If you're a fan of craftsmanship, the reassembly of the ironclad CSS Jackson's fantail at the National Civil War Naval Museum will give you an insight into ingenuity

Inverted fantail in place, volunteer Stephen Diamante (NCWNM photo); fantail before arson (Picket photo)

The National Civil War Naval Museum is using tools, brawn and some creative thinking to reassemble 28 heavy pieces of iron that made up the fantail of the ironclad CSS Jackson.

The precisely built curved rear deck that protected the Confederate vessel’s rudder and propellers had sat outside the Columbus, Ga., venue for decades, waiting for new life. But a 2020 arson fire that raced through a pole barn dashed hopes of conserving the fantail.

Now, director Brandon Gilland and volunteers at the museum are arranging the iron in the shape of a half moon, in preparation for flipping and placing the pieces onto a cedar base. When the project is completed, visitors will be able to get an idea of how the armor built at the stern was constructed and protected the ironclad. (Note: The armor was placed above the wood on the Jackson; photos here are of the fantail upside down)

Pallet jack and crane hoist are aiding in the remaking of the Jackson's fantail (NCWNM photos)

Thus far, the team has used a pry bar and pallet jack to move the 400-pound plus pieces from where they have been stacked near the hulking remains of the Jackson. A crane hoist will help them turn the iron over.

Gilland told the Picket this week he will likely use some computer software to help match up the pieces with the new wood backing. A forklift may be required.

He likens the effort to the exacting work done by the builders of the ship on the Chattahoochee River that divides the western Georgia city and Alabama.

“American ingenuity,” the director quipped.

The project is timed to the museum’s 25^th year in a large building situated on Victory Drive and a hundred or so yards from the river. Officials had originally hoped to build a full recreation of the fantail, showing its fascinating contours, but the idea was deemed too expensive and ambitious.

Instead, the pieces will be arrayed with some wood beneath. Gilland would like for the fantail to be slightly elevated, if possible.

The price tag will be about $2,500 for frame work, said Gilland.

The original goal was to have the modest display ready for the March 21 RiverBlast, an annual event that includes cannon firings, living historians, food, family events and more.

The work is taking more time than envisioned, and will go another month or more.

Scorched iron was cleaned up by conservators

Robert Holcombe, a naval historian and former director of the museum, previously told me besides the CSS Georgia in Savannah, the fantail may have been the only piece of wood from a Confederate ironclad with iron plating still attached.

A fire set by Union cavalrymen in 1865 and the second lit by the arsonist took away the dignity – and most of the supporting wood.

A few years ago, Terra Mare Conservation treated and numbered the armor, digitally mapped the artifact and produced a fascinating video showing how it was designed and put together. Visitors can stand near one of the Jackson’s propellers and watch the looped production (NCWNM photo, right).

Bolts and other fasteners are in crates. Charred wood lies on pallets. The museum said it is impossible to reuse that timber, fashioned from longleaf pine.

“I got all the armor sequenced to how it was taken apart,” Gilland said of the iron. “We are pushing it all together like it would have been (put) together.”

The finished product will rest near the propeller.

If at first you don't succeed ...

The Jackson (originally named the Muscogee) was designed to protect Columbus – a critically important industrial center for the Confederacy -- from Union navy marauders and blockaders. Construction on the Jackson began in early 1863.

The original paddlewheel design proved a failure and engineers decided to go with a dual-propeller system in 1864. Gilland said visitors can see where the old wheel was attached to the hull.

Builders then came up with the ingenious fantail, which featured differing lengths of iron. Gilland speculates some of that may be by design while other sections may have been pieces refitted to fit the latter plan. Some pieces have an extra hole or two for a bolt (left), lending credence to that belief.

Jeff Seymour, director of history and collections at the museum at the time of the arson blaze, wrote about the casemate ironclad’s fantail:

“As each level emerged, we were able to see elements of this vessel that no one has seen since 1864. As each level surfaced, several questions about how the Jackson was constructed were answered, but many more questions developed. Simply, this structure is much more complex than we thought heading into this project."

Crew of the CSS Jackson (Muscogee) aboard vessel on Chattahoochee River (Wikipedia)

The ironclad’s two engines and four boilers – manufactured in Columbus – were not operational when the city fell, and there’s a question about how well they would have performed, anyway. At best, the Jackson would have done about 5 knots.

Remains of the Jackson and the twin-screw wooden ship CSS Chattahoochee are the star exhibits of the museum. Both were lost in April 1865 at war’s end -- the Jackson set afire by Federal captors and the Chattahoochee scuttled by its own crew. Neither vessel saw action.

They were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in the early 1960s (fantail below) and a museum was built to house them (it no longer exists). Older photos indicate not all iron pieces of the fantail were salvaged.

(National Civil War Naval Museum photos)

Iron will resemble a giant folded fan

As of this writing, the museum had arranged 17 of the fantail pieces in a semicircle. Eleven more will be positioned before the flip (there are two surplus pieces, said Gilland).

“It is looking really good,” the director said Thursday. 

Gilland’s crew will soon turn their attention to the cedar base.

“We can do precise measurements of the underside, and then we will make the framework.”

Another cool factor: Some of the original bolts will be placed into the holes.

1842 home of family that supported Confederate war effort, sent 6 sons to fight is lost to suspected arson fire in Morrow, just below Atlanta

Remains of the three homes, including Napier at far right (Civil War Picket photo)

A stately mansion that belonged to a businessman who was a major financial supporter of the Confederate war effort and sent six sons to battle was lost in a recent suspected arson fire in a suburb of Atlanta.

Built in 1842, in Macon, Ga., the Greek Revival home of slave holder Leroy Napier Jr. was sent in pieces in 2007 north to Morrow, where it was the anchor of a 19^th-century style commercial town square called Olde Towne Morrow, more recently The District.

The development lasted a couple years before going bust, but city officials hope it can still be revitalized, despite the loss of the Napier home and two other empty and historic structures in the fire that occurred late last Friday or early Saturday. The homes were moved to the site at a cost of up to $200,000 each, according to reports.

The city on Wednesday announced that three juvenile boys have been arrested in the fire, which apparently started in one building and spread to the others. A few other structures escaped damage.

Morrow zoning administrator Martha “Marti” Tracy told the Picket this week the city approached Macon several years ago when it learned the Napier house might be demolished to make way for an expansion of Central High School. It purchased the home for $1 and brought it up I-75 to Morrow, which is just south of Atlanta.

The home had lost two of its wings and a basement when it was moved from its original location to Napier Avenue in Macon in the 1920s, according to Clayton News Daily. It maintained its distinctive appearance while it was turned into an apartment building in Macon.

“This large, columned house is similar in architecture to the Napier-Small house on Rogers Avenue in Macon. The Napier brothers, Skelton and Leroy, built these almost identical houses thought to be designed by Elias Carter,” said a 1971 application for the mansion to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Skelton’s 1846 home is still in Macon and is a private residence.

The Napier home while is had businesses at Olde Towne (City of Morrow)

In 1861, Col. Leroy Napier Sr. made a large investment in the Confederate loan fund, subscribing $58,000 in bonds.

Six of the seven sons of Napier and his wife Matilda were in the Rebel army. Leroy Napier Jr., a West Point grad and former member of the U.S. cavalry, was a captain in the Napier Artillery organized in Macon in the early days of the Civil War and later was adjutant for the 10^th Georgia Infantry.

The elder Napier’s son-in-law, Stanford B. Chaille, served as a surgeon for the Confederate Army of Tennessee and at military hospitals in Macon and Atlanta.

In the 1870s, he gained prominence for studying a yellow fever epidemic. “A national figurehead, Dr. Chaille was spokesman for the establishment of community sewerage and drainage systems, street paving, pure water supplies and mosquito control,” according to Tulane University in New Orleans.

The Napier house years ago in Macon (City of Morrow)

The Napier home underwent some repairs and restoration after it was moved to Morrow, with its original chandeliers in place. “They used real wood to restore the columns out front,” said Tracy.

It housed two businesses in the early days of Morrow’s Olde Towne: A pound cake store and an art studio. For a while, there were businesses in a few other spots in the development.

The district near Southlake Mall collapsed during the economic downtown in 2008-2010 and amid questions about its operation and oversight. That squashed dreams of the city making millions from retail and possible hotels and condominiums, as officials told Clayton News Daily in 2007.

Napier home and another lost in the fire (City of Morrow)

The city had tried multiple times to sell the property at a loss, with one of the latest attempts reported by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution back in 2019 at a listing price of $1.6 million.

There had been problems with vandalism at the site before the fire.

Officials say they plan to move forward with the 16-acre project and would like to rebuild the lost homes.

“Two of the buildings in The District were under contract, and architectural plans are being reviewed for two others even as new requests for commercial space are being processed by the City,” said City Manager Jeff Baker in a statement. “This is a devastating setback just as we’ve begun to turn the corner and fill the long-vacant spaces at The District.”

A prayer vigil for unity is scheduled for Saturday morning in The District, 1065 Olde Towne Morrow Road. “The word that comes up is sad. We are grateful that no one was hurt in the fire," said Tracy.

Other buildings at The District. They were not hit by the fire (City of Morrow)

On a side note, Morrow was the home of William Fuller, the conductor who led the pursuing party in 1862's Great Locomotive Chase in north Georgia.

Fire marshal investigates arson attack on Hazen Brigade Monument at Stones River National Battlefield in Tennessee

Monument was built in summer/fall 1863 (Library of Congress)

Arson investigators are asking the public for information that may help them determine who threw Molotov cocktails at the Hazen Brigade Monument – the oldest Civil War memorial still standing on its original battlefield location – at Stones River National Battlefield near Murfreesboro, Tenn.

The Rutherford County Fire Marshal’s Office said Monday the incident likely took place in mid-December, but went unreported due to the time of day of the incident and the relatively remote location of the monument.

The office said it was made aware of the incident by Florida investigators with a similar investigation in their jurisdiction. “We are hoping someone may have information that would be helpful to our ongoing criminal investigation,” Rutherford County Fire Marshal Joshua Sanders said in a news release. Officials provided no information on any findings thus far.

Stones River National Battlefield said on Facebook that it was aware of the incident and cooperating with the investigation. A staffer who answered the phone Tuesday morning said officials were gathering information and had no comment.

Historic photo shows grave markers near monument (NPS photo)

The cube-shaped limestone monument has inscriptions carved on each side. It stands in the brigade’s cemetery marking the unit’s location during the Battle of Stones River on Dec. 31, 1862. Col. William B. Hazen’s brigade played a central role during the Union victory and withstood four Confederate attacks, according to the National Park Service, and he was promoted to brigadier general.

“The brigade's determined resistance ended the advance of the Confederate Army of Tennessee and kept it from pushing the Union Army of the Cumberland back to Nashville,” the park says.

Construction of the monument by soldiers took place in 1863. It is nestled among the graves of 55 soldiers. A battlefield historic resource study detailed repairs of the monument in the mid-1980s and some interesting findings from an archaeologist. Park staffers found Confederate cannon balls, another shell, two rifle barrels and a cedar staff rested on the same level within the monument.

“(Archaeologist) John W. Walker identified the artillery shells as being of Confederate origin and suggested that the other items found in this cache were also representative of weapons used by Confederates attacking Hazen’s brigade during the crucial engagement in the area known as the Round Forest, where the monument is located. During this series of Confederate artillery and infantry assaults, even the trees surrounding the Union troops became dangerous projectiles as cannon balls and shells tore through them, dangerously raining sharp fragments of shattered branches upon the troops below.”

William B. Hazen

The National Park Service has a video describing Walker’s work on an online page about the monument. The video is narrated by Alissa Kane, a community volunteer ambassador.

Kane writes further about it on the Murfreesboro Monuments web site, saying the artifacts found in Hazen memorial were considered by Walker to be symbolic and served as a time capsule.

She said Walker could not determine the true meaning of the items.

The fire marshal’s news release has an email and phone number the public can use to provide any tips.

National Civil War Naval Museum wants local ironclad's fantail -- damaged by arson fire -- to be recreated by end of next year

Burned timbers and armor beneath hull of CSS Jackson (Picket photo)

A remarkable section of armor plating that protected the rudder and propellers of a Confederate ironclad is on the road to being recreated after it was heavily damaged by an arson fire at a Georgia museum.

The National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus has been raising money to rebuild the fantail for the CSS Jackson.

Remains of the Jackson and the twin-screw wooden ship CSS Chattahoochee are the star exhibits of the museum and are inside the main building. Both were lost in April 1865 at war’s end -- the Jackson set afire by Federal captors and the Chattahoochee scuttled by its own crew. They were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in the 1960s.

Some of the fantail's armor plating, with wood in backgroumd (Picket photo)

A June 2020 arson fire tore through a pole barn outside the building and severely damaged the fantail’s wood, making it impossible to use the pieces for the rebuild. The Chattahoochee’s wrought iron and cast iron engines, the iron plates from the Jackson’s armor and the iron plating to the fantail survived, though they were exposed to the thermal heat. No one has been arrested in the fire.

Museum Executive Director Holly Wait told the Picket in an email this week that work on the fantail alone will tally about $190,000. About $250,000 has been raised for related work.

Wait expects work on the fantail to be done by the end of 2022.

The inverted fan tail in 2019, before the fire (Picket photo)

Conservators completed work on the Chattahoochee engines last year and they are on display next to that vessel. They also finished conservation of the fantail iron and wood and those pieces are stacked near the Jackson’s hull, along with a box of fasteners and other iron components. (The Picket stopped by in September and most of the photos with this blog were taken then.)

Southern Custom Exhibits of Anniston, Ala., will recreate the fantail using original iron. The burned wood covered by the armor is unusable but may be displayed in some fashion, Wait said.

The museum is accepting further donations here. Two anonymous donors have supported the fantail work thus far, officials said. The museum plans to build an exhibit focusing on the ship's feature once all work is complete.

Images from video shown below CSS Jackson (Picket photos)

The fantail was the half-moon shaped rear deck of the Confederate warship, which was never fully operational. The section of armor and timber is a remarkable example of design and construction prowess. 

Each plate of the fantail weighed nearly 400 pounds.

Following the fire, Terra Mare Conservators and others documented, cleaned and treated the Chattahoochee’s engines and the Jackson’s fantail.

Jeff Seymour, director of history and collections at the museum, wrote last year about the ironclad:

“As each level emerged, we were able to see elements of this vessel that no one has seen since 1864. As each level surfaced, several questions about how the Jackson was constructed were answered, but many more questions developed. Simply, this structure is much more complex than we thought heading into this project."

In 2019, Seymour called the fantail “a very unique piece of naval architecture” that’s believed to be the only Civil War example out of the water. Because the rear deck was curved, builders had to customize the length of the armor and timber.

CSS Jackson, first known as Muscogee (Wikipedia)

“All of these pieces are cut into a pie shape to make it fit,” he said.

Robert Holcombe, a naval historian and former director of the museum, says besides the CSS Georgia in Savannah, it may be the only piece of wood from a Confederate ironclad with iron plating still attached.

Museum visitors can gaze at the hull of the flat-bottom ironclad from a viewing platform and on the floor. A section is missing, but you get a true sense of the vessel’s enormity – it was about 222 long and 57 feet across. Above the CSS Jackson’s hull is ghosting framework intended to show how the warship appeared above the water line. The rudder is missing.

The Jackson (originally named the Muscogee) was designed to protect Columbus – a critically important industrial center for the Confederacy -- from Union navy marauders and blockaders. Construction on the Jackson began in early 1863. It was built entirely in Columbus.

Fasteners and other items associated with the fantail (Picket photo)

The Jackson’s casemate had a 35-degree slope and featured nearly two feet of wood and two layers of plating, mostly manufactured at the Scofield and Markham mill in Atlanta.

The vessel, armed with six Brooke rifles (two of which rest outside the museum), was finally launched -- after earlier unsuccessful attempts -- on Dec. 22, 1864, to local fanfare. 

The two engines and four boilers – manufactured in Columbus – were not operational when the city fell, and there’s a question about how well they would have performed, anyway. At best, the Jackson would have done about 5 knots, said Seymour.

The ship still needed armor and was unfinished when the Federal cavalry arrived on April 16, 1865.

“The following day the nearly completed ship was set ablaze and cut loose by her captors,” a panel at the naval museum says. “After drifting downstream some 30 miles, the Jackson ground on a sandbar and burned to the waterline.”

Rebounding after arson fire: CSS Chattahoochee engines have been conserved, are now inside National Civil War Naval Museum

[Updated Jan. 27]

Months after an arson fire tore through an outside storage area at National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga, engine components of the gunboat CSS Chattahoochee that survived the inferno have been conserved and moved inside, where they are exhibited near the vessel’s remains.

Curator Jeff Seymour, in a video posted last month to YouTube, gave a brief description of an ongoing conservation project involving the hybrid Confederate gunboat and the large ironclad CSS Jackson.

“This is a rare example of a steam engine … that still survives from the time period,” Seymour said of the Chattahoochee’s power system, which was built in Columbus and shipped downstream to Saffold, about 10 miles north of the Florida border, where the wooden boat was built.

Remains of the Jackson and the twin-screw Chattahoochee are the star exhibits of the museum and are inside the main building. Both were lost in April 1865 at war’s end -- the Jackson set afire by Federal captors and the Chattahoochee scuttled by its own crew. Neither vessel fired upon the enemy in their relatively short history. They were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in the 1960s.

For 20 years, the Chattahoochee piston heads and the locally made Jackson’s fantail were kept in a padlocked and fenced pole barn about 100 yards from the museum, awaiting funds that would make it possible to conserve and display them. A June 1, 2020, fire destroyed modern vessels and damaged the fantail’s wood.

The Chattahoochee’s wrought iron and cast iron engines, the iron plates from the Jackson’s armor and the iron plating to the fantail survived, though they were exposed to the thermal heat.

CSS Muscogee, later dubbed Jackson (Wikipedia)

The Jackson's fantail in 2019 (Picket photo)

The fantail was the half-moon shaped rear deck of the Confederate warship, which was never fully operational. The section of armor and wood protected the vessel’s propellers and rudder and is a remarkable example of design and construction prowess. 

A $10,000 reward was offered and federal agents were brought in to assist local authorities in the investigation.

Columbus Fire Marshal Ricky Shores recently told the Picket that the investigation is closed.

“However, if new information becomes available we will evaluate the status of the case,” he wrote in an email. “In short, we just don’t have anything to (pursue) at this point …No one has been charged as of yet.”

A view of the pole barn remains in January 2021 (Picket photo)

Jackson's rust-colored armor plating in destroyed pole barn (Picket photo)

Besides Civil War artifacts, the pole barn included modern craft and replica pieces. The Civil War items were long exposed to the elements and were slowly deteriorating.

The venue has a web page  that has kept the public up on the conservation of the engines and fantail.

Museum Executive Director Holly Wait said in an email, "The iron plating (and the wood) of the fantail were cleaned and conserved and are now inside the Museum.  However, because of the fire the fantail was dismantled piece by piece. We await more grant funding to build crates for the wood and recreate the iron fantail."

Conserved fantail plates in lower crates at left (NCWNM photo)

Charred remnants of fantail wood are on display (NCWNM photo)

The most-recent web update says Terra Mare Conservators and others began their formal work in early September, documenting, cleaning and treating the engines and fantail.

Seymour, director of history and collections at the museum, wrote: “Since the fantail was upside down, the wooden structure was the first part to receive attention. Each beam was documented and carefully removed for conservation work. Using a process called photogrammetry, the archaeologists took hundreds of images of each layer in order to better understand the structure.

“As each level emerged, we were able to see elements of this vessel that no one has seen since 1864. As each level surfaced, several questions about how the Jackson was constructed were answered, but many more questions developed. Simply, this structure is much more complex than we thought heading into this project."

CSS Chattahoochee engines in early 2019 before fire (Picket photo)

Each plate of the fantail weighs nearly 400 pounds. They and Chattahoochee machinery underwent a blast cleaning using dry ice.

“In preparation for the engines, access panels were removed and the interior of these piston heads saw the light of day for the first time since the 1860s,” Seymour wrote. “In every cavity was Chattahoochee river mud. Many hours were spent removing mud from difficult places thanks to the help of some of our great volunteers.”

The Picket was allowed inside the padlocked and fenced shed in early 2019, with Seymour detailing the artifacts and their importance when it comes to understanding design and construction. 

Remnants of the shed after the fire (Columbus Fire and EMS)

“Personally, I have to pinch myself every morning as a reminder that this project is really happening,” he wrote in the late 2020 update. “We have the best people in their fields working on this complex mission. And most importantly, we’re saving a few singular artifacts that are important to the story of Columbus and the nation.”

As for the Jackson armor still stored in the pole barn, Wait said the pieces will be conserved when funding allows.

"Visitors were understandably upset about the arson but delighted that the conservation project went ahead and that the pieces are inside," she wrote about the engine and fantail. "We await more funding to  complete the larger exhibition that ties all this together."

2020's top 10 Picket posts: A treasure of artifacts hauled to surface; arson fire at museum, USS Monitor and innovative Colt revolving rifle

Recovered round from Colt revolving rifle (Prairie Grove Battlefield State Park)

Articles on arson at the National Civil War Naval Museum, an amazing trove of artifacts from a scuttled Confederate ironclad, historian Ed Bearss and battlefields in Arkansas were among the top 10 Picket posts -- by page views -- in 2020.

We’ve got a few items in the works, so we look forward to rolling those and others out in 2021. Thanks so much for your interest – and Happy New Year!

10. MYSTERY TIMBER:  Forty years ago, someone walking North Carolina’s Kure Beach found a curved piece of timber pocked with holes and containing a piece of iron. Its donation to the state earlier this year raised questions over whether it belonged to a blockade runner.  -- Read more

One of the two Dahlgrens that were cleaned (The Mariners' Museum and Park)

9. USS MONITOR’S BIG GUNS:  This February post previewed the cleaning of the famed Union ironclad’s two Dahlgren artillery pieces. “By boring the guns, we will finally have the ability to remove trapped ocean salts from the interiors of these massive artifacts; which sets the stage for us to dry and put the guns on display,” said Will Hoffman of The Mariners' Museum and Park. -- Read more

8. BELOVED ED BEARSS: By the beginning of 2020, it was clear that the legendary Civil War historian, author and mesmerizing guide was no longer able to lead tours. One of his publishers encouraged fans to send Bears letters of appreciation. Bearss (left) died in September at age 97. -- Read more

7. SAVING THE STRAIN: A tabby structure that survived the federal burning of Darien, Ga., seemed destined for the wrecking ball just a year and a half ago. But an Atlanta-area couple came through, and they are restoring the Adam Strain building in the coastal town. -- Read more

6. PRAIRIE GROVE FIREPOWER: Removal of underbrush at the epicenter of a ferocious battle in northwest Arkansas has allowed archaeologists to recover about 400 Civil War artifacts, including spent bullets fired from innovative Colt revolving rifles. -- Read more

5. USS MONITOR REDUX: Earlier this year, conservators at The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va., removed the last concretion from inside the barrels of the two large turret guns. They used a special drill to remove the hardened mix of sediment and sea life.  --  Read more

4. PUZZLE PIECE AT PEA RIDGE: A 140-acre parcel that was the scene of Confederate troop movements and a hospital during the March 1862 battle was bought by a coalition of conservation and historical groups, with plans to donate it to the National Park Service. -- Read more

Inverted fantail of the CSS Jackson (Picket photo)

3. RARE IRONCLAD FANTAIL BURNED: A suspected arson fire roared through a boat shed where rare components of two Confederate vessels are stored at the National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga. Among the items heavily damaged was the ironclad CSS Jackson’s fantail, which the museum has described as “a very unique piece of naval architecture." -- Read more

2. STAGGERING HAUL OF ARTIFACTS: An estimated 13,601 artifacts brought ashore from the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia wreck site in Savannah were trucked to Texas for conservation. What’s known about the ship’s design, construction, propulsion, armament and life aboard the "Mud Tub" are detailed in a massive report about the CSS Georgia's recovery. -- Read more 

CSS Georgia Dahlgren cannon, bayonet hilt, breast plate (USACE-Savannah)

1. ARSON INVESTIGATION CONTINUES: Investigators have been pursuing leads in a suspected arson fire that damaged rare artifacts and destroyed modern vessels in a storage area at the National Civil War Naval Museum. -- Read more

Arson investigation continues as National Civil War Naval Museum in Columbus, Ga., details what was lost, survived

Drone view of destroyed pole barn  (Columbus Fire and EMS)

Investigators are pursuing leads in a suspected arson fire that damaged rare artifacts and destroyed modern vessels in a storage area at the National Civil War Naval Museum.

Sgt. Charles Collins with the fire department in Columbus, Ga., said a reward of up to $10,000 is being offered in the June 1 fire at an open-air pole barn behind the museum. Agents from federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) have been on site, officials said.

Collins told the Picket this week that the case is receiving special attention because of its apparent targeting of historic pieces.

Museum officials said there is a silver lining in the devastating blaze, which followed a smaller arson attempt two days before. “While the fire was a total loss as far as anything wood goes, all the iron is still very much intact,” said museum executive director Holly Wait.

Among the items in the open air but padlocked area is the locally made ironclad CSS Jackson’s fantail.

Fantail of the CSS Jackson before fire (Picket photo)

The fantail was the precisely built curved rear deck of the Confederate warship, which was never fully operational. The section of armor and wood protected the vessel’s propellers and rudder and is a remarkable example of design and construction prowess. 

“The wood to the fantail was burned, but we don't yet know how deep the burn went since the wood was layered. Everything ‘on top’ (or the actual underside) is ashes,” Wait wrote in an email.

The engines of the Confederate gunboat Chattahoochee, the iron plates from the Jackson’s armor and the iron plating to the fantail survived, though they were exposed to the thermal heat.

“The Virginia was a complete loss,” continued Wait. “That ship was a supposed blockade runner donated to the museum many years ago. There was no money in our budget to do any conservation on the ship and we had no real documentation as regards in provenance.”

Jeff Seymour of museum staff with stored items in 2019 (Picket photo)

Also lost were a launch, two john boats, an old pontoon and two reproduction Fiberglass ships that the museum was taking apart.

Remains of the Jackson and Chattahoochee are the star exhibits of the museum and are inside the main building. Both were lost in April 1865 at war’s end -- the Jackson set afire by Federal captors and the Chattahoochee scuttled by its own crew. Neither vessel fired upon the enemy in their relatively short history. They were recovered from the Chattahoochee River in the 1960s.

“The big conservation project to restore the engines and fantail will continue,” said Wait. The museum has a web page on the fantail and information on how to support its conservation.

Collins, with the fire department, said he could not provide more details on the fire and investigation. The pole barn for years has been surrounded by a padlocked fence.

Fire investigator Charles Collins can be reached at ccollins@columbusga.org  or 706-225-4216. The hotline for Georgia Arson Control, which is offering the reward, is 1-800-282-5804.