Yankee cavalry torched Sope Creek paper mill above Atlanta. Now a nonprofit aims to preserve the stone wall of ruins in federal park along the Chattahoochee River

Ruins: Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy, map from NPS, marker by David Seibert, HMdb.org

In the days before Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s army made a pivotal crossing of the Chattahoochee River -- inching ever closer to Atlanta – mounted soldiers fanned out, intent on destroying anything of value to the Confederate cause.

Of particular interest were water-powered mills that mostly produced textiles. But one mill east of Marietta, Ga., along Sope (sometimes spelled Soap) Creek, was a bit unusual. It made newsprint for newspapers, writing sheets and cartridge paper used for Rebel weapons, among other goods. It apparently was known as a “rag mill," due to the paper being made from linen rags and old cotton. 

On July 5, 1864, elements of the famous Wilder’s (Lightning Brigade) put the torch to the Marietta Paper Mill, which got its start in the late 1850s. While the mill was rebuilt after the Civil War, it became defunct in 1902. (Photo below: Nearby pulp mill in 1907)

In recent years, the paper mill site has been a favorite trail stop for millions who flock to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Time and nature, of course, have taken a toll on the ruins. Unchecked and invasive vegetation have spread throughout the stones, placing pressure on its delicate walls. That’s about to change, according to an announcement this week. The nonprofit Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy and the National Park Service are partnering on an ambitious restoration project.

“For more than 170 years, these iconic stone ruins have stood as a reminder of Georgia's industrial past and the pivotal role the Chattahoochee River played in shaping our region,” the conservancy said. “After decades of exposure to the elements and encroaching invasive vegetation, the site is ready for critical preservation work.”

The first phase will remove invasive species, improve access for preservation specialists and document existing conditions.

In 2027, phase two will bring in experienced historic preservation specialists to stabilize and restore the remaining stone masonry. “Rather than reconstructing the ruins, the work will focus on protecting and preserving the existing structure while maintaining its historic integrity,” the conservancy said.

Did Phillips Legion founder tweak his nose at Yankees?

Col. John T. Wilder’s brigade gained fame in 1863 for its performance at Chickamauga, protecting the army’s flank and then launching a counterattack. For the Atlanta Campaign, regiments were transferred to the cavalry corps.

On July 5, 1864, the 17^th Indiana Mounted Infantry and 72^nd Indiana Mounted Infantry heading for the mills in Roswell found the Sope Creek paper mill, which was partially owned by William R. Phillips (left).

David Evans, in his book “Sherman’s Horsemen,” wrote about the raid, and quoted from an earlier book on Georgia places and personalities.

“An ardent secessionist, at the outbreak of the war Phillips had raised a regiment of infantry, cavalry and artillery known as Phillips’ Legion,” Evans wrote. “The loss of an eye had forced him to retired from active duty in 1862 but had done nothing to lessen his hatred of Yankees. Watching from the south side of the Chattahoochee when Maj. (Jacob) Vail and his men arrived on July 5, he sent them a message which declared, ‘The mill belonged to a man who had fought them from the beginning of the war, and who could continue to fight them to the bitter end; that he had been taught to hate them as enemies to him and his, and that he would die hating them; that he did not ask any favor from them; and they might burn to their heart’s content.’”

“It is uncertain whether Vail received the message, but his Hoosiers put the paper mill and neighboring flour mills and machine shops to the torch,” Evans added.

Wartime and postwar images of 17th Indiana drummer boy Johnny Butler ("Souvenir," a regimental history)

The National Park Service said at the time the site was rumored to have been printing Confederate currency and bonds, but the claim has never been substantiated.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, cautions the Phillips quotation may be apocryphal.

Crawford in a “Georgia Outdoors” segment produced several years ago for Georgia Public Broadcasting, talked about Sherman’s strategy.

“One of his objectives was to destroy any industry that might be of use to the Confederate government. Now in many cases, he would leave a flour mill, because he was uncertain how long his own troops would be here, and if they were here for a prolonged period of time, they might need flour,” Crawford said on the episode about mills. “And so he didn’t destroy every flour mill. But a paper mill or anything that was essentially superfluous to his efforts, but yet might aid the Confederacy, was fair game.”

Howls of protest: Women mill workers were taken north

The destruction of property, whether business or personal, was burned into the memories of Georgians. Of particular outrage was the fate of hundreds who worked at mills around Atlanta.

After a large Douglas County mill was torched by Union cavalry in July 1864, nearly 100 residents, mostly female workers and their children, were sent north by train -- under protest -- to spend the rest of the war. Many took an oath of allegiance to the United States. 

Don Scarbrough at New Manchester mill site in 2017 (Picket photo)

They shared the same fate as a much larger group of 500 people connected to destroyed mills in Roswell, just north of Atlanta.

From the Northern perspective, the workers were American citizens in open rebellion – a policy that outraged Southerners.

Crawford said the Sope Creek paper mill suspended operations before the cavalry arrived, so no workers were present to be taken into custody.

Researcher and historian Brad Quinlin said he recalled a 2014 event to commemorate the 600 mill workers being marched in Marietta before they were put on trains.

“We had a gentleman join us and said his gr-grandmother was one of those mill workers from Sope Creek Mill. It was fun to have him with us for the day and march with us to the square. He did not have much information on his gr-grandmother and her journey after she was shipped out of Marietta,” Quinlin wrote in an email.

Very few of those shipped north ever made it back to Georgia.

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 propellers 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 timber, 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.

An effort to build two effective Confederate warships turned out to be a bust in Columbus, Ga. A talk Friday will examine how a postwar industrial boom followed

CSS Jackson in the Chattahoochee River late in the Civil War (U.S. Navy photo)

A symposium exploring the historical and environmental significance of Georgia’s waterways will feature a talk on how the production of two Confederate gunboats set the stage for new postwar industry in the Columbus area.

Logan Barrett, director of history and collections at the National Civil War Naval Museum, on Friday afternoon (April 11) will present “The Chattahoochee River Squadron: Wartime Ending, New South Beginning” at the Georgia Archives in Morrow.

“I will be arguing that although these ships had almost no military success during the Civil War, their historical significance rests as precursors to New South industry,” Barrett (below) told the Picket in an email.

Popularized by Atlanta newspaper editor Henry Grady, the term “New South” signified the move from a largely agrarian society to one with more industry. Much of this occurred in the late 19^th century following Reconstruction. But the economic modernization largely failed to benefit poor whites and blacks and kept intact the Jim Crow system.

Columbus was a critically important industrial center for the Confederacy, making a wide range of weapons and equipment.

Today, the stars of the naval museum are the remains of the ironclad CSS Jackson and twin-screw wooden ship CSS Chattahoochee. 

The Jackson (originally named the Muscogee) was designed to protect Columbus from Union navy marauders and blockaders. Construction began in early 1863 but there were numerous problems, including coming up with a worthy power system. It was built entirely in Columbus.

When it was finally launched in December 1864, the local newspaper said: “This splendid ram was successfully launched yesterday at about 11 o’clock and now sits as calmly upon the Chattahoochee as a duck upon a pond."

Engines for the Chattahoochee were made in Columbus and shipped downstream to Saffold, about 10 miles north of the Florida border, where the wooden boat was built. The ship sank after a boiler explosion, was raised and moved to Columbus, where it was being refitted at war’s end.

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 fired upon the enemy in their relatively short histories. 

They were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in the 1960s.

Postcard showing the Eagle and Phenix Mills in Columbus early in the 20th century

Barrett’s PowerPoint starts with the founding of the city in 1828 and covers the advent of textile mills, the formation of the Confederate navy yard, enslaved labor, the redesign and cost overruns of the Jackson, postwar rebuilding (including the return of the Columbus Iron Works and the Eagle and Phenix Mills) and labor conditions.

Barrett is working on a larger research project for the museum's planned exhibition “Columbus: A Civil War City.” Topics will include Horace King, a remarkable bridge builder born into slavery.

“During the Civil War, Columbus supplied the Confederacy with textile products, gun carriages, cannon and shot, Indian rubber cloth, tents, military caps and uniforms, steam engines, and gun boats,” according to Historic Columbus.The Chattahoochee River city near doubled in wartime population to 17,000. 

The city fell to Union troops near the end of the war.

Much of Columbus’ heavy industry declined after the war, but it remained strong in textiles and mill products for decades. Utilizing cheap labor, industrialists made capital investments and built textile mills across town.

“Both small and large entrepreneurs immediately rebuilt their enterprises. Foundries started producing by June, and textile mills were in back in operation by December 1865. By 1870 more than 100 manufacturers operated within the city, but the small nontextile companies languished in that decade,” says the New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Crucial to the New South was a diversified economy, including tobacco, and the growth of railroads and  transportation systems. But the good times didn’t last forever. Mills shuttered as international competitors grew.

Revitalization in the 1990s and Fort Benning’s strength turned things around in the core of the city. Columbus State University lofts filled vacant buildings and taverns and shops replaced wig shops.

Other talks at the free Friday-Saturday symposium include environmental protection of the Chattahoochee River, recycling of treated wastewater in Clayton County, water and wildlife diversity on the Georgia coast, maritime archaeological sites and the journeys of those using various water craft.

Barrett will speak around 2:35 p.m. Friday for about an hour. The symposium is free and open to the public, with no registration required. It will take place at the Georgia Archives, 5800 Jonesboro Road, Morrow. Details are here