Built by Black laborers, Nashville's Fort Negley -- now getting improvements -- yields a trove of Civil War-era artifacts, including doll's head, percussion caps and glass

Matthew Malone digs in; doll's head and rifle percussion caps were found in that unit (Picket photos)

Above swaths of yellow flowers, known locally as Nashville Mustard, and within sight of the city’s downtown skyline, a small team conducting archaeological digs on the heights of Fort Negley was having a glorious day.

Metro Nashville Historical Commission archaeologist Adam Fracchia and three volunteers worked in two excavation units within the remains of the fort, which was largely built in 1862 by free Blacks and “contrabands” – formerly enslaved people who fled to Nashville during the Civil War.

For all its public appeal, archaeology is especially tedious work. Everything must be recorded and sifted carefully. Some days you come up empty.

But not on this recent Friday.

Liana Blackburn sifts the Tennessee clay as Patrick O'Sullivan works in Unit 6 (Picket photo)

While I soaked up the sunny weather, steady breeze and the great views from St. Cloud Hill, the group – made up of Fracchia, Liana Blackburn, Matthew Malone and Patrick O’Sullivan -- was hitting pay dirt within minutes of setting up shop.

In the few hours that I drifted between the two open pits, the team collected several rifle percussion caps, shards of glass, bricks, cow bones, charred wood from fires and the head of a tiny doll – all likely tied to the time of the fort, which troops left in 1867.

“This is a very exciting day,” said Fracchia, who has been doing archaeological work at the city’s 64-acre historic park for a couple years. “It is unusual to get that many deposits.”

Federal army used string of forts to hold Nashville

Nashville was the first Confederate state capital to fall to the Union, and it didn’t take long for the army to build defensive fortifications to protect access to railroads and the Cumberland River.

Fort Negley during the war (Library of Congress) and Matthew Malone and Adam Fracchia, background (Picket photo)

Later in the war, regiments with the U.S. Colored Troops were among those occupying Negley, which fired on Confederates during the Battle of Nashville in December 1864. It was spared a direct assault; U.S. Colored Troops did fight elsewhere in Nashville during the battle.

Fracchia on most Fridays welcomes the public to take part in the excavations at Fort Negley, which was picked over by relic hunters for a long time. Signs warn visitors it is unlawful to bring metal detectors, dig or remove artifacts.

Still, compelling artifacts such as those uncovered when I was there are still to be found by archaeologists. Fracchia spoke about them with a few visitors who meandered into the project area from time to time.

Park upgrades will honor Black laborers, USCT soldiers

Fort Negley has recently begun the first phase of a major upgrade to the park, which is largely surrounded by highways and commercial development that have largely supplanted the African-American  Bass Street neighborhood.

Many elements of the venue have deteriorated. A key aim is honoring the Black laborers who built the fort.

Site manager Tracy Harris said the work will include improved walkways, interpretive signage, a new overlook structure, a memorial lawn on the site of a former baseball field, Greer Stadium (Background in Picket photo at right) and a Freedom Plaza.

Fracchia and volunteers have been working only in areas that would be disturbed by new walkways and interpretive signs.

The first phase includes an archaeological investigation at the site of the historic Bass Street community along with a public history component, as well as a large-scale mural designed and installed by a local artist, the city says.

Many of the USCT veterans and Black civilian workers settled in the area following the war. The latter were forced to work at Fort Negley, and many died during construction.

Davidson County historian and Tennessee State University professor Learotha Williams said in a February social media post:

African-Americans pressed into building Nashville forts for Union (Annals of the Army of the Cumberland)

“This project and specifically the new memorial lawn will honor all those who came here during the Civil War and, through their service and sacrifice, compelled the city and the nation to redefine citizenship and the meaning of freedom in America.”

Many artifacts seem to be evidence of camp life

On the day I was in town, O’Sullivan and Blackburn worked in Unit 6, which is near what was once a large palisade wall. Much of Civil War-era Fort Negley is gone; young men with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) reconstructed the site during the Depression.

Large stones and walls were set in place, though they have shifted or fallen down in some areas since. (Above, Picket photos from March 2026) City funding for the enhanced park does not include repairing the walls.

Fracchia said the team gets a mix of Civil War and postwar items and it is difficult to tell whether the items we saw that day were deposited during the fort’s construction or later in its service.

Unit 6 might have been a trash pit – inside were livestock bones signifying possible rations for Federal soldiers, bricks and broken bottles, including what may be part of a pickle jar. Fracchia said a wooden post may have been placed within that unit.

Glass jar lid, volunteer Patrick O'Sullivan with cattle rib, fragment of bottle (Picket photos)

The archaeologists became excited upon seeing what appeared to be upside-down bottles.

“I’m excited to see if they are intact,” said O’Sullivan before he and Blackburn carefully dug around them.

The items were not complete – one appeared to be a lid to a jar already collected and the other was the bottom of a bottle believed to be hand-blown.

Fracchia worked with Malone a hundred yards away in Unit 10. While they did not find as many artifacts, they discovered a few percussion caps and the doll’s head, made of either china or bisque.

“We find these mass-produced dolls at domestic sites often,” Fracchia later told me. “I do not know why it was a Fort Negley.” (National Park Service photo, left, from Fort Stanwix)

He made a reference to it possibly being a “Frozen Charlotte,” small, usually unclothed dolls popular during the mid-19^th century until about 1920. If you want to know more about how they got their name, click here.

The short version, according to the National Park Service: The name “Frozen Charlotte” was associated with the dolls once they were gaining in popularity. It is inspired by a folk ballad about an underdressed “Young Charlotte” or “Frozen Charlotte” who froze to death while on a carriage ride to a winter’s ball.

The find was especially exciting, with Malone carefully walking it over for Blackburn and O'Sullivan to see.

Perhaps surprisingly, not many personal items have been found in recent years.

Hey, public: This is your chance to join a dig

The Metro Nashville Historical Commission works out of the restored Sunnyside Mansion in Sevier Park, a few miles southwest of Fort Negley.

Following a disastrous loss at the Battle of Franklin in November 1864, Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood moved upon Nashville, digging in below the city. Federal Maj. Gen. George Thomas attacked about two weeks later, sending Hood’s battered army off the field on Dec. 16.

One of the master plan renderings of the upgraded Fort Negley (Picket photo)

It has long been known that dozens of bullets, including Minie balls, were left on the porch door and columns on the big house at Sunnyside. Fracchia showed me evidence of those before I traveled to Fort Negley. The restored mansion includes display areas showing where some of the bullets or cannon rounds hit.

Fracchia said officials don’t have detailed descriptions of what happened on the property during the battle, but they believe Confederates must have been a significant target because of the number of bullets and holes. They eventually were forced to retreat.

The commission has found rifle pits and entrenchments on the land. 

Fracchia’s work extends other sites. The commission recently won a grant to fund a website where Nashvillians can upload photographs of artifacts they find on their property.

Adam Fracchia and Liana Blackburn show off Unit 6 to visitors (Picket photo)

Fracchia maintains a laboratory with items from Fort Negley and Sunnyside (I will report more on the latter in a subsequent post).

On the day I was in Nashville, a woman visiting Sunnyside Mansion asked about helping with the archaeological work.

“You have to show the public this is yours,” said Fracchia.

Site grid and Liana Blackburn and Adam Fracchia (Picket photos)

Editor's note: Please contact Nashville archaeologist Adam Fracchia at adam.fracchia@nashville.gov if you have questions about the project or want to join the work on site.

Drones pinpoint buried treasure in the form of Confederate blockade runners that ran aground in Charleston and have since disappeared under shifting sands

Archaeology team at work on beach (SCIAA), map of wreck sites (U.S. Coast Survey),.wreck of Celt (Library of Congress)

As the Union’s nautical noose tightened around Charleston, blockade runners daring to bring vital goods to the Confederacy typically  took the shortest route into the harbor, sailing close to Fort Moultrie on the southwestern tip of Sullivan’s Island.

But first, enterprising captains likely weighed the risk/reward ratio of using Maffitt’s (or Beach) Channel to enter or leave the besieged city.

Pros: Straighter shot into the harbor and protected by a string of Confederate batteries along Sullivan's Island to keep Union blockaders at bay;

Cons: Tricky to make the passage into the harbor due to a jetty off Fort Moultrie that created unique currents and counter-currents. 

And there was another downside, says South Carolina underwater archaeologist Jim Spirek.

“100-pdr Parrott and other shells heading your way if spotted by the Union batteries on Morris Island after the fall of Battery Wagner.”

Click map to see Main Channel, Battery Wagner and Fort Moultrie area (U.S. Coast Survey)

So it’s no surprise numerous blockade runners ended up littering the shore or shallow waters. Some were sunk by enemy fire while others intentionally (or not) ran aground.

While the whereabouts of many are known, the state wanted to know more about four that are no longer visible, Spirek told the Civil War Picket. His office this week announced it used drones to conduct a survey of the “forgotten” wreck sites.

“Because Sullivan’s Island has been marching steadily southward in the area around Ft. Moultrie since the construction of the Charleston Harbor jetties, what once was water for ships to wreck in is now dry land,” said a social media post.

“The remains of these vessels are now buried deep below the beach and adjacent woodlot. Our drone was able to fly over the rough coastal terrain with its attached magnetometer, and detected the magnetic anomalies of two (or three) of the four historically recorded wrecks. Knowing the precise locations will help to preserve our knowledge of this part of Charleston’s history for future generations.”

Archaeologists believe they have located the “magnetic anomalies” of the Celt and the Beatrice or Flora (or both). The blockade runner Presto did not show, but is believed to be buried, like the others, below about 5 feet of sand. (At right, a jetty near Fort Moultrie is highlighted)

“The situation of shipwrecks appearing and then disappearing again is very typical of this type of sandy shoreline,” Civil War naval expert Andy Hall told the Picket. “Wrecks come and go (seemingly) as alternate cycles of erosion and accretion expose and rebury them."

The announcement was first reported by McClatchy News.

Engineers moved to keep Ft. Moultrie from eroding

Spirek, other archaeologists and historians have studied harbors along the Atlantic Coast and forces that present opportunities and challenges for shipping.

Charleston Harbor is behind Fort Moultrie fortifications in this NPS photo

I came across a fascinating article by local historian Nic Butler while researching this post. Entitled “Navigating the Bar of Charleston Harbor: Gateway to the Atlantic,” the piece describes shifting sandbars, silting and dangerous currents. Dredging, skilled captains and beacons countered some of the threats.

“Thanks to the construction of an artificial channel through two massive stone jetties, South Carolina’s principal port continues to flourish,” Butler writes.

The federal government got involved in safeguarding navigation in the first half of the 19^th century, when Fort Moultrie was endangered because of severe erosion. Works on the jetties and dredging began. Capt. Andrew Bowman of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built a jetty and breakwaters off Fort Moultrie to help stave off erosion.

But the Bowman and North Charleston jetties also had a negative effect, building up sand around them and reducing the depth of water ships could work with.

During the Union blockade, multiple ships ran aground off Sullivan’s Island as they traversed Maffitt's Channel (named for Rebel commerce raider John Newland Maffitt, right).

“Based on geo-referencing an 1865 nautical chart that marked the location of shipwrecks, obstructions, etc. in and around the harbor onto the modern landscape, (the evidence) suggested that four blockade runners were now buried on the beach,” said Spirek.

These four blockade runners met their doom here

The state’s Maritime Research Division this fall deployed drones over beach areas near Fort Moultrie. They were equipped with magnetometers.

Survey looked for Celt, Presto, Beatrice and Flora, mislabeled as Flamingo (SCIAA)

“The magnetometer detects the earth's ambient magnetic field and we use the tool to detect fluctuations, or anomalies, in the field caused by ferromagnetic metals, and in this case, three large iron-hulled blockade runners and one wooden-hulled,” said Spirek, adding no pieces of wreckage were found. “The Celt was reportedly last seen in the early 1980s.”

Below is a closer look at each of the four blockade runners. It's important to note that Union forces seized Morris Island in September 1863, allowing them to fire long-range artillery at vessels approaching Charleston

Celt: The steamboat was lost Feb. 14, 1865, when it tried to leave Charleston Harbor. Celt had run ashore near the breakwater at Fort Moultrie several days before the evacuation of the harbor by Confederate forces. “Inspection by the Union navy after the Confederate evacuation found a valuable load of cotton aboard, of which 190 bales were subsequently recovered and sent north, with the remainder to follow,” says a 2012 report for the American Battlefield Protection Program.

Hall, in his Dead Confederates blog, wrote this about the Celt after examining a Library of Congress photo (above) of its wreckage:

“There’s some interesting detail in the photograph that hint at the vessel’s origins as a local craft built under the exigencies of wartime. Celt has two engines that, while partially submerged, appear to be arranged as in a Western Rivers boat, and the valving shown looks to be almost identical. Such engines were reliable and simple but not overly efficient. They also operated under very high pressure compared to most seagoing ships, and so may have required a more robust set of boilers. Similarly, the paddlewheels are of very simple construction, with wooden arms and fixed floats (paddle blades). As with the engines, this is a very basic design, easy to build and maintain, but not efficient and somewhat coarse by shipbuilding standards of the time.”  

Interesting, a second shipwreck appears to be in the photo's background.

Beatrice: This iron screw steamer was lost on Nov. 27-28, 1864, when it came under heavy Federal fire and grounded on Drunken Dick Shoal while it was approaching the city. A local newspaper, the Charleston Mercury, summarized what happened: Bound from Nassau, the Beatrice had grounded on the beach of Sullivan’s Island during a fog earlier that morning. The steamer on attempting to enter the harbor was surrounded by Union picket barges which kept up a constant fire of grape and musketry on the vessel. The captain and eight of the crew to Battery Rutledge just as Union sailors boarded the vessel. Thirty of the crew were unaccounted for and thought captured.

Flora: The recent survey suggests the remains of the Beatrice and Flora might be next to each other (image above of magnetic field at that area, Maritime Research Division). Flora, a sidewheel steamer, grounded on Oct. 22, 1864. The crew was pursued long before reaching South Carolina and had to dump its cargo to speed away. Things really became hairy as it approached Charleston. “Passing the inner picket boats the vessel grounded in shallow water on the south side of Beach Channel. Stuck fast and impossible to refloat, the steamer was spotted in the daylight and the Union batteries on Morris Island began shelling the vessel,” according to Spirek. (Flora was mistakenly called Flamingo by the Union navy.)

Presto: The Scottish-built sidewheeler struck the wreckage of the Minho off Fort Moultrie on Feb. 2, 1864. It ran ashore while trying to enter the harbor. Federal monitors fired up the Presto, and Confederate batteries answered. By 1 p.m., the mainmast was cut away and the vessel was in flames. Several shells passed through below the waterline and most likely damaged machinery and cargo. The wreck was bombarded for a couple of more days causing the vessel to burn to the waterline. Confederate troops later salvaged sardines, jellies, fruit and liquor.

“I'm not sure why we didn’t locate Presto, as I know that it isn’t in the water,” said Spirek. 

At high tide, most of the Celt would be underwater, but the Beatrice/Flora would still be dry, officials said. Most of the Celt appears to be buried in the intertidal zone although the forward end of the wreck would still be under land rather than submerged at high water,” said Spirek.

Safeguarding, but no excavations planned

Summarizing the latest drone surveys, the archaeologist said the aim was to determine the presence or absence of the blockade runners.

Portion of Bowman's Jetty remnants with buoy (Courtesy A Civil War Traveler)

“Back in 2001 and again in 2009, we had undertaken marine remote-sensing operations to locate these four and other blockade runners in the water. While detecting several adjacent to Bowman's Jetty, we did not appear to locate the four, which gave us the idea that they were now buried under the accreted beach.”

There are no plans to conduct excavations of the presumed sites. 

“Now that we know the approximate positions of the two or three wrecks, we want to fly over them in a single flight to get a nice magnetic record of each one. We'll enter the information into the State Archaeological Site Files for record-keeping purposes and then just monitor the sites for any changes, such as erosion that may uncover portions of the wreck.” 

Search area and shifting shoreline (SCIAA-Maritime Research Division)

2023's Top 11 Picket posts: Fredericksburg cannonball house, fallen witness tree, loads of river artifacts, flag finial find -- and much more

Artifacts and archaeology continue to be big draws to this blog. The top 11 Civil War Picket posts – by Blogger page views -- in 2023 included posts on an impressive collection of period rifles, a Virginia home that comes with a cannonball and a flag finial found in the ravine of a Georgia battlefield.

We’ve got several items in the works (USS Monitor, Fort Sumter flags, POWs) and we look forward to rolling out those and more in 2024. Thanks so much for your continued interest. Please tell a friend or two about us. Happy New Year!

11. GETTYSBURG AMPUTEES: Even after 160 years, unpublished photographs associated with the Battle of Gettysburg occasionally come to light, including one unveiled this year depicting Federal amputees and other wounded recovering at a hospital. – Read more

10. CSI: NASHVILLE:  The Metro Nashville Historical Commission partnered with local police to study two unoccupied log structures at Sunnyside Mansion in Sevier Park. They wanted to solve the mystery regarding embedded bullets and holes discovered earlier this year in the cabin walls. Here’s what they learned – Read more

9. SAVING A CIVIL WAR SURVIVOR: Restoring the Adam Strain building in Darien, Ga., and an adjoining one-story building is a labor of pure craftsmanship and sweat equity. The Strain survived the burning of the coastal town during the Civil War. – Read more

8. HOME COMES WITH A CANNONBALL: A piece of ordnance on an upper-floor brick wall is among the selling points for a 1848 Greek Revival residence in Fredericksburg, Va. As many as 100 shells a minute exploded over the town during the Dec. 11, 1862, Union bombardment. – Read more

7. LOADED WITH RIFLES: The Atlanta History Center, home to the Cyclorama painting depicting the Battle of Atlanta and a major exhibit on the Civil War, has acquired dozens of weapons in the past couple of years, bringing the total inventory to nearly 400. – Read more

6. WITNESS TREE DIES: An imposing witness tree that greeted visitors to Resaca Battlefield Historic Site in northwest Georgia is gone, lost to weather and old age. The spot where the tree was located is approximately the area where the Union’s 20th Corps and the 14th Corps overlapped one another during the 1864 battle. – Read more

5. FLAG FINIAL: Staff members and volunteers at Pickett’s Mill Battlefield near Atlanta thought a weathered finial – an ornament placed on the top of a flag – might be a reproduction. Here’s what they now say, and why. – Read more

4. MIGHTY MILITARY MINIATURES: Visitors to Gettysburg National Military Park in Augusta saw up to 300 military miniatures at an exhibition that supported efforts to conserve the park’s 2^nd North Carolina Infantry flag. Officials said the regiment likely carried the flag at Gettysburg in July 1863. The unit brought 243 men to the field and suffered 61 casualties in three days of fighting. – Read more

3. BRAILLE MARKERS AT GETTYSBURG: Three new markers feature landscape elevations that visitors are encouraged to touch. They were inspired by a massive topographic map created more than a century ago and on display at the visitor center. The creation of the tactile tables is part of a larger project to update interpretive signage throughout the park. – Read more

2. TREASURE TROVE: Descendants of Capt. James Lile Lemon of Georgia traveled to the Atlanta History Center to see items that belonged to him. Dozens of Civil War-period items were laid out on tables. Almost all related to a single soldier -- a curator's dream. There were personal items, a captured drum, revolver, letters, canteen, photographs and much more. – Read more

1. HUNDREDS OF ARTIFACTS PULLED FROM RIVER: Some of the captured weapons and ammunition that Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s troops dumped into the Congaree River in Columbia, S.C., in the last months of the Civil War reemerged during an environmental project that removed tar from the riverbed The haul included including cannonballs (photo above), canister, remnants of a saber and wagon wheel and dozens of bullets. – Read more

At Camp Lawton stockade site in Georgia, archaeology students searching for sutler's cabin find POW buckles, nails and more

Nails may have had multiple uses, a Federal trouser buckle (Camp Lawton Archaeological Project)

Archaeology students trying to learn more about a Confederate prison that operated for less than two months in southern Georgia are exploring where Federal soldiers were held captive, and they’ve thus far turned up buckles, nails, a Rebel musket ball and intriguing turtle remains.

Georgia Southern University Associate Professor Ryan McNutt said this season’s dig on the site of Camp Lawton began in January and will go through April or early May. This is the first time the project has been on the Federal side of the stockade since 2014.

Hundreds of POWs died at Lawton during its brief existence in fall 1864. Prisoners were shuttled among several Southern prisons, most notably Andersonville as Union forces advanced on Savannah. The camp was built near Millen; a portion lies within Magnolia Springs State Park and the rest is on the grounds of a former federal fish hatchery.

Since the announcement in 2010 of the discovery of the Lawton site, GSU has studied several areas to get a better understanding of prisoner and guard life. McNutt responded this month to a series of questions from the Civil War Picket. His responses have been edited.

Q. One (Facebook) post said a prime focus is the sutler's cabin. Was it within the prison area (where Federal soldiers roamed)? What does the record say about the cabin, its purpose and operation? Why would you like to find evidence of the cabin?

Sutler cabin (top) at Camp Sumter/Andersonville (Library of Congress)

A. The sutler cabin seems to have been across the stream from the gate, and directly in line with it on the main west-east running road (in modern cardinal directions, not Robert Knox Sneden's). The record is frustratingly quite vague.

We know there was one, as there was at Andersonville (photo above, log structure with slanted roof), as POWs discuss it.

Sneden (see Union POW’s drawing below of Camp Lawton) seems to place it in the same general location, though in at least several instances he places it on opposite sides of the road leading to the bridge. 

Detail of Sneden's drawing shows sutler cabin, police area in center (Library of Congress)

The sutler at Andersonville seems to have been a James Selman Jr., followed by a James Duncan, who may have been a Confederate guard and was possibly replaced again by a James Selman. One of these individuals likely ran the sutler's (cabin) at Camp Lawton. They were authorized by the prison commandants to sell to the prisoners authorized items. From their stories, prisoners with money that they were able to hang on to, or make, could buy eggs, flour, bacon, cornbread, beans, baking soda, and blackberries; soap, shaving equipment, clothing, tobacco, tobacco pipes, cigars, reading material, and so on -- for eyewatering prices that were much higher than regular marker prices. Examples: Fifty cents an egg, six dollars for a pound of bacon, and 25 cents a spoon for baking soda.

We're looking for evidence of the cabin as part of a graduate student's thesis work, which is focused on shadow and underground economies inside prison camps. As one of the only sources of goods coming into the prison, it's like the sutler's cabin was the center point of much of the legal and illegal trade between prisoners, guards and prisoners and the sutler. 

We're hoping to find evidence of this in the material culture around the cabin, to get an idea of how heavily trafficked and used it may have been. Sneden certainly seems to imply the area around the cabin was always crowded. 

Students sift through soil (Camp Lawton Archaeological Project)

Q. What else are the students concentrating on this spring?

A. Essentially, just the area around the bank on the west side of the stream. Interestingly, while Sneden shows it lightly occupied, he does show an area of shebangs labeled 'Police' with no explanation, as well as potentially a chapel, though this might be reading too much into Sneden's maps and images.

We're also getting a better idea of how densely the camp was occupied, where we have evidence of POW activity, and in a very real way, the extent of past impacts on the site during its transition from timberland to state and then federal fish hatchery, and CCC work.

We used Lidar data to pinpoint potential anomalies that might be the sutler's cabin, and the students are learning how to locate those on the ground, test them and get an understanding that even with the most accurate technology you can get, archaeologists still have to dig to confirm our guess of flat areas and odd shapes that show up in Lidar.

Q. Can you briefly summarize what has been learned thus far in this field school? And what more you want to work on for the remainder of this session.

Q. So far we've got clear indications of a lightly occupied area of the stockade, and our current grid is likely just off of where the sutler’s cabin should be, but we have another area just west that might have more promise. We're working from our known to our unknown, from areas that were lightly tested in the past to areas that the project has never looked at before. We're almost finished with our current grid, which has clearly showed some POW occupation. Turtle bones and shells (left) possibly came from a hearth, and we have a few other spots that might be POW shelters. We'll explore these with test units, and we'll establish another area over our area of interest that might be closer to the sutler's cabin and the main road.

But we also clearly have empty spots, with no artifacts at all that seem to indicate the presence of roads and paths shown on the plan created by the Confederates as the camp was being built, and Sneden's water colors. 

Q. Social media photos by the project show numerous buckles -- trousers, knapsack or elsewhere. Are these believed to be from Union POWs? What about the iron nails --- suspected use for them?

A. So far, we have one whole and one partial trouser buckle, as well as three that are likely haversack or knapsack buckles. We also have some different files -- metal and wood working, that seem to have been fairly degraded when they were dropped. As well as one piece of ceramic and some fragments of glass bottles. One of which was likely a pickle or sauce bottle. These were all probably dropped by POWs. The trouser buckles are standard issue on several Federal trouser types, and the buckles match Federal issued equipment. While this isn't to say they are absolutely from POWs, the Confederates present at the camp do not seem to ever have been issued anything close to uniform items.

Some of the iron nails (right) are interesting, in that they fall into two groups. A couple (of them) are big enough to be structural and used to pin the corners of wooden structures together. Most, however, are of the size to come from express boxes (like those used on US Sanitary Commission aid boxes), and may represent the distribution of this material to the POWs, who are then repurposing the boxes.

The nails may have just been dropped -- most of them seem to have been pulled and bent, and aren't modified in any clear way. But we haven't done a full analysis yet.

We've also found a host of unknown items, and some personal effects such as what is possibly part of a match safe, and maybe even a cigar case. 

 [An] unexpected moment was one of our artifacts that is also the most puzzling. An iron strap with copper rivets, and a hinge on one side, and a threaded rod on the other, it still has preserved leather around several of the rivets. And it looks as though whatever it is, it may be period.

(The GSU team also found what appears to be a spent Confederate bullet. The Picket will have a separate article about this soon.)

Cast copper alloy buckle with iron tongue (Camp Lawton Project)

Q. Anything else readers might want to know?

A. I'd be interested in being contacted by anyone who might have an ancestor inside the stockade who left any memories, or anyone with photos of Magnolia Springs State Park and the stream going back to the CCC activity. Individuals are also always welcome to email me (rmcnutt@georgiasouthern.edu) with any questions, and I'll get back as soon as I can. They're also welcome to stop by the site, even if we're not running a public day. (The GSU team usually is on site Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays during this field school.)

COMING SOON: Recovered Confederate bullets at Camp Lawton raise questions about how often and why guards fired upon prisoners there, at Andersonville and other sites. 

Previous coverage:

-- Students find likely evidence of brief cavalry skirmish

-- Stirrup is a surprise find during Camp Lawton dig

-- Percussion caps and friction primers

-- The trauma endured by Civil War POWS was passed on to their sons

Ruff's Mill: Archaeological report on July 4, 1864, battle in Ga. urges preservation, education opportunities about soldiers, slaves and citizens

Field work was conducted in late 2020; here artillery item (Lamar Institute)

A growing and diverse suburb of Atlanta should be thinking of how to preserve more portions of a Civil War battlefield and educate its residents about how the conflict affected civilians and enslaved persons, authors of an archaeological report have concluded.

Despite the loss of large parts of the Ruff’s Mill battlefield in Smyrna, Ga., to development, residents and Cobb County government have the opportunity to protect remaining areas on public and private property, the Lamar Institute wrote in a report, “Linchpin in Atlanta’s Fall.”

The Battle of Ruff’s Mill (Nickajack Creek) on July 4, 1864, occurred in what is now the Concord Covered Bridge Historic District and Heritage Park. It was one of several brief clashes waged as Union forces under Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman continued their relentless push on Atlanta after a setback at Kennesaw Mountain.

The Confederate lines taken at Ruff’s Mill 158 years ago Monday were among the few defenses taken by direct assault during the Atlanta Campaign, authors of the report say.

The Savannah-based nonprofit Lamar Institute, working with local landowner Philip Ivester and other Smyrna area residents, set out to determine the location of the fighting and more fully identify the Federal and Confederate troops involved. Much of the work was funded by the National Park Service’s American Battlefield Protection program, which awarded the Lamar Institute a $96,000 grant.

Researchers said they corrected some misconceptions about exactly where the battle occurred and pinpointed three battle areas and 11 trenches. They also analyzed nearly 530 artifacts.

“The project was rewarding because we were able to locate and document exact battle areas on the modern landscape, uncover a huge amount of new information from the archaeological and historical research that will be available to the public and to those entities wishing to include the information in interpretive efforts, and to work with a large number of very interested and dedicated members of the public,” Rita Elliott of the Lamar Institute told the Picket in an email.

The project team in May gave an overview of their excavations and research to about 60 preservation-minded people at the Smyrna Public Library. They also showed an accompanying 40-minute documentary entitled “Double Quick and Bayonets Fixed” detailing the Atlanta Campaign and Ruff’s Mill.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, says Ruff’s Mill has gotten relatively little attention because it was a brief incident between much more notable events -- namely the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain (June 27) several miles north and the crossing of the Chattahoochee River by Federal forces (July 9) to the southeast.

After his army had repulsed Sherman at Kennesaw Mountain, Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston once again had to resort to delaying tactics and a slow retreat toward Atlanta. “Johnston occupied the Smyrna Line principally to buy time for his wagons to retreat behind the Chattahoochee, and he did not intend to hold the line once that was accomplished,” said Crawford.

Rita Elliott (in dress) and Philip Ivester with items he found (Smyrna Public Library)

On July 4, 1864, Brig. Gen. John Fuller’s brigade with the 16^th Corps, supported by Sweeney’s division, attacked works held by Rebels in Hood’s command at Ruff’s Mill. “The Southerners fell back and dug in.

Union casualties in this action totaled 140 killed and wounded. Confederate losses are not reported,” writes historian and author Stephen Davis.

That night, Johnston withdrew troops to their next position, even closer to the river.

Attack of Fuller's Ohio brigade at Ruff's Mill (Wikipedia Commons)

While the documentary is heavy on military strategy and combat, it highlights other topics, including enslaved African-Americans forced to construct Rebel defenses in and around Atlanta. The report also looked at white residents, slaves and free blacks in the community.

That part of the presentation brought “in the perspectives of … people who had been overlooked in the past,” including the formerly enslaved in Georgia who fought for the Union army, said library director Mary Moore.

Moore told the Picket about educational opportunities to get more people involved in studying Smyrna’s history, and what it means today.

About one-third of the city’s 56,000 population is African-American and there are many newcomers. “One way you build community is make people aware of what happened before you came to this community,” she said.

A local historical society, plaques, parks, arts council and the Smyrna History Museum have a role in education, she said. The Jonquil City Historical Trail, an online guide, could add compelling information generated by the report.

The popular Silver Comet Trail brings tens of thousands of walkers and bicyclists through Heritage Park each year. The project could provide an excellent opportunity to educate them about the Civil War. (Right, entrenching tool found during dig, courtesy Lamar Institute)

Philip Ivester’s interest in his neighborhood’s history and an extensive collection of Civil War bullets and other relics he’s found on his property were the spark for the archaeological survey at Ruff’s Mill.

His parents in the mid-1970s purchased the remaining 11 acres from the Martin Luker Ruff property dating to the 19^th century.

Ivester talks in the documentary about finding numerous Civil War artifacts on their land, the heart of the Federal assault. He recalls finding nine bullets in one day. Friction primers found on a knoll show where cannons were placed, he said.

He recently posted a link about the report on the Concord Covered Bridge website, saying it was available in print to members.

“Beyond the military campaign itself, the report goes in-depth into life in Cobb County in the 1860s. This report includes perspectives of women, children, African Americans (both enslaved and freed), and everyday civilians affected by the Civil War. Numerous maps, diaries, photographs, letters, and aerials supplement the narrative and make this report a valuable research tool for future use.”

The updated Smyrna History Museum a few miles away includes interpretive panels and artifacts about the Civil War in the city and Cobb County. (At left, a map painted on the museum floor, photo by Picket. Click to enlarge)

Ivester told the Picket he is planning to make a donation or loan of “artifacts with known provenance” to the facility.

While nearby Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park preserves about 3,000 acres, no such federal protection was afforded to other Civil War sites in the area, including Ruff’s Mill.

The report covers ideas for saving battlefield from relentless development.

County-owned land should be protected from looting, vandalism and inadvertent damage from visitors or recreation-related construction, it says.

“Purchasing parcels from agreeable landowners at fair market value would be a first step in the long-term preservation of the battlefield," a summary says.

Ruff's Mill is adjacent to the Concord Covered Bridge (Picket photo)

"Other options may be to work with landowners to create conservation easements and other legal mechanisms for ensuring that land parcels stay protected in perpetuity.”

Cobb County Commissioner Lisa Cupid, who is African-American, said the artifacts found at Ruff’s Mill are a tangible link to the past.

“If you can see where things were so many years ago and where things are today, maybe it even gives you a chance to appreciate how far we have come,” Cupid says in the documentary. (The Picket reached out to Cupid for additional comment but did not receive a reply.)

Patricia Burns and Cobb Commissioner Cupid at the site (Cobb County)

Moore, of the Smyrna library, said she and her son volunteered on one of the days the public was invited to take part in the archaeological digs. It brought home what occurred on hills, farmland and ravines around Ruff’s Mill.

“I have come to appreciate the legacy of the war, how disastrous it was … how it shaped (us) for a century and more afterwards. We are still dealing with the ramifications of what happened.”

You can download the report. Note: Each file is very large and takes several minutes to download. Search Ruff's Mill here for report 230.