Perdido Key's Fort McRee is long gone. But the shifting sand at a federal seashore in Florida continues to serve up Civil War cannonballs, including 157 just this year

Some of the mortars found in February in the vicinity of Fort McRee (Michael Lockman/NPS)

You can forget about seeing any visible signs of Fort McRee if you travel to the remote, eastern edge of Florida’s Perdido Key.

Civil War artillery fire, time, storms and shifting sands have erased all traces of the 19th-century bastion a few miles southwest of and across the water from Pensacola. But that doesn’t mean the former Confederate site built on what was called Foster's Bank doesn’t serve up reminders of its existence.

Gulf Islands National Seashore announced in September 2021 that 192 mortar rounds were found along the remote beach after Category 4 Hurricane Ida.

When the Picket reached out recently to the park about whether anything new has been learned about them, officials said another large cache of encrusted shells were found this year, in February. That was a surprise to me, though not the park.

Fort McRee was built in the 1830s to protect Pensacola and its deep harbor.

The fort had 12 casemates and an associated water battery, which may be underwater today. There may have been other batteries. It’s unclear whether these particular shells were discarded, forgotten about or left behind by Confederate troops..

It’s likely the cannonballs are somehow associated with Fort McRee, which was built on a narrow barrier island separating Pensacola Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. In 2022, the park said some of the cannonballs utilized Hotchkiss timed fuses.

In November 1861, the garrison engaged in gunfire with nearby Union-held Fort Pickens and a couple warships -- and came up on the losing end. The heavily damaged brick fort was abandoned by May 1862, only to fall into further ruin over the years. (Fort Pickens was one of only four Southern forts to remain in Union control throughout the war.)

These archaeological finds suggest this portion of Perdido Key has "moved" over the years, because of currents and the ever-shifting sand. Visitors to the area generally come by boat, because the road ends several miles to the west. Ruins of post-Civil War batteries are visible.

Likely Confederate soldiers at Fort McRee, circa 1861 (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

The Picket recently submitted questions about the February discovery. The responses below are by Michael Lockman, archaeologist at Gulf Islands National Seashore. Some responses have been edited for brevity.

Q. I understand some additional Civil War cannonballs were found in the vicinity of Fort McRee in February 2026. Was that the case?

A. The shells found in February of 2026 were located nearly a kilometer from the historic location of Fort McRee on Perdido Key Island.

Q. Were they found along the surf line?

A. The shells were exposed in the intertidal zone.

Some of the mortar rounds uncovered by Hurricane Ida in September 2021 (Gulf Islands National Seashore)

Q. What is the total number of shells for this discovery? 

A. US Air Force explosive ordinance disposal (EOD) experts rendered 157 shells inert within the same week of the identification.

Q. Who called in the discovery to park rangers?

A. A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) employee discovered the shells during a routine species survey.

Q. Did this discovery, like the one in 2021, come after a storm?

A. To the best of our knowledge, the February 2026 exposure was not associated with any named storm event.

The ruins of Fort McRee, beginning to vanish by the late 1880s (NPS collections)

Q. Are the rounds believed to be Confederate, likely from 1861?

A. The provenance of the shells remains uncertain, though Hardy and Bezemek (2023) cite Bartelson’s (1972) “A Field Guide for Civil War Explosive Ordnance” to suggest the presence of ears on either side of the fuse are characteristic of shells from the Confederate states army.

Q. Were they destroyed on site by EOD experts from Hurlburt Field, as was done in 2021?

A. Yes, the shells were rendered inert onsite via controlled detonation by US Air Force explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) experts station at Hurlburt Field.

Not much was left by the time of this 1907 post card (NPS collections)

Q. Are they believed to be mortars, possibly 10-inch?

A. The shells were 8-inch mortar rounds.

Q. How were they found? In clusters? Singly?

A. The shells were exposed in two clusters.

Q. Were the shells stacked in any way?

A. The shells appeared to be palletized (stacked).

Just a fragment remained at the time of this 1940 photograph (NPS collections)

Q. One of my posts on the 2021 finds mentions 194 shells, with 53 mortars being destroyed. I am trying to ascertain the total number from 2021. Was it 194 or 247? Or something else?

A. EOD rendered 192 shells inert in 2021 via controlled detonation. (Below, photo of that operation, NPS; click to enlarge)

Q. Does the NPS have any current investigation/findings on the 2021 and 2026 cannonball deposits -- source of shells, type of artillery battery, etc.

A. The area is being investigated as a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) by the U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers (USACE).

Q. Does the park currently, or will it in the future provide information or exhibits on these discovered mortars?

A. Gulf Islands National Seashore currently has no plans to create virtual or printed exhibits about this topic. To protect the resource and comply with all applicable laws, regulations, and policies, the exact location of the mortar cache will remain confidential.

Q. Would it be fair to say this second find was surprising?

A. Not exactly, since this area has history of having a large military presence.

Yankee cavalry torched Sope Creek paper mill above Atlanta. Now a nonprofit aims to preserve the stone wall of ruins in federal park along the Chattahoochee River

Ruins: Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy, map from NPS, marker by David Seibert, HMdb.org

In the days before Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman’s army made a pivotal crossing of the Chattahoochee River -- inching ever closer to Atlanta – mounted soldiers fanned out, intent on destroying anything of value to the Confederate cause.

Of particular interest were water-powered mills that mostly produced textiles. But one mill east of Marietta, Ga., along Sope (sometimes spelled Soap) Creek, was a bit unusual. It made newsprint for newspapers, writing sheets and cartridge paper used for Rebel weapons, among other goods. It apparently was known as a “rag mill," due to the paper being made from linen rags and old cotton. 

On July 5, 1864, elements of the famous Wilder’s (Lightning Brigade) put the torch to the Marietta Paper Mill, which got its start in the late 1850s. While the mill was rebuilt after the Civil War, it became defunct in 1902. (Photo below: Nearby pulp mill in 1907)

In recent years, the paper mill site has been a favorite trail stop for millions who flock to the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area.

Time and nature, of course, have taken a toll on the ruins. Unchecked and invasive vegetation have spread throughout the stones, placing pressure on its delicate walls. That’s about to change, according to an announcement this week. The nonprofit Chattahoochee National Park Conservancy and the National Park Service are partnering on an ambitious restoration project.

“For more than 170 years, these iconic stone ruins have stood as a reminder of Georgia's industrial past and the pivotal role the Chattahoochee River played in shaping our region,” the conservancy said. “After decades of exposure to the elements and encroaching invasive vegetation, the site is ready for critical preservation work.”

The first phase will remove invasive species, improve access for preservation specialists and document existing conditions.

In 2027, phase two will bring in experienced historic preservation specialists to stabilize and restore the remaining stone masonry. “Rather than reconstructing the ruins, the work will focus on protecting and preserving the existing structure while maintaining its historic integrity,” the conservancy said.

Did Phillips Legion founder tweak his nose at Yankees?

Col. John T. Wilder’s brigade gained fame in 1863 for its performance at Chickamauga, protecting the army’s flank and then launching a counterattack. For the Atlanta Campaign, regiments were transferred to the cavalry corps.

On July 5, 1864, the 17^th Indiana Mounted Infantry and 72^nd Indiana Mounted Infantry heading for the mills in Roswell found the Sope Creek paper mill, which was partially owned by William R. Phillips (left).

David Evans, in his book “Sherman’s Horsemen,” wrote about the raid, and quoted from an earlier book on Georgia places and personalities.

“An ardent secessionist, at the outbreak of the war Phillips had raised a regiment of infantry, cavalry and artillery known as Phillips’ Legion,” Evans wrote. “The loss of an eye had forced him to retired from active duty in 1862 but had done nothing to lessen his hatred of Yankees. Watching from the south side of the Chattahoochee when Maj. (Jacob) Vail and his men arrived on July 5, he sent them a message which declared, ‘The mill belonged to a man who had fought them from the beginning of the war, and who could continue to fight them to the bitter end; that he had been taught to hate them as enemies to him and his, and that he would die hating them; that he did not ask any favor from them; and they might burn to their heart’s content.’”

“It is uncertain whether Vail received the message, but his Hoosiers put the paper mill and neighboring flour mills and machine shops to the torch,” Evans added.

Wartime and postwar images of 17th Indiana drummer boy Johnny Butler ("Souvenir," a regimental history)

The National Park Service said at the time the site was rumored to have been printing Confederate currency and bonds, but the claim has never been substantiated.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, cautions the Phillips quotation may be apocryphal.

Crawford in a “Georgia Outdoors” segment produced several years ago for Georgia Public Broadcasting, talked about Sherman’s strategy.

“One of his objectives was to destroy any industry that might be of use to the Confederate government. Now in many cases, he would leave a flour mill, because he was uncertain how long his own troops would be here, and if they were here for a prolonged period of time, they might need flour,” Crawford said on the episode about mills. “And so he didn’t destroy every flour mill. But a paper mill or anything that was essentially superfluous to his efforts, but yet might aid the Confederacy, was fair game.”

Howls of protest: Women mill workers were taken north

The destruction of property, whether business or personal, was burned into the memories of Georgians. Of particular outrage was the fate of hundreds who worked at mills around Atlanta.

After a large Douglas County mill was torched by Union cavalry in July 1864, nearly 100 residents, mostly female workers and their children, were sent north by train -- under protest -- to spend the rest of the war. Many took an oath of allegiance to the United States. 

Don Scarbrough at New Manchester mill site in 2017 (Picket photo)

They shared the same fate as a much larger group of 500 people connected to destroyed mills in Roswell, just north of Atlanta.

From the Northern perspective, the workers were American citizens in open rebellion – a policy that outraged Southerners.

Crawford said the Sope Creek paper mill suspended operations before the cavalry arrived, so no workers were present to be taken into custody.

Researcher and historian Brad Quinlin said he recalled a 2014 event to commemorate the 600 mill workers being marched in Marietta before they were put on trains.

“We had a gentleman join us and said his gr-grandmother was one of those mill workers from Sope Creek Mill. It was fun to have him with us for the day and march with us to the square. He did not have much information on his gr-grandmother and her journey after she was shipped out of Marietta,” Quinlin wrote in an email.

Very few of those shipped north ever made it back to Georgia.

A wildfire rolled into a Civil War-era fort in New Mexico. Among the damaged structures at Fort Stanton (where Billy the Kid stayed one night) was a gym built by German internees during World War II

Burn area includes site of pool, gymnasium and old guard house (New Mexico Dept. of Cultural Affairs)

A central New Mexico wildfire damaged three historic structures but 150 firefighters and air crews prevented it from spreading to the main grounds of Fort Stanton, which is best known for its roles in the Civil War and Indian Wars but also tells the stories of  frontiersman Kit Carson and the Buffalo Soldiers. If that's not enough, outlaw Billy the Kid had a Fort Stanton connection.

The 877-acre Camp Fire broke out Sunday in an area known for the fort and 52 miles of cave passages. Containment had grown to 76% by Thursday afternoon and rain helped to extinguish remaining hot spots.

Fort Stanton, established in 1855, is one of the most intact 19th-century military forts in the country and is the best-preserved fort in New Mexico, according to state officials.

As an internment camp in 1939, the fort held the 400-member German crew of the luxury liner Columbus. 

The fire-blackened exterior of the German camp gymnasium (Wendy Brown/Bureau of Land Management)

Remains of the German internment camp before the Camp Fire (NMDCA)

“Damage to historic structures in the German Internment Camp area of the site is still being assessed, but two wooden structures built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s were destroyed by the fire,” the New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs said in a press release.

The roof of a gymnasium built by German internees in 1944 and which collapsed in the 1990s was consumed by the fire. Its walls, made of adobe and concrete, remain standing, officials said Wednesday.

A guardhouse suffered minor damage from a fire retardant that colored the walls pink. “We expect that a good rain will wash it off,” Daniel R. Zillmann, director of communications and marketing for the department, told the Civil War Picket.

Out of the 88 structures on the site, the most important structures in this portion of the site were the ruins of the pool, the gymnasium and the guard house.

Living historians portray Civil War soldiers during an event at Fort Stanton (NMDCA)

Zillmann said he did not believe the two destroyed wooden structures involved historic interpretation.

Fort Stanton Historic Site, which is about 20 miles northeast of Ruidoso, will reopen Thursday morning. ”The only portions of the site off limits to the public will be the Internment Camp area,” said Zillmann.

The park web site includes details of its extensive history and wide-ranging use over the years, including as a camp holding Japanese Americans during WWII.

Fort Stanton was seized by Confederate forces in 1861. During the occupation, three Rebels were killed by Kiowa Indians while on patrol 50 miles north.

A fire crew works to contain the Camp Fire around Fort Stanton (NMDCA photo)

“After all supplies were moved to Mesilla, the Confederates abandoned the fort, burning it as they left. The fort stood empty for a year, but the stone walls survived and in 1862, New Mexican Volunteer forces under the great frontiersman Kit Carson (now a US colonel) reoccupied the fort.”

In 1862, during the Civil War, Union Capt. James “Paddy” Graydon allegedly massacred peaceful Indians. Army doctor John Whitlock called Graydon a murderer and they got into a gunfight, with both ending up dead. (Read here for an account.)

In 1876, Buffalo Soldiers built the Fort Stanton Laundress Quarters, which still stands at the site and is one of the few surviving structures directly associated with the Black troops, the state says.

Billy the Kid, a legendary figure in the Wild West, was locked up at Fort Stanton for a night in 1881 when he was being brought back to Lincoln for hanging after his murder trial in Mesilla, where he was convicted of killing Lincoln County Sheriff William Brady in 1878.

He was kept in a building next to the Fort Stanton visitor center, said BIlly Roberts, a Lincoln resident, professional cartographer and amateur historian

"He was brought to Lincoln, locked up in the newly acquired courthouse, and spent a week there before he killed deputies Bell and Olinger and made one of the most famous jailbreaks in history," said Roberts.

I asked the state for more details on the fort's Civil War and other interpretation, but officials said they were busy assessing the damage and would answer questions on that aspect next week.

Pieces of a Civil War statue pulverized by big rig in an Ohio township were reassembled. Now the old soldier is guiding efforts to build a new monument

The Sherman statue was reassembled piece by piece to serve as a guide (Photos Nicholas Fairplay)

English-born Nicholas Fairplay has carved gargoyles, lions and even the severed head of John the Baptist -- providing museum-quality creations to cathedrals and historic buildings around the world.

But it is the replica of a simple statue of a Civil War soldier that now has the attention of Fairchild, who has toiled for years in the Cleveland area.

A tractor trailer rig struck the monument in the rural village of LaGrange, Ohio, on June 28, 2022. The granite memorial, which was made up of several pieces, was shattered. Even the soldier's head was broken off.

The community’s spirit, however, was not squashed.

After finalizing a $923,244 settlement with the trucking company’s insurance company, LaGrange Township hired Fairplay and Cleveland Quarries to make new versions of the statue and other parts of the monument. (At left, the monument before its destruction, photo LaGrange Township)

They are working from the original statue -- painstakingly glued together by Fairplay and an assistant to use as a template for the new one. “We saved every shard of granite we could possibly pick up,” said LaGrange Township trustee Rita Canfield.

The township hopes the fixture at the intersection of routes 301 and 303 (Main Street) will be back up for Memorial Day 2025. That coincides with the 200^th anniversary of the township and the 150^th for the village. (They are separate political entities).

To say the Sherman monument, as locals call it, is vital to the area’s identity might be an understatement. It sits smack dab in the middle of the community, which has about 2,500 residents.

Fairplay says you can drive through LaGrange in about two minutes. “When you are at the statue in the middle, you drive an eighth of a mile, you are out of the town either way.”

The township is determined that the new Sherman is faithful to the old one in every way, from the pose and flag of the Federal soldier to the stacked blocks below him that feature battles and the names of area men who served and died in the war.

There was discussion on where to get the granite, with Georgia as an option. Forget that.

“The community said it could not get it from the South. They had to get it from the North,” said Canfield. The decision was to procure it again from a quarry in Vermont. Another operation in that state provided the stone for the original 1903 statue.

The piece was shattered into dozens of pieces, including its head (Photos LaGrange Township)

Fairplay told the Picket the Sherman monument was nicely done. He has worked on a couple other Civil War memorials.

“These little towns, when you go to them, it is shocking how many died,” he said.

The master carver is working in a studio at Cleveland Quarries, which is milling the soldier for carving by Fairplay. The company also is producing all the pieces below the figure at its operation in Vermilion.

“There has been a lot of surprise from people when they hear the monument would be rebuilt,” said Cleveland Quarries president Zach Carpenter. “They assume (that) after some of the controversy with different historical monuments in other parts of the country. We are very proud to be a part of this project and are extremely happy it is being returned to its original state.”

Nicholas Fairplay will work from this milled granite once it is complete (Cleveland Quarries)

Statue was turned around to face the South

The monument is owned by the township and is the center point of the village.

The base carried the names of LaGrange area residents who served during the Civil War, the names of a few battles and of Union generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, Philip Sheridan and George Thomas. Though the statue is not of Sherman – who was from Ohio – his name stuck.

The township points out that Sherman faced north for the first decade of his life. He was turned around, with the explanation that “a good solider never turned his back on the enemy.”

After the traffic accident, officials ensured that virtually every piece, down to chips, of the monument were stored so they could serve as a guide for the replica.

Before and after the truck crash that took out the monument, flagpole and more

Truckers often use Route 301 through town. A series of crashes, culminating with the loss of the soldier, prompted officials to place bright yellow metal poles – known as bollards – to warn motorists of the vulnerable circle.

Cleveland Quarries will donate large sandstone blocks to replace the bollards. “We are pretty confident if someone fails to stop, if they hit the couple tons they will come to a stop,” Canfield said in a bit of understatement.

There are aesthetic reasons, too, said Carpenter.

“In doing site visits, we thought would be far more attractive to have natural stones in place of the yellow bollards,” he said. “I personally am from a community very near LaGrange and wanted to be sure that the monument would look as best (as) possible when complete.”

One of the Civil War campaigns being noted in the new monument (Cleveland Quarries)

Canfield said the settlement will fund the monument, a new flagpole, lights and other infrastructure on the circle. “It could not be better spent. The insurance settlement was an attempt to make this community whole. We are not using taxpayer money,” she said.

They scanned original as guide to cutting block

While New Hampshire is known as the Granite State, its neighbor Vermont has plenty for sale.

Cleveland Quarries and Fairplay will work with Stanstead grey stone from Polycor. “We are part of an enduring Vermont industry centered in Barre, dating back to the period just after the War of 1812,” Polycor says on its website.

“The most challenging part of this project so far has been the size and weight of the granite. One of the blocks procured was well over 50,000 pounds at the start,” Carpenter said. “We had the blocks cut at the quarry and then had to cut them two more times in several cases to get the pieces required. While we have some of the largest CNC stone saws available certain parts of the project pushed our capacity to the limit.” (At right, Nicholas Fairplay shows off the reassembled statue. Photo LaGrange Township)

A 10,000-pound block of granite was shipped for the soldier’s statue. Incidentally, the design of the soldier came from a pattern used to produce similar pieces across the North.

Craftsmen used a wand to scan the glued-back soldier and that was projected into a computer. “They kind of stitched it together. They put it into a 3D model you can rotate,” said Fairplay.

Cleveland Quarries is milling the statue, using a router to cut out the basic form. Carpenter said he expects to finish that piece this week and have it ready for Fairplay to get to work. “It comes off like a blob,” said the carver.

From there, he and an assistant will use a pneumatic chisel to do the exacting details. It will take them several months, while Fairplay splits time with a project for the Hellenistic Preservation Society of Northeastern Ohio.

The benefits and risks of using granite

I asked Fairplay, 67, to extol the virtues of various stone used in carving larger pieces.

While marble is gorgeous, it has a hard time standing up to Ohio’s climate. Marble really needs to be inside.” Limestone, he says, is durable.

Granite is the most durable, being impervious to water. Carvers, however, crave a very fine form of the stone. “You can’t quite get as fine a detail as marble.” (At left, preparing to mount the head of the original Civil War statue. Photo Nicholas Fairplay)

“The granite tools are much blunter” and the material is not as forgiving, said Fairplay, who has plied the trade since he was 16. The dust from granite is carcinogenic so he and the assistant will be wearing a mask and using extraction fans.

The carver will work on the statue and crossed rifles on a block below.

Fairplay describes the soldier as having undersized feet and hands. “I think his legs are a little shorter for this height.”

“He is carved quite simple but (is) a heroic, nostalgic statue. It is not a Greek or Roman statue emphasizing portraiture.” The work will include the U.S. flag leaning out and a tree stump next to the right leg. “Most have tree stumps or drapery because the weight of the statue will not be (supported) by the ankles,” said Fairplay.

“The only tricky bit is the piercing between the hands and legs.”

Carver decries removal of Civil War monuments

The monument very much harkens the Victorian age of sentimentality and pride. “The eyes are done very deep,” Fairplay observed.

Canfield, the township trustee, says local folks strongly support veterans, including the display of honor wreaths and related events.

And Fairplay feels strongly about historic monuments, citing the removal of Civil War statues, mostly in the South.

“To lose that kind of history is a big mistake. I get really angry at them taking Confederate ones down, too. It is ridiculous.” He says art is an easy target.

As for Cleveland Quarries, craftsmen will ensure pieces are identical to the original. (At right, rubbings of the words on the monument to be used for replica stones. Photo LaGrange Township)

“Most important and detailed will be the list of names that was damaged,” said Carpenter. “We have already gone to great lengths to reassemble the broken pieces and cross reference historical documents to make sure the names will appear exactly as they did.”

As for the original Sherman once his replica is made? There’s talk of him being saved, perhaps on display somewhere.

Stone Mountain Park hasn't decided what to do with manor home that belonged to a Civil War colonel and caught fire five months ago

A protective tarp is torn and no longer covers much of the roof (Picket photo)

Five months after it was ravaged by fire, no decision has been made on the fate of a historic home that is the centerpiece of a recreated antebellum plantation at Stone Mountain Park.

The Davis-Dickey home, which was owned by a Confederate colonel, was believed to be a total loss. The November 2023 fire was concentrated in the center and upper portions of the home; its wings were not as damaged. The park is east of Atlanta.

The Georgia fire marshal’s office determined that an electrical fault in conduit near the entrance to the home was the cause of the fire.

I drove by Historic Square, home to the manor residence, last week. A blue tarp placed over the roof after the blaze was in pieces, leaving sections of the roof open to the elements. There was no sign of activity at the home, which is surrounded by a security fence.

“Fate of building is pending,” park spokesman John Bankhead said in a Monday email, without elaborating or speaking to whether the house may be rebuilt. All items, mostly period furniture and antiques, not damaged by the fire are in storage, Bankhead said.

More damage is evident on the other side of the house (Stone Mtn Park Dept. of Public Safety)

The Davis-Dickey home is among a collection of relocated antebellum structures in Historic Square. The residence was built in the community of Dickey, west of Albany, Ga., for the family of slaveholder Charles Milton Davis, who left Aiken, S.C., in 1850. It was moved to Stone Mountain in 1961. The house faces the park's famous Confederate memorial carving.

Davis served as a colonel in the Calhoun County cavalry. Other websites indicated he served as well in the 12^th Battalion Georgia Cavalry and the 10^th Georgia State Troops. All of the units appeared to be stationed in Georgia.

Stone Mountain Park in recent years has been under pressure to remove features, street names or exhibits that depict what critics and scholars call symbols of the Lost Cause and white supremacy. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association has pledged to make changes, but some say the pace has been too slow. The park last year relocated four Confederate flags that were next to a popular trail.

Stone Mountain rises behind the home before the fire (Jason Armstrong, HMdb.org)

Architectural historian Lydia Mattice Brandt and associate professor of history Philip Mills Herrington, writing in the March 2022 Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, detailed the history, timeline and goals of the antebellum plantation now known as Historic Square.

They write that the plantation complex buttressed Georgia’s resistance to desegregation in the late 1950s and early 1960s and is a mixture of fact and fantasy. The authors suggest a reinterpretation of the square is critically important.

The Picket has reached out to the Stone Mountain Memorial Association for comment on the current role and possible future of Historic Square but has received no reply. I saw several groups touring the site last week.

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.

Home destroyed in fire at Stone Mountain Park was built for man who served in Confederate cavalry. Officials have ruled out arson

Center of the home goes up in flames (Stone Mtn Park Dept. of Public Safety)

(Updated Nov. 18) -- A Confederate colonel's lavish manor home, which a century later became the centerpiece of a recreated antebellum plantation at Stone Mountain Park outside Atlanta, went up in flames early Tuesday .

“It appears at this point to be a total loss. The fire was concentrated in the center and upper portions of the home,” John Bankhead, park police spokesman, told the Picket in an email.

Bankhead said in an email two days later that tests on fire debris and other evidence collected at the Davis-Dickey house led the state fire marshal's office to determine "that an electrical fault in conduit near the entrance to the home was the cause of the fire and not arson."

The Davis-Dickey home is among a collection of relocated antebellum structures in the park’s Historic Square. The residence was built in the community of Dickey, west of Albany, Ga., for the family of Charles Milton Davis, who left Aiken, S.C., in 1850.

The house -- which won praise for its architecture and antiques -- faces the park's famous Confederate memorial carving at Stone Mountain Park and has been the object of critics who believe the complex and some other park features send the wrong message in today's world.

The home was completed in about 1856. Davis, a cotton planter, was the third-largest slaveholder in Calhoun County with 78 enslaved persons. He owned about 3,500 acres, according to census records. Charles and his wife Agnes lived there with seven children.

Davis served as a colonel in the Calhoun County cavalry. Other websites indicated he served as well in the 12^th Battalion Georgia Cavalry and the 10^th Georgia State Troops. All of the units appeared to be stationed in Georgia.

A marker outside the 14-room home says the colonel was made to sign the oath of allegiance to the United States after the war. The family moved to Apopka, Fla., in the 1870s and raised oranges. Davis died in 1902 at age 79.

Stone Mountain rises behind the home before the fire (Jason Armstrong, HMdb.org)

The residence remained in the family until it was moved to Stone Mountain Park in 1961 to be the centerpiece of the attraction.

The home was in poor condition when it traveled 200 miles, according to the Society of Architectural Historians.

After it was restored and filled with original and period furnishings, the residence opened to Stone Mountain Park visitors in 1963 as a largely privately operated venture. A visit to the park this week shows the complex to be showing its age. 

It was considered the "big house" at the complex, which included other homes, outbuildings and two slave dwellings. The area was promoted as both history and entertainment and actress Butterfly McQueen, featured in the film "Gone With the Wind," was hired to appear at the plantation site. She left the park in 1965.

A tarp covers the home and a fence was erected (Picket photo)

Stone Mountain Park's website says: Each structure was moved from its original site and carefully restored to preserve its authenticity and historical value. Take a self-guided tour and enjoy the sights and smells of the working cookhouse and garden. This fascinating area also houses the most extensive collection of period furniture and decorations in the south, reflecting the diverse lifestyles of 18th and 19th century Georgia residents."

It says the home is “an excellent example of neoclassical architecture.”

Stone Mountain Park in recent years has been under pressure to remove features, street names or exhibits that depict what critics and scholars call symbols of the Lost Cause and white supremacy. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association has pledged to make changes, but some say the pace has been too slow. The park this year relocated four Confederate flags that were next to a popular trail.

Road to Historic Square was closed for a few days (Picket photo)

Scholars and historians say the attraction tried to approximate Tara, while minimizing the horrors of slavery.

Gordon Jones, senior military historian at the Atlanta History Center, 25 years ago said: “In short, the Stone Mountain Park which emerged in the 1960s comprised a comical orgy of Lost Cause, Old South, and even Western movie clichés, clearly removed from the more serious and hateful Ku Klux Klan past, but also clearly rooted in it.”

Architectural historian Lydia Mattice Brandt and associate professor of history Philip Mills Herrington, writing in the March 2022 Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, detailed the history, timeline and goals of the antebellum plantation now known as Historic Square.

They write that the plantation complex buttressed Georgia’s resistance to desegregation in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and it was mixture of fact and fantasy.

“That seeming authenticity coincided with the well-worn tropes of Lost Cause storytelling, marginalizing the history of slavery and the enslaved while depicting White consumption as virtuous and White pleasure as paramount. The plantation, past and present, was an amusement park.”

The authors suggest a reinterpretation of the square is critically important. (Click photo at left for a rendering of Historic Square.)

“The site provides an exceptional opportunity for visitors to question how their own experiences, education, consumption, and assumptions also perpetuate the Old South myth.”

The Picket reached out to the Stone Mountain Memorial Association for comment on the current role and possible future of Historic Square, which remained closed after the fire.

It's too early to say what might happen to what's left of the Davis-Dickey residence.

Even though the structure suffered extensive fire and water damage, it’s possible some belongings can be saved. As for the possibility of rebuilding, Bankhead said: “Not sure at this point. The left and right sides were not as damaged, but the center is destroyed.”