Oorah! Marine Corps makes sure a recovered Schenkl artillery shell is safe, hands it over to Liberia House in Manassas, Va., ahead of its 200th birthday bash

Photos of returned shell (top) and after its discovery in April (below, City of Manassas)

The Liberia House in Manassas, Va., recently received an unwrapped present ahead of its 200th birthday celebration. The hand-delivered item arrived with no fanfare or box, but it did include a rather unique card.

“The following ordnance items have been certified free from bulk explosives, have been certified inert, indicated by an accompanying inert certification.”

U.S. Marines stationed about 25 miles away returned a Civil War Schenkl artillery shell that was found in April by contractors using heavy equipment at a creek near Liberia House, which has a rich history.

“At my request, they did not clean the shell up except to remove loose dirt. So it looks very much like it did when it was discovered, except now it has a big hole in the top from being worked on,” said Mary Helen Dellinger, curator at the city-run Manassas Museum, which manages the historic site.

The striking Liberia House was made from bricks fashioned from red clay on site (City of Manassas)

The fuse was not present at the time of discovery, but Virginia State Police considered the small shell to be a live round. They held it until explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians at Marine Corps Base Quantico could take custody.

The Schenkl shell would have contained black powder but the Picket was unable to determine whether it still was present 160 years later. An EOD technician at the base who answered questions Tuesday about explosive ordnance said he did not have details on this shell.

The technician said if any black powder was present the item would have been carefully pressure washed and cleaned with a filtration system.

Hard to say which side had this particular round

Local officials believe the shell will be a great addition to Oct. 11 programming marking the 200^th anniversary of Liberia House. The 10 a.m.-4 p.m. event includes tours, music, 19th century games, a demonstration of quilting and storytelling.

Manassas, obviously, is associated with two major battles and numerous smaller operations and skirmishes.

The Schenkl was primarily used by Federal artillerymen in a variety of cannons, including the Parrott.

“As far as Federal vs. Confederate shell – it’s difficult to say,” said Dellinger (left in city Instagram post) of this example.

“We do know that during the Battle of Bull Run Bridge the 2^nd New York was stationed on the property (exact location unknown) and were firing at the Confederates at Fort Beauregard (located about ½ mile from Liberia). Because of the history of both sides being on the property during the war, it’s really hard to say which side left the shell behind.”

About 400,000 Schenkl shells were made during the Civil War. They came in several styles, including ones that contained case shot. It had a Papier-mache sabot.

Shell will make its public debut Oct. 11

The Prince William County property served as headquarters for Confederate and Union forces early in the war. Jefferson Davis (in 1861) and Abraham Lincoln (in 1862) came here to confer with their generals. “Proof of occupation is displayed as faded graffiti left by Union soldiers is visible on interior walls,” the city says.

Soldiers from both sides wrote graffiti in many structures in the region. Those surviving at Liberia Hall are Union.

Dellinger previously told the Picket past archaeological digs at Liberia yielded numerous Civil War-related pieces, among them buttons, bullets, small bits a pieces of metal that relate to horse equipage, other accoutrements and a sword -- “the coolest thing until this shell.”

Manassas touts its extensive Black history through a trail for residents and visitors. Liberia House tells the story of the enslaved people on the land at the time of the war.

Liberia House was built for William J. and Harriett Weir in 1825. Enslaved laborers did most of the construction on the two-story, Federal style brick home. They are believed to have crafted much of the stylish interior, too. Its 1,600 acres made Liberia a large working farm and plantation.

Dellinger said the birthday party will not have a Civil War focus but there will be come wartime components, including the debut of the Schenkl round.

”After that, I plan on leaving the shell at the house so when we have it open for public events it’s on hand for people to see.”

Marines keep busy with calls about ordnance

19th century photo of house shows men in fashionable clothing (Library of Congress)

Quantico routinely gets requests to handle possible explosive ordnance, including some dating to the Revolutionary War and Civil War. Calls come in from the National Park Service, museums and state and local governments, among other agencies.

The Quantico EOD technician told the Picket the team will try to render them safe if possible.

“Everybody has stockpiles they need certified, looked at, or inerted, on top of people finding (items) in their yards in Northern Virginia.”

Liberia House is located at 8601 Portner Ave., Manassas. The house is open for special events and tours and an annual bee festival. The grounds are open from sunrise to sunset. For more information, contact the Manassas Museum at 703-368-1873.

A hurricane unearthed cannonballs on Florida Panhandle beach. It looks like Confederates had stacked them, on what was then dry land

Shells were neatly stacked and have D-shaped tong holes (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Federal archaeologists have found more evidence that scores of eroding cannonballs found in 2021 along a beach in the Florida Panhandle were Confederate, officials said.

The Picket recently asked Gulf Islands National Seashore for an update on the shells, which were in vicinity of the Civil War’s Fort McRee. The fort had 12 casemates and an associated water battery, which may be underwater today.

“The (mortar) rounds appeared to have been stacked and had corroded into a single mass at the time of their discovery,” said Mike Lockman, cultural resource program manager and archaeologist at the park, in an email. “The shells exhibited D-shaped tong holes on either side of the fuse plug, indicating that they were likely Confederate rounds (as Union mortar shells usually lacked this feature, per Bartleson 1972).”

The fuse specimens were wooden plugs with timed paper fuses. Also present were wood fragments with curved indentions that were most likely sabots, Lockman said.

When news of the August 2021 find came out, the park said 194 rounds were located. The more recent details list 53 8-inch mortars -- which were destroyed on site by experts from the Air Force’s Hurlburt Field -- because they were intact and observed to have fuses, Lockman said. (At right, shells lined up for demolition)

The Picket could not determine whether the 53 are a subset of the larger number.

Two months after the discovery, archaeologists from the National Park Service’s Southeast Archeological Service returned to Perdido Key to learn more about the artillery rounds, Lockman said. The Picket reached out to that Tallahassee-based office for comment, but has received no reply.

The exposed ordnance was discovered by Gulf Islands National Seashore staff after Category 4 Hurricane Ida pushed through in late August 2021. The artifacts were found in clusters and the area was closed for a time as a precaution.

Soldiers at Fort McRee, year unknown (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

It’s likely the cannonballs are associated with Fort McRee, which was built on a narrow barrier island separating Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

In November 1861, the garrison engaged in gunfire with nearby Union-held Fort Pickens and a couple warships -- and came up on the losing end. The heavily damaged brick fort, built on sand, was abandoned by May 1862, only to fall into further ruin over the years. (Fort Pickens was one of only four Southern forts to remain in Union control throughout the war.)

In 2022, the park said some of the cannonballs utilized Hotchkiss timed fuses. “Due to the threat to life and health associated with live munitions, the cannonballs had to be destroyed before much specific information could be recorded,” said public information officer Susan Teel.

(Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Asked whether the cannonballs were discarded by the garrison or had been stored there for possible future use, Teel said last year: “Without the ability to safely complete excavations, the purpose behind the location is not known at this time. The density and location within the vicinity of the fort is a factor which was considered during our analysis.”

It's possible that Federal occupiers of the abandoned fort stacked the Rebel shells and left them at some point. The ordnance each weighed between 25 and 35 pounds and are believed to be of the same type, officials have said.

Erosion regularly occurs on these barrier islands and park officials say the ordnance was likely placed in a spot that was inland at the time.

1928 view of battery on island. Fort McRee was built close by. (National Archives)

Park Superintendent Darrell Echols told WEAR-TV that the artifacts appeared to have been stockpiled and did not appear to have been fired upon the island. After the Picket posted its first article about the find on social media, readers commented they believe the ordnance was made for a 32-pounder cannon.

Inaccessible by road, McRee’s main visitors are sea birds, boaters and beachgoers who come to Gulf Islands National Seashore. The park is home to McRee, Pickens and Fort Barrancas, another Civil War outpost.

Lockman said it’s possible the artillery shells will be further investigated.