A trip to the lab: It was a thrill to briefly hold a conserved Enfield rifle and see one going into a preservation tank at Georgia state park. These weapons and 18 others were found in a blockade runner wreck. The goal is to put them on exhibit

Josh Headlee prepares to place an Enfield in preservative dolution (top right); at bottom are a brass trigger guard and a piece of the wooden crate used to keep rifles in place during shipment from England (Civil War Picket photos)

There are fun days and then there are really, really fun days. Today was one of the latter.

I began my adventure by hopping into my old SUV for the leafy drive to Panola Mountain State Park near Stockbridge, Ga., below Atlanta. I was excited about finally meeting Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

We have stayed in touch by phone or email for nearly 13 years about a conservation project he calls “a labor of love.”

Of course, I was equally excited about seeing the fruits of that project: Two Civil War Enfield rifles that were part of a crate of 20 lost when a Confederate blockade runner ran aground in Charleston, S.C., in 1863. South Carolina divers brought them up in the late 1980s; the artifacts eventually came to Georgia, which had larger facilities to handle them.

The conservation of the rifles last year reached a significant milestone, with the first walnut stock emerging from treatment and appearing to be doing well outside a wet environment.

I had a chance to briefly hold the rifle stock this morning before we drove over to a laboratory housed in a former golf course building. Adrian Fox, interpretive ranger at Sweetwater Creek State Park, and I had the honor of watching Headlee dip the second gun into a preservation for a two-month bath (Picket video, above).

The British-made weapons have been displayed for nearly 15 years in a 300-gallon aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County as corrosive salts are removed. Headlee, who cleans the tank a couple times a year, chose guns 9 and 10 as the first to be treated with a preservative.

Visitors to Sweetwater Creek – about 50 miles from Panola Mountain - are a bit puzzled when they first see the aquarium, said Fox and Headlee. After all, shouldn’t it contain fish or turtles? And the mass of guns, a crate and lead lining appear to be a jumble.

Park employees tell them the gun cache is inherently interesting.

Rifles in aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park; below a replica used to provide context (Georgia DNR)

“It gives folks a rare glimpse to see historic preservation in action,” Fox told me. Staffers often hold a replica rifle near the tank to help them visualize what’s inside.

Conservation is a long process, so there is no timetable on when the weapons  – which have been in salt or freshwater for 163 years -- are completed. And there has been no decision on where they might be exhibited, finally free of a watery environment.

Headlee says Fort McAllister State Park below Savannah might be appropriate, given the Rebel blockade runner CSS Nashville was sunk there by the Union ironclad USS Montauk.

Blockade runner wreck served up a treasure

The Pattern 1853 Enfields were carried by the blockade runner CSS Stono and were bound for Charleston, S.C., in 1863. The rifles, stored in a wooden crate, were placed in an alternating butt-to-muzzle pattern, and blocks were used to prevent the weapons from shifting. 

The Stono, laden with precious arms, munitions and goods from Europe, ran aground on a submerged sandbar off Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor while trying to evade Federal ships.

The crate likely took a hard fall, breaking a few rifles, according to Headlee. (Picket video above and photo, right, of conserved rifle, piece of crate)

Saltwater destroyed most of the iron components, including barrels, locks and bayonets. The trigger guards, butt plates and nose caps at the end of the barrels are made of brass and are still intact.

Interestingly, the nose cap is the only metal piece still attached to the wooden stock of the treated rifle. It appears to be riveted in place and conservators don't want to risk breaking the fragile stock to remove it for treatment. 

Officials did not initially know how many of the highly prized Pattern 1853 rifles were inside, their position or condition. 

Each weapon originally weighed about 9 pounds and was approximately 53 inches long. The bore is .577-caliber. 

The treated rifle I hoisted weighed probably half of that, because much of the metal (iron) had corroded away.

The brass pieces survived. The iron, not so much

Adrian Fox and Josh Headlee with untreated rifle, gun parts and piece of crate (Picket photo)

The craftsmanship involved in the manufacture of the guns was very good, Headlee previously said. “Enfield was top quality.” It was the second-most widely used infantry weapon in the Civil War after the Springfield.

The 1851 and 1853 Enfields, made for the British army, were an important technological advance from smoothbore to rifled muskets, increasing the accuracy and distance.

At least one of the weapons bears the mark, “T. Turner,” believed to be a Confederate inspector of the rifle. His name was on a stamped cartouche in the wood.

Iron in barrel (left) and ramrod area (right) of treated gun are gone; at center is the end of the stock where brass butt plate was attached (Picket photos; click to enlarge)

A tin and lead lining that sealed the cargo from salt air and ensured the rifles were not tampered with is in bad condition. Officials are not sure how much of that can be salvaged for display. The wooden lid to the box did survive and is resting in a freshwater tank with other components.

There is a silver lining to all of this: Components made of brass withstood the onslaught of corrosive saltwater.

Iron or steel screws holding the butt plates in place deteriorated over the years and the plates just slid off, said Headlee.

Conservators years ago found in the crate a bullet mold, tools and tampions -- cork and brass plugs inserted into the muzzle to ward off moisture. The team counted 20 tampions “in various states” of condition. 

Tampions are used on cannons and rifles to keep debris from falling into their barrels. (Picket photo, left, of tampion and other items at Panola Mountain.)

Headlee reached out to Enfield experts in England and elsewhere about the half dozen remnants of iron bayonets found stacked together. They told him bayonets normally would be shipped in a separate box.

“Why bayonets were in this crate I have no idea,” Headlee told the Picket last year. “They are all but gone. The fact we have this much is amazing.” The pieces are about an inch and a half long.

The Enfield fired a Minie ball. No ammunition was found in the crate.

A jug of preservative and a case of nerves

Headlee in 2022 selected two rifles  to be treated with a solution made by Preservation Solutions. Conservators previously used SP-11 to treat an intact coffin found in 2013 on the edge of the marsh at Fort McAllister, a Confederate river outpost below Savannah. Results on the coffin led to use on the Enfields.

Before the chemical treatment, the rifles are kept in water, which protects their cellular structure. 

Josh Headlee pours SP-11 preserver into tank with Enfield rifle (Picket photo)

The treatment takes about two months and the rifle is turned once.

Without immersion in a preserver, pieces of wood will shrink, warp and crack.

“They could literally just fall apart,” Headlee previously told the Picket.

SP-11 is designed to displace water in the wood with preservatives that help to solidify the wood so it can be permanently exposed to the air. (At left, butt plate and other components, Picket photo)

The curator has been watching the preserved rifle to see whether there is leaching, cracking or splitting of the wood. 

He has seen no problems; a white film appeared on some of the stock as it emerged from the tank, but it was successfully cleaned off, he added.

“So far, it looks good,” Headlee said during my visit.

If the second rifle does as well as the first, another two rifles will be selected for the preservation treatment, perhaps this summer. In the meantime, he will travel back to Sweetwater Creek in the coming weeks to clean the tank and inspect and care for its contents. Fox, the interpretive ranger, said the staff there is very interested in the progress of the work.

The curator concedes he was nervous when the first gun emerged from its bath, and he will probably want to babysit the second a bit, as well.

As for me, it was exciting to see the Enfield components up close, especially the wooden block (Picket video above) that held the rifles in place when they were crated more than 160 years ago. I just imagined a craftsman cutting the grooves in which the barrels rested.

Oh, what a day.

Until these Civil War Enfield rifles are conserved, they will stay in an aquarium tank at a Georgia state park. Here's how specialists gently clean the exhibit

DNR team removes water and gently cleans Enfield rifles (Danielle Grau/Sweetwater Creek State Park)

Items you might find in a garage or utility shed turn out to be handy tools when protecting precious artifacts that help tell the story of the Civil War.

A team with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources this week used a garden hose, small pump, spray nozzle and a wet-dry vacuum to clean and refill a 300-gallon aquarium tank that holds -- of all things -- 18 Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles.

Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the DNR, has done the task a couple times a year since 2013. He travels to Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County, Ga., west of Atlanta. (Surprised visitors to the museum there ask where the weapons were found and why they are in water, says park clerk Danielle Grau.)

The water is siphoned out of the tank to a sink (Danielle Grau)

The English-made rifles were carried by a Confederate blockade runner and lost when it hit a sandbar and sank in Charleston, S.C, in 1863. They were recovered from the wreckage of the CSS Stono in the late 1980s.

Headlee says the rare guns remain in a state of limbo as they await conservation, with the goal of exhibiting them out of water. Removing harmful corrosive salts from their time in the ocean and using fresh-cycled water in the tank keep them stable.

Unfortunately, the iron rifle barrels, locks and bayonets are heavily deteriorated or gone. A tin and lead lining that sealed the cargo from salt air and ensured the rifles were not tampered with likewise is in bad condition. The trigger guards, butt plates and nose caps at the end of the barrels are made brass and still intact.

Matt Sanford, Josh Snead and Josh Headlee clean interior (Danielle Grau)

We asked Headlee to describe the cleaning of the tank. This week, he worked with DNR archaeologist Matt Sanford and Josh Snead, a field interpreter for Georgia State Parks. All the photos were taken by Grau.

WHY THEY CLEAN THEM: The staff at Sweetwater keeps Headlee up on the condition and clarity of the tank, and he cleans it about twice a year. The main purpose is to remove algae, sediment or muck that could further harm the rifles, metal lining and the exterior crate. Headlee makes sure the aquarium pump and filter are working property. “The most important thing is to keep the water moving.”

PUMP IT UP AND OUT: The team uses a garden hose and transfer pump to draw the water out before the gentle cleaning. “There are no high-tech gadgets we are using,” says Headlee. “How do we get the water out, how do we get the water back in.” The removal takes about an hour.

Brass rifle butts after draining, the weapons during refilling (Danielle Grau)

NEXT STEP: The team used a sprayer and wet-dry vacuum to remove any debris; no cleaning agents are used. We use a “light spray to get any type of algae off.” They don’t scrub the rifles or the other contents, but do use soft-bristle brushes and towels on the glass. Over the years, they find less debris. Early on, Headlee used a colander to sift wood and metal for examination back at the lab. He notes that the malleable tin lining will pose the biggest conservation challenge. “I am not sure what we will be able to do.”

THE GREAT REFILL: After lunch, the team removed any remaining debris and begins filling the tank after brushing the sides. They turned the water off a few times in the filling process to make sure the filter pump was going to work properly and not leak. A fungicide was added. The water refilling took close to 1.5 hours.

Josh Headlee takes a close look during the tank refilling (Danielle Grau)

FINIS! The work is done by late afternoon and the visibility is markedly improved, to the benefit of the rifles and visitors. Headlee says it is even better the following day because of settling and the dissolving of the fungicide.

Getting the artifacts out of water and through conservation will save maintenance, time and effort, says Headlee. Two rifles were removed from the tank in 2022 to test a wood preservative. They are being held in fresh water at another state facility.

There’s no timetable for the conservation work, with other projects at the front of the line. Still, he is hopeful.

“They are not forgotten by any means,” he said.

Chattanooga: Steamboat opened 'Cracker Line' to feed hungry Union troops. Students think they may have found its wreckage

Chattanooga reportedly was made with parts from other vessels

On either side of dark area are wood framing and planks. Sonar image
provided by UTC may show part of paddlewheel (circular area on top right) 

An anthropology professor and his students believe they may have found the wreckage of a steamboat that was a crucial part of the Union’s “Cracker Line,” which provided supplies and food to famished troops near Chattanooga, Tenn., in fall 1863.

Morgan Smith, an assistant anthropology professor at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and his students used sonar to scour the bottom of the Tennessee River near downtown, according to a press release from the school.

The team believe images it captured are of the Chattanooga, a homemade craft celebrated for its relief of Federal troops who were about to go on the offensive against Confederate forces that had vanquished them weeks earlier at Chickamauga

“It had a big role in American history and it is unrecorded as far as archaeological sites go,” Smith told students as they set out in a pontoon boat in mid-April. Smith believes a circular shape noted in the sonar may be part of the USS Chattanooga’s paddlewheel, according to the release.

UTC says the next step is to compare the sonar imagery with archival data to get an idea of the length and width of the boat. Construction techniques used during the Civil War will be examined to see if the wreck matches.

Officials say the boat sat on the northern side of the river after the war, across from what is now the Tennessee Aquarium and Riverfront. Eventually, it fell apart and sank.

Smith likens the Chattanooga to a "Frankenstein" -- made from parts scavenged from other ships, according to UTC.

When Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant arrived in October 1863, he quickly determined the Army of the Cumberland, which was besieged by the enemy, needed a new supply route.

His forces seized Brown’s Ferry at Moccasin Point, a spot that could be reached by Federal supply boats, which brought food, uniforms and reinforcements. The USS Chattanooga is said to be the first steamboat built by the Federals on the upper Tennessee River, at Bridgeport. It was put together in less than a month.

Assistant quartermaster William Le Duc, who commanded the improvised and flat-bottom USS Chattanooga, later wrote about a successful run down the river in late October:

USS Chattanooga (Wikipedia)

“And in due time we tied the steamboat and barges safely to shore, with 40,000 rations and 39,000 pounds of forage, within five miles of General Hooker's men, who had half a breakfast ration left in haversacks; and within eight or ten miles of Chattanooga, where four cakes of hard bread and a quarter pound of pork made a three days' ration. In Chattanooga there were but four boxes of hard bread left in the commissary warehouses on the morning of the 30th [October].

"About midnight I started an orderly to report to General Hooker the safe arrival of the rations. The orderly returned about sunrise, and reported that the news went through the camps faster than his horse, and the soldiers were jubilant, and cheering "The Cracker line open. Full rations, boys! Three cheers for the Cracker line," as if we had won another victory; and we had.”

A 2014 post in Emerging Civil War by author Frank Varney challenges what he calls the myth of the Cracker Line. He argues descriptions of starving Union troops were exaggerated and that it was in Grant’s interest to depict conditions under deposed Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans as being particularly bad.

Professor Morgan Smith (right) with students on the site (UTC)

They want to display this crate of Enfield rifles out of the water. But safeguarding the wood involves a lot of research, care.

The CSS Stono rifles (Photos by Don Scarbrough, interpretive range at SCSP)

Historic preservation specialists in Georgia are researching various ways to treat a wooden crate and 20 Enfield rifles that have been kept in an aquarium, where filtered freshwater continues to draw out salt and other contaminants.

The crate carried by the blockade runner CSS Stono has been on display for seven years at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County, west of Atlanta. The British-made Enfield was the second-most widely used infantry weapon in the Civil War after the Springfield.

The aim is to eventually display the weapons out of water, said Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

The crate when it appeared briefly uncovered by water in January

“Essentially, we are testing or working with some products that we’ve never used before. So before we try them on something as important as the rifle crate we test it on an inconspicuous piece of waterlogged wood to see how well it does,” he wrote in a recent email.

“This is something that most museum professionals or conservators are familiar with – before you use a product on an important artifact you test it on a “non-important” item or in a well-hidden spot on the artifact before you use it on the entire item.”

The products are designed to displace water in the wood with preservatives that help to solidify the wood so it can be permanently exposed to the air. “We just want to make sure that what we do isn’t going to harm the rifles in any way," said Headlee.

The visitor center is currently closed due to the coronavirus pandemic

The CSS Stono, laden with precious arms, munitions and goods from Europe, in 1863 ran aground on a submerged sandbar off Fort Moultrie in Charleston (S.C.) Harbor while trying to evade Federal ships. The rifles remained in the water for more than a century.

An archaeological diver pulled up the crate from the South Carolina shipwreck in the late 1980s. Officials did not initially know how many of the highly-prized Pattern 53 rifles were inside, their position or condition. Each weapon originally weighed about 9 pounds and was approximately 53 inches long. The bore is .577-caliber.

Every six months or so, technicians travel to Sweetwater Creek to examine the cache and clean the tank. Last year, Headlee said the remains of the walnut rifle stocks were in good shape, while the crate itself and a metal lining that protected the rifles have not fared so well. The crate is likely made of pine, a softer wood. And the metal lining, made of an alloy, appears to be waterlogged. The iron rifle barrels, locks and bayonets deteriorated because of years of saltwater corrosion.

In January, technicians drained the 3,000-gallon tank and again cleaned the crate and installed a new filter.

A closeup view of the rifle stock remnants (Don Scarbrough)

“We were having a little bit of algae/fungus problem … and it was clouding the water and ruining our filters and pumps,” said Headlee. “This new pump has a UV light unit in it that the water travels through that is supposed to help control the algae growth.  We’ve also added a mild fungicide to the water to help keep everything clear.”

“It pretty much cleared up right away,” Sweetwater interpretive ranger Don Scarbrough said of the tank’s appearance following the work in January.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Sweetwater visitor center housing the aquarium has been closed since mid-March.

The park staff recently resumed tours of the ruins of the New Manchester textile mill, which operated during the Civil War, Scarbrough said.

Getting on board with exhibits? Museums to get first-hand look at CSS Georgia recovery

So-called west casemate is brought to surface (USACE-Savannah)

Officials from a half dozen museums in the South have been invited to board a barge in Savannah, Ga., this week and explore ways to breathe new life into the story of an ironclad that guarded the city during the Civil War.

The invitees who have expressed interest in potential exhibits are the Coastal Heritage Society (which operates museums in Savannah, including Old Fort Jackson, near the wreck site); the Friends of the Hunley in North Charleston, S.C.; the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta; the Hampton Roads Naval Museum in Norfolk, Va.; the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga.; and the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum in Columbia.

The U.S. Navy and the Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday will show off recent artifacts and two pieces of armor casemate from the CSS Georgia that have been raised this summer before the deepening of a crucial shipping channel.

They also will detail a 2015 recovery operation on the Savannah River in which several cannons, a propeller and thousands of artifacts were brought up for conservation.

This propeller has since been conserved (USACE)

The goal is for museums “to obtain a vision of what will be available for exhibit and the historical and scientific aspects of the Georgia,” said Robert Neyland, head of the underwater archaeology branch of the U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.

The presentation is among the first steps for officials who are mulling whether to include the Confederate vessel’s story at their museums. There are all kinds of considerations -- from construction and maintenance costs, to whether such an exhibit would fit their mission and draw visitors.

Corps and Navy officials are hopeful some of them will get on board. They’ve touted different angles about the Georgia, which served as a floating battery off Fort Jackson. It never fired a shot on the enemy and was scuttled by its crew in December 1864 when Savannah was on the verge of capture. Previous salvage attempts and dredging left the boat in pieces on the river floor.

Belt buckle recovered from ironclad (USACE)

Potential exhibits could cover the unusual armor (railroad iron) of the CSS Georgia, mysteries of its design and construction, how and why it was underpowered, particular artifacts (including gun sights), its history, and what life might have been life for the crew (hint: long stretches of boredom in the summer heat punctuated by occasional drills).

“We are going to visit the CSS Georgia site for an update on their efforts,” said Kellen Correia, president and executive director of the Friends of the Hunley. “Our museum planning is at early stages so it would be premature to say what artifacts will or will not be on display.  Either way, we are excited to see their progress and learn more about this impressive project.”

The National Civil War Naval Museum’s executive director, Holly Wait, and Jeff Seymour, director of history and education, will attend.

Leg irons likely used to discipline crew members

“We're excited for the opportunity and hope that at least a few artifacts will find a new home here in Columbus,” Seymour said.

The Confederate Relic Room, which is sending a representative, touts its large collection of South Carolina battle flags and items associated with the state’s military history.

Joe Wade, curator of education, tells the Picket that the venue also has extensive records on blockade runners and the financial papers of Confederate purchasing agent Colin J. McRae. It has worked with the Friends of the Hunley on South Carolina’s Southern Maritime Collection, he said.

Surprise Dahlgren was lifted in 2015 (USACE)

Joseph Judge, curator for the Hampton Roads Naval Museum (one of nine operating under the Naval History and Heritage Command), said while the venue wouldn’t be sending a representative, “We have followed the activity surrounding CSS Georgia with interest and are examining the possibility of exhibiting some of the artifacts as instances of Confederate ironclad technology. The CSS Virginia was constructed across the river from our museum.”

“As with all museum projects, we have to address the questions of funding, exhibit space, etc. We are at the beginning of that process,” Judge wrote in an email.

The Coastal Heritage Society and the Georgia Aquarium did not respond to requests for comment. The society earlier this year said it might consider a permanent CSS Georgia exhibit, but had to weigh other factors, including funding, space and theme. Several Georgia-related artifacts are on display at Old Fort Jackson.