Forgotten no more: Robert Smalls seized a Confederate ship and led people to freedom. Now, South Carolina will build a monument to the civil rights champion

Gov. Henry McMaster signs Robert Smalls legislation (S.C. governor's office)

As speakers pointed out Thursday at a South Carolina State House bill-signing ceremony, Robert Small’s legacy was not contained to a single act of bravery during the Civil War.

The African-American, born a slave, in March 1862 commandeered a Confederate ship in Charleston Harbor, sailed people to freedom and became a hero to the Union cause. In the 50 years following, he accomplished even more by helping to advance civil rights.

Now the state that was the first to secede from the United States, and was ruled for generations by white supremacists, will place its first monument to a single African-American individual on the Capitol grounds. Gov. Henry McMaster signed a bill setting up a commission that will come up with a design, location and private funding for the Smalls memorial.

 “A monument to honor Robert Smalls would represent the remarkable contributions, achievements, and accomplishments of this forgotten son of South Carolina and would serve as an overdue tribute to the many slaves who sacrificed alongside him,” asserts the legislation.

Smalls’ contributions to the Palmetto State are incalculable.

A Harper's Weekly article on Smalls' daring escape in Charleston (Library of Congress)

At the start of the Civil War, Smalls, 23, was a pilot on the steamship CSS Planter. On the morning of May 13, 1862, Smalls led the takeover of the ship by its slave crew, sailed past the harbor's formidable defenses and surrendered the vessel to the Union blockade fleet. His wife and children were among those on board who gained freedom.

Smalls met with President Abraham Lincoln and lobbied him to recruit black men to serve in the Union army. The former slave served as a pilot on the ship USS Crusader.

Smalls returned to his hometown Beaufort and bought his former master’s home. After the war, he served in South Carolina’s Legislature, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served several terms.

The congressman fought against the disenfranchisement of black voters across the South, according to the American Battlefield Trust. He also fought against segregation within the military, advocated for compulsory education in South Carolina, opened a school for black children and published a newspaper, among other accomplishments.

“My race needs no special defense for the past history of them and this country,” Smalls said. “It proves them to be equal of any people anywhere. All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.”

After serving as collector of customs duties, he died in his Beaufort home at age 75 in 1915.

Smalls purchased this Beaufort home that belonged to his enslaver (NPS)

The legislative committee has a few months to make key decisions about the monument. It met for the first time on Wednesday.

As the Post and Courier newspaper pointed out, the monument will be on a 22-acre property in Columbia dominated by Confederate memorials.

“A towering obelisk to veterans of the Confederate army sits directly in front of the Statehouse steps. J. Marion Sims, a pioneer of gynecology who experimented on enslaved women without anesthesia, has a statue in a quiet corner of the grounds,” said the newspaper.

“Confederate Gen. Wade Hampton, who enslaved people, has a statue, as does Benjamin Tillman, the former governor and white supremacist whose brother George used violence and intimidation to rob Smalls of his seat in Congress before his colleagues eventually removed him from office.”

Speakers at Thursday’s ceremony talked about how South Carolina has changed, through racial reconciliation and, in the case of the Small bills, bipartisanship. State Sen. Gerald Malloy said the effort showed progress by citizens “building a more just and equitable society.”

Smalls has gained national stature in recent years, with buildings and a US Army vessel named for him.

State Sen. Chip Campsen said Smalls fought in three different arenas as a slave, pilot and statesman.

“His life was best described as a fight for freedom. And he knew that his freedom would only endure through law,” Campsen said, according to The State newspaper.

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.

At James Longstreet's grave in Georgia, taking measure of a man whose reputation gets stronger with time -- and through a new biography

Longstreet's grave on Sunday, birthday cake later at the Piedmont Hotel (Picket photos)

With a copy of the new biography of James Longstreet in tow, I drove Sunday to Gainesville, Ga., for the annual memorial service honoring the Confederate general.

I’ve been to Alta Vista Cemetery before (though I don’t remember it being as chilly) and I was long familiar with (and have written about) Lt. Gen. Longstreet’s controversial life – his performance at Gettysburg and, later, support for Reconstruction, black suffrage and the Republican Party.

When I visited and interviewed people about the Southern pariah nearly 15 years ago, his story was little-known to most Americans. Yes, the novel “The Killer Angels” and the film “Gettysburg,” coupled with scholarship by historians, helped to usher in a reassessment of the general.

But I think America’s current political divide – a take no prisoners philosophy – and its racial reckoning since Charlottesville and Charleston have made for perfect  timing for Elizabeth R. Varon’s “Longstreet:The Confederate General Who Defied The South.” In the past couple months, I have noticed more articles about Longstreet than ever before. Varon’s biography, which I read over the holidays, has generally been well-received.

A small gathering Sunday at Longstreet's grave in Gainesville, Ga. (Picket photo)

On Sunday, I stood near a dozen other people – many members of the Gainesville-based The Longstreet Society -- circling the family plot. While an impressive monument mentions the general’s Confederate service and an iron Southern Cross of Honor is positioned nearby, it’s notable a U.S. flag flies above the grave and violinist played the National Anthem during the brief service –- 120 years after the man’s passing.

Society president Richard Pilcher gave a brief summary of the general’s life, mentioning his military prowess, public service and courage away from the battlefield – working for reconciliation after the war. “Many Southerners considered him a traitor to the cause, and blamed him for the Confederacy’s defeat,” he said.

Of the people I spoke with at the cemetery and at the society’s headquarters about a mile away, only a couple had read much of Varon’s book, which dubs Longstreet “Confederate Judas” in the prologue. But they know the general’s story – and have been his defender for a generation. (Sharon Johns plays during the memorial service at Alta Vista, below)

Longstreet lived in Gainesville the last 30-plus years of his life, filling federal jobs, writing his memoirs, defending his war record and lobbying for the reunification of North and South. The society has held the memorial service for 29 consecutive years.

Member Doug Smith, a lifelong resident of the area, at the service read Theodore Roosevelt’s famous passage about bravery – the kind Longstreet demonstrated as he defended himself when he was assailed by Southerners who deemed him a turncoat for supporting former enemy Ulysses S. Grant and Reconstruction.

Longstreet, who supported slavery before and during the conflict, did an about-face on race and famously led black and white troops in New Orleans during a violent white uprising in the 1870s. And while he was not a racial egalitarian, Longstreet pushed for black suffrage in the decade after Appomattox (He was not an active civil rights activist in his last years.)

The worthy man, Roosevelt wrote, is he who fights for something despite the pain, willing to fail “while daring greatly.”

I spoke with Smith afterward at the historic Piedmont Hotel, the society’s headquarters. Longstreet operated the hotel and lived there for a time, welcoming those who took a buggy from the rail depot a couple blocks away. He famously served them Southern fried chicken, according to legend.

“You could be flawless if you sat on the couch every day,” Smith told me, providing his perspective on Roosevelt’s words and their application to Longstreet.

As members and visitors enjoyed birthday cake (Longstreet’s birthday is January 8), Smith told me he learned nothing as a child about the general. Southern leaders and educators had brushed Longstreet aside, and veneration for his valor was out of the question.

“I never heard of him one bit until the Gettysburg movie came out,” Smith said of the 1993 film that starred Tom Berenger as Longstreet.

The movie focused heavily on the Gen. Robert E. Lee-Longstreet relationship during the battle. The latter, who Lee called his “old war horse,” lobbied for a more defensive posture.

Longstreet in postwar years voiced his opinion that Lee should not have launched the disastrous Day Three attack at Gettysburg. Advocates of the romantic Lost Cause myth lashed out at him, and said he failed Lee at Gettysburg by delaying the execution of orders.

But many Confederate veterans lionized him and he was popular at reunions, including a notable gathering at Gettysburg in 1888.

The society’s museum mostly covers Longstreet’s military service, his family and the hotel. Pilcher estimates about 60 percent of the interest in the general is about his Civil War record.

Longstreet supporters, like those I spoke with Sunday, defend his actions at Gettysburg. Interestingly, one portrays Lee at various events, such as he did Sunday.

“I love Lee, but Lee made a mistake at Gettysburg,” Raymond E. Loggins, dressed in uniform (left), said on the porch of the remaining portion of the hotel.

Smith said Longstreet was a pragmatist and believed it made sense for the South to accept defeat and move forward. As for the general’s motivation?

“The war is over. We lost. Get over it. I’ve got to make a living,” Smith theorized, who has read portions of the new biography.

Even after reading Varon’s book, I still don’t know exactly why Longstreet took the path he did after the Civil War. Was it because of his deep friendship with Grant? Was it by taking federal jobs in Republican administrations, as he did, he would be exempt from foes firing him if he held a local position? Or, maybe he wanted the South to lower its head and do what it was needed to be full equals.

We may never know, and a framed piece of text at the museum, entitled “PRESENTISM,” goes to the difficulty of understanding the thoughts of people who lived 160 years ago.

Only the first floor of the old Piedmont Hotel survives (Picket photos)

“Presentism is an ugly virus invading journalism, history, religion and other fields,” the message reads. “It is the idea that we should apply the modern world’s moral and ethical standards to judge people of the past who had different standards. And, if people from our past are found wanting in the judgment of the present, the virus would eradicate their names and their memorials from the world.”

Of course, many Americans vociferously disagree when it comes to the Confederacy, saying actions speak louder than words. Civil rights activists, according to CNN, say monuments are racist and offensive because they honor those who promoted the enslavement of Black people.

“Destroying these monuments and these memorials will not erase the legacy of slavery,” said Southern Poverty Law Center researcher Kimberly Probolus in 2022. “But abolishing these memorials is a first and essential step in combating the white supremacist values of the Confederacy.”

Dan Paterson, a great-grandson of Longstreet who lives in Virginia, was unable to attend Sunday’s memorial. But he told me beforehand he plans to read Varon’s book soon.

“I was aware of the book coming out for quite some time and my anticipation was guarded as it usually has been regarding Longstreet books over the years,” Paterson wrote in an email, adding he has enjoyed some biographies of the general.

“Given the monument destruction of the last several years, including grave desecration, I am a bit leery of the angle taken on any former Confederate commander, much less my ancestor,” said Paterson, who said he had ancestors who fought on both sides. He faulted the recent removal of the Confederate monument at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Taking down a reconciliation monument right before Christmas is not a good look.”

Regarding Longstreet, Paterson said: “It seems to me, from what I am told, he will probably be the only former Confederate not canceled. Those are the words of my son. who also added that the liberals/progressives are backing him up or his reputation, as it were.”

A facelift for Gettysburg's Virginia Memorial as it continues to serve as a place to discuss thorny issues related to the Civil War

Technician uses a torch to heat wax over the patina on Virginia Memorial (NPS)

Gettysburg’s Virginia Memorial, fresh off preservation work that included application of a more vibrant finish on its figures, will continue to be a battlefield focal point for discussion on causes and interpretation of the Civil War.

National Park Service technicians recently applied a new patina that remedied its dull and flat finish.

Jason Martz, spokesman for Gettysburg National Military Park, told the Picket in an email that experts found the bronze beneath the patina to be in great shape. “Removing the old patina took a little longer than anticipated due to all the nooks and crannies.”

The memorial honors the 20,000 Virginians who fought at Gettysburg and their commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee. The general and his horse Traveler look toward the area of Pickett’s Charge, the disastrous failed attack on July 3, 1863. Below them are figures representing artillery, infantry and cavalry.

Crews prepare statue for patina application in late September (NPS)

The 41-foot memorial, dedicated in 1917, was the first Confederate state monument at Gettysburg National Military Park, and it came with controversy. Union veterans objected to its construction and officials had to walk a tightrope regarding its inscription.

The American Battlefield Trust has a detailed article on the monument’s history and how its backers helped perpetuate the Lost Cause narrative rather than reunification. The Lost Cause ideology says states’ rights, not slavery, was the Confederacy’s principal cause. Most historians say evidence shows that was not the case.

“As the largest and most prominent Confederate monument in the park, the Virginia Memorial is an excellent place for park interpreters to discuss issues of memory and commemoration at the Gettysburg, how the Lost Cause has manifested itself on the battlefield, and how Gettysburg has evolved over time from a Union Memorial Park to one that embraced a more reconciliationist narrative,” said Martz.

“Interpretive walks offered through the summer have used the VA Memorial to highlight this, Student Education programming focused on monumentation utilizes the memorial, and primary source material related to its creation has been made publicly available online.”

The park said the work was needed to replace brown ferric patination, applied in the 1980s, that failed in many areas and left the memorial with “little to no depth when viewed.”

Patinas bring a creative effect and highlight striking features of a work.

“It’s used to accentuate pieces, provide contrast, imply age, introduce color to the bronze, and sometimes to add a dose of reality to our detailed statues,” according to the Randolph Rose Collection, which makes bronze pieces. (It was not involved in the Gettysburg project).

The NPS said the new patina “will result in a darker finish that is historically correct and is the primary sealer in use for bronze elements throughout the park’s monument collection.”

Mathew Brady's photographs captured the reality of the Civil War. A new gravesite memorial celebrates the diversity of his subjects

A partial view of the memorial depicts Brady in foreground (Congressional Cemetery)

A new memorial at his gravesite in Washington, D.C., celebrates pioneering Civil War photographer Mathew B. Brady’s legacy.

Photo historian Larry West spearheaded the effort to honor Brady, who died destitute in 1896 and was buried in Congressional Cemetery. The photographer is remembered for his depictions of famous and everyday Americans, and battlefield scenes that brought the horrors of war to American's doorsteps.

Matthew B. Brady

A dedication on Sept. 17 showcased life-size bronze statues of President Abraham Lincoln and civil rights figure Frederick Douglass – among famous Americans photographed by Brady -- a portrait on stone of Brady, a reproduction metal camera and 85 fired porcelains of images, most by the photographer and his associates.

“The memorial features Mathew, recognizing him as the entrepreneur, innovator, team leader and posing artist that he was,” West wrote the Picket in an email this week. 

While it does not include his famous scenes from the Antietam and Gettysburg battlefields and those of campsites, many of the porcelains depict people who were wartime figures.

Historians this year are marking Brady’s 200^th birthday, emphasizing his importance to the field of photojournalism.

“Brady’s photographs of Gettysburg caused a sensation when viewed by members of the public,” says Congressional Cemetery. “Americans were little used to scenes of war that before had only existed in imagination.

“The prior year, in 1862, Brady had shocked the public when he exhibited photographs of dead enemy soldiers, captured by associates Alexander Gardner and James M. Gibson, from the Battle of Antietam.”

Lincoln, Douglass and Anna Murray-Douglas (Congressional Cemetery)

Brady’s team took more than 10,000 photographs by war’s end. He had spent some $100,000 but the federal government initially declined to buy them. Brady declared bankruptcy and struggled financially for the rest of his life.

Eventually, the government purchased Brady's photographs for $25,000, providing him some financial relief. Fortunately, most are available on the Library of Congress website.

Upon his passing in 1896, veterans of the 7^th New York Infantry helped finance Brady's funeral and interment at Congressional Cemetery.

Sept. 17 dedication in southeast Washington (Congressional Cemetery)

"His photographs, and those he commissioned, had a tremendous impact on society at the time of the war, and continue to do so today," says the American Battlefield Trust.

West, a board member of Congressional Cemetery, designed and provided primary financial backing for the memorial.

“Celebrating Brady's outstanding artistic achievements, the memorial reflects the diversity of his subjects and the Washington, D.C. community,” a Facebook post says.

Congressional Cemetery, founded early in the 19^th century, has graves of Washington residents and numerous national figures.

It is the final resting place for about 600 Union service members and 100 Confederates.

“Generals lie next to privates, and brothers who fought on opposite sides rest only a few feet apart.”

Among those buried there are Alfred Pleasanton, a Union cavalry general, Maj. Gen. Andrew Humphreys and executed Lincoln conspirator David Herold.

Visitors can take a self-guided, Civil War-themed walking tour.

Gettysburg preservation project will redo finish of bronze Virginia Memorial and give a new pop to soldiers and horses

National Park Service technicians will bring new life to the bronze Virginia Memorial at Gettysburg, applying a patina that will remedy its current dull and flat finish.

The 41-foot memorial, dedicated in 1917, was the first Confederate state monument at Gettysburg National Military Park, and it came with controversy. Union veterans objected to its construction and officials had to walk a tightrope regarding its inscription.

The park on Monday provided details of the preservation project, which will begin by Sept. 6 and conclude by Sept. 30. It said the current brown ferric patination, applied in the 1980s, has failed in many areas and left the memorial with “little to no depth when viewed.”

Patinas bring a creative effect and highlight striking features of a work.

“It’s used to accentuate pieces, provide contrast, imply age, introduce color to the bronze, and sometimes to add a dose of reality to our detailed statues,” according to the Randolph Rose Collection, which makes bronze pieces. (It is not involved in the Gettysburg project).

The NPS said the existing brown patina on the Virginia memorial is not original to the work. The agency’s Historic Preservation Training Center will correct appearance and wear issues by removing the current sealer, patina and corrosion. (NPS photos above, below. Click to enlarge)

“When reduced to a bare metal surface, a patina of sulphurated potash will be applied, and this surface will be sealed with clear microcrystalline paste wax. The use of a sulphurated potash patina has been historically documented on work at Gettysburg NMP and is very stable for outdoor exposure. The new patina will result in a darker finish that is historically correct and is the primary sealer in use for bronze elements throughout the park’s monument collection.”

The memorial honors the 20,000 Virginians who fought at Gettysburg and their commander, Gen. Robert E. Lee. The general and his horse Traveler look toward the area of Pickett’s Charge, the disastrous failed attack on July 3, 1863. Below them are figures representing artillery, infantry and cavalry.

The American Battlefield Trust has a detailed article on the monument’s history and how its backers helped perpetuate the Lost Cause narrative rather than reunification.

In 1912, Virginia submitted this proposed inscription:

VIRGINIA

TO HER SOLDIERS AT GETTYSBURG

THEY FOUGHT FOR THE FAITH

OF THEIR FATHERS

The monument as it appeared in the 1920s (National Park Service)

The head of the Gettysburg National Military Park Commission objected, believing the wording would bring criticism and violated regulations that inscriptions be without “censure, praise or blame.”

The approved wording was:

VIRGINIA TO HER SONS AT GETTYSBURG

The monument was designed and sculpted by Frederick William Sievers.

He used photographs and a life mask to capture the features of Lee’s face, according to the Gettysburg Daily website.

“Those who knew Lee, and who were living at the time of the monument’s dedication, thought this sculpture was the best likeness of the general,” Gettysburg Daily says.

“Traveler’s bones were on display in Lexington, Virginia, where Lee had settled before his death. Sievers found a live horse that matched the size and shape of the bones as a model for Traveler.”

From the NPS: The immediate grass circle around the memorial will be closed during this project. The circle drive around the memorial is expected to remain open with intermittent closures to facilitate the work and visitor safety.

36 Civil War soldiers will have headstones dedicated in Iowa cemetery

A dedication ceremony in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for military headstones for 36 Civil War veterans who have been buried in unmarked graves for a century will be taking place in May. This is being done with the help of Colonel William H. Kinsman Camp #23, Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, and the Veterans Administration. -- Article

Tablets honoring Civil War soldiers -- including 21 African-Americans -- are back on display in Amherst, Mass., after nearly 25 years in storage

(Jen Reynolds, Senior Services, town of Amherst)

After a 25-year absence, marble tablets containing the names of more than 300 Union soldiers and sailors – including members of the famed 54^th Massachusetts -- are on display in Amherst, Mass., fulfilling the dream of descendants of five African-Americans who are among those listed.

E.M. Stanton Post 147 of the Grand Army of the Republic, a national Civil War veterans group, donated the tablets to the town in 1893. They were unusual for the time by mentioning 21 Black soldiers, seven of whom fought with the 54^th Massachusetts and 14 in the 5^th Massachusetts Volunteer Cavalry (Colored). Five died during the war.

The tablets are in the Bangs Community Center (Jen Reynolds, Senior Services)

Among the names on the tablets are the Thompson siblings: Christopher, Henry and John served with the 5^th Massachusetts Colored Cavalry while James joined the 54^th. Christopher’s son, Charles, also was part of the 5^th Cavalry.

Dudley J. Bridges Sr. (right), a veteran of World War II, worked for years to have the tablets -- which were put in storage in the mid-1990s -- restored and put on display.

He died in 2004, but townspeople, officials and Bridges' daughter Debora Bridges and granddaughter Anika Lopes, who are descendants of Christopher Thompson, continued the effort to have the heavy, but fragile monuments refurbished and reinstalled in a suitable setting. (Dudley Bridges Sr.’s wife, Doris, was a direct descendant of Christopher Thompson).

Juneteenth -- the day in 1865 when blacks in Galveston, Texas, learned they were no longer slaves – became a federal holiday this year, bringing the dream to fruition: The tablets are now featured in a room at Bangs Community Center that includes photographs and history of the service of African-American troops during the war.

The western Massachusetts town recently announced exhibit hours at the Bangs Community Center.

“It’s absolutely amazing to finally get them out” of storage, Debora Bridges told the Picket last week. “My dad was adamant about getting them displayed.”

Lopes said her grandfather wanted all the troops and sailors – white and Black – remembered. “The focus was on the 54^th and 5th for part of that, as well as unifying the town. Because they were all Union soldiers,” she said.

54th Massachusetts reenactors at West Cemetery this year (Anika Lopes)

The 54^th Massachusetts, of course, is most known for its valiant attack on Battery Wagner near Charleston, S.C., in July 1863, a scene depicted in the movie “Glory.”

“This was one of the first major actions in which African American soldiers fought for the Union in the American Civil War. The courage of the soldiers in the 54th convinced many politicians and Army officers of their value, prompting the further enlistment of black soldiers,” according to the National Park Service.

The 5^th Massachusetts Cavalry fought in Virginia, including around Richmond and Petersburg, and guarded prisoners in Maryland. It was sent to Clarksville, Texas, east of Dallas, at war’s end.

According to family history, Christopher T. Thompson volunteered with his three brothers. He was a 44-year-old farmer when he enlisted in January 1864. (Photo at left courtesy of Anika Lopes)

John died from an accident while in training and James mustered out in August 1865.

Christopher and his son, Charles, and Henry were with the 5^th Cavalry in Texas in June 1865 when news was brought of the liberation of enslaved persons. Henry died of typhoid in October 1865 while guarding Confederate prisoners in Brazos Santiago near the border with Mexico.

Several of the Thompson brothers and Charles are buried at the town’s West Cemetery.

The tablets were displayed in Town Hall until the building was renovated in the mid-1990s. They were placed in storage in 1997 and had been away from the public’s eye since. Four list veterans and a fifth tablet lists those who died during the conflict.

Dudley Bridges Sr. developed a plan to move the tablets from a storage area at a nearby gravel pit to an intersection above Amherst College, not far from Town Hall. The plan was approved in 2001 and the tablets were restored by a Connecticut firm in 2010. The next steps in getting the tablets in the public stalled for a while.

Christine Brestrup, the town’s planning director, told the Picket that the Amherst Historical Commission was instrumental in having the plaques restored and eventually put on display.

Amherst Town Hall was built in the late 1800s (Wikipedia)

She said the tablets, once donated by the GAR, were housed for decades in a stairwell area and the basement of Town Hall before it was renovated. They were then moved to the gravel pit.

“It is not a very charming location but it is weatherproof. It kept them dry and they were in wooden crates. They were very well-protected” after restoration, Brestrup told the Picket.

The town thought about placing them back in Town Hall but wasn’t keen about major structural work to handle their size and weight. And it eventually ruled out an exterior location. “We don’t want them to be subject to being weather-beaten. Marble is very susceptible to acid rain, freezing and thawing and cracks,” she said.

Planner Ben Breger said: “In a way, we have been lucky that they have always been kept inside. The marble is in some of the best condition of any tablets in Massachusetts.”

(Jen Reynolds, Senior Services, town of Amherst)

Lopes and a committee formed last year made a renewed effort to have them displayed and publicized their cause, bringing synergy  to the campaign.

Their work was very influential in getting the tablets back on display, officials said, and the endeavor benefited from a fortuitous situation. Brestrup said the Covid-19 pandemic put a halt to most activities at the Bangs center, leaving space available for the tablets.

Brestrup said there has always been an intention to get them back in the public eye. “Things in Amherst take a long time, but we eventually get things done.”

After the decision was made to move them to the community center, the town marked Juneteenth this year with several events, including commemoration of the tablets, which weigh between 600 and 800 pounds each.

Ancestors of Debora Bridges and Anika Lopes (courtesy of Lopes)

Amherst is a progressive college town and is cognizant of the contributions of black businessman and residents over the years. A private website details related historical sites in and around town.

Another website, Amherst Historical, says this of wartime life:

“In spite of the major impact of the war, life in Amherst continued. Students remained at Amherst College, committed to their education along with their newly required military drills. Emily Dickinson composed poetry prolifically during the war years and continued to correspond with family and friends. At the Bee Hive, black residents of Amherst continued to enjoy fewer privileges than their white neighbors. However, some black citizens contributed to the war a few joined the prestigious 54th Regiment and others took advantage of the still limited educational opportunity to study at Amherst Academy in the evenings.”

Many Civil War dead from the region are buried at West Cemetery.

(Jen Reynolds, Senior Services, town of Amherst)

“These tablets speak volumes and there are so many people in the community who have reached out,” said Lopes.

Debora Bridges serves as guide and curator for the new exhibit. She said these soldiers fought for the freedom of African-Americans, and those with black units were at risk of retribution if captured.

Now it’s time to educate visitors about the sacrifices of all 300 men and their families.

The search continues for a permanent home for the restored and cleaned tablets. Town officials say Jones Library, which may be renovated, might be the right home for them.

“It’s been a long, sleepy journey but I feel we have a lot of positive energy and intention to move this forward,” said Lopes.

The project has been a labor of love for her, given her grandfather’s commitment to the tablets.

“When I touched them, they really came to life,” she said.

The Civil War tablets are at Bangs Community Center, 70 Boltwood Walk, Amherst. Hours are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Call (413) 259-3060 for more information. 

John H. Simpson, teen survivor of Sultana explosion, kept the memory alive to his dying day. A monument to men on the vessel is near his grave in Knoxville church cemetery

John H. Simpson (photos courtesy of Gene Salecker)

In both photographs – taken about 60 years apart – John Harrison Simpson’s gaze is steadfast, projecting confidence and resolve.

The image taken after the Tennessee boy joined the Union army at age 15 or 16 shows him gripping a revolver -- perhaps a photographer’s prop – that is wider than his torso. He wants the viewer to know he is ready for the battle.

In the later photograph, Simpson’s face is framed by a full white beard. He has led a long life, but this time he is displaying something else – a postwar Grand Army of the Republic badge affixed to his coat lapel. He is proud of having served the United States.

The intervening years in many ways defined Simpson, who was captured in battle, spent several months in a prison camp in Alabama and then survived the worst maritime disaster in U.S. history, the explosion and sinking of the Sultana at war’s end in April 1865. The vessel was carrying released prisoners back to their homes in the North at war's end.

Memorial sits atop hill at Knoxville area cemetery (Picket photos)

Upon returning to the Knoxville area, Simpson became a businessman and farmer. But his real passion was ensuring those who died or survived the Sultana disaster would be remembered – a tall task since the tragedy was largely overlooked because it occurred shortly after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.

Simpson helped form the local chapter of the Union veterans group the Grand Army of the Republic and by the late 1880s, according to the Knoxville History Project, was convening meetings of Sultana survivors. These veterans and others around the country lobbied long and hard for a monument in Washington or one in Memphis, Tenn., near the site of the disaster, but those never came to be.

The East Tennessee chapter, however, was particularly ambitious. On July 4, 1916 -- having given up on the federal government to come through -- members dedicated a striking Sultana memorial on a hilltop cemetery belonging to Mount Olive Baptist Church, where Simpson was a member.

(Courtesy Gene Salecker)

A 2015 article by the Knoxville History Project gave this description of the ceremony:

“Dozens assembled there … old men in then-unstylish beards and hats, but also with children, perhaps grandchildren or even great-grandchildren, with flags flying, to unveil their monument, Knoxville’s last new monument to be witnessed by actual Civil War veterans -- just as their nation tried to stay out of another war.”

The Picket has written much about the Sultana over the years, but last month brought the first opportunity to see the memorial in person.

I wanted to learn more about how it came to be, and I began researching Simpson’s story. Here’s what I have learned.

He was raring to fight in mid-teens

In 1863, the younger Simpson and his father Green enlisted in the 3^rd Tennessee Cavalry (Federal), Company I. While there were divided loyalties, East Tennessee was largely pro-Union and towns across the region sent thousands to join the cause. The boy likely lied about his age so that he could join up.

Knoxstalgia blogger Mark Knox years ago wrote a couple posts about his second great-grandfather.

“I suppose no one will ever know if Green’s enlistment resulted from inspiration at John’s courageous act of patriotism, or if he simply joined to be able to keep a watchful eye on his obviously headstrong son,” he wrote.

Hundreds of names are etched on memorial (Picket photo)

The 3^rd Tennessee eventually was assigned to help guard a supply rail line in northern Alabama in September 1864. Troops under Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest surrounded the Federal works at Sulphur Creek Trestle and the commander was forced to surrender. Among the 1,000 or so men taken prisoner were hundreds with the 3^rd Tennessee, who had been sent to reinforce the garrison.

Knox wrote that his great uncle gave an account of what happened to John during the fighting.

“My grandfather often spoke of the tense moments spent waiting for the Confederate attack, and then suddenly hearing the awful ‘rebel yell’ and seeing the Confederate troops come charging in on their position with their sabers clashing,” the great uncle wrote. “Before he had time to react, he was overrun by one of the charging horsemen. The horse stepped down and smashed his thigh and side. He was soon after captured and removed to the Cahaba prison for Union soldiers. When I was a boy, my grandfather still bore the terrible scars on his side and leg from this occasion.”

The view toward cemetery entrance (Civil War Picket photo)

Headed home after prison ordeal in Alabama

While not as well-known as Andersonville prison camp in Georgia, Cahaba held thousands of men during it two phases of operation. It was closed for a time, and its prisoners were sent to Andersonville. The Alabama camp near Selma reopened for the final six months of the conflict.

“As Confederate-run prisoner-of-war camps go, Castle Morgan was not considered one of the hellish ones, that is, if you could suffer the central Alabama heat,” says the Knoxville History Project. “Its death rate was relatively low. Perhaps the worst they had to deal with was another flood, that February.”

The 3^rd Tennessee Cavalry POWs were part of a large prisoner exchange in March 1865, only a few week before the war’s end. They had to travel to Columbus, Ohio, to muster out of service. They were sent from Cahaba westward to Vicksburg, Ms., where they would travel by boat to Ohio.

Harpers Weekly illustration of the disaster

Thousands of gaunt former prisoners from Andersonville and Cahaba, exhausted by their ordeal, were jammed onto the Sultana steamboat. Simpson, then 17, was believed to be sleeping on the third deck when the disaster occurred just north of Memphis, near Marion, Ark.

The overcrowded vessel exploded and caught fire on April 27, 1865, killing nearly 1,200 passengers and crew. Local residents, including freed slaves, helped the passengers, who found themselves swimming for shore, or thrashing about in the chilly Mississippi River, About 750 people were rescued, with 31 dying from horrible wounds or exposure. Bodies were recovered over the next several months.

According to Knoxstalgia, John Simpson ended up in Nashville, where he mustered out on June 10. His father left the cavalry a short time later. (I attempted to contact Mark Knox for this blog post, but have thus far been unable to reach him.)

They wouldn't give up on monument

The Sultana Survivors’ Association was formed about two decades later. National meetings were held in Toledo, Ohio. Many survivors were from the Buckeye State, but those in the South eventually decided to mostly gather in Knoxville, meaning there would be two main survivors groups – one in Ohio, the other in Tennessee.

1920 Knoxville reunion; Pleasant Keeble at far left, John H. Simpson
second from right (Knox County Public Library, McClung Historical Collection)

The survivors wanted a special pension and a national monument to be erected, but Congress never authorized the money, for a variety of reasons.

So the Knoxville chapter raised money to have one built in Tennessee, procuring native marble. Simpson was listed as the promoter.

“The dwindling number of gray-haired survivors -- by then, all were all pushing 70, or beyond --got together and, without waiting for government help, established a permanent memorial,” according to the Knoxville History Project. “Simpson was a member of Mount Olive Baptist Church. He picked that church’s hilltop cemetery as the site, and it was his prerogative. But it was a pretty good place anyway, a pretty, quiet spot barely within view of an important road, Maryville Pike.”

The pink marble memorial bears the names of 365 Tennesseans who were on the Sultana. Most, like Simpson, served in the 3^rd Tennessee Cavalry. The centerpiece is a bas-relief of the Sultana, smoke pouring from its smokestacks and the American flag fluttering.

Patriotic dedication in July 4, 1916 (courtesy of Gene Salecker)

Gene Salecker, who is a board member of the Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion and a longtime Sultana historian and author, provided the Picket an article he wrote about the Knoxville monument, including details of dedication day.

“Present among the hundred or so people that attended the unveiling of the monument, were members of the GAR, the Daughters of America, four survivors from the Knoxville area, including “Colonel” Simpson, and a representative from the northern Sultana Survivors’ Association who gave a short speech on behalf of the aging survivors from the North who could not attend. The beautiful monument was christened by Rev. W. L. Singleton, pastor of Mt. Olive Baptist Church.”

Visitors to the memorial today will notice a column jutting from the top. It wasn’t there in 1916.

“I have been able to reach up and feel the top of the column or shaft,” Salecker told the Picket. “There is no hole -- nothing to put flowers in or put a flag pole in. We believe that it may have been put on the monument to make it look like a steamboat smokestack.”

Descendants ensure the story lives on

The Association of Sultana Descendants and Friends, which was organized in 1988, held most of first 14 annual reunions at Mount Olive Baptist Church, says founder Norman Shaw. A ceremony of some kind always took place at the memorial.

Bob Warner, son of survivor Pvt. William
Warner, at monument in 1997 (G. Salecker)

The group had the aging monument sandblasted about 20 years ago and it has been cleaned since, said Shaw, who is not a descendant.

John H. Simpson, as president of the Southern contingent of survivors, was active in affairs pertaining to the Sultana for the rest of his life. The group met at various locations and by 1921 there were just 14 Tennessee survivors.

The Knoxville History Project says Simpson and Pleasant M. Keeble, residents of Knoxville’s Vestal neighborhood, were the last two Tennessee survivors. (Keeble often served as scribe for the group.)

“The two who lived closest to their monument were the last to see it. Simpson, with the kind face and flowing white beard, died first (in 1929 at age 82). Pleasant Keeble, who wore an old-fashioned walrus mustache and still had some dark in his hair, seemed made of iron cable. He decided no further reunions need occur, that the tradition would die with him.”

(Courtesy of Kendra Kirk)

The last survivors' meeting in his city was held in April 1930, with only Keeble, 84, in attendance. The former private of Company H, 3rd Tennessee Calvary, died the following year.

His comrade, John H. Simpson, is buried at Mount Olive Cemetery, not far from the beloved Sultana monument. Next to him is his wife, Margaret Flenniken Simpson, who died just two weeks after her husband’s passing.

Pastor Kirby Ownby of Mount Olive Baptist says he is unaware of any Sultana descendants currently in the congregation.

The church does keep a  history written in 2004. "They Are Not Dead But Sleepeth: The Interments of the NM Cemetery at Mt. Olive" has details of many annual reunions. Simpson was active in all of them, and he would make appearances about the Sultana until his death. A 1901 Knoxville Sentinel article about that year's meeting noted, "the event has proven a success and one of general enjoyment to the survivors and their families there assembled to pay homage to their bravery and perseverance in the Civil War."

Kendra Kirk, a trustee with the church's cemetery committee, said they get inquiries from those curious about the memorial and will provide information. The marble was recently sandblasted, she said.

(Courtesy of Gene Salecker)

(This post was updated to correct the number of those rescued and who died later)