Bird's-eye view of the Battle of Pickett's Mill: It's happy trails to old use of terrain map as park volunteer revamps it to add troop locations and names

Revamped map in Pickett's Mill museum (Michael Hitt and Civil War Picket photos)

A large terrain map showing the trail system at Pickett’s Mill battlefield in Georgia has been saved from the dustbin of history and is being modified to add troop and artillery locations and the names of blue and gray regiments that clashed there on May 27, 1864.

“People like details,” said Michael Hitt, a volunteer at Pickett’s Mill Battlefield State Historic Site. “It causes you to start learning.”

The old map, which had been propped in the corner of an adjoining room, was to be thrown away. It had no information about the battle but was rather a basic visual guide to the trails.

Hitt, a Civil War researcher, envisioned another purpose.

He has been working on its new use for about three weeks, putting in about 50 hours as of Friday, when I paid a visit.

Whereas the map formerly was presented at an angle, the interpretive version rests flat on a platform, enabling visitors at the site in Paulding County to peer down from four angles, imagining the Confederate and Union perspectives. (See Picket video above for more detail)

Hitt has painstakingly put in small labels made of board. They denote military units, earthworks, mills and buildings present during the battle, which ended in a Confederate victory during “The Hell Hole” series of clashes there and at nearby Dallas and New Hope.

The Federal army suffered 1,600 casualties at Pickett’s Mill, compared to 500 for the South. The advance on Atlanta was delayed about a week. 

The board member with the Friends of Pickett’s Mill Battlefield painted the current trail system on the glass so people will be able to superimpose those and the map labels.

“The Pickett's Mill story will now be so much easier to understand,” the friends group said in a Facebook post.

“The idea is after people view it, from all angles, then go outside onto the battlefield, you should feel like you're in the model and you will know what took place and where. Just trying it makes history more enjoyable, as the park has only three historical markers.”

For a sense of scale, a house fits within a thumb nail, and a four-gun battery takes up the same amount of space. (Picket photos, above and left)

Unlike an electric map used in the old days at battlefields, this one is static, so it needs to capture a moment in time. Hitt chose 4 p.m., just before the futile Federal assaults began.

Hitt says the location of the map is a bonus. People will be able to look up at a series of maps on a nearby wall and see the progression of the fighting.

The volunteer would like to see more track lighting in the room to improve illumination above the map, but that likely will have to come later.

Work on the labels has been completed. Hitt on Friday showed me blue and gray construction paper and lists of regiments (Picket photos, below) he will use on the edges of the table to show who fought in the ravine and elsewhere on the well-preserved site. Asked how long it will take to finish the project, Hitt said it will be as long as it takes. (See Picket video above for more detail)

A reproduction 12-pounder howitzer that rests in the same room is positioned before a painting of a wooded area.

Hitt said that scene does not show trees and fauna that were at the battlefield, so he would like to have it redone.

Hitt is hopeful the changes will make for a better visitor experience.

“How can you make history more interesting to the average person?”

The visitor center and museum at Pickett’s Mill are open Friday-Sunday. The park is located at 4432 Mt. Tabor Church Road, Dallas, GA 30157

Under construction: The map and battlefield maps behind it (Picket photo)

The bedridden Widow Henry was killed by artillery fire in the chaos of First Manassas. The park now has her drop-leaf table that was struck by two bullets

Bullet damage along top of leaf and on pedestal (Manassas NBP) and ruins of home (Library of Congress)

The drums of war were beating in Washington, D.C., and the Confederacy’s Northern Virginia in late May 1861, when Hugh Fauntleroy Henry wrote home. His sister Ellen was living with their mother Judith at Spring Hill Farm at rural Manassas.

"Should troops be passing about the neighborhood, you and mother need not fear them, as your entire helplessness, I should think, would make you safe,” said the schoolteacher working in Alexandria, across the river from the capital.

He could not have been more wrong.

Two months later, the property was a maelstrom of ringing gunfire and accompanying bloodshed. The Civil War’s first great battle raged on Henry Hill, and Ellen and Judith were trapped in the middle.

Believing no civilians were inside, and firing upon Confederate sharpshooters, a Union artillery battery pulverized the home, fatally wounding Judith and wounding Ellen and Lucy Griffith, an enslaved girl. Judith Carter Henry, who was confined to bed, is considered the first civilian casualty of the war.

The 1870 rebuilt Henry House and the famous Henry Hill monument at Manassas (Picket photo)

Another casualty apparently was a drop-leaf table that belonged to the family.

“There are two bullets embedded in the table,” said Manassas National Battlefield Park museum specialist Jim Burgess. “One bullet bore a hole through the lower leaf and embedded in the central pedestal of the table while another bullet was stopped by the leaf but caused a crack in the entire length of the leaf along the grain."

The park was unaware of the table until last year, when a Vermont man reached out and asked whether it might be interested in purchasing the piece. Money was needed to pay for care for the table’s owner, said the friend, who had a power of attorney.

A typed note with the table provided details on its story. 

Park officials agreed to pay more than $10,000 for the antique.

 “It was a once in a lifetime acquisition,” added Burgess. “It certainly has plausibility.”

Sketch of Henry House by Capt. Leon Fremaux of the 8th Louisiana shortly after the battle

The curator hopes the table will one day go on exhibit with expanded information on the poor widow Judith Henry, who was 84 or 85 when she was killed.

“We certainly want to put it on exhibit once we have room for it,” said Burgess, adding that would require renovation to the visitor center and museum.

The provenance of the table is a little fragmented.

Like many historic items that turn up years later, the furniture has made a circuitous journey, including ownership by a renowned surgeon.

Henry House was in constant line of fire that day

Warder & Catlett map of First Manassas, note Henry House at center left)

The table likely originally belonged to Elizabeth "Betsy" Carter, daughter of Landon Carter Jr. of Pittsylvania house, and sister of Judith Carter Henry. 

When Elizabeth died in 1822, her home, Spring Hill Farm, and the table passed to Judith. Officials have not analyzed the wood furniture, which may date to the late 18^th century.

Judith’s husband, Isaac, a surgeon who served with the U.S. Navy, died in 1829. A portrait, of Isaac now belonging to the park (right), hung in the home during the battle.

The afternoon of July 21, 1861, was pure chaos as Confederate and Union forces exchanged ground on Henry Hill. Union Capt. James B. Ricketts turned his guns on the home, trying to kill or chase off sharpshooters.

Legend has it that Judith had been carried earlier from the house on a mattress but brought back inside to the second floor to obtain some form of safety. It wasn’t enough

Amid a cascade of splinters, boards and shingles, Judith suffered a severe foot injury and other wounds from cannon fire. (For his part, Ricketts was wounded four times, captured and later exchanged.)

“The house was peppered by Confederate fire just as much as Union fire. We really don’t know for sure what” killed Judith, said Burgess.

According to a National Park Service archaeological report on the site, Pvt. Otho Scott Lee of the 1^st Virginia Cavalry recollected assisting in burying the dead and collecting abandoned equipment on the battlefield.

"I then rode over to the Henry house where Mrs. Henry had been killed during the battle. I saw her dead body in the bed where she had been killed, with her family around her,” Lee wrote.  “During the battle a grape shot pierced the house and passed through her body, killing her instantly.”

Visitors to Manassas can see the small burial plot where Judith, Hugh and Ellen rest together. (NPS photo, left)

The mother’s headstone reads:

The Grave of Our Dear Mother

Judith Henry

Killed near this spot, by the explosion of shelling in her dwelling, during the Battle of the 21st of July, 1861. When killed she was in her 85th year and confined to her bed by the infirmities of age. She was the daughter of Landon Carter Sen., and was born within a mile of this place. Her husband, Dr. Isaac Henry, was a Surgeon in the United States Navy, on board the frigate Constellation, Commanded by Com. Truxton, one of the six Captains appointed by Washington in the organization of the Navy, 1794. Our Mother through her long life, thirty five years of which were spent at this place, was greatly loved and esteemed for her kind, gentle and Christian spirit."

Famous doctor took table in lieu of cash

 After Judith was killed and the Henry House suffered battle damage, the surviving members of the family found refuge at nearby Pageland. Their old homestead was picked over by souvenir hunters.

“The table and other valuables had to have been recovered from the house before it was completely destroyed the following winter,” said Burgess. “Hugh Henry and sister Ellen lived in a new house built in the 1870s on the site of the original Spring Hill house until their deaths in the 1890s.” Nephew Arthur Lee Henry then acquired the place.

Abdominal and gynecological surgeon Dr. Joseph Price at some point entered the picture. The Virginia native acquired the table prior to his death in 1911 as payment for services rendered on an unnamed member of the Henry family.

“It is uncertain whether he got the table from Hugh or from Arthur,” said Burgess.

Price, who was only 8 at the time of First Manassas, gained fame for his skills and advancement of surgical techniques. He later moved to the Philadelphia area. An article in the Buffalo Medical Journal after his death had this fascinating detail: (Price at right, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts) 

“For two weeks Dr. Price had been ill and was confined to his bed most of the time. The day of his death he was informed that a girl patient whom he had previously cared for had been received at his hospital suffering with appendicitis. He rose from his sick bed and did an appendectomy on this patient. Within an hour after the completion of the operation he complained of pain and informed his assistants that he was suffering with acute appendicitis and that an immediate operation was imperative. He superintended the preparations for the work and in a short time was operated. A few hours later he died not having recovered from the shock of the operation.”

Price was 58 years old.

The dining table passed to his daughter, Anne, and eventually to her second husband, Eric Renwick. Ann died in 1984. Eric survived her by 10 years and at some time he typed up an undated note about the table for a niece or nephew. He signed it “Uncle Eric.”

He incorrectly called Judith and Betsy “Henry sisters” – only Judith had that married name. Renwick describes Joseph Price as his father-in-law, though it is unlikely they knew each other; Eric was only 5 when the doctor died.

Renwick said the doctor was raised near Harrisonburg and operated up and down the region. “On one occasion he operated on one of the Henry’s. By this time they were short of funds and gave Dr. Price the table in lieu of cash.” The table was transported to Whitford, Pa., where the surgeon lived. (Click photo above to enlarge, Manassas NBP)

Renwick based his note on information passed down by Price and Anne. “I do not know when the table was made or who made it but knowledgeable people have told me that it was an antique in 1861.”

Vermont collector had a passion for antiques

Eric Renwick died in 1994; Burgess believes the table went to the niece or nephew and then to a Barre, Vt., resident whose business interests included a ski area and fuel companies.

He was a flea market and garage sale enthusiast as well as a noted local historian, the man’s February 2026 obituary says.

Marker at Henry Hill, the center of the Manassas battlefield (Shane Oliver, HMdb.org)

The 84-year-old was a respected antique collector and dealer in Vermont and the Eastern United States. His friend told the Picket he does not know how the collector got the table.

Manassas National Battlefield Park received the table in September 2025 and it remains in storage.

Eric Renwick concluded his note about the table with this line, which may one day come true:

“In several generations I feel that the table will be a museum piece.”

An inside look at how Monocacy's new museum has taken shape: Better technology and overlapping stories of soldiers, civilians and the Maryland landscape

The story of Monocacy, the battle and its people, is told in an upstairs museum (NPS photos)

Having weathered delays, a broken air conditioning system and the government shutdown, staff at Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Md., are putting the finishing touches on exhibits in the park’s revamped museum.

“The museum is undergoing a soft opening currently …We still have a few pieces to put out and some cosmetic elements to finish in-house,” park ranger Matt Borders said in e-mail to The Civil War Picket on Thursday.

The exhibits are upstairs in the visitor center.

The museum closed late last year for a long-overdue overhaul. Revamped exhibits are telling a wider story than when the old iteration opened in 2007, officials said.

"What is currently up are the big exhibits, the digital program, etc., that were done by the museum exhibit contractors and (look) really nice," Borders said of the new offerings.

The new museum themes include, combat, terror and tedium, care for the wounded and civilian-military interaction.

“Their stories overlap and those relationships are important to the story of Monocacy, and we want to focus on more personal stories,” said Tracy Evans, chief or resource education and visitor services.

Borders said reviews from visitors who have seen the new exhibits since the shutdown ended have been positive. One big change is a new map of the battle and troop movements. It will be projected onto a white surface rather the old physical map that sometimes had broken parts.

At Monocacy on July 9, 1864, outnumbered Federals delayed Confederates bent on taking Washington, D.C. By the time Rebel troops reached the capital’s outskirts, Union reinforcements had arrived. 

The staff shared three photos showing the phases of the work and Borders provided details, told in chronological order.

DECONSTRUCTION

Last December, Monocacy National Battlefield staff, along with staff from the Harpers Ferry Training Center, began the deconstruction of the visitor center museum. The museum space and exhibits were nearly 20 years old, so it was time for an upgrade. The removal of the central island in the museum, which had housed the electronics for the previous museum, opened up the floor plan and will allow guests to move much more freely around the space. We have also opened up the overheard, making the museum space brighter and utilizing the architecture of the building. 

TIME FOR DRYWALLING

While the center of the room was opened, we have also pushed out the walls, particularly on the east side of the building. This additional space will allow the new museum to focus more on the Monocacy Campaign than the previous museum had been. To do this. we will have several themes utilized throughout the museum, looking at not only the soldiers of the American Civil War, but also the civilian stories of the farms and those of the enslaved that worked the farms. 

PAINTED WALLS, READY FOR CARPET

With new paint and very shortly to have new carpets, the museum has really been coming together. One of the big questions we have received throughout this process has been, "Will you still have the electric map?"

Yes, sort of. The fiberoptic map was at the end of its life, so the entire map program has been redone and expanded upon. It will be located in the center of the museum now, to better accommodate guests, especially in large groups and will be on two large display screens to provide easy viewing and closed captioning. 

'Painting the Past': At Monocacy National Battlefield on Saturday, bring your inner artist and paint toy soldiers in any scheme you desire. (You have to sign up first)

The forecast Saturday for Monocacy National Battlefield in Maryland is chilly with a certainty of indoor fun for those who come to paint toy soldiers.

“Painting the Past” is scheduled for 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the park near Frederick, with a repeat at the same time on Feb. 8. Participants are asked to be 10 or above and register ahead of time, as rangers limit the sessions to 18 at a time. (See bottom of this post for details)

All paints, brushes and other supplies are provided and participants can take their creations home.

The sessions were launched as an annual winter program in 2018, park ranger Matt Borders told the Picket. The idea was to have an indoor program to draw people to the battlefield during quieter winter months.

“The program looks at the wide range of uniforms in the American Civil War and encourages guests to paint up a toy soldier in whatever sort of uniform they envision,” said Borders.

The park provides infantry soldiers, as it was the largest branch in the service.

There was a wide variety of color used for uniforms, including flamboyant pantaloons and short jackets worn by Zouaves.

“As for the program, we have had everything from standard blue and gray, bright red and camo green,” said Borders.

Guests have painted soldiers with U.S. Colored Troops and even a memorial soldier with both gray and blue elements to their uniform, representing the modern 29^th Division, the "Blue & Gray Division." 

“For those doing dedicated Federal and Confederate forces, it has always been pretty much evenly split.”

Borders will display replica uniforms (right) for attendees to see and feel and discuss aspects of camp life.

Participants also will learn about soldier painting as a hobby for both display and gaming. 

“We use the larger 54mm plastic models now. These are the sort of plastic soldiers you can find pretty much anywhere, including in our shop here at Monocacy National Battlefield,” said the ranger.

“This event does tend to attract a few more young people, but we have had many adults enjoy this program as well,” said Borders.

At Monocacy on July 9, 1864, outnumbered Federals delayed Confederates bent on taking Washington, D.C. By the time Rebel troops reached the capital’s outskirts, Union reinforcements had arrived. 

All photos Monocacy National Battlefield

To register for "Painting the Past," contact the park at mono_mail@nps.gov or 301-662-3515 to let the staff know how many participants will attend.

Kennesaw's Wallis house and Civil War signal station: Georgia Tech student creates 3D drawings to help in new interpretation of field hospital, HQ site

The side and front of the closed Wallis house (Picket photos) and Union Maj, Gen. O.O. Howard

Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard made a wise choice by picking the Josiah Wallis house for his headquarters during the Union advance on Kennesaw Mountain in Georgia. Rising near the circa 1853 dwelling is Harriston Hill, which was a perfect spot for a signal station because of its sweeping view of the valley leading to the Confederate lines atop the mountain.

The Wallis House, which served as a field hospital for both sides in June 1864, survives today. though it is in pretty rough condition. Harriston Hill, also known as Signal Hill, includes remnants of Confederate earthworks. Now part of Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, the two sites – separated by a subdivision -- await new use. The park says they can add a largely missing element: interpreting to visitors the Federal strategy at the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

There’s a lot of work being conducted before that goal is accomplished.

A master of architecture candidate at Georgia Tech in Atlanta has used LiDar (remote sensing technology) and a drone to create a model of the Wallis House for the National Park Service, which operates the park. He is wrapping up drawings for use in a historic structure report (HSR) that will be completed by the park next spring and used as a launching point on recommendations for use of the properties.

The two marked park parcels at left, features of the Wallis house at right (NPS, click to enlarge)

“Any time you have a chance to get to know a building is exciting, to understand it’s story a little more,” said Danielle Willkens, an associate professor of architecture at Georgia Tech. “You are on hallowed ground and that is palpable. There is another level of responsibility attached to the site.”

Willkens and student Thomas Bordeaux have been working with Suzanne Roche, the park’s first archaeologist. She told the Picket officials would like to see the two-bedroom Wallis house available to park visitors at some point, but it will require repairs and upgrades.

“Everyone is excited about having this house,” Roche said during a recent phone call. “They (park rangers) have been incorporating some interpretive information in their talks.”

It took years to protect and transfer site to park service

The Georgia Tech survey and a November 2021 NPS cultural landscape report on the Wallis farm and Signal Hill have brought new energy to the site, which has largely been out of the headlines in recent years.

The Wallis house was in “imminent danger” of being demolished, according to an NPS official who provided a statement to Congress in June 2010 in support of enlarging the park to include the sites. A developer had purchased 27 acres, including Harriston Hill and the Wallis homestead, in 2002, according to the official. 

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, recalls arguing against a rezoning for much of Signal Hill. “Although the Wallis house parcel was not part of the rezoning application, I said that the house and Signal Hill were both parts of a whole, both contributing to the site’s significant history.”

Working with the Cobb Land Trust, the Cobb County government acquired seven acres from the developer, including the farm and hill. About 43 homes are in the subdivision.

The land was donated to the federal park years later, in 2019, after Congress finally permitted expansion of the boundaries. (At left, entrance to the subdivision, Picket photo). The Covid crisis slowed action in 2020.

“I certainly agree this has been a long struggle,” Crawford told the Picket in an email.

“The inherent problem is making the building safe to visit (and up to code on electric, plumbing, HVAC) while still restoring its historical appearance.”

The house is off-limits, but that may change one day

Today, the setting is hardly bucolic. Cars whizz by on two busy highways – Burnt Hickory Road and Ernest W. Barrett Parkway – and the 41-home subdivision separates the Wallis house and Signal Hill. The park has no trespassing signs around the house, which is largely obscured by trees and vegetation. It allows no visitors to the property, citing safety and security concerns. Walking along Burnt Hickory is not recommended.

The 2021 cultural landscape report details ways to interpret the sites. At Signal Hill, some of the trees could be thinned so that visitors could get a view of Big and Little Kennesaw mountains. A trail to the entrenchments, which need to be stabilized, and other features could be built, along with interpretive markers. The Wallis farm could feature an outdoor education area, parking, restroom and signs.

The clash at Kennesaw Mountain was a costly, but brief setback during the Federal advance on Atlanta. Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman, commander of Union forces, was at the Wallis house during the Battle of Kolb’s Farm to the south.

Park and local officials are hoping the home can tell several stories, possibly featuring an exhibit on the role of African-American soldiers and civilians during the Civil War.

“General Howard is an important historical figure because of his successful leadership on the battlefield and his post-Civil War support of former slaves as head of the Freedmen's Bureau and founder of Howard University,” says the NPS.

His grandpa got tired of relic collectors

The Wallis house has been vacant for more than two decades. The site includes the home, original well and remains of two chicken coops and a smokehouse.

Commentary on a Historical Marker Database page about the dwelling includes a description by a Georgia man who said his grandfather acquired the land in the 1940s or 1950s.

“At the time of the purchase there were still doors inside the home with damage from a small skirmish fought on the property and within the home itself. Many floor boards were missing, and the house was in a general state of disrepair,” wrote Martin Jordan.

“It was not uncommon at all during the ‘60s and on for my grandfather to have to chase off relic seekers from the property surrounding the house, which was lined with trenches and earthworks,” Jordan added.

They don't build 'em like they used to

Willkens, the Georgia Tech professor, said the project has provided an ideal way for students to engage in preservation work. Bordeaux spent several days scanning the site, which was “very difficult” because of tree cover. The lack of other historic buildings nearby provided challenges on context.

Willkens (right) describes the house as a standard vernacular cottage, though its construction is a bit of a mystery. She thought at first it may have been a gable and saltbox style, but that is not the case. “It has some atypical arrangements.”

For some reason, the builders did not remove a massive tree stump before construction, she said.

The team took paint samples, ascertaining the original colors and is working with experts at the Smithsonian Institution to learn more about wood used in the dilapidated building.

“That house was probably built a lot better than something built five years ago,” said Willkens. “They have old growth trees, some additional redundancy in the structure.”

Postwar additions include a kitchen, laundry room, bathroom and back porch. Roche said no decision has been made about their fate, though the 2021 report suggests removing modern features.

The park would not provide photos of the home’s interior or Georgia Tech’s model and drawings, saying it wants to be careful in disseminating information and to safeguard the integrity of the site. Roche would not speak to the condition of the house. “You can walk inside it.”

The archaeologist and Willkens believe the structure can be saved.

Next steps in making the idea a reality

As stated earlier, the effort to save the house, give it permanent protection and have it help tell the story of the Atlanta Campaign is a long one.

A 1953 Wallis house marker along busy Burnt Hickory Road (Picket photo)

Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta, for years saw an incredible housing boom and development. While that was a boon for newcomers, preservationists and historians decried the loss of Civil War sites or land to development.

Now there’s an opportunity to offer something new in the telling of the battle.

“We are excited things are going on at the house,” said Roche. NPS historians visited the site just last week.

Much remains to be done. An engineer will need to study the feasibility of making repairs and restoring the Wallis house to its wartime appearance.

Thousands of cars travel past the house each day (Picket photo)

And officials will need to consider the cost of the project, its risks (concerns about vandalism) and rewards (enhanced interpretation). Major improvements on both sites could run into the millions of dollars. One feature now in place is a parking lot at the entrance of the subdivision allowing access to Signal Hill.

All of this will go in to the historic structure report (HSR), which is an involved process involving a lot of back and forth. “When we receive the recommendations from the HSR on how to proceed with either rehabilitation or restoration of the house, we will release the plans to the public for comment,” said Roche.

The archaeologist said acquiring such a historical treasure this many years later is not common, “which is why it is exciting.”

“We are really excited about hopefully being able to interpret this to the public,” said Roche.

Hands-on learning: These artifacts may not be eligible for the museum, but they still have a lot to teach Kennesaw Mountain park visitors about the Civil War

Several items from the federal park's education collection (KMNBP)

If an item is under glass at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park’s museum and visitor center, you can be sure provenance has been proven and it has a firm connection to the June 1864 fighting there or the Atlanta Campaign.

Many artifacts found on trails or donated to the park don’t meet that standard. But that’s OK – they can still educate visitors during interpretive programs and field trips.

I asked Jake Boling, a Kennesaw Mountain park ranger and education coordinator, for a little more detail after a  #MuseumMonday social media post about the education collection.

Boling stressed a museum-level item needs to have historic context, including a specific location and chain of custody.

“A good example of this is when a visitor brings in a box full of Minie balls that they found in their basement, which could be from any Civil War site,” Boling said in an email. “We would not be interested in the Minie balls for our museum collection, but they could be a useful educational tool.”

Unlike items at the museum, artifacts in the education collection can often be touched and held by visitors.

The North Georgia park posted a photograph (above) with many items of that type: three pocket Bibles, shell fragments on either side of a 12-pound solid shot, and at bottom, an Enfield round, musket ball and a Minie ball round.  (While all of the artifacts in the photo are original, some used for interpretation are reproductions.)

The Bibles are examples of those commonly carried by soldiers in the field, wrote Boling.

The shell fragments come various types of explosive artillery rounds. The solid cannon ball would have been used with a 12 pound, smoothbore Napoleon cannon. The Enfield round would have been used in Enfield rifles, whereas the Mine ball would have most likely been used in a Springfield model rifled musket, he said. The round ball could have been used in a number of different smoothbore muskets. 

Artifacts in the education collection are shown in a variety of programs. Sometimes, they are taken off-site.

“Broadly, these items help our interpretive audience actually feel and hold (in some cases) a piece of history. While we may not have the specifics on the when and where of these items, being able to feel the weight of a cannonball or the sharp edges of an artillery shell can facilitate a connection with the resources here,” said Boling. 

Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park is putting on 160^th anniversary programming this month. Events include hikes, music and infantry, artillery and signal corps demonstrations.

Vandals target six signs, earthworks and wood fencing along trail leading to summit at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park

Vandals destroyed or damaged six signs, several sections of split-rail fencing and caused minor damage to Civil War earthworks, said officials at Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park northwest of Atlanta.

Hikers on the Kennesaw Mountain Trail discovered the damage last Saturday morning, said Ray Hamel, chief of interpretation at the park.

“There were no reports of vandalism from visitors or NPS personnel when the park closed Friday evening,” he said in an email.

The destruction extended from approximately halfway up the mountain trail to the summit. (NPS photo at left)

Regarding the small section of earthworks:

“The damage was limited to a single small section of earthworks and appears to have been caused by foot traffic. This section was occupied by Confederate troops, Walthall’s Division, Loring’s Corps,” Hamel said.  

“The incident is under investigation,” the ranger said. “The park will make the repairs.” There are no cameras on that portion of the trail.

The park is asking with any information about the trail damage to call 770-427-4686, ext. 0.

One of a half dozen signs targeted by vandals (NPS photo)

There have been instances of minor vandalism in the past at Kennesaw Mountain.

In 2021, someone tried to set the Illinois Monument ablaze. A lewd image was carved into the stone, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The grave marking of an unknown soldier and a tombstone for a Union soldier were also vandalized.

Park superintendent Patrick Gammon at the time said: "It’s really sad to see something like this happen because we have to remember our past, remember those who fought for our country.”

A jumble of split-rail fencing at the Kennesaw summit (NPS photo)

Another Civil War site reported this week announced criminal activity.

Manassas National Battlefield Park in Northern Virginia said Thursday it was investigating the theft of a bronze plaque in a parking lot near Groveton Confederate Cemetery.

The marker was placed in 1928 by the Virginia Battlefield Markers Association.

A giant oak at the Resaca battlefield in NW Georgia was a thing of beauty. Now the witness tree is gone, a victim of time and a storm

Tree in better days, after storm, reduced to stump, a writing in the wood (Friends of Resaca)

An imposing witness tree that greeted visitors to Resaca Battlefield Historic Site in northwest Georgia is gone, lost to weather and old age.

Ken Padgett with the Friends of Resaca said the oak was only about 10 years old during the May 13-15, 1864, Battle of Resaca, the second-bloodiest of the Atlanta Campaign. A Georgia Department of Natural Resources employee performed a drilling of the tree in about 2014 and came up with the estimate, he said.

The friends group recently posted photos of the stump and said a storm last year finished off the oak, which was showing signs of decay.

“She was a beautiful tree,” one Facebook commenter said. “The field looked bare yesterday without her, even though it needed to be done.”

Before it was recently cut up and hauled away, portions of the tree were propped up and it was a safety risk to the public, according to Tony Patton of the friends group.

Much of the western part of the battlefield is contained within the park, which is bordered by Interstate 75.

The spot where the tree was located is approximately where the Union’s 20th Corps and the 14th Corps overlapped, said Patton (in Friends of Resaca photo).

Federal units attacked the Confederate line on May 14, and Hooker’s 20th Corps supported Palmer’s 14th Corps in the Camp Creek area near the witness tree. (See American Battlefield Trust map below for details on units)

The once-proud oak had broken limbs after a 2022 storm (Friends of Resaca)

Patton said it’s difficult to pin down specific units that attacked near the oak but the 102^nd Illinois of the 20^th Corps was there a short time before it was “pulled out and sent around to the north end of the battlefield to help repel the Confederate attack on the afternoon of the 14th.” The regiment fought through the end of the Atlanta Campaign and was in combat in South Carolina and North Carolina at war's end.

Carlin’s brigade within the 14^th Corps was in that part of the field much of the day. 

There are impressive accounts of the 21^st  Wisconsin Infantry, which had recruits from the Oneida tribe, according to Patton.

The Federal assault on the Confederate right-center (Cleburne, Bate and Hindman) petered out around 3 p.m., “having achieved nothing but casualties,” according to the American Battlefield Trust.

Fighting continued the next day but the battle proved to be inconclusive.

There was one result: The South’s Joseph E. Johnston was forced to retreat from the field due to a wide flanking maneuver by William T. Sherman.

Resaca Battlefield Historic Site in Gordon County contains significant remnants of Rebel earthworks, including an impressive length of trenches visible on the Red Battlefield Trail (Signs point out metal detectors are banned and artifacts cannot be removed).

Patton said a witness tree on the Blue Battlefield Trail survives.

Northwest Georgia is replete with Civil War sites, and the Resaca area includes the park, a Confederate cemetery in the town, Fort Wayne and an annual battle reenactment on a separate property.

“The attendance is great by both local recreation users and history buffs alike,” Padgett said of the historic site a few years back. “We have hosted many tour groups from around the South and had many national visitors.”

(Note: To see where the witness tree was located at Resaca Battlefield Historic Site, click the map and see the red arrow west of River Battlefield Trail)

Witness trees still can be found in many Civil War battlefields, including Gettysburg and Manassas, where the park suggests soldiers got under the leaves for shade or rested by leaning on a trunk.

The National Park Service also has a protection program at historic sites in the Washington, D.C., area, including the White House and National Mall.

The witness flora “provide essential context and markers on battlefields, allowing us to better identify where parts of chaotic battles occurred,” says the American Battlefield Trust. “The trees, like the land we save, have seen things we cannot imagine, and bear the marks of those events.”

Patton puts the situation at Resaca succinctly:

”It's very tragic that another piece of history is gone.”