Personal artifacts recovered from submarine H.L. Hunley will remind The Charleston Museum visitors that crew members were regular people with 'hopes and fears'

Crew member's shoe before and after conservation (Friends of the Hunley)

Clothing and items belonging to the doomed crew of the Confederate submarine H.L. Hunley will go on display for the first time in an exhibit at The Charleston Museum that will feature mannequins and items related to each man.

“This exhibit, ‘Textiles from the Deep: Findings from the H.L. Hunley Submarine,’ offers fresh perspectives because it is the first time these newly conserved textile fragments will be on view for the public,” Virginia Theerman, curator of historic textiles at the museum, told the Picket in an email.

“Each crew member will have a slant board display with their archeological materials from inside the Hunley. There will also be a mannequin representing one interpretation of how that man might have been dressed, using garments primarily pulled from The Charleston Museum's collection," said Theerman. (Below, conservation of clothing, Friends of the Hunley)

The exhibit, which opens Oct. 3 and runs through April 4, features a silk bandana, shoe, buttons, brass oil can (still holding oil) and a thimble, among other artifacts. It is being sponsored by Friends of the Hunley and the South Carolina Hunley Commission.

On Feb. 17, 1864, Hunley made history by becoming the first submarine to sink an enemy warship. The 40-foot iron vessel -- bullets pinging off its iron exterior -- planted a torpedo in the hull of the Union ship USS Housatonic, setting off a charge that sent the Federal vessel and five crew members to the sandy bottom within minutes.

The Hunley and its eight-man crew disappeared beneath the waves and entered the realm of legend. To this day, historians, scientists and others debate what caused it to end up on the ocean floor. 

Since recovery from the Charleston Harbor in 2000, the submarine and the crew’s belongings have been undergoing extensive conservation at Clemson University's Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston. Some of the textile items were freeze-dried during conservation.

Kellen Butler, executive director of the friends group, told the South Carolina Daily Gazette the Lasch Center has been unable to display the textiles because of the lack of humidity controls.

The Picket has written previous posts on the conservation of clothing, which were made of cotton, wool or cashmere.

The knotted bandana (above, Friends of the Hunley) was worn around the neck of crew member James A. Wicks.

Wicks -- a Southerner by birth -- was in the U.S. Navy at the outbreak of the Civil War. When the USS Congress was crippled by the Confederate warship CSS Virginia at the Battle of Hampton Roads in March 1862, he switched sides, according to the Friends of the Hunley. 

He was about 45 years old when he joined the Hunley mission.

“Given his personal history, it is not surprising Wicks is the only crew member known to be wearing a bandana around his neck, a common practice for enlisted Union sailors during that time,” surmised a 2007 article in the Friends' newsletter, "The Blue Light."

Wicks served on the CSS Indian Chief before Hunley skipper Lt. George Dixon chose him to be part of the eight-member crew.

The Friends says the father of four girls (left) stood nearly 5 feet 10 inches tall and was a heavy tobacco user. He had blue eyes and brown hair, according to records. His family was living in Florida when war broke out.

Wicks had the Hunley’s sixth crank position and in an emergency, his job was to release the aft keel block, should weight needed to be jettisoned so that the submarine could rise from the ocean floor.

His remains were found associated with seven US Navy buttons, which is consistent with his military service, according to the Friends of the Hunley. 

Theerman said The Charleston Museum has had two prior exhibitions on the Hunley, both more than 25 years ago.

“I hope visitors will take away a human feeling of recognition from long ago history -- the idea that each one of the crew was an everyday person with their own hopes and fears,” she said. “I also hope they will learn more about textile conservation, and the science of preserving such delicate materials.”

Refurbished oil can, naval buttons and thimble; click to enlarge (Friends of the Hunley)

Quilts wrapped the weary, dead

Few of tens of thousands of Civil War-era quilts survive today, experts say, because they were lost or worn out and thrown away, and in some cases, used to wrap soldiers for burial. This turbulent era of American history is the backdrop for a new exhibition at the Grout Museum of History and Science in Waterloo, Iowa. • Article

Charleston Museum promises a 'blast'

Grahame Long, curator of history at The Charleston (S.C.) Museum, likens the unusual Quinlivan solid round to a deadly "iron drill bit."

Quinlivans and other projectiles riddled the ironclad USS Keokuk in the April 1863 Battle of Charleston Harbor, resulting in its sinking a day later off Morris Island.

A Quinlivan and 40 projectiles, shells, Minie balls and case shot from the museum's collection are featured in "Blasted: Assorted Projectiles and Explosives of the Civil War," which opened in the venue's lobby this week and continues through Sept. 10.

The city and surrounding islands tended to "mainly be on the receiving end" of explosives and projectiles, Long told the Picket. Charleston, he said, was the most-bombarded city in South during the conflict.

Most of the instruments of death were found in the Charleston area. They are evenly split between Confederate and Union uses.

After the heady weeks following the surrender of Fort Sumter, the Union fleet eventually tightened its noose on the city. Beginning in August 1863, troops threw Parrott and other shells at Charleston over a 567-day period, inducing a form of psyschological warfare. One of the weapons was dubbed the "Swamp Angel."

"This was indiscriminate bombing," said Long.

He points out technological innovations that made the business of killing or destruction, shall we say, a bit more efficient. "There were a thousand different ways to build a better mouse trap."

One example is the increased use of projectiles utilizing timed fuses. Previously, the energy of most artillery rounds were absorbed by walls or other structures.

"With the timed fuses, a lot of that energy was dispersed with full force," Long said.

The exhibit includes fired and unfired Minie balls, a type of rifled, muzzle-loaded bullet that increased effective ranges from 50 yards to about 250 yards. "Something so cheap and simple totally revolutionized how wars were fought," the curator said.

Weapons makers and individuals rushed into production all manner of projectiles. Many worked, others did not.

"War has always been a big business," Long said. "There was money to be made."

The exhibit features a 225-pound incendiary shell fired by Federals from Parrott guns. An exploding chamber in the front was accompanied by incendiary fluid -- coal tar, coal oil and petroleum -- in the rear.

"Blasted" is one of a series of Charleston Museum exhibits marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. The next will examine the role of militia units in Charleston.

Photos courtesy of The Charleston Museum, Charleston, S.C. Top image is a James Shell (Pattern 1) with slotted fuse plug. The second is a case shot with timed fuse plug. The third is a Schenkl shell, which provided increased range and accuracy.

• More information on the exhibit and other items at the Charleston Museum