.E.B. Stuart. There are great images of him with that headgear: In front if his tent; seated among a throng of soldiers, or perched on a bench at the famous Grant "Council of War" at Massaponax Church in Virginia. – Read more

5. FORT FISHER, PART ONE: The staff at the Civil War site near Kure Beach, North Carolina, and contractors engaged in an extraordinary effort this year to recreate three traverses, bombproofs, a magazine and a sally port that were vital parts of the Confederate fort, which fell in furious hand-to-hand combat in January 1865.. – Read more

4. FORT FISHER, PART TWO: This piece previewed the earthworks project mentioned above and the building of a new visitor center, which is just north of the east-west line mounds of earth known as traverses that were part of the defenses. Much of the eastern part of the fort has been claimed by the Atlantic Ocean. – Read more

3. REPLICA GUN FOUND AT WALMART: A Civil War replica revolver (not the real thing, as some news reports claimed) was found in January by a Walmart employee in Gettysburg, Pa., while emptying an outside trash can. It was a real firearm, however. State troopers recently said they still don’t know who left it. – Read more

2. LINGERING MYSTERY OF USS MONITOR: I continue to marvel at the design and engineering skills of those who made the vessel that changed naval warfare in a single battle with the CSS Virginia in March 1862. My recent foray into learning a bit more about the vessel’s circular, ingenious turret – and its supporting braces -- put me back in touch with experts on Monitor about a distinctive maker’s mark found on a brace. Project director Will Hoffman says they still don't know who stamped an "ULSTER" mark on one brace.  – Read more

1. THEY SAVED A CIVIL WAR SURVIVOR: One of just a few tabby structures remaining on the Georgia coast, this weathered warehouse had survived a controversial fire during the Civil War, hurricanes, economic downturns, Father Time and decades of emptiness. Entrepreneurs Milan and Marion Savic, working with a team of specialists, completed the painstaking restoration of the Adam Strain Building in Darien and turned it into a brewery and event space. They are now working on a museum about the area's history and culture. – Read more

Honorable mentions: This researcher helped obtain Medals of Honor for two soldiers; Wisconsin twins are legendary in reproduction artillery; monument will honor Black hero Robert Smalls.