The T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., is reprising debate over who killed general at Fredericksburg. Clues and claims are featured each Wednesday on social media

Cobb's and Kershaw's troops in Fredericksburg at the stone wall (Library of Congress)

Tune in this week tor another episode of “Who Killed Tom Cobb?”!!!

Tom Cobb, for the unfamiliar, was Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, an ardent Georgia secessionist and Confederate brigadier general killed at Fredericksburg.

On Dec. 13, 1862, Cobb bled out after he was wounded while leading his men along Sunken Road. Of some debate in subsequent years was the manner of death.

Most historians – including staffers at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia -- attribute the ghastly leg wound to shrapnel from a Federal artillery shell. Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw and Col. E.P. Alexander, however, reported that Cobb (right) was felled by a sharpshooter. There’s at least one other story, though it was largely debunked by veterans and historians

Six years after the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., asked middle schoolers to weigh in, the topic is being reprised through a weekly video series (on Wednesdays) featuring former Cobb House interns laying out evidence and accounts.

Curator Ashleigh Oatts said the series has been in the works for more than a year. The impetus is to boost the house's social media presence, and videos are the best way to do that.

“We were hearing from some visitors that they had heard that Tom Cobb died in X way (usually not the correct answer) and realized that the general public might appreciate hearing from the primary sources and becoming detectives through this video series,” she said.

The general -- a lawyer and architect of the Confederate constitution before he joined the cause's army -- was mortally wounded within sight of where his mother was born in Fredericksburg.

The death theories first were the subject of a summer 2017 article in the magazine of the Watson-Brown Foundation, which operates the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga.

Sam Thomas, who was the curator then, decided to throw the whodunit to a group that would have no bias or prejudice – a class of eighth-graders. About half of them believed Cobb was killed by a sharpshooter, while others thought his death was result of friendly (or unfriendly) fire. You can read details of that claim here.

Cobb’s brigade was at the center of the maelstrom at Fredericksburg – the Sunken Road, which was bordered by a stone wall and just below Marye’s Heights.

“His men successfully repulsed repeated Union assaults on their position throughout the day on December 13, the park says on its website. “Between the first and second major wave of attacks against the Confederate position, Cobb was hit with shrapnel and mortally wounded. He had been standing behind the Stephens House when an artillery shell exploded through the house.” The officer was 39.

The video series is running every Wednesday through Dec. 17, though there may not be one shown Thanksgiving week, said Oatts. Three have been rolled out as of this writing.

Peter Maugle, park historian and ranger at Fredericksburg, will present a “solution” talk on Dec. 10, and the museum will wrap up the series the following Wednesday.

“The solution isn't a specific person, rather narrowing it down to the battery that was responsible (but also correcting misinformation stating that he was killed by friendly fire.),” said Oatts.

Cobb Legion's flag at the Athens house is on loan from the Atlanta History Center (Picket photo)

Among the weekly subjects:

-- H.M. Reed, son of a 13^th Mississippi Infantry veteran, told author Margaret Mitchell in 1937 about his father: “He dropped down beside the general and shoved his thumb into the wound and pressed the ends of the artery together and stopped the bleeding…When they arrived at the hospital they had to lift the general and my father out together as he could not release the pressure on the artery for a second. They laid both of them down on a bed together and the general expired before he could remove his thumb from the wound. My dad said his thumb was numb for a week afterwards."’

-- A Confederate’s interview with the Marietta (Ga.) Journal in which he claims Cobb was killed by a Rebel soldier in retribution for an incident that occurred weeks before the battle.

-- The account of Edward Porter Alexander, who apparently heard second-hand an account claiming it was a sharpshooter. "The fatal shot came from a house some hundred and fifty yards in front and to the left, which was occupied by the Federal skirmishes.”

-- The Rev. Rufus Kilpatrick Porter, chaplain for Cobb’s Legion;

-- Capt. W.R. Montgomery (left) of Cobb's Legion: “The whole time of the engagement our brave and gallant General Cobb was encouraging his men until a shot from the enemy’s cannon gave him his mortal wound. He was on the right of our Co, only a few feet from me when wounded.”

-- A letter from Joseph Henry Lumpkin, Cobb’s father-in-law, to Lumpkin’s daughter “Callie” Lumpkin King. While he was not present at Fredericksburg, he writes with some knowledge of the condition of the body. Lumpkin described the shell exploding outside the Stephens House, the fragment hitting his son-in-law above the knee, the removal of the general from the field, the cause of death and the funeral in Athens, Ga.

A postscript from my 2019 article on the topic: The T.R.R. Cobb House displays the Cobb’s Legion flag used at the battle in Virginia. The flag reportedly covered his legs after his body was sent to Athens days later and he lie in repose in his library. Cobb, his brother Howell and their families are buried a few miles away in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

There's a whole lot of fungus among the USS Cairo's wooden timbers. Scientists conduct study to help find ways to slow decay of historic ironclad at Vicksburg

The USS Cairo and an image of one of the fungus types found in the wood (Reprinted from Journal of Fungi); Claudia Chemello and Bob Blanchette examining Cairo timbers in 2024. (Paul Mardikian photo)

Confederate ships Little Rebel, Colonel Lovell and General Beauregard proved harmless, but Alternaria, Cladosporium and Curvularia are doing a real number on famed Civil War ironclad USS Cairo.

That’s because the latter are among a host of fungi eating away at the star attraction of Vicksburg National Military Park. The Cairo was the first armored vessel sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo and has been on display for decades.

A recent study found the wooden wreck is suffering continued fungal degradation, despite the application of chemical treatments over the years. Scientists who cleaned and examined the ironclad at Vicksburg National Military Park last year were alarmed by what they witnessed and have since analyzed.

“Finding so many fungi that cause wood decay alive in the ship timbers was a surprise,” said lead author Robert "Bob" Blanchette, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Minnesota.

Larger timber pieces inside the Cairo wreckage (Reprinted from Journal of Fungi)

“The wood surfaces are decayed and many of the timbers have had their strength properties compromised -- but many of the timbers are large and thick and still have moderately good integrity,” Blanchette wrote in an email to the Civil War Picket. “However, the presence of active decay fungi indicates they are progressively causing additional decay.”

The study, published in the Journal of Fungi, urges the Cairo -- which sits beneath a fabric canopy, but has open sides -- be moved indoors to a climate-controlled space to combat the toll from high humidity and heat.

Blanchette and his co-authors said keeping relative humidity below 55 percent would help arrest fungal action.

“An enclosed structure would also prevent dust, insects and animals from interacting with the ship. Undoubtedly, the condition of the wood will continue to deteriorate if the existing biodeterioration and biodegradation processes underway in the ship are left unaddressed,” they wrote.

The team was brought in by the National Park Service to evaluate the fungi and provide guidance on long-term preservation. The agency knows moving the ironclad indoors is necessary, but funding has not been secured.

Visitors can see gunboat during govt. shutdown

The Cairo and accompanying museum officially opened in 1980 (NPS photo)

The Picket reached out to the NPS and the park for comment on the study. An email said officials would respond to non-government shutdown queries once “appropriations have been enacted.”

Visitors to the park along the Mississippi River can still see the gunboat seven days a week. The Cairo museum has been open a few days but after Tuesday will be closed until the shutdown ends and money flows again to national historic sites.

Blanchette and Benjamin Held, also with the University of Minnesota, and Paul Mardikian and Claudia Chemello of Terra Mare Conservation say more study of the fungi is needed.

“Decades after various preservative treatments were applied, we now find soft rot and white rot fungi are in the wood,” Blanchette told the Picket. “Many of these fungi have not been studied and we do not know much about their biology and ecology. Others have received some investigation and some of these are known to tolerate various wood preservation treatments.”

The end comes in the Yazoo River above Vicksburg

The USS Cairo at anchor in 1862 (Library of Congress)

The USS Cairo’s fame has far exceeded its brief history. Built in a hurry in Mound City, Ill., and commissioned in January 1862, the ironclad sank only 11 months later. In between, it helped lead to the fall of Fort Pillow and Memphis, Tenn.

At 175 feet long and with a top speed of six knots, the vessel carried 13 guns and 251 officers and men. Seven shallow-draft City Class river ironclads prowled the Mississippi River and connecting shallow waterways, menacing Confederate supply lines and shore batteries, the National Park said.

Before the Federal attack on Haynes Bluff, Cairo skipper Lt. Cmdr. Thomas O. Selfridge Jr. led a small flotilla of gunboats into the hazardous confines of the Yazoo River on Dec. 12, 1862.

“Tasked with destroying Confederate batteries and clearing the river of torpedoes (underwater mines) the flotilla inched its way up the murky waters. As the Cairo reached a point seven miles north of Vicksburg the flotilla came under fire and the aggressive Selfridge ordered his guns to the ready and called for full steam, bringing the ironclad into action,” the NPS says.

“Seconds later, disaster struck. Cairo was rocked by two explosions in quick succession. The first tore and gaping hole into the port (left) bow of the wooden hulled ironclad. The second detonated a moment later near the armored belt amidships on the starboard side. The hole on the bow proved to be catastrophic.”

Selfridge ordered the Cairo to be beached and the crew to abandon ship. The Cairo slid from the river bank into 36 feet of water with no loss of life. About a half dozen sailors were injured.

Mud protected the ironclad for almost 100 years

The ill-fated ironclad disappeared into history for nearly a century.

Using maps and an old military compass, the legendary Ed Bearss, a historian at Vicksburg National Military Park at the time, and two comrades found the mud-encased ironclad in 1956.

A portion of the casemate rests on a barge in the 1960s (NPS photo)

Despite financial shortfalls, barge problems and a zero-visibility river that deposited silt at an alarming rate, the vessel was eventually raised in 1960 and 1964-65.

Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts intact were crushed in October 1964 when the three-inch cables being used to lift the Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became a question of saving as much of the vessel as possible. The decision was made to recover the USS Cairo in three sections.

Barges carried the remnants to Pascagoula, Ms. The wreck was moved in 1977 to the Vicksburg park, where it was partially reconstructed and placed on a concrete foundation. The Cairo has been treated with a variety of chemical sprays and coatings since the 1970s. 

Frame that holds the Cairo's timbers in good shape

Diagram showing where samples were taken (Adapted from Library of Congress for Journal of Fungi article)

While submerged and under river sediments, bacterial degradation and soft rot took place, said Blanchette. After recovery, lots of different types of decay took place, including aggressive brown rot and white rot.

He and the other researchers gazed at the microstructure of the wood to see the effects of fungi. “Micromorphological characteristics observed using scanning electron microscopy showed that many of the timbers were in advanced stages of degradation,” they wrote.

They took 66 samples of wood – oak, pine and poplar -- from the wreck. “The large number of diverse fungal taxa that are present in the ship’s wood raises concerns about the future preservation of the ship,” the journal article said.

Blanchette (left) said fungi tolerant of preservation treatments applied to the Cairo found their way into the wood over time, causing decay.

 “The fungal isolation results and presence of so many fungi with the capacity to degrade wood also suggest that there is a need for additional studies to better understand how soft rot and white rot fungi tolerate and interact with aging wood that has been previously treated with wood preservation compounds,” the study said.

The park also asked the U.S. Forest Service to study the 1980s Glulam structure that holds the boat in place. It appears the frame is in pretty good condition, except for a few areas. (That team did not examine any of the ship’s timbers.)

Blanchette said his team did not find evidence of termites, though it did not include insects in the study. “As indicated in the Forest Products Lab paper, this must be monitored in the future since they can be a serious threat.”

The Forest Service also recommends moving the Cairo inside.

“The canopy currently is shedding precipitation from the actual frame, but the entire assembly is subject to substantial swings in relative humidity and temperature that could exacerbate issues with mold and decay fungi. The structure is also currently exposed to the risk of swarming insects such as termites, powder post beetles and carpenter bees.”

'Recognized as soldiers': A Black regiment fought on this NW Georgia tract that has been recently saved. The site includes Confederate earthworks and redoubts

Sgt. Charles Tyree of the 14th USCI was born into slavery  (Indiana Historical Society, M0470), Garrity Battery's site (at right) and Washington Artillery position on the top of 61 acres (Courtesy Bob Jenkins)

Sixty-one acres that feature impressive Confederate artillery and infantry earthworks and were the site of the first Civil War combat in Georgia involving Black troops have been saved following a 20-year effort.

Save the Dalton Battlefields recently trumpeted the preservation of 61.43 acres just north of Interstate 75. The American Battlefield Trust, among its partners in the effort, closed on the property last month after it and numerous groups and individuals raised $677,000.

SDB president Bob Jenkins said the site would likely have been converted to residential use if the sale had not occurred.

“The property immediately below (to the south of) this property was developed into four apartment buildings in the past couple of years and we lost earthworks on that property,” Jenkins told the Picket in an email. “Also, there are other condo units and apartments adjacent to this property to the east, as well.”

Parcel marked in green is near Rocky Face Ridge Park (American Battlefield Trust map)

Unlike Atlanta, Northwest Georgia has numerous remaining Civil War fortifications, including at Rocky Face Ridge Park, which is near the 61-acre site. About 300 acres in the Resaca battlefield have recently been saved, officials said.

For those who closely study troop movement and action during the Atlanta Campaign, the names of Confederate units defending the land the first months of 1864 are familiar: Stanford’s Mississippi Battery, Washington Artillery from Louisiana, Garrity’s Alabama Battery, Baker’s and Clayton’s Alabama infantry brigades and Stovall’s Georgia brigade.

Between them, they erected numerous lunettes, redoubts and earthworks -- much of which survive..

Save the Dalton Battlefields' sign about Black Civil War regiments in the area

But it was the infantrymen belonging to the 14^th U.S. Colored Infantry who made history months after those Rebel units left.

They became the first Blacks troops to see combat in the Peach State during the war.

Black regiment was drawn from formerly enslaved

The clash involving the 14^th USCI came months after important battles in Whitfield County, including Rocky Face Ridge. By August 1864, most of the fighting was happening well south, in and around Atlanta.

The regiment – organized in Gallatin, Tenn., mainly of former slaves -- was part of a Federal force that came in two trains from Chattanooga, Tenn., before dawn on Aug. 15, 1864, after Confederate cavalry commander Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler and his force threatened Dalton with the intent of destroying railroad tracks and supplies.

Black troops are shown in this camp scene near Citico Mound in Chattanooga ( photo CL 491 (44), Isaac Bonsall Collection, The Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.)

“The three Union regiments disembarked from the trains on the west side of Mill Creek Gap where they deployed, with the 14th USCI placed in the front left of the formation and given the honor of leading the predawn attack,” said Jenkins. They were part of the skirmish line.

“This regiment swept across the southern end of the newly acquired property on their way to Wheeler’s cavalrymen, who were encamped along the banks of Mill Creek to the east.”

Eventually, Wheeler withdrew.

In his memoirs, Col. Thomas Jefferson Morgan (left), wrote the fight was short, with few casualties.

“To us it was a great battle, and a glorious victory. The regiment had been recognized as soldiers. It had taken its place side by side with a white regiment. The men had behaved gallantly. A colored soldier had died for liberty. Others had shed their blood in the great cause.”

The regiment marched into Dalton in a rain. A White regiment, standing at rest, “swung their hats and gave three rousing cheers for the Fourteenth Colored," wrote Morgan.

The 14^th later took part in the siege of Decatur, Ala., and the Battle of Nashville. The Slaves to Soldiers website features remarkable information about the regiment and other Black units.

Hikers will be able to see site near Rocky Face Ridge

Jenkins said numerous groups were involved in the preservation project, including the Georgia Battlefields Association, Open Space Institute, Georgia Piedmont Land Trust, various Civil War roundtables and Whitfield County officials.

“While it is not contiguous with Rocky Face Ridge Park, it is to be added to the profile of that park and managed accordingly, but without any bike trails or other high-density use,” he said. “This property is to be used for only hiking, historic and environmental preservation, i.e. low density use.

Lunettes were shaped as a half moon to protect men. (Courtesy Bob Jenkins)

While the terrain is not as rugged as Rocky Face Ridge, the parcel does not have easy car access.

Jared Herr, communications associate with the American Battlefield Trust, said the nonprofit negotiated the purchase agreement. He said the trust has championed several Civil War properties in the region, including Rocky Face Ridge, Ringgold Gap, Kennesaw Mountain and Resaca.

Once the Trust places a conservation easement on the 61 acres, it intends to transfer the property to Whitfield County. “Trails and interpretive signage will be installed on the property. Save the Dalton Battlefields will work on the signage under the guidance of the county. The Trust will lend its expertise, including sign text review, to the process.”

Brian Chastain, chief of Whitfield County parks, said he recently toured the site and said the earthworks are particularly notable. “It is a great asset.”

“While the property is not yet open to the public, I can provide private tours of the property on a limited basis and for now would like to limit that to our donors or potential future donors,” said Jenkins. “There’s no timetable yet for the public, but we will be working to get the property and hiking trails safe and ready to be dedicated and opened to the public as soon as possible.”

Bragg, Johnston deployed guns to slow Yankees

Another lunette at the 61-acre site (Courtesy Robert Jenkins)

It’s important to note Dalton and Whitfield County were occupied by Confederate and Union troops at different times during Sherman’s Atlanta Campaign. The Rebel artillery was in place around the time or during the Battle of Rocky Face Ridge.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association laid out this timeline:

The four-gun batteries were part of the defensive line Braxton Bragg (for the initial weeks) and Joseph E. Johnston (subsequently) built from December 1863 through April 1864. The artillery was positioned more to defend Mill Creek Gap than the ridge, said Crawford.

When Maj. Gen. George Thomas was ordered to attack Rocky Face Ridge in late February 1864, he determined quickly that a direct assault with the forces then at hand (only the Army of the Cumberland at that point, whereas Gen. William T. Sherman would have three armies when he approached the site in early May) would just result in casualties. But Thomas’s assault did have the effect of Johnston being allowed to recall two divisions he had been ordered to send to assist Polk in Mississippi. Thomas withdrew.

“There were certainly artillery exchanges in this area in February and May, but the principal infantry assaults were elsewhere. In one sense, the defenses here accomplished their purpose of defending the gap,” said Crawford.

Atlanta Campaign got bloody start at Rocky Face Ridge

The well-known Battle of Rocky Face Ridge came on May 7-8, 1864. It was the first significant clash of what became known as the Atlanta Campaign.

In 2022, Bob Jenkins (left) with reproduction 3-inch ordnance rifle at Rocky Face Ridge Park. (Picket photo)

Sherman sent troops from the Chattanooga area as a feint while Maj. Gen. James B. McPherson rushed to Snake Creek Gap in a bid to cut Rebel forces off from a vital railroad.

But the feint did not come without cost: About 1,400 men from both sides became casualties in the fighting over several days at Rocky Face Ridge, known for its steep terrain.

Johnston, surprised by McPherson’s move and seeing that Sherman was moving south, evacuated troops off the ridge and rushed them to Resaca.

The Federal strategy had failed, given McPherson moved back to Snake Creek Gap when he thought his army might be in a precarious position. Sherman was angry about McPherson’s failure to attack and perhaps cut Johnston off from the railroad. The Battle of Resaca ensued, with Johnston having consolidated his troops.

Here's when the Rebel batteries were in place at site

Jenkins provided these details on what occurred on the 61 acres.

There were two artillery battery sites on this property used by three different Confederate units: the one near the top of the ridge used by Garrity’s Alabama battery, and the one on the lower part of the ridge used at various times by the Washington Artillery and Stanford’s Mississippi Battery.

-- Garrity’s Alabama Battery served in the redoubt near the top of the property in action in May (May 6-13) 1864.

Georgia Division reenactors take part in 2022 ribbon cutting at Rocky Face Ridge Park (Picket photo)

-- The Washington Artillery served in the redoubt near the bottom of the property in action in February (24-26, 1864), May and October (13, 1864).

-- Stanford’s Mississippi Battery also served in the lower redoubt in May 1864. (Different batteries were pulled up into line and after 24 hours, pulled back and replaced to rest) But not Garrity’s Battery, because they were up on top and harder to get up and down.

-- The August 1864 action saw no artillery on this property, but instead was a running fight as the Federals lined up west of Mill Creek Gap, swept through the gap, including the 14^th USCI across the lower half of this property, as they surprised and swept Wheeler’s sleeping Confederate cavalrymen in the predawn hours of August 15, 1864, along the banks of Mill Creek between just west of the gap and down toward Dalton.

These unusual Rebel forts outside Atlanta were never tested by Sherman. A few Shoupades survive; volunteers toil to reveal a trench between two of them

Ron Wendt steps near exposed trench leading up to First Shoupade; Matt Larson wields a mattock; work Sunday was near Shoupade, 2, and redan, 3; the other Shoupade is marked 4; diagram shows defense design (Picket photos)

Where cannons and rifles once bristled, mattocks, saws and loppers were the weapons of the day Sunday afternoon for a small, but hardy crew working to clear vegetation and expose a trench that connected unique Confederate fortifications outside Atlanta.

The nonprofit River Line Historic Area (RLHA) sponsored the “Trimming the Trenches” workday at Shoupade Park in Smyrna, Ga. The goal is to “enrich the visitor's visual educational experience.”

Timber and earthen redoubts – known as Shoupades -- were built by enslaved laborers near the Chattahoochee River and were briefly manned in July 1864. The arrowhead shape allowed defenders to shoot in several directions. Artillery placed in nearby redans added to “the killing zone.” (Bill Scaife model of a Shoupade, left)

RLHA  and individuals have been working to expose the outline of an infantry trench between one Shoupade and a redan. The park is in the middle of a residential development.

While the work is still to be completed, progress was made Sunday. I could see the faint line indicating the trench where troops could move from one fortification to the next.

Born in Indiana, Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup (right) lent his name to a fort system that Union Maj. Gen William T. Sherman, intent on taking Atlanta, called “one of the strongest pieces of field fortifications I ever saw.”

The Chattahoochee River was the last natural obstacle for Union troops moving on Atlanta.

Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered a series of defenses and the Rebels built 36 Shoupade forts, said Roberta Cook, executive director of RLHA. Ten remain in various levels of condition. Some are on public land and some on private property.

For all their ingenuity, the Shoupades never saw action. Sherman, using his familiar flanking strategy, crossed the river elsewhere, forcing Confederates to retreat to Atlanta. There is a belief that Johnston and some of his soldiers did not fully appreciate Shoupade's work.

Author Brad Butkovich says the forts were meant to be an impregnable barrier to the river with a small force, freeing up troops to guard the army flanks. He argues Johnston failed to use the forts to his advantage.

Cobb County owns the two-acre Shoupade Park and cuts the grass in the common area between its two Shoupades.

The shoupades are in vegetation in the center and a cleared area to the right (Cobb County Parks)

The earthworks are fenced but visitors get a good view and four signs explain how they worked. Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, wrote the text. That organization has lamented development around several River Line sites.

“The River Line Historic Area adopted the park eight years ago to improve its level of care with volunteer labor, but it has been a challenge,” said Cook.

Volunteers have concentrated on clearing excess vegetation from the redan and the “First Shoupade.” English ivy is being kept in place to ward off erosion on the latter, Cook said. Recent work days have concentrated on the connecting trench so people can a better idea of how the defensive system was designed. 

Roberta Cook, Matt Larson, Gould Hagler, Julie Schrodt, Ron Wendt (Picket photo)

Shoupade Park is bordered by the Park Avenue subdivision. Pulte Homes donated the fortifications to the county when it built the large neighborhood on Oakdale Road, and it paid for the interpretive signage.

Cook led Sunday’s effort. Joining her were Matt Larson and Julie Schrodt, Park Avenue residents, and Gould Hagler and Ron Wendt, members of area Civil War roundtables. Schrodt  is a RLHA board member.

The nonprofit is involved in several endeavors, including maintaining historic cemeteries.

The Chattahoochee River Line stretched for nearly six miles and was meant to slow Federals. But Johnston was largely buying time before he was outflanked.

Cobb County maintains Discovery Park at the River Line, which features a Shoupade, anchor fort and an impressive stretch of Confederate earthworks. It is a few miles south of Shoupade Park.

I visited the park after the work day and enjoyed the walk on the top of a ridge and down below where a trail parallels the Chattahoochee River. 

Cobb County Parks maintains a helpful web page about Discovery Park, including a guide to Civil War markers. New trails and signs have been introduced in the past five years.

“Designed by a Confederate officer and built by army engineers, heavy units of the Georgia militia, slightly wounded soldiers and about a thousand enslaved Africans, these fortifications are some of the few still remaining,” the page says.

Julie Schrodt removes branches; interior of First Shoupade at Shoupade Park (Picket photos)

“The defensive line became known as Johnston’s River Line after Confederate General Joseph E. Johnson and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These fortifications are important as a reminder of the way war was fought in the 19^th century. Their historical importance and undisturbed state have led to their preservation.”

Another view of the trench line, with Ron Wendt inside (Picket photo)

Crawford, with the GBA, said a Federal artillery battery site at Discovery Park is currently off-limits. Battery D, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, served west of Nickajack Creek.

The city of Smyrna's River Line Park includes another Shoupade. The park includes playing fields, concessions, trail and a playground.

The Second Shoupade at the park off Oakdale Road (Picket photo)

William Campbell's gun crew rained hell and shot on defiant Rebel batteries at Fort Fisher. The sailor's Medal of Honor has been donated to the North Carolina park

William Campbell's Medal of Honor; click to enlarge (Fort Fisher SHS)

The Medal of Honor bestowed to the captain of a gun on the USS Ticonderoga was donated this week to a North Carolina state park that tells the story of Union naval and land assaults on Fort Fisher.

Boatswain’s Mate William Campbell’s medal was brought Wednesday to Fort Fisher State Historic Site below Wilmington.

The park said the Zimmermann family from Illinois reached out a few months ago. Officials declined to provide information on them, citing privacy, and do not know whether they are related to Campbell.

I have been unable to learn much about Campbell, who was born in 1838 and enlisted in Indiana.

Becky Sawyer of the Fort Fisher site with the donors this week (Fort Fisher SHS)

He was one of 10 Ticonderoga sailors to receive the Medal of Honor. His citation reads:

“On board the U.S.S. Ticonderoga during the attacks on Fort Fisher, 24 and 25 December 1864; and 13 to 15 January 1865. Despite heavy return fire by the enemy and the explosion of the 100-pounder Parrott rifle which killed eight men and wounded 12 more, Campbell, as captain of a gun, performed his duties with skill and courage during the first two days of battle. As the ship again took position on the line of the 13th, he remained steadfast as the Ticonderoga maintained a well-placed fire upon the batteries onshore, and thereafter, as she materially lessened the power of guns on the mound which had been turned upon our assaulting columns. During this action the flag was planted on one of the strongest fortifications possessed by the rebels.”

Fort Fisher assistant site manager Chad Jefferds told the Picket enlistment records indicate Campbell was originally from Ireland.

Jefferds said the site plans to place the medal on permanent display soon.

“The entirety of the US Navy fleet is interpreted in our exhibit gallery. The Ticonderoga (left, Wikipedia) is specifically mentioned in a section about the first battle, regarding the explosion of several 100-pounder Parrott rifles.” 

During that first assault on Fort Fisher, about 45 Federal sailors were killed or injured when the Parrotts malfunctioned.

The fall of the fort in January 1865 was a massive blow to the Confederacy, which lost a supply pipeline months before the end of the Civil War.

Fort Fisher has one other Medal of Honor, that of William Henry Freeman of the 169^th New York (right), said Jefferds.

Freeman volunteered to carry the brigade flag during the victorious Second Battle of Fort Fisher after the bearer was wounded.

The Navy and Army created the Medal of Honor early in the conflict. More than 3,500 medals have been awarded since inception of the honor.

He fought Confederates. He tangled with Indian fighters. Now John Upham's St. Augustine cottage is for sale again -- for a whopping $3.2 million

An eye-catching design, bath with a view and a welcoming outside area (Evan Ulsh/Good Things Homes)

If Lt. Col. John Jaques Upham were alive today, he would be pleased to see that the interior of the winter cottage he built in St. Augustine, Fla., for his bride has been returned to something he would recognize.

That’s because the owners have spent about as much money renovating the striking residence at 268 Saint George St. as they did after purchasing it in late 2023 for $1.045 million.

If you are brave – and rich – enough to take on the upkeep and hefty taxes, the 5,800-square-foot dwelling can be yours for a cool $3.2 million – three times its previous purchase price.

When it was built in 1892-1893, the Queen Anne Victorian was a real showpiece in a neighborhood full of showpieces.

Upham, 54, married Caroline Hoppin Williams – 10 years his junior -- in Milwaukee on Sept. 23, 1891. Having soldiered through bouts of poor health, the Civil War veteran and U.S. 8^th Cavalry officer (Indian Wars) retired just four months later. He focused on building the cottage. (At left, photo of Upham while cadet, courtesy of U.S. Military Academy Library)

The couple happily wintered in St. Augustine and summered in Wisconsin until 1898, when Upham died of kidney disease.

The Uphams could not have foreseen what would happen to the luxury house years later.

“The last time we listed it, the property was difficult to sell because it needed a lot of work, and it had a disjointed – and somewhat confusing – layout,” said Elizabeth Jennings. She and Kate Mitchell have marketed the property for ONESotheby’s International Realty in St. Augustine.

“Because it had been converted to five units at some point, there were additional staircases and a landing space to enter the units,” said Jennings in an email. “Although it had been used as a single-family home for a few decades, none of the previous owners had done the work that it needed in order to restore it to a single-family home with a cohesive layout.”

A staircase was built to the third floor (Evan Ulsh/Good Things Homes)

That's all been remedied through an exhaustive renovation.

Upham Cottage is part of the St. Augustine historic district, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the National Park Service says the three-story cottage is one of a few remaining of that style in the coastal city.

The Upham Cottage’s sales price has varied widely in the past 15 or so years, according to Zillow. Like other houses of that age with such features, upkeep is paramount.

Upham took part in Civil War, Indian Wars

John J. Upham was born in Wilmington, Del., in 1837. His family moved to Milwaukee, where his father, Don A.J. Upham, served as mayor in 1849 and 1850. The younger Upham attended West Point, graduated in 1859 and joined the regular army.

First in the infantry, the officer was stationed at Governor’s Island, N.Y., and California before the Civil War broke out.

He was engaged in the defense of Washington, D.C., the 1862 Peninsula Campaign in Virginia and the Battle of Gettysburg, where he was promoted to brevet major for “gallant and meritorious service,” according to his The Milwaukee Sentinel obituary (provided to the Picket by the Wisconsin Historical Society). He later became a disbursing officer in the North and occupied South.

Cullum’s Register, an index of graduates of the U.S. Military Academy, had a biography of Upham, listing numerous stations in the West during the Indian Wars, after he had switched to the cavalry. The officer took several leaves of absence, at least some for health reasons. The register said he served “despite constant poor health.”

Upham was in a few regiments in his time in Texas, Kansas and Indian Territory. He took command of Oklahoma’s Fort Gibson in 1875 and was in the field in the summer of 1876 as part of the Yellowstone and Big Horn expeditions (George A. Armstrong and much of his command were killed at Little Big Horn in June 1876).

Upham fought at War Bonnet Creek and Slim Buttes and later was stationed at Fort D.A. Russell, Fort Wahaskie and Fort Niobrara, according to his obituary.

Jennings said the owner – is from the Atlanta area – is intrigued with the Upham story. They had planned to stay in the house longer, but had a change of plans.

Property is not for the 'faint of heart'

(Evan Ulsh / Good Things Homes)

The sellers created a more cohesive and less funky interior by removing two staircases, building one new staircase to the third floor, converting the landing space into a modern sized primary bath and adding a new staircase that flows directly from the second floor to the third floor.

Upgrades included a new roof, kitchen renovation, lighting and extensive landscaping.

“Historic properties like this are very delicate and not for the faint of heart. Because of the current price point of $3.2 million, the new buyer will be someone with high net worth,” said Jennings.

In other words, most folks aren’t in the running for the seven-bedroom, five-bathroom house.

“They will be someone who loves history, loves St. Augustine and someone who likes the hustle and bustle of downtown living. This home is located on historic St. George Street, which is the most well-known street in St. Augustine. All of the shops, restaurants and cultural icons – like the Bridge of Lions, the Lightner Museum, the Castillo San Marcos – are only steps away.”

The global real estate adviser said the sellers have done all the hard work. The buyer will have to be serious, too, taking on high taxes, insurance and the unforeseen on the quarter-acre property.

“The last time we had this property listed, we showed it to dozens and dozens of buyers. Most of them were afraid to take on this project because the costs associated with renovations are largely unknown,” said Jennings.

(Evan Ulsh / Good Things Homes)

The payoff?

Lots of admiring eyes, spaces to socialize and a place for multigenerational living or a means to earn extra income.

‘This remarkable home showcases the graceful blend of Queen Anne Victorian architecture with examples of Moorish Revival in the courtyard arches,” says the listing. “With stunning original millwork, wood floors and unique octagonal shape, this home will take you back to the splendor of the Gilded Age.”

The Upham Cottage is in the white rectangle toward the center bottom of aerial photo