If you're a fan of craftsmanship, the reassembly of the ironclad CSS Jackson's fantail at the National Civil War Naval Museum will give you an insight into ingenuity

Inverted fantail in place, volunteer Stephen Diamante (NCWNM photo); fantail before arson (Picket photo)

The National Civil War Naval Museum is using tools, brawn and some creative thinking to reassemble 28 heavy pieces of iron that made up the fantail of the ironclad CSS Jackson.

The precisely built curved rear deck that protected the Confederate vessel’s rudder and propellers had sat outside the Columbus, Ga., venue for decades, waiting for new life. But a 2020 arson fire that raced through a pole barn dashed hopes of conserving the fantail.

Now, director Brandon Gilland and volunteers at the museum are arranging the iron in the shape of a half moon, in preparation for flipping and placing the pieces onto a cedar base. When the project is completed, visitors will be able to get an idea of how the armor built at the stern was constructed and protected the ironclad. (Note: The armor was placed above the wood on the Jackson; photos here are of the fantail upside down)

Pallet jack and crane hoist are aiding in the remaking of the Jackson's fantail (NCWNM photos)

Thus far, the team has used a pry bar and pallet jack to move the 400-pound plus pieces from where they have been stacked near the hulking remains of the Jackson. A crane hoist will help them turn the iron over.

Gilland told the Picket this week he will likely use some computer software to help match up the pieces with the new wood backing. A forklift may be required.

He likens the effort to the exacting work done by the builders of the ship on the Chattahoochee River that divides the western Georgia city and Alabama.

“American ingenuity,” the director quipped.

The project is timed to the museum’s 25^th year in a large building situated on Victory Drive and a hundred or so yards from the river. Officials had originally hoped to build a full recreation of the fantail, showing its fascinating contours, but the idea was deemed too expensive and ambitious.

Instead, the pieces will be arrayed with some wood beneath. Gilland would like for the fantail to be slightly elevated, if possible.

The price tag will be about $2,500 for frame work, said Gilland.

The original goal was to have the modest display ready for the March 21 RiverBlast, an annual event that includes cannon firings, living historians, food, family events and more.

The work is taking more time than envisioned, and will go another month or more.

Scorched iron was cleaned up by conservators

Robert Holcombe, a naval historian and former director of the museum, previously told me besides the CSS Georgia in Savannah, the fantail may have been the only piece of wood from a Confederate ironclad with iron plating still attached.

A fire set by Union cavalrymen in 1865 and the second lit by the arsonist took away the dignity – and most of the supporting wood.

A few years ago, Terra Mare Conservation treated and numbered the armor, digitally mapped the artifact and produced a fascinating video showing how it was designed and put together. Visitors can stand near one of the Jackson’s propeller and watch the looped production (NCWNM photo, right).

Bolts and other fasteners are in crates. Charred wood lies on pallets. The museum said it is impossible to reuse that wood, fashioned from longleaf pine.

“I got all the armor sequenced to how it was taken apart,” Gilland said of the iron. “We are pushing it all together like it would have been (put) together.”

The finished product will rest near the propeller.

If at first you don't succeed ...

The Jackson (originally named the Muscogee) was designed to protect Columbus – a critically important industrial center for the Confederacy -- from Union navy marauders and blockaders. Construction on the Jackson began in early 1863.

The original paddlewheel design proved a failure and engineers decided to go with a dual-propeller system in 1864. Gilland said visitors can see where the old wheel was attached to the hull.

Builders then came up with the ingenious fantail, which featured differing lengths of iron. Gilland speculates some of that may be by design while other sections may have been pieces refitted to fit the latter plan. Some pieces have an extra hole or two for a bolt (left), lending credence to that belief.

Jeff Seymour, director of history and collections at the museum at the time of the arson blaze, wrote about the casemate ironclad’s fantail:

“As each level emerged, we were able to see elements of this vessel that no one has seen since 1864. As each level surfaced, several questions about how the Jackson was constructed were answered, but many more questions developed. Simply, this structure is much more complex than we thought heading into this project."

Crew of the CSS Jackson (Muscogee) aboard vessel on Chattahoochee River (Wikipedia)

The ironclad’s two engines and four boilers – manufactured in Columbus – were not operational when the city fell, and there’s a question about how well they would have performed, anyway. At best, the Jackson would have done about 5 knots.

Remains of the Jackson and the twin-screw wooden ship CSS Chattahoochee are the star exhibits of the museum. Both were lost in April 1865 at war’s end -- the Jackson set afire by Federal captors and the Chattahoochee scuttled by its own crew. Neither vessel saw action.

They were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in the early 1960s (fantail below) and a museum was built to house them (it no longer exists). Older photos indicate not all iron pieces of the fantail were salvaged.

(National Civil War Naval Museum photos)

Iron will resemble a giant folded fan

As of this writing, the museum had arranged 17 of the fantail pieces in a semicircle. Eleven more will be positioned before the flip (there are two surplus pieces, said Gilland).

“It is looking really good,” the director said Thursday. 

Gilland’s crew will soon turn their attention to the cedar base.

“We can do precise measurements of the underside, and then we will make the framework.”

Another cool factor: Some of the original bolts will be placed into the holes.