2021's top 11 Picket posts: Hurricane leaves a surprise, Cockspur Lighthouse, submarine Hunley skipper, Longstreet and more

Hurricane Ida uncovered these artillery shells in Florida (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

The top 11 Civil War Picket posts -- by page views -- in 2021 covered the spectrum. Among them: a bayonet found in a yard, cannonballs uncovered by Hurricane Ida and the lingering mystery of a coffin found near Fort McAllister in Georgia.

We’ve got a few items in the works and we look forward to rolling those and others out in 2022. Thanks so much for your continued interest. Please tell a friend or two about us. Happy New Year!

11. USS MONITOR: The little ironclad that could sported two Dahlgren guns in its famous rotating turret. Conservators at the Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va., were honored this year by the Navy for cleaning their barrels of salts and sediment, keeping them on the path for one day being put on display. -- Read more

10. JAMES LONGSTREET: The Longstreet Society in Gainesville, Ga., acquired a brief but fascinating letter from the legendary Confederate general seeking a federal pension 20 years after the Civil War’s end. Longstreet expressed guarded hope that his valiant service in the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War would outweigh any concerns about him later donning the gray uniform. -- Read more

9. UNEARTHED BAYONET: An Illinois man tilling a garden came across something way the down the list of possible surprises: A rusted bayonet. Did it belong to a soldier serving in Ulysses S. Grant’s first Civil War command?  -- Read more

The bayonet in its temporary exhibit (Nick Little, Market House Antiques)

8. “FIGHTING JOE WHEELER”: A quick jaunt to the Brown’s Mill cavalry battlefield below Atlanta recalls one horrible day for Federal troopers in 1864. Riders under the command of Confederate Lt. Gen. Joseph “Fighting Joe” Wheeler raised hell and sent a Yankee general fleeing across the river into Alabama. -- Read more

7. MYSTERY COFFIN: We invited you to come read the adventure of one coffin, 20 rifles and two caretakers of Georgia history. And you did. The coffin found at Fort McAllister State Park near Savannah is being conserved and officials might use the same chemical treatment on Enfield rifles (right) that were smuggled into Charleston Harbor but were lost when the blockade runner ran aground. -- Read more

6. IRONCLAD REMOVAL CONCLUDED: The CSS Georgia, while woefully underpowered, did its job in Savannah, Ga. It was among a myriad of stationary defenses that kept Federal forces from sailing into the city during the Civil War. Federal officials have now wrapped up their removal of the gunboat’s debris as part of a harbor deepening project. -- Read more

5. CAMP LAWTON SKIRMISH: Archaeology students at a Georgia university found artifacts that might derive from a skirmish between Union and Confederate cavalry during Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s March to the Sea. The fighting took place near a Confederate POW camp that held Union prisoners for several weeks in autumn 1864.  -- Read more

Spencer rifle casing and toe tap with nails
(Courtesy Camp Lawton Archaeological Project)

4. HURRICANE IDA: The Category 4 storms -- bringing heavy rain and wind – hit Gulf Islands National Seashore in late August, and its impact left quite a surprise: Days later and over a period of three weeks, park staff discovered 194 Civil War-era cannonballs, deposited in a couple clusters along a Florida beach. -- Read more

3. COCKSPUR LIGHTHOUSE: Fort Pulaski National Monument near Savannah, Ga completed a project aimed at protecting the small but resilient lighthouse. The 46-foot structure has endured high tides, hurricanes, waves from ever-growing container ships, vandals and – for a deafening 30 hours – the April 1862 bombardment of Fort Pulaski during the Civil War. -- Read more

2. HUNLEY’S SHARP-DRESSED SKIPPER: He was dressed more for a night on the town than for a moonlit submarine journey toward Union vessels blocking Charleston Harbor. Lt. George Dixon was decked out in a three-piece outfit, mid-calf suede boots and silver suspender buckles bearing his initials. Conservators have been analyzing the incredible array of artifacts found inside the submarine since it was raised two decades ago and are now working on a volume about the doomed crew, including personal effects such as clothing, buttons and shoes. -- Read more 

1. CONFEDERATE “CRIBS”: Archaeologists using sonar to scan the bottom of the Savannah River located the remnants of four underwater obstructions placed by Confederate defenders during the Civil War. Dubbed cribs, the wooden structures held bricks and other debris meant to thwart ships. -- Read more

Sonar image of four Confederate cribs in Savannah River (USACE, Savannah)

James Longstreet, worried Confederate service might disqualify him, sought a federal pension based on his Mexican-American War wound. A namesake society now has his letter

James Longstreet is at center at 1888 Gettysburg reunion (NPS photo)

The Longstreet Society recently acquired a brief but fascinating letter from the legendary Confederate general seeking a federal pension 20 years after the Civil War’s end.

In an Oct. 2, 1885, letter from Gainesville, Ga., where he lived the last 25 years of his life, James Longstreet expresses guarded hope that his valiant service in the U.S. Army in the Mexican-American War will outweigh any concerns about him later fighting for the Confederacy against the Union.

Here’s the transcription of his correspondence to officials in Washington, D.C.

The general's pension request (click to enlarge, courtesy of The Longstreet Society)

“I beg your indulgence to inquire if I am entitled to a pension for a severe wound received in storming Chapultepec in Mexico on the 13th of September 1847.

“At the same time I will ask that the matter be so investigated that it shall not reach the newspapers, unless the decision should be favorable as an advance discussion will put me in position not very pleasant.

“I have frequently been told by surgeons who examine applicants that my claims is a just one, but the fact of being in the Confederate Army since the war casts a doubt in my mind, as to (the) law in this case.

“I remain Respectfully +
truly your obt servant

James Longstreet”

The Longstreet Society, based in Gainesville, said it believes the letter was successful but it wants to verify that.

Jeffry D. Wert, author of the 1993 book “General James Longstreet: The Confederacy’s Most Controversial Soldier,” told the Picket he was reasonably certain Longstreet (left) did not receive the federal pension, “which was the case for high ranking Confederate officers.”

But it is difficult to know for sure.

“When the general's house burned to the ground, history lost much, if not nearly all, of his personal papers,” Wert wrote in an email.

Interestingly, the U.S. Pension Bureau worked to provide benefits for Union – not Confederate – veterans. The latter usually turned to their states for pensions and other relief. The Clara Barton Museum says the agency distributed about $138 million to nearly 1 million Union veterans and surviving relatives.

Longstreet, a West Point graduate, served in several battles during the Mexican-American War and suffered a thigh wound while carrying the flag for the 8^th US Infantry at Chapultepec. He handed the flag to George E. Pickett, who would also gain fame during the Civil War as Longstreet’s subordinate at Gettysburg. Longstreet continued serving in the U.S. Army until the Civil War.

Dan Paterson, great-grandson of the general, said he did not know whether Longstreet got the federal pension. Helen Dortch Longstreet, the general’s second wife, apparently did receive a stipend for his service in Mexico, Paterson said.

A pension card on Ancestry.com notes an 1887 application from the general for the "Mexican War" and another for Helen in 1904, after his death. James was married to his first wife, Maria Louisa, until her death in 1889.

James and Helen Longstreet in 1900 (courtesy of Dan Paterson)

“The pension was not something I recollect coming up in discussion when my grandmother was still around in the 70's when we were kids,” Paterson wrote in an email.

A search of the Georgia Archives shows Helen applied in 1937 – 33 years after the general’s death – for a pension from the state as a widow of a Confederate veteran. Helen, 69, indicated James had received a state pension while living in Gainesville.

A letter, in approving Helen’s pension request, said the general “performed actual military service as a Confederate soldier and was honorably separated from such service.”

The letter did not indicate what amount the widow would receive.

Helen Longstreet's pension request (click to enlarge, Georgia Archives)

Maria Lagonia, vice president of the Longstreet Society, said the group spent less than $1,000 to purchase the letter from a seller on eBay.

The individual “worked with us on the price because he felt (and so did we) that the James Longstreet Museum was a good safe home for the letter and because we could share it with our visitors.”

In 1885, when he wrote the letter, Longstreet was both famous and infamous in the South, depending on one’s point of view. He remained immensely popular with the Confederate veterans he once led. His most masterful moments during the Civil War were at Chickamauga, Second Manassas, Fredericksburg and Antietam.

The veteran of Indian wars and the Mexican-American War was devoted and loyal to Gen. Robert E. Lee, who leaned heavily on Longstreet and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. The latter was killed at Chancellorsville only a few months before Gettysburg.

A cabal, which included former generals Jubal Early and John Gordon, claimed Longstreet stubbornly resisted Lee’s plans at Gettysburg, resulting in the loss of the July 1863 battle – and perhaps the war.

They said Lee’s “Old War Horse”, his principal subordinate, was insubordinate at Gettysburg. That he wouldn’t support the attacks. That he moved his 14,000 troops in a slow manner.

Longstreet’s supporters and some scholars counter this. Although Gettysburg may not have been his best effort, they say, the general fought effectively on Days 2 and 3. The veteran, however, earned enmity when he dared to criticize Lee’s actions at Gettysburg publicly, and he spent the rest of his life trying to restore his reputation.

Two years after war’s end, Longstreet said that he believed in reconciliation and black suffrage. His business in New Orleans began to fail after critics accused him of being a scalawag – a Southern white who supported Reconstruction.

After the war, Longstreet held several federal offices and was a friend of President Ulysses S. Grant and Dan Sickles, former foes on the battlefield. While living in Louisiana, Longstreet led a black militia against unruly white supremacists.

Old Piedmont Hotel in Gainesville is home to The Longstreet Society (Picket photo)

Southerners did not forget that affront or his Republican Party loyalties. While there is no evidence he was progressive on race, Longstreet thought giving blacks full citizenship and voting rights was the practical thing to do.

Besides defending himself, the aging warrior also contended with the effects of a grievous wound to his throat, the result of friendly fire during the Battle of the Wilderness in 1864.

Longstreet moved to Gainesville in the late 1870s. He bought the 120-acre farm near downtown and pruned muscadine vines on property that featured an old colonial-style home.

The home burned in April 1889, and the general’s wife, Maria Louisa, died in December. (photo at right, courtesy of Dan Paterson). The fire destroyed the home, Longstreet's uniform, sword, a sash given to him by J.E.B. Stuart, relics, papers and more.

He held other offices, wrote his memoirs, “From Manassas to Appomattox,” and ran a hotel, which today is the home of the Longstreet Society.

In 1897, The “Old War Horse” at age 76 married Helen, 34, at the Governor’s Mansion in Atlanta. “She would live until 1962, spending many of those years defending Longstreet against his many harsh critics,” the society says.

James Longstreet, 82, died in January 1904. He is buried at Alta Vista Cemetery in Gainesville.

Richard Pilcher, president of the Longstreet Society, said the organization has few items directly related to the general. Among the documents are those related to promotions and civilian and political appointments.

Lagonia said the society will display the pension request letter on special occasions. It is seeking donations to help with the purchase.

“We like to study Longstreet's non-military life as well as his military and political life. The letter was very personal and allowed us a glimpse into his thoughts and circumstances,” she wrote in an email.

The Atlanta Journal article about 1897 wedding (courtesy of Dan Paterson)

Longstreet: Love him ... or not? Symposium examines his actions during, after war

James Longstreet’s triumphs and travails on the battlefield and in the Southern society he inhabited after the Civil War are the subject of an upcoming symposium in metro Atlanta.

The Center for the Study of the Civil War Era at Kennesaw State University on March 18 will feature talks by historian and author Jeffry D. Wert, history professor Keith Bohannon and Brian Wills, director of the center. The program is entitled "Longstreet to Redemption."

Wills told the Picket he will focus on the Confederate general’s independent campaigns at Suffolk, Va.; and Knoxville, Tenn., in 1863.

“Longstreet struggled to replicate success on his own,” away from the Army of Northern Virginia and Gen. Robert E. Lee, Wills said. “His inability to achieve results in these operations did not negate his performances before or after those campaigns, but exposed limitations for Longstreet in working under such circumstances.”

Bohannon, who teaches at the University of West Georgia, will summarize Longstreet’s actions in the 1863 Chickamauga campaign – including a fortuitously timed attack that sent thousands of Federals fleeing before Major. Gen. George Thomas stemmed the disaster.

Statue in Gainesville, Ga.

Bohannon’s talk is called “The Bull of the Woods Goes West” – and he will cover several areas.

“I'm hoping to explore first how various historians have interpreted Longstreet's desire in 1863 to go west and reinforce (Gen. Braxton) Bragg's army,” Bohannon said. “Was Longstreet hoping to get command of the Army of Tennessee?”

The historian said he will discuss William Glenn Robertson’s view that Longstreet did not have a grand strategy at Chickamauga. “Lastly, I plan on concluding with some thoughts about the acrimonious relationship that developed between Longstreet and Bragg in the weeks following Chickamauga.”

Wert – who wrote a 1993 biography of the controversial general -- will examine the “criticism that Longstreet received following the war, largely associated with the Confederate defeat at Gettysburg, Longstreet's criticisms of General Lee and his postwar career as a Republican,” the Civil War Center said in a press release. “(Longstreet) was, as he stated, arraigned before the world as the "only one responsible for the loss of the cause."

Wert and other historians have done much to bring a new assessment of Longstreet’s tarnished postwar reputation.

Piedmont Hotel, the general's Gainesville residence.

People who want to learn more about Longstreet and his legacy also can take part in an April 8 bus tour to Gainesville, Ga., where the general lived his last years. The event includes a guided tour of his home led by Wills and Richard Pilcher of the Longstreet Society, admission to the Northeast Georgia History Center and a boxed lunch.

The Longstreet Society works to rehabilitate the image of Lee's "War Horse." It argues he has been unfairly vilified by postwar detractors.

Advance registration for the 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. March 18 symposium is available here for a donation of $5 to benefit the center and its programs. The April 8 bus event has a cost is $59 per person. Kennesaw Corps Annual member admission is $49. You can register here.

Memorial set for Longstreet granddaughter

(Courtesy Dan Paterson)

The Longstreet Society in Gainesville, Ga., will host a memorial reception on Sept. 13 celebrating the life of Jamie Louise Longstreet Paterson, granddaughter of Confederate Gen. James Longstreet.

Jamie Paterson died at age 84 on Aug. 5 in Virginia after an extended illness. She was a resident of Bowie, Md.

The society will host the reception beginning at about 11 a.m. at the Piedmont Hotel, 827 Maple St., following a private burial service at Alta Vista Cemetery in Gainesville. The family will welcome all visitors, the society says in a Facebook post.

Jamie Paterson was born in Gainesville to Fitz Randolph Longstreet – one of the general’s sons -- and Zelia Stover Longstreet. She never knew James Longstreet, who moved to Gainesville in 1875 and operated a hotel.He died in 1904.

• Previous Picket article about Mrs. Paterson