What in darn-ation??? An Alabama cavalry trooper proudly wore socks depicting the 'Stars and Bars.' You can see them now at a state museum in Montgomery

The conserved socks in Montgomery (Alabama Archives) and an example of the First National Flag (Wikipedia)

It wasn’t enough for Alabama cavalry trooper Henry Clay Hames to have a simple pair of white socks to keep his feet warm and dry. Loved ones wanted to be sure he delivered a message, even if it was normally covered by his boots.

High up on each sock, below the ribbing, were stitched versions of the first national flag of the Confederacy, commonly known as the “Stars and Bars.”

The Alabama Department of Archives and History in Montgomery has had the distinctive hosiery for generations. Hames’ daughter, Mary, donated them after his death in 1917. (At right, before conservation)

But it doesn’t appear they were ever displayed -- until now.

“I don’t think past curators saw the significance,” said Ryan Blocker, a curator in the museum collection of the Alabama Archives.

Blocker recalls when a comrade sent her a photo asking her to identify the small flags. The two red bars are vibrant, but the blue canton and white stars are largely indiscernible.

She recalls thinking, “’Oh God, that is a first national flag. These are patriotic socks made by family and sent to him.’”

It’s unclear who darned the socks or when Hames – who may have been a courier -- received the items. (Photo above and at left from Alabama Archives)

While they reflect defiance, the socks don’t hold a candle to known examples of socks made for Union soldiers that feature the U.S. flag up high and Confederate flags on the heel. You know, being trampled. You can see examples here and here.

Hames served in the 8^th Regiment, Alabama Cavalry (Livingston’s) and Moses’ Cavalry, Alabama Cavalry.

The socks -- made of either wool or cotton -- went on display last month after the Museum of Alabama reopened after months of renovation and upgrades.

The pair is in a home-front exhibit case in the “Alabama Voices” gallery, which features numerous Civil War artifacts.

(I will write a post soon about technology upgrades to the gallery. For now, let me just say visitors can touch what is called a digital label to pore over closeup photos and information about artifacts.)

The agency in early November also opened a new gallery entitled “Alabama Military Stories," which covers multiple wars.

Blocker said Hames’ socks were recently conserved. “They are such a fascinating piece.”

Although the blue canton has faded, faint traces survive, she said. “As for the stars, it looks like they were embroidered onto the canton area. Some of them only have a little of the thread left.”

The curator sent me a photo (right) showing where she tried to pinpoint the remaining stars, which are in a circle. “Could there have been more stars? Possibly. When these rotate off display, I hope to have (textiles expcert) Terre Hood Biederman examine them in person and give us a breakdown of the construction.”

Hames grew up in Troup County, Ga., on the Alabama border.

While he is believed to have enlisted as a private in 1863, I have not learned where that occurred (perhaps Virginia) or why he joined up with Alabama units.

Hames lived in West Point, Ga., before and after the war. His first wife, Fannie (or Fanny), and his daughter, Mary, died in 1882, He remarried in 1893 to Sarah “Sallie” Samples and they moved to Montgomery.

He died there in 1917, age 72, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery. (Photo left, courtesy Bham85, Findagrave)

Some records on Hames are puzzling, according to Blocker. His pension application lists the 9^th Mississippi Cavalry but Fold3 and other records do not show him serving in the regiment.

Records indicate Moses’ Squadron was supposed to join the 9^th Mississippi Cavalry, but the order didn’t come to fruition because of the end of the Civil War. The soldier was 20 years old.

“It had been carried out to some extent, I believe, for Hames to have listed the 9th as his company of service in his pension application,” Blocker said in an email.

A forearm bone, believed to be from a Union soldier, has been buried at Blakeley State Park in Alabama. A ceremony will pay tribute to those in unmarked graves

The gravesite contains a granite marker and memorial plaque (Historic Blakeley State Park)

Whether resting under cornfields, dense woods or are ensconced in marshes and swamps, the remains of young men who gave all dot battlefields across the South, their names lost to history.

Many Civil War sites have markers for the unknown buried in mass graves or cemeteries. Historic Blakeley State Park near Mobile, Ala., on Saturday will dedicate a memorial that speaks to those who have never been found, or – as in this unusual case – only a partial remain has been discovered.

The park on Tuesday buried a forearm bone that likely belonged to a Union soldier and it installed a granite marker with the words "Unknown Soldier, Civil War." Several feet away is a new metal plaque that reads:

“Here lie the remains of an unknown soldier who died during the siege of Spanish Fort, about four miles south of Blakeley, in 1865. This stone is a memorial to all of those unidentified soldiers, Federal and Confederate, who perished during the Campaign for Mobile and yet lie in unmarked graves.”

Note and display case that contain the forearm bone (Historic Blakeley State Park)

The brief ceremony, which will include a prayer by park director Mike Bunn, is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. CT Saturday during Veterans Day events at the site along the Tensaw and Apalachee rivers. Cannon will fire as a salute to the fallen.

The relic was sent to the park earlier this year after a Gettysburg, Pa., shop bought a collection of artifacts and discovered the partial remains in the groupings. 

The arm bone is believed to belong to a soldier who was part of the fight for Spanish Fort, just below the Confederacy’s Fort Blakeley. Both sites were captured in April 1865.

Greg Goodell, longtime museum curator at Gettysburg National Military Park, acted as a middle man between the Pennsylvania shop and Bunn, ensuring a proper and respectful resting place for the bone.

Bunn (right) said he believes the forearm piece was found with other artifacts by a relic hunter in or near a Federal trench in Spanish Fort. The park director said he does not know the finder’s name but believes he died several years ago. “He had a pretty big collection.” The items were sold by family members to the Gettysburg business.

With the bone, which was wrapped in bubble wrap, was a note: “Found in Extreme Northern end of Union Army lines at Spanish Fort (near Basin Batteries). December, 1973.”

A water artillery battery near the end of the Yankee line was in swampy ground at a body of water called Bay Minette. “All of that stuff is gone,” Bunn said of this part of the Spanish Fort siege line.

There’s plenty of mystery about the bone remaining, despite a story that appears to have a good ending.

Robert Knox Sneden map showing battle zones in and around Mobile, Ala. (Library of Congress)

Relic hunters frequently pored over the area, which is on private land, as a subdivision was built in stages. “I can’t confirm all the details, but I don’t believe the section this came from was developed at the time. Probably dug as they were clearing land for it, though,” Bunn added.

It’s possible the bone was part of a mass grave. Bunn doesn’t know whether the rest of the skeleton was left intact, scattered by animals or taken by other collectors.

Relic hunters today are more likely to report human remains to authorities or leave them in place, officials said.

Officials see no need for DNA testing of the remains at this point.

A long row of Rebel fortifications at Fort Blakely (Civil War Picket photo)

Bunn wanted to place the grave near a main park road and impressive remnants of Confederate defenses.

“We know not every person in the (Mobile) campaign has been found and marked,” Bunn told the Picket of his aim to honor them.

Other events Saturday include firearms demonstrations, a guided river cruise highlighting the fighting at Fort Blakeley, Spanish Fort and elsewhere in the Mobile area and historian and author Kent Masterson Brown’s lecture on Meade at Gettysburg. That talk will be at the fort’s Redoubt 6, not far from the new grave. Details can be found here. The park charges admission.

A Gettysburg shop called the National Park Service after it found a human remain in a collection it bought. Now the forearm bone, believed to be from a Union soldier at Spanish Fort in Alabama, will be buried at battle park

Note and display case holding the forearm bone, field that will hold grave (Historic Blakeley State Park) and Robert Knox Sneden map showing battle zones in and around Mobile (Library of Congress)

Early this year, employees at a shop in Gettysburg pored through relics it purchased from the family of a collector. Normally, such merchants in the Pennsylvania town synonymous with Civil War collectibles might receive display cases containing a belt buckle, bullets, unit badges or something rarer that turned up on a battlefield.

But this one was different, very different.

Tucked inside a box protected by bubble wrap was a handwritten scrap of paper, reading: “Found in Extreme Northern end of Union Army lines at Spanish Fort (near Basin Batteries). December, 1973.”

The note refers to the Federal siege and capture of Spanish Fort in April 1865. Back-to-back  victories at Spanish Fort and Fort Blakeley led to the surrender of Mobile, Ala., a vital Confederate port.

With the note and in the box was a human bone -- part of a forearm.

The Gettysburg shop, of course, had no intension of putting the relic up for sale.

What to do?

In this case, you contact a subject matter expert for advice. If you live in southern Pennsylvania, that expert is Greg Goodell, longtime museum curator at Gettysburg National Military Park.

After being contacted, Goodell acted as a middle man to ensure the bone would find a home and be laid to rest in a respectful way.

The curator contacted sites in the Mobile area, eventually reaching Mike Bunn, director of Historic Blakeley State Park, home to the Fort Blakeley battlefield. Bunn stepped forward and said he would bury the bone in a field and place a granite marker that reads “Unknown Soldier, Civil War.” (design at left)

Next to the headstone will be an engraved interpretive plaque.

The Gettysburg business sent the item to Alabama a couple months ago.

Bunn wants to place the grave near a main park road and impressive remnants of Confederate defenses. He anticipates a Veterans Day ceremony to dedicate the memorial.

“We know not every person in the (Mobile) campaign has been found and marked,” Bunn told the Picket of his aim to honor them.

There’s plenty of mystery about the bone remaining, despite a story that appears to have a good ending.

The arm bone is believed to belong to a soldier, mostly likely Federal. What happened to the rest of him? No one knows. Officials see no need for DNA testing of the remain at this point.

I asked Gettysburg communications specialist Jason Martz how often such a thing has happened at the federal park.

“In plus-20 years, it has happened fewer than five times,” Martz replied.

Federal siege paid off in two Alabama battles

Although Union Adm. David Farragut had bottled up Mobile in summer 1864, the city remained in Confederate hands. 

The arrival of additional Federal troops in early 1865 brought about the campaign to take Fort Blakeley, Spanish Fort and other guardians east of Mobile. Historic Blakely State Park interprets the entire Mobile campaign.

Union troops, a third of which were U.S. Colored Troops regiments, laid siege of Blakeley for about a week. A similar operation against outnumbered Confederates took place at Spanish Fort, just to the south.

The forces under Federal Maj. Gen. Edward Canby (right) first surrounded Spanish Fort on March 27, 1865. Most of the Confederate troops escaped to Mobile or Blakeley and the fort fell on April 8.

Two Union commands combined to storm Fort Blakeley the following day, unaware of Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender in Virginia. They carried the field.

Confederates evacuated Mobile and the mayor surrendered the city on April 12.

The Union lines at Spanish Fort were mostly to the east and north of the Rebel defenses.

Most of the battlefield lies within Spanish Fort Estates, a large residential community dating to the late 1950s and early 1960s. While most of the fortifications are gone, there are several discernible lines of breastworks running through front yards.

A chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has helped to preserve Battery McDermott.

Bone was found in future subdivision land

Bunn said he believes the forearm bone was found by a relic hunter in or near a Federal trench at Spanish Fort with other artifacts. The park director (below) said he does not know the finder’s name but believes he died several years ago. “He had a pretty big collection.”

A water artillery battery near the end of the Yankee line was in swampy ground at a body of water called Bay Minette. “All of that stuff is gone,” Bunn said of this part of the siege line.

Relic hunters frequently pored over the area, which is on private land, as the subdivision was built in stages.

The paper indicates the bone discovery in December 1973. “I can’t confirm all the details, but I don’t believe the section this came from was developed at the time. Probably dug as they were clearing land for it, though,” Bunn added.

It’s possible the bone was part of a mass grave. Bunn doesn’t know whether the rest of the skeleton was left intact, scattered by animals or taken by other collectors.

Relic hunters today are more likely to report human remains or leave them in place, officials said. “At least they did not chuck it. I am sure others have,” Bunn told the Picket of this bone.

Bunn said the exact circumstances regarding the bone and its precise location are impossible at this point to pin down.

Siege operations at Spanish Fort, note map is not displayed north-south (Library of Congress)

“If it was a burial, it probably would have been a shallow grave.” Circumstantial evidence points to a Federal soldier, though the U.S. military after the war worked diligently to relocate such remains to new national cemeteries.

“There could be a chance he was a Confederate,” said Bunn.

Shop knew the park service would have an answer

Martz, with Gettysburg National Military Park, said the local business – which he and Bunn did not identify -- had a conversation with Goodell (below) after the discovery.

“The shop was basically in a position to be a good Samaritan and didn’t know what to do with” the bone, Martz told the Picket.

“When someone in the position of the local shop doesn’t know where to start, they start with an organization like the National Park Service. It is easily one of the most recognizable and trusted organizations in the country come to,” he said.

In this case, there was no need to go to law enforcement.

Martz described the man who had the bone as an avid Civil War artifacts/relics collector. “When he passes, the family doesn’t know what to do with a collection. They find a reputable shop.”

Then the shop’s inventory process begins.

“They start to go through it piece by piece. ‘Oh wait a minute.’ There is one extra thing they are not comfortable with.”

Martz said there is no indication a law was broken. The only consideration would be the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which protects indigenous remains.

Nothing in this case has any connection with NAGPRA “as far as we know,” said Martz.

The takeaway is the Gettysburg shop did the best thing by reaching out to Goodell so the bone could be sent to the best place – Alabama, said the park spokesman.

Remains not eligible for state veterans cemetery

Bunn turned to the Historic Blakely Foundation and a GoFund me campaign to raise money for the headstone and plaque. So far, $350 of the estimated $600 expense has been raised.

The new grave will be in a field that holds a cemetery that dates to 1819. It will be in a separate area and will be viewable from the road. Bunn expects a ceremony in November, with a gun salute and presence of a U.S. flag. “It is a long overdue, proper respect,” he added.

The state cemetery contains about 5,000 graves (Alabama Dept. of Veterans Affairs)

The park director consulted with Joseph Buschell, director at the nearby Alabama State Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Spanish Fort. Alabama operates the location because the U.S. cemetery in Mobile is closed to new interments and the closest national cemeteries are in Biloxi, Ms., and at Barrancas near Pensacola, Fla., each more than 70 miles away.

The Spanish Fort cemetery would not have been able to accept the remains without a name and proof of military service, including an honorable discharge, Buschell said.

On behalf of Historic Blakeley, Buschell contacted a company in Pensacola to make a government-grade marker. “It is assumed to be a soldier.”

Regarding Bunn, Buschell told the Picket: “I think what he is going to do with this is pretty noble.”

Revisiting an old shirt and a very young Civil War soldier: Museum's Confederate and civil rights artifacts showcase the breadth of Alabama's history

Over this blog’s 15 years, I’ve written about myriad items belonging to Civil War soldiers and sailors – from swords, hats and frock coats to journals, letters and Bibles.

While each resonated in its own way, one item especially stands out to me. It’s the homespun, brown-and-white checked shirt made for a skinny teen boy from Demopolis, Alabama. 

The time and care that went into making it showed that Henry Winston Reese Jr. was dearly loved by his prosperous family. (Click photo to enlarge)

I researched Reese for a February 2016 post. I learned the University of Alabama student joined the Confederate army without his parents’ permission and died, barely 17, from wounds received two months earlier at the Battle of Champion Hill (Mississippi, May 1863).

Living historian and weaver Terre Hood Biederman and Ryan M. Blocker, a curator in the museum collection of the Alabama Archives, were among those who spoke with me about Reese and the shirt, a homemade product demonstrating Southern resolve.

I’ve since heard from a couple descendants, including one who said her family tries to keep the names Reese and Winston going.

The garment, along with Reese’s boots (below, both photos courtesy Alabama Archives), remain on display at the Alabama Voices gallery at the Museum of Alabama in Montgomery. A pouch, also donated by the family to the Alabama Department of Archives and History in 1978, has been kept in storage.

Alabama Voices cover’s the breadth of the state’s history, including the Civil War, industrialization, the world wars and civil rights (more about that later).

It’s a near certainty that Reese was not wearing the shirt -- which is likely made from cotton, rather than wool -- when he was mortally wounded while fighting with the 31st Alabama Infantry. But it somehow survived. Curators don’t know whether the shirt was made by a family member or an enslaved person.

Reese's father, a physician, had more than 100 slaves, according to the 1850 U.S. Census, and his growing family lived in a Gothic Revival home called Forest Hill on the outskirts of Demopolis.

Winston Reese was the first of a half dozen children born to the doctor and his wife, Julia, who died a year after the Civil War ended.

I recently reached out to Blocker to ask whether she has learned anything more about Reese or his family. She has not. (Incidentally, I have been unable to obtain an image of Reese.)

I asked Blocker about the significance of artifacts like the shirt.

“They help us understand and humanize, if you will, the people who lived long ago. A mother makes a shirt for her oldest child who is attending school away from home,” she replied in a recent email.

“Her son, an impulsive and idealistic teenager … goes against the wishes of his parents and joins the army," said Blocker. "Stories like this are played out time and time again, even in modern times. With this shirt, we get a glimpse of the lives of those who came before. In that glimpse, we realize that we are not that different.”

The shirt was likely made from cotton (Courtesy Terre Hood Biederman)

The shirt features rounded pockets, a French cut and purple and white glass buttons. Untold hours went into picking, washing and carding and spinning the dyed fiber. Then came the arduous tasks of weaving the fabric on a large loom and hand sewing the pieces.

While similar battle shirts worn by soldiers were commonly made of wool, this shirt reflects the concept of homespun as a patriotic statement, asserting that the South could stand alone in producing its needs, Biederman told me this week.

“It is fashionably cut, made for a teen living in the comfort of a college dormitory, not a soldier sleeping rough, and thus is likely made of cotton,” she wrote in an email. “The shirt has been on exhibit since this question was raised, and not available for analysis.”

Artifacts belonged to other Confederate soldiers

The gallery’s Civil War section contains numerous artifacts. Blocker said the story of an Alabama-made sword belonging to 1^st Sgt. Socrates Spigener is among those especially compelling. The soldier was born in 1844 in Coosa County and joined Hilliard’s Legion, which became the 59^th Alabama

Spigener was killed in Virginia days before the end of the Civil War.

“His sword was picked up from the battlefield and sent home to the family,” said Blocker. (Photos: Alabama Archives)

The family wrote a tribute and pasted it to the scabbard (click photo above to read): "This was the sword of Socrates Spigener, the baby child of Joel and Sylvia Spigener. He was Lieut. in the Confederate War of 1862. He fought bravely and was killed in battle near Petersburg, about the 6th of April 1865.”

Blocker said the archives also has a rare red artillery kepi and its original oil cloth cover.

The cap belonged to 1^st Lt. Maynard Hassell, State Artillery Company A, Garrity’s Battery. Hassell was born in 1831 in New York and moved to Lowndes County, Ala., at a young age. He enlisted in 1861.

The officer was killed by a cannonball at Lovejoy Station in Georgia in summer 1864. He was awarded the Confederate Roll of Honor for his “courage and good conduct on the field of battle.” 

Hassell's kepi and oil cloth cover (Alabama Archives)

The lieutenant's personal belongings were sent to the family after Hassell was killed in battle, Blocker said.

“The kepi was sent to us, along with a small journal, in 2013 as we were completing work on the Voices gallery,” said Blocker. “The gentleman that donated the material was a descendant of Hassell and wanted to make sure the material was returned to Alabama.”

The journal is not a daily notation of his personal experiences; rather, it has extensive notes about payments to soldiers, battles fought and munitions used during the battles.

The struggle for civil rights played out in Alabama

While Hassell, Reese and Spigener fought to keep the status quo of antebellum society, the Alabama Voices gallery includes artifacts that tell the story of the long struggle for equal rights among Black citizens.

Blocker said one of her favorite such items is a collection box from Hall Street Baptist Church in Montgomery. Founded in 1903, the church played an integral role in the 1955-56 Montgomery Bus Boycott by purchasing a station wagon to transport members to and from work and other appointments.

Another standout is a chair and vanity stool from the Selma home of Jean Jackson and her husband, D. Sullivan Jackson, a dentist. (Collection box, chair and stool left, Alabama Archives)

“Dr. Martin Luther King stayed with the Jacksons and made their home his headquarters during his visits to Selma. Dr. King and Ralph Abernathy, used the chair and vanity to put on their shoes for the march to Montgomery. They were photographed seated in the Jackson’s living room in the Ebony magazine displayed on the stool,” said Blocker.

Other items in the gallery include a Billy club used by a Birmingham police officer, a Ku Klux Klan robe, shoes worn by Gov. George Wallace when he was shot in 1972 during his presidential campaign  and photographs of notable Alabamians, including entertainer Lionel Richie and professional athlete Bo Jackson.

The Alabama Voices Gallery is located on the second floor of the Alabama Department of Archives and History building in downtown Montgomery, 624 Washington Ave. The museum is open open Monday through Saturday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. CT. Here is a schedule of gallery closures for renovations.

Navy's new heritage and history museum in DC aims to be a more accessible tourist destination with Civil War and other artifacts, a conference center and retail

Conceptual drawing of the interior, subject to changes (AtkinsRéalis Group Inc.)

The new home of the National Museum of the United States Navy – which has some of the Civil War’s most-treasured naval artifacts – will feature a conference center, retail space and enhanced public access, officials announced in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro and others gathered at the planned campus at Tingey Street and M Street just outside the Washington Navy Yard. Speakers said the museum will go from a traditional site to a more engaging campus, all the while ensuring the story of sailors' courage and sacrifice will continue to be told.

“It is intended to be a self-funded tourist destination that aims to intrigue, inform and inspire generations of visitors,” the Naval History and Heritage Command said in a news release.

The Navy will work with the nonprofit Navy Museum Development Foundation on construction and operation.

The news release did not indicate when the new site might open. The Picket reached out the Navy and the foundation about any plans to display Civil War artifacts, and they said any firm plans for their future have not been made.

One of several ship's models in the current Building 76 (U.S. Navy photo)

Building 76 of the current museum has been open on Saturdays only as curators and staff prepare for the new location. The “Securing the Seas” Civil War exhibit focuses on control of trade routes, the Federal blockade and technology.

Visitors have to provide ID and have limited access to the area because it is on the secure Washington Navy Yard. The new location will be outside the yard, meaning access will not be restrictive.

The main naval battles explored are New Orleans, Mobile Bay, Hampton Roads and the engagement between USS Kearsarge and Confederate commerce raider Alabama near Cherbourg, France.

Numerous items related to that clash are on display, including the shattered sternpost of the Kearsarge (below), a ship’s bell and a toilet.

Most of the objects from Alabama that were considered underwater archaeological recovery pieces have been removed from display, says Wesley Schwenk, registrar for the museum in Washington. They are retained in storage for preservation purposes. 

Items that have been on display in “Securing the Seas” include a watch bell from USS Merrimack, a Confederate frame torpedo, mustard and pepper bottles from USS Monitor, ship models, a sword belonging to Rear Adm. David D. Farragut and a 12-pounder howitzer.

A drawing on the foundation’s website appears to show an historic Navy building within the new campus.

“The new museum will also become the cornerstone of a Navy Campus based on a sustainable business model designed for long-term durability of the project,” the foundation says. “In addition to freeing up critically needed space at Washington Navy Yard, the mixed-use Campus will create opportunities for vitally needed revenue streams to support museum programs.”

The website touts the city’s “hottest neighborhood” and 22 million annual visitors to the District of Columbia.

“The new National Museum of the U.S. Navy will provide a dramatically improved opportunity for the American public to be inspired by the long history of valor and sacrifice of American sailors in the defense of our country, and to learn the vital importance of seapower to our way of life,” said NHHC director Samuel J. Cox in the news release.

Officials with the foundation cautioned the design of the museum may look very different from conceptual plans on its website.

Kristina Higgins, a public affairs officer for the Navy History and Heritage Command, said submitted design concepts are being considered.

Conceptual drawing of the interior, subject to change (AtkinsRéalis Group Inc.)

“The exhibits in the new museum will be completely researched, designed and installed from a blank slate, drawing upon community input and the very latest scholarship and interpretations in the field of U.S. Naval History,” Higgins said in an email. “To the extent that current exhibits support the interpretations designed for the new building, they may be moved.”

Officials said the museum will include items from the full breadth of naval history.

“Not every item currently on exhibit in the NMUSN will be moved on to the floor of the new museum as new galleries are designed” according to Higgins. “Some pieces may not fit with the new story being told, and therefore they will be placed in our off-exhibit collection to be used at a later date.”

Building 76 will be used as office space, conservation and storage of off-exhibit items in the short term. Long-term plans will be dependent on the needs of the Washington Navy Yard, officials said.

'Thunder on the Bay': Reenactment, camp on sandy Alabama island recall siege of Fort Gaines, other clashes during the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay

(All photos by Civil War Picket)

The weather was near-perfect on Saturday as I donned a healthy dose of sunscreen and visited two Rebel forts that guarded Mobile, Ala., during the Civil War.

Our first stop was Fort Morgan State Historic Site, about 23 miles west of Gulf Shores. We then took a 35-minute car ferry across Mobile Bay to Fort Gaines on Dauphin Island for a reenactment.

Both forts saw action and surrendered in August 1864 during the Federal campaign for control of the port of Mobile and the waterway.

The battle was made famous by Union Rear Adm. David Farragut and his paraphrased command, “Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead” as his fleet maneuvered past Fort Morgan into the bay. (Click video above to see firing of gun)

On the way to Fort Gaines, our boat skirted natural gas platforms and large tankers, including one that steamed past, with dolphins leaping from the water at the bow.

The main event over the weekend was Fort Gaines’ “Thunder on the Bay” marking the 160^th anniversary of the Battle of Mobile Bay.

An encampment, living history, cannon fires and scores of reenactors in period uniforms greeted a sizeable crowd. A battle was held on Saturday, with a tactical exercise the next afternoon.

Pleasure boats a couple hundred yards from the fort  took in the fun and musket and artillery fire. Natural gas platforms also added a modern backdrop.

Among the participants were the Walton Guard, 6^th Alabama Cavalry and the Alabama Division of Reenactors. The 5^th Alabama Infantry Regiment Band, which maintains a busy schedule, provided music. 

It had been a while since I attended a re-enactment. This one was action-packed and there was plenty of flanking movement as Federal troops moved from the beach and to the fort. Saturday's battle ended with solemn music, including Taps.

Gettysburg hopes Little Round Top will reopen before 161st anniversary events in early July. The site has undergone improvements over the past two years.

A new retaining wall is built at the 91st Pennsylvania monument (GNMP)

Gettysburg National Military Park estimates Little Round Top will reopen to the public in late spring or early summer, nearly two years after a massive rehabilitation project began, according to a park spokesman.

The popular site closed on July 26, 2022, to the disappointment of visitors who planned trips but welcomed by others who lauded the project.

The hill is where Union forces fought off a furious Confederate assault on July 2, 1863, during the three-day battle in Pennsylvania.

Park officials have said they are addressing ongoing problems at the overcrowded site. They cited erosion, overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, and degraded vegetation.

“This project will also enhance the visitor experience with improved interpretive signage, new accessible trail alignments, and gathering areas. These improvements will allow visitors to better immerse themselves into the historic landscape that is essential to understanding the three-day Battle of Gettysburg,” a 2022 news release said. 

A park page on the project says the aim is to “reestablish, preserve, and protect the features that make up this segment of the battlefield landscape.” 

Some 164 feet above the Plum Run Valley to the west, the hill became the anchor of the Union’s left flank and a focal point of Confederate attacks on the afternoon of July 2. The 4^th,15^{th and 47th} Alabama regiments made a series of legendary assaults against the 20^th Maine.

“The (Maine) regiment’s sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on Little Round Top and has been credited with saving Major General George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat,” according to the American Battlefield Trust.

Wednesday’s update on social media indicated Little Round Top may be open in time for 161^st anniversary programs and events in early July. The Picket reached out to park spokesman Jason Martz..

"Maybe. That is our hope, but it's too soon to speculate," Martz said in an email.

Little Round Top seen from Plum Run Valley (Library of Congress)

Little Round Top traditionally is the top destination for park visitors, he said, followed by the visitor center and museum and Devil's Den.

When asked about archaeological investigations during the work, Martz said a lot of battle material was found, including “a few unique items, but nothing that would move the needle too much one way or the other. The archaeological process is long and drawn out and final details won't be available for quite some time.”

A Dyer artillery round was found in February 2022, with park officials saying then they believe a Confederate cannon fired at Federal position and mistakenly dropped them on friendly Texas regiments trying to navigate the difficult terrain.

Martz said officials have enough details to largely close the loop on that story and will provide an update in the future.