A flier checked a bag carrying five pieces of Civil War artillery ammo. She didn't know they had been stolen by a grandchild from Fort Morgan on Mobile Bay, officials say

The artillery rounds were wrapped in paper towels (TSA-Gulf Shores photos)

Alabama’s Fort Morgan State Historic Site will not press charges after a juvenile took artillery ammunition from the coastal Civil War fort and the artifacts were detected by the Transportation Security Administration in the checked bag of the child's unwitting grandmother.

The TSA recently posted an article about the July 18 incident at Gulf Shores International Airport. It said screener Justin Dupree spotted the five iron balls, at first thinking they appeared to be a medicine ball wrapped in paper towels. 

The article called the items cannonballs, though observers said most are likely canister or grapeshot  The largest was described as being about the size of a grapefruit.

“I had never seen anything quite this unique,” said Dupree, a TSA officer for four years. “I’ve seen inert grenades and training munitions but never an Indiana Jones-esque stolen artifact-type situation.” He was concerned they might have been live.

The TSA contacted local authorities, who determined the prohibited rounds were inert and did not contain explosive components.

TSA officer Justin Dupree in the checked baggage area of the airport (TSA)

Capt. Nathan Lusk of the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office told the Picket in an email that the items were taken by the juvenile from a storage area at the fort.

“Fort Morgan personnel were able to confirm the items as their property due to paint markings they apply to artifacts. The grandmother stated that she did not know they were stolen. Fort Morgan’s director chose to not press charges, so there was no further action from us.”

The pieces were returned to the state park. Heather Tassin, the site manager, said, “Due to this being an active investigation we are unable to provide any comments.”

The airport is about 20 miles east of Fort Morgan, which sits at the mouth of Mobile Bay.

Fort Morgan is nestled in a popular vacation area (Picket photo)

The historic site played a prominent part in the 1864 Battle of Mobile Bay.

Mobile was one of the last major Confederate ports still open at the time. Fort Morgan, with a garrison of about 600, and other fortifications meant to keep Union Adm. David Farragut out. The bay was heavily mined with what were then called torpedoes.

On Aug. 5, 1864, the monitor USS Tecumseh struck a mine within a few hundred yards of the fort. More than 90 hands died when the monitor rolled over and sank. The other 17 Union vessels began to move back, but Farragut, on board the USS Hartford, demanded the fleet move through, uttering “Damn the Torpedoes!”

Farragut triumphed over the opposition of heavy batteries in Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines. His fleet secured the surrender of the ironclad CSS Tennessee and defeated the squadron of Confederate Adm. Franklin Buchanan.

The USS Tecumseh buoy off Fort Morgan; Dauphin Island is in background (Picket photo)

Farragut’s brazen assault was one half of a Union operation. Troops landed on Dauphin Island and laid siege to Fort Gaines, which had few ships to help in its defense. Confederate Col. Charles D. Anderson had half his infantry foe’s number and surrendered

After the fall of Fort Gaines on Aug. 8, Yankee troops moved on Fort Morgan across the bay, forcing its surrender on Aug. 23.

Mobile itself was heavily fortified and the Union command moved on after securing the bay. The city surrendered in April 1865, three days after Appomattox.

At national battlefields, you can be a finder, but not a keeper. Kennesaw Mountain staff educates public about importance of precious artifacts -- and potential hazards

Bullet found by James Pratt; Jake Boling with Napoleon shell, assorted artifacts, crowd at Gritters Library (Picket photos)

A couple weeks back, during a program at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, ranger James Pratt came across a spent bullet, its top smashed from an impact of some kind.

Those on the walk joked the artifact might have been planted, but the Minie ball find was a surprise, Pratt and fellow park ranger Jake Boling told three dozen people attending a presentation at Gritters Library in Cobb County, Ga.

The pair on Monday traveled about five miles from the park for a show-and-tell about artifacts related to the Civil War park northwest of Atlanta. “It’s being able to tell a story about them,” said Boling.

The education coordinator often gives talks about the battle, the land and its cultural resources, so this was a great opportunity to show off finds and explain what the park does with them.

It was also an opportunity to remind potential visitors that it is illegal to dig up and/or remove an artifact from federal property.

Boling told the audience, mostly made of children and young adults, that Kennesaw Mountain has two main collections. Items in the visitor museum or in storage are delicate, rare or have direct provenance – a chain of custody and record.

Those in the education collection are meant to demonstrate a type of clothing, ammunition or accoutrement. “Soldiers had to carry lots and lots of stuff,” said Boling

Library patrons were able to hold or look at three bullets, a knapsack hook, brass eagle buttons, a bayonet remnant, a horseshoe, shell fragment and boot heels, among other artifacts. “These soldiers marched an average of 15 miles a day,” said Boling.

Pratt said he believes the spent bullet likely was fired from a Springfield rifle used by Federal attackers on June 27, 1864. The 53^rd Indiana Infantry and other regiments created a diversionary attack on the far left against Confederate pickets, including the 1^st Alabama Infantry (see video at bottom of post).

The attack came from Memorial Field and toward Confederate rifle pits beyond the current visitor center. (At left, a replicate Hotchkiss shell and a fragment found at Kennesaw, Picket photo)

Boling told the crowd he was working in 2019 when a man told them he discovered a mud-covered item near a trail. It turned out to a shell from a 12-pounder Napoleon. Park officials say about 400 cannons were on and around the battlefield.

The visitor, in fact, had placed the shell in his vehicle, and had become concerned about it being potentially explosive. He subsequently brought it to the building and left, said Boling.

The local bomb squad drilled a hole in the solid shot to ensure it did not contain gunpowder.

The park now uses the artillery round as part of its education outreach.

Boling cautioned the audience to call police or tell rangers if they come across anything related to ammunition. “Don’t dig, because it’s illegal. Don’t dig, because it can be dangerous,” he said.

The bottom line: Don’t pick anything up.

'Faithful Unto Death': Gettysburg hero Alonzo Cushing's Medal of Honor will be displayed at park visitor center for this week's 163rd anniversary

1st Lt. Alonzo Cushing (center, back) and other artillery officers at Antietam in 1862 (Library of Congress)

The Medal of Honor awarded to artillery 1^st Lt. Alonzo H. Cushing will be displayed at Gettysburg National Military Park on the anniversary of his death during Pickett’s Charge.

The medal and display box will be on exhibit July 1-5 at the park’s museum and visitor center.

“This rare display coincides with the anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, offers visitors a unique opportunity to reflect on Cushing's sacrifice where it occurred and provides them with the opportunity to view the nation’s highest military decoration awarded to one of Gettysburg’s most recognized Union officers,” the Gettysburg Foundation said.

Cushing's Medal of Honor has been displayed at various sites (Gettysburg Foundation)

The Delafield, Wisc., native was raised in Fredonia, N.Y. Cushing, one of three brothers who had distinguished military service, was only 22 when he fell leading his battery.

At Gettysburg, Cushing and his battery of six 3-inch ordnance rifles took position with Brig. Gen. Alexander S. Webb's brigade on July 2, 1863. They were engaged throughout the day and again on July 3 as Confederate forces opened a two-hour artillery bombardment that preceded the assault known as Pickett's Charge, the foundation said.

Battery A, 4th U.S. Artillery was at a spot dubbed "The Angle."

Cushing suffered two grievous wounds and directed the operation of a field piece during the massive Rebel advance. He refused to leave the field. A bullet to the head killed him instantly.

In 2014, the young officer received the Medal of Honor from President Barack Obama for demonstrating conspicuous gallantry, inflicting severe casualties on the enemy and helping to turn back the charge. A descendant living in California accepted it on Cushing's behalf.

"This medal is a reminder that no matter how long it takes it's never too late to do the right thing," Obama said during the brief ceremony at the White House Roosevelt Room.

It was rare for a Federal officer during the war to receive a Medal of Honor and historians acknowledge efforts to recognize Cushing at the time probably were sidetracked because others survived the momentous July 1863 battle in Pennsylvania and wrote about their service.

It was largely up to the descendants of Cushing, who like his three brothers had no children or direct descendants, to keep alive his legacy, saving his letters, traveling to Gettysburg and sharing stories around the Thanksgiving table.

Among those joining the Cushing and Loring families in Washington, D.C. for the White House and U.S. Army ceremonies was Margaret E. Zerwekh, then 94, of Delafield.

Zerwekh, who died in 2018, lived on property once owned by the Cushing family. She performed research on him and petitioned a congressman years ago to support the honor. Efforts involved additional politicians and military experts who studied records of the young artilleryman's stand at Gettysburg.

Cushing's citation reflects the same devotion expressed in the words inscribed on his headstone (left, click to enlarge) at West Point: "Faithful unto Death." 

Cushing's medal is now part of the collection at Gettysburg National Military Park.

You can't drive to the top of Kennesaw Mountain anymore. But hard campaigners can still walk or bike up; weekend shuttle will go to daily in a couple months

Restriping and other work was scheduled to begin this week at the park outside Atlanta (NPS photo)

I drove Saturday morning (Jan. 3) across town to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, hoping to drive to the top of the Georgia peak a couple days ahead of the formal closure of the road to private vehicles.

Oops.

The walk to the summit provides some pretty cool views (Picket photos)

I had forgotten Mountain Road wasn’t open to cars on weekends. OK, how about the shuttle bus operating next to the visitor center? Well, it wasn’t operating because of rainy conditions. So, I did what hundreds of people do every day: Walk the 1.6 mile paved surface to the summit.

I greeted fellow walkers and took in a few signs indicating Confederate cannon and defensive positions from June 1864.

There’s a few for Maj. Gen. Edward Walthall’s division, namely  Quarles and Reynolds brigades. At the top, I used a marker to match views of Marietta and Atlanta and saw one listing 14 Georgia generals who fought for the Rebel army at Kennesaw Mountain. And above that is a cool stretch of emplaced cannons mimicking the Confederate positions.

Beyond the history, you get great views of the skyline and buildings below as you walk the winding road. I returned via the same route because the popular walkup trail was a bit wet and I didn’t trust my knees and bum ankle. (For the curious, the summit is 1,808 feet above sea level.)

I imagine my experience of seeing the road entrance blocked will be a surprise to many visitors this week as the news spread that the park Monday closed the road to private vehicles seven days a week as part of a safety improvement project.

The aim is to reduce congestion, ensure safety and protect resources.

"This change in use addresses growing safety concerns on a narrow, heavily used road," said Acting Superintendent Beth Wheeler in a news release. "We understand this change may impact how some visitors experience the park, and we are committed to prioritizing a safe and accessible experience for all visitors while also preserving the natural and historical integrity of the park."

A marker provides details on what can be scene from near the summit (Picket photos)

The road to the summit will eventually be accessible daily by shuttle, foot and bicycles, the latter of which must follow a specific schedule. The unpaved walkup trail will not be affected by the project.

"Once construction is complete, the park will expand its existing weekend/holiday shuttle service to seven days a week." said Wheeler in an email to the Picket. She said the park has seen increased visitation and held a public comment period in summer 2024.

The bottom line for the next couple months: Visitors can walk up the mountain on the road or the trail, bicyclists can come each day and the shuttle still operates on the weekend.

Work includes restriping the road and improvements to the summit and shuttle plaza near the visitor center. 

Wheeler says there will be a pedestrian lane on the outside edge of the road. The pedestrian lane will be wide enough for both ascending and descending walkers. 

A wider lane will be available for the shuttle and bicycles. It will be separated from pedestrians by new striping.

I noticed Saturday, ahead of the closure, that walkers were spread out over much of the road, so it will be interesting to see whether rangers will be able to keep them to the designated lane. Perhaps there will be sticks or something similar to separate the two lanes. (At right, a walker carried this replica canteen up the road)

Cyclist access will be permitted daily from 7:30 a.m.-10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. (or 6 p.m. during winter hours) outside of shuttle operating times.

The road has a pretty good elevation grade increase in places and has a couple blind spots. And there's no shoulder lane. In other words, it has looked like any other old road -- with no marked spots for pedestrians.

Park officials say it has seen increased traffic incidents and medical emergencies.

While cars, when not attended to properly, are the most inherently dangerous of the three modes of transportation, pedestrians and bicyclists often have close calls and incidents.

Intermittent road closures to all forms of transportation will occur through late March, perhaps longer, the park said.

Visitor Ann Wright told the Atlanta CBS News affiliate that motorists sometimes sped up not matter how many strollers or bikes were on the road.

Some have questioned whether fewer people will make the trek to the top if they can't drive themselves.

A trail leads from Mountain Road to Little Kennesaw Mountain (Picket photo)

"I think it kind of shuts off a lot of availability for people who aren't physically able to get up there because I know it is kind of more of a strenuous hike, but I think it would be better for the park and for the conservation of the nature for sure," hiker Jenna Nation told the station.

Wheeler said the new shuttle schedule has not yet been set. The park will share information in the spring when the construction project is complete and the new uses and times for Mountain Road begin, she said.

The wartime version of the road going to the mountain top allowed Southern troops to haul cannon to the commanding heights.

Union forces on June 27, 1864, made demonstrations in the area (above), but the real attack occurred farther to the south. The assault was a costly – but temporary --failure as the army neared Atlanta.

There was no fighting at the summit during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

The T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., is reprising debate over who killed general at Fredericksburg. Clues and claims are featured each Wednesday on social media

Cobb's and Kershaw's troops in Fredericksburg at the stone wall (Library of Congress)

Tune in this week tor another episode of “Who Killed Tom Cobb?”!!!

Tom Cobb, for the unfamiliar, was Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, an ardent Georgia secessionist and Confederate brigadier general killed at Fredericksburg.

On Dec. 13, 1862, Cobb bled out after he was wounded while leading his men along Sunken Road. Of some debate in subsequent years was the manner of death.

Most historians – including staffers at Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia -- attribute the ghastly leg wound to shrapnel from a Federal artillery shell. Brig. Gen. Joseph Kershaw and Col. E.P. Alexander, however, reported that Cobb (right) was felled by a sharpshooter. There’s at least one other story, though it was largely debunked by veterans and historians

Six years after the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga., asked middle schoolers to weigh in, the topic is being reprised through a weekly video series (on Wednesdays) featuring former Cobb House interns laying out evidence and accounts.

Curator Ashleigh Oatts said the series has been in the works for more than a year. The impetus is to boost the house's social media presence, and videos are the best way to do that.

“We were hearing from some visitors that they had heard that Tom Cobb died in X way (usually not the correct answer) and realized that the general public might appreciate hearing from the primary sources and becoming detectives through this video series,” she said.

The general -- a lawyer, slavery defender and architect of the Confederate constitution before he joined the cause's army -- was mortally wounded within sight of where his mother was born in Fredericksburg.

The death theories first were the subject of a summer 2017 article in the magazine of the Watson-Brown Foundation, which operates the T.R.R. Cobb House in Athens, Ga.

Sam Thomas, who was the curator then, decided to throw the whodunit to a group that would have no bias or prejudice – a class of eighth-graders. About half of them believed Cobb was killed by a sharpshooter, while others thought his death was result of friendly (or unfriendly) fire. You can read details of that claim here.

Cobb’s brigade was at the center of the maelstrom at Fredericksburg – the Sunken Road, which was bordered by a stone wall and just below Marye’s Heights.

“His men successfully repulsed repeated Union assaults on their position throughout the day on December 13, the park says on its website. “Between the first and second major wave of attacks against the Confederate position, Cobb was hit with shrapnel and mortally wounded. He had been standing behind the Stephens House when an artillery shell exploded through the house.” The officer was 39.

The video series is running every Wednesday through Dec. 17, though there may not be one shown Thanksgiving week, said Oatts. Three have been rolled out as of this writing.

Peter Maugle, park historian and ranger at Fredericksburg, will present a “solution” talk on Dec. 10, and the museum will wrap up the series the following Wednesday.

“The solution isn't a specific person, rather narrowing it down to the battery that was responsible (but also correcting misinformation stating that he was killed by friendly fire.),” said Oatts.

Cobb Legion's flag at the Athens house is on loan from the Atlanta History Center (Picket photo)

Among the weekly subjects:

-- H.M. Reed, son of a 13^th Mississippi Infantry veteran, told author Margaret Mitchell in 1937 about his father: “He dropped down beside the general and shoved his thumb into the wound and pressed the ends of the artery together and stopped the bleeding…When they arrived at the hospital they had to lift the general and my father out together as he could not release the pressure on the artery for a second. They laid both of them down on a bed together and the general expired before he could remove his thumb from the wound. My dad said his thumb was numb for a week afterwards."’

-- A Confederate’s interview with the Marietta (Ga.) Journal in which he claims Cobb was killed by a Rebel soldier in retribution for an incident that occurred weeks before the battle.

-- The account of Edward Porter Alexander, who apparently heard second-hand an account claiming it was a sharpshooter. "The fatal shot came from a house some hundred and fifty yards in front and to the left, which was occupied by the Federal skirmishes.”

-- The Rev. Rufus Kilpatrick Porter, chaplain for Cobb’s Legion;

-- Capt. W.R. Montgomery (left) of Cobb's Legion: “The whole time of the engagement our brave and gallant General Cobb was encouraging his men until a shot from the enemy’s cannon gave him his mortal wound. He was on the right of our Co, only a few feet from me when wounded.”

-- A letter from Joseph Henry Lumpkin, Cobb’s father-in-law, to Lumpkin’s daughter “Callie” Lumpkin King. While he was not present at Fredericksburg, he writes with some knowledge of the condition of the body. Lumpkin described the shell exploding outside the Stephens House, the fragment hitting his son-in-law above the knee, the removal of the general from the field, the cause of death and the funeral in Athens, Ga.

A postscript from my 2019 article on the topic: The T.R.R. Cobb House displays the Cobb’s Legion flag used at the battle in Virginia. The flag reportedly covered his legs after his body was sent to Athens days later and he lie in repose in his library. Cobb, his brother Howell and their families are buried a few miles away in Oconee Hill Cemetery.

These unusual Rebel forts outside Atlanta were never tested by Sherman. A few Shoupades survive; volunteers toil to reveal a trench between two of them

Ron Wendt steps near exposed trench leading up to First Shoupade; Matt Larson wields a mattock; work Sunday was near Shoupade, 2, and redan, 3; the other Shoupade is marked 4; diagram shows defense design (Picket photos)

Where cannons and rifles once bristled, mattocks, saws and loppers were the weapons of the day Sunday afternoon for a small, but hardy crew working to clear vegetation and expose a trench that connected unique Confederate fortifications outside Atlanta.

The nonprofit River Line Historic Area (RLHA) sponsored the “Trimming the Trenches” workday at Shoupade Park in Smyrna, Ga. The goal is to “enrich the visitor's visual educational experience.”

Timber and earthen redoubts – known as Shoupades -- were built by enslaved laborers near the Chattahoochee River and were briefly manned in July 1864. The arrowhead shape allowed defenders to shoot in several directions. Artillery placed in nearby redans added to “the killing zone.” (Bill Scaife model of a Shoupade, left)

RLHA  and individuals have been working to expose the outline of an infantry trench between one Shoupade and a redan. The park is in the middle of a residential development.

While the work is still to be completed, progress was made Sunday. I could see the faint line indicating the trench where troops could move from one fortification to the next.

Born in Indiana, Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup (right) lent his name to a fort system that Union Maj. Gen William T. Sherman, intent on taking Atlanta, called “one of the strongest pieces of field fortifications I ever saw.”

The Chattahoochee River was the last natural obstacle for Union troops moving on Atlanta.

Confederate Gen. Joseph E. Johnston ordered a series of defenses and the Rebels built 36 Shoupade forts, said Roberta Cook, executive director of RLHA. Ten remain in various levels of condition. Some are on public land and some on private property.

For all their ingenuity, the Shoupades never saw action. Sherman, using his familiar flanking strategy, crossed the river elsewhere, forcing Confederates to retreat to Atlanta. There is a belief that Johnston and some of his soldiers did not fully appreciate Shoupade's work.

Author Brad Butkovich says the forts were meant to be an impregnable barrier to the river with a small force, freeing up troops to guard the army flanks. He argues Johnston failed to use the forts to his advantage.

Cobb County owns the two-acre Shoupade Park and cuts the grass in the common area between its two Shoupades.

The shoupades are in vegetation in the center and a cleared area to the right (Cobb County Parks)

The earthworks are fenced but visitors get a good view and four signs explain how they worked. Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, wrote the text. That organization has lamented development around several River Line sites.

“The River Line Historic Area adopted the park eight years ago to improve its level of care with volunteer labor, but it has been a challenge,” said Cook.

Volunteers have concentrated on clearing excess vegetation from the redan and the “First Shoupade.” English ivy is being kept in place to ward off erosion on the latter, Cook said. Recent work days have concentrated on the connecting trench so people can a better idea of how the defensive system was designed. 

Roberta Cook, Matt Larson, Gould Hagler, Julie Schrodt, Ron Wendt (Picket photo)

Shoupade Park is bordered by the Park Avenue subdivision. Pulte Homes donated the fortifications to the county when it built the large neighborhood on Oakdale Road, and it paid for the interpretive signage.

Cook led Sunday’s effort. Joining her were Matt Larson and Julie Schrodt, Park Avenue residents, and Gould Hagler and Ron Wendt, members of area Civil War roundtables. Schrodt  is a RLHA board member.

The nonprofit is involved in several endeavors, including maintaining historic cemeteries.

The Chattahoochee River Line stretched for nearly six miles and was meant to slow Federals. But Johnston was largely buying time before he was outflanked.

Cobb County maintains Discovery Park at the River Line, which features a Shoupade, anchor fort and an impressive stretch of Confederate earthworks. It is a few miles south of Shoupade Park.

I visited the park after the work day and enjoyed the walk on the top of a ridge and down below where a trail parallels the Chattahoochee River. 

Cobb County Parks maintains a helpful web page about Discovery Park, including a guide to Civil War markers. New trails and signs have been introduced in the past five years.

“Designed by a Confederate officer and built by army engineers, heavy units of the Georgia militia, slightly wounded soldiers and about a thousand enslaved Africans, these fortifications are some of the few still remaining,” the page says.

Julie Schrodt removes branches; interior of First Shoupade at Shoupade Park (Picket photos)

“The defensive line became known as Johnston’s River Line after Confederate General Joseph E. Johnson and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. These fortifications are important as a reminder of the way war was fought in the 19^th century. Their historical importance and undisturbed state have led to their preservation.”

Another view of the trench line, with Ron Wendt inside (Picket photo)

Crawford, with the GBA, said a Federal artillery battery site at Discovery Park is currently off-limits. Battery D, 1^st Illinois Light Artillery Regiment, served west of Nickajack Creek.

The city of Smyrna's River Line Park includes another Shoupade. The park includes playing fields, concessions, trail and a playground.

The Second Shoupade at the park off Oakdale Road (Picket photo)

Oorah! Marine Corps makes sure a recovered Schenkl artillery shell is safe, hands it over to Liberia House in Manassas, Va., ahead of its 200th birthday bash

Photos of returned shell (top) and after its discovery in April (below, City of Manassas)

The Liberia House in Manassas, Va., recently received an unwrapped present ahead of its 200th birthday celebration. The hand-delivered item arrived with no fanfare or box, but it did include a rather unique card.

“The following ordnance items have been certified free from bulk explosives, have been certified inert, indicated by an accompanying inert certification.”

U.S. Marines stationed about 25 miles away returned a Civil War Schenkl artillery shell that was found in April by contractors using heavy equipment at a creek near Liberia House, which has a rich history.

“At my request, they did not clean the shell up except to remove loose dirt. So it looks very much like it did when it was discovered, except now it has a big hole in the top from being worked on,” said Mary Helen Dellinger, curator at the city-run Manassas Museum, which manages the historic site.

The striking Liberia House was made from bricks fashioned from red clay on site (City of Manassas)

The fuse was not present at the time of discovery, but Virginia State Police considered the small shell to be a live round. They held it until explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) technicians at Marine Corps Base Quantico could take custody.

The Schenkl shell would have contained black powder but the Picket was unable to determine whether it still was present 160 years later. An EOD technician at the base who answered questions Tuesday about explosive ordnance said he did not have details on this shell.

The technician said if any black powder was present the item would have been carefully pressure washed and cleaned with a filtration system.

Hard to say which side had this particular round

Local officials believe the shell will be a great addition to Oct. 11 programming marking the 200^th anniversary of Liberia House. The 10 a.m.-4 p.m. event includes tours, music, 19th century games, a demonstration of quilting and storytelling.

Manassas, obviously, is associated with two major battles and numerous smaller operations and skirmishes.

The Schenkl was primarily used by Federal artillerymen in a variety of cannons, including the Parrott.

“As far as Federal vs. Confederate shell – it’s difficult to say,” said Dellinger (left in city Instagram post) of this example.

“We do know that during the Battle of Bull Run Bridge the 2^nd New York was stationed on the property (exact location unknown) and were firing at the Confederates at Fort Beauregard (located about ½ mile from Liberia). Because of the history of both sides being on the property during the war, it’s really hard to say which side left the shell behind.”

About 400,000 Schenkl shells were made during the Civil War. They came in several styles, including ones that contained case shot. It had a Papier-mache sabot.

Shell will make its public debut Oct. 11

The Prince William County property served as headquarters for Confederate and Union forces early in the war. Jefferson Davis (in 1861) and Abraham Lincoln (in 1862) came here to confer with their generals. “Proof of occupation is displayed as faded graffiti left by Union soldiers is visible on interior walls,” the city says.

Soldiers from both sides wrote graffiti in many structures in the region. Those surviving at Liberia Hall are Union.

Dellinger previously told the Picket past archaeological digs at Liberia yielded numerous Civil War-related pieces, among them buttons, bullets, small bits a pieces of metal that relate to horse equipage, other accoutrements and a sword -- “the coolest thing until this shell.”

Manassas touts its extensive Black history through a trail for residents and visitors. Liberia House tells the story of the enslaved people on the land at the time of the war.

Liberia House was built for William J. and Harriett Weir in 1825. Enslaved laborers did most of the construction on the two-story, Federal style brick home. They are believed to have crafted much of the stylish interior, too. Its 1,600 acres made Liberia a large working farm and plantation.

Dellinger said the birthday party will not have a Civil War focus but there will be come wartime components, including the debut of the Schenkl round.

”After that, I plan on leaving the shell at the house so when we have it open for public events it’s on hand for people to see.”

Marines keep busy with calls about ordnance

19th century photo of house shows men in fashionable clothing (Library of Congress)

Quantico routinely gets requests to handle possible explosive ordnance, including some dating to the Revolutionary War and Civil War. Calls come in from the National Park Service, museums and state and local governments, among other agencies.

The Quantico EOD technician told the Picket the team will try to render them safe if possible.

“Everybody has stockpiles they need certified, looked at, or inerted, on top of people finding (items) in their yards in Northern Virginia.”

Liberia House is located at 8601 Portner Ave., Manassas. The house is open for special events and tours and an annual bee festival. The grounds are open from sunrise to sunset. For more information, contact the Manassas Museum at 703-368-1873.