A persistent Michigander helped identify the graves of two soldiers buried at Fredericksburg. He will be at one's gravesite Saturday for Memorial Day luminaria

The Fredericksburg luminaria will remember 15,000 souls including Sgt. Wight (NPS photos)

A citizen historian from Michigan whose research helped lead to the identification of graves for two Iron Brigade soldiers buried at Fredericksburg National Cemetery will stand next to one’s headstone Saturday night during a Memorial Day luminaria.

Mark Fischer of Livonia will share the story of Sgt. Wallace Winfield Wight and his regiment, the 24^th Michigan Infantry to visitors walking through the cemetery, which will be aglow from thousands of candles placed in white bags.

Fischer worked with Steve Morin, a retired FBI researcher who volunteers at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia, to find information that led to grave identifications for Wight and Pvt. John S. Waller of the 19^th Indiana.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be invited; I also see it as a good citizen’s duty,” Fischer (left) wrote in an email, “and a way to thank all fallen soldiers for their service and sacrifice.”

Wight’s grave at Fredericksburg National Cemetery has the wrong surname (Wright) and Waller’s has only initials.

An email from Fischer to the park in 2023 began the saga.

Fischer’s research actually began with Wight’s father, an officer in the same regiment and who is buried in Livonia. A nearby stone with Wallace Wight’s named appeared to be a cenotaph -- an empty grave for someone who is believed to rest elsewhere. But that was not a certainty.

Fischer reached out the park, wanting to know whether the younger Wight rests there. 

That first contact did not prove fruitful because park officials could not find a Wight in their cemetery records (though the register did show a Wright, as later research came to show). So Fischer kept at it, looking at diaries, letters and old newspapers.

How persistence of 2 men cracked the code

Subsequent correspondence between Fischer and Morin led to the latter eventually finding a Detroit Free Press article, which broke the whole story open last year.

The lengthy piece (right) in December 1870 about a Grand Army of the Republic reunion included information about the deaths of Wight, Waller and other men in 1862 and 1863.

Interestingly, the mislabeled Wight marker includes a “Jr.”, likely because the teen and his father, Lt. Col. William Walker Wight, had the same initials.

After the Wight identification, Morin was able to do the same for Waller, whose grave is marked simply “J.S.W.”

The headstones have not been corrected, due to their historical nature and other factors, but the cemetery’s records were updated.

Park historian and ranger Peter Maugle credited Fischer for instigating the gathering “of the pieces of the puzzle.”

“This guy figured it out for us. He was persistent.”

Wight, 18, and several comrades were killed on Dec. 13, 1862, and buried at Pollock’s Farm in Stafford County, as the newspaper article detailed. He was later moved to Fredericksburg National Cemetery.

Waller was killed by rifle fire in April 1863 while attempting to cross the Rappahannock River in Fredericksburg.

The park decided to invite Fischer to this year's events as a sign of gratitude for his efforts.

Morin (left) on Saturday evening will be at the grave of a Pennsylvania soldier to discuss his service. A half dozen or so other people will be placed at additional grave sites of note.

Over the years, Maugle and his team have been able to “better” identify about 200 graves at Fredericksburg. About 85 percent of the graves at the cemetery are listed as unknown.

“Identification of soldiers is an ongoing project. It is very time intensive,” Morin (right) told the Picket. “It is great that records are continually being digitized by various organizations which really helps with the research work.” 

He called Fischer’s efforts to determine the location of Wight’s grave “relentless.”

Fischer said he would like to meet Maugle and Morin before the luminaria and thank them for their help. He hopes to visit the battlefield and see what the park archives have on the 24^th Michigan.

The citizen historian is transcribing the diaries of Webster Wood, a musician in Wight’s company, for a descendant. Wood also was from Livonia.

Monday's events include ceremony, walking tours

The luminaria is scheduled for 8 p.m.-11 p.m. Saturday. In the event of rain, the event will be moved to Sunday.

“The luminaria honors those who died in the service of this country,” the park said in a news release. “Local scouts will light 15,300 candles in the cemetery – one for each person buried there. In addition, a bugler will play “Taps” every 30 minutes during the evening as park staff posted throughout the cemetery relate stories about some of the individuals.”

The cemetery is located at the intersection of Sunken Road and Lafayette Boulevard. Click here for more information on transportation and parking.

A Memorial Day ceremony and observance is planned for Monday. (At right, grave of Pvt. Waller, NPS)

The event will begin at 10 a.m. with a 15-minute ceremony in the cemetery, including the  playing of Taps and the presentation of the colors of the 23rd USCT living history group.

From 10:15 am to 4 p.m., park staff will be stationed in the cemetery to share stories about the history of Memorial Day in Fredericksburg and “facilitate remembrance activities to honor those who lost their lives in service to the United States.” Golf carts will be available to facilitate access up to the cemetery.

Join staff at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. for walking tours of the Sunken Road. The tours will meet behind the Fredericksburg Battlefield Visitor Center, 1013 Lafayette Blvd, by the panoramic battle painting.  

National Preservation Month: Gettysburg visitors on May 11 have rare opportunity to see inside of 4 historic homes that were in the thick of things

The Brian house is a quarter mile north of the Angle (NPS photo)

Next Saturday is your one chance in 2024 to step inside four noteworthy homes on the Gettysburg battlefield as the park participates in National Preservation Month.

The Abraham Brian, Lydia Leister, Jacob Hummelbaugh and Mary Thompson houses will be open for only four hours – on May 11, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., according to Gettysburg National Military Park.

“Doors Open Gettysburg” launched in 2016 and occurred annually through 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic and staffing shortages shut it down after then until this year, park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket

Park staff will open the “magnificent” structures on that day. The event is free. “The selected buildings range from those newly restored to those in need of repair,” the park said.

Superintendent Kristina Heister said in a news release that the event “highlights the park’s important historic preservation mission and the stories these buildings can tell.”

Here are the pertinent dwellings:

Lydia Leister house is along Taneytown Road (NPS photo)

Lydia Leister house (Meade’s headquarters): Home of the widow Lydia Leister and her children, the two-room structure became the headquarters of the Union Army of the Potomac. Maj. Gen. George G. Meade held his famous “Council of War” here on the evening of July 2, 1863. The artillery bombardment prior to Pickett's Charge on July 3 caused considerable damage to the house. The barn was located in the rear of the center of the Union battle line and used to shelter Union headquarters staff and horses until they moved because of heavy gunfire. It later served as a temporary aid station and field hospital when headquarters was relocated elsewhere. Like the Brian Farm, the biaxial roofing on the residence was recently returned to this historic structure, restoring a character defining feature of one of the most historic buildings on the battlefield. Park in the National Cemetery parking lot or along Hancock Avenue.

A Rebel general died at the Hummelbaugh house in July 1863 (NPS photo)

Jacob Hummelbaugh house: The farm house was for a time occupied by Brig. Gen. Alfred Pleasonton of the Union cavalry as a headquarters during the battle. It was used as a field hospital and rallying point on July 2, 1863. Confederate Brig. Gen. William Barksdale died here the next day and was temporarily buried in the yard. The home will be rehabilitated and stabilized in 2024. Park on Sedgwick or Hancock Avenue. Do not park on Pleasanton Avenue.

Abraham Brian family house: The free black man lived on this 12-acre farm with his wife, Elizabeth, and two children. He purchased the land in 1857, grew wheat, barley and hay, and tended a small apple and peach orchard. Afraid of being captured and sold into slavery, Brian and his family left their home when Confederate troops entered Pennsylvania. Following the battle, they returned to find their home riddled with bullet holes, windows smashed, and furniture thrown about the yard. The crops and orchard were ruined, and their farm fields a graveyard for hastily buried soldiers. Brian repaired his home, replaced his fences, and farmed his land until 1869, when he moved to town and worked at a local hotel. National Park Service preservation experts recently restored the biaxial roof on this historic home. This distinctive roofing style, which had largely vanished by the 20^th century, is also found on the nearby Lydia Leister house. Park on Hancock Avenue and at the National Cemetery parking lot.

Lee's headquarters (Photo: Melissa Winn, American Battlefield Trust)

Mary Thompson house (Lee’s headquarters): Rehabilitated and restored by the American Battlefield Trust, this famous battlefield landmark was used by Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee during the battle. The Thompson home, built in about 1833, was co-owned by U.S. Rep. Thaddeus Stevens. Thompson, about 70, lived across the road from one son (also part of the Trust property); seven other children lived elsewhere. Trust employees will be on hand for the day. Park in the designated lot at the Mary Thompson house.

Mary Thompson may be figure at right in post-battle photo (Library of Congress)

The buildings are not wheelchair accessible. No tickets or reservations are necessary for “Doors Open Gettysburg.”

Martz says staffing issues preclude the four homes from being open all year. “In order to open any of these buildings we must have staff on-hand to ensure the resources are protected.”

Also on May 11, the David Wills House will open for the season, according to the park.

David Wills house: The home of Gettysburg attorney David Wills was the center of the immense cleanup process after the Battle of Gettysburg and where President Lincoln put the finishing touches on his Gettysburg Address. The museum features six galleries, including two rooms that have been restored to their 1863 appearance: The home features Wills' office, where he planned for a Soldiers' National Cemetery after the battle; and the bedroom where Lincoln stayed and prepared the Gettysburg Address.

Admission to the David Wills house, 8 Lincoln Square, Gettysburg, Pa., is free. Open Friday-Sunday, 11 am to 4 pm.

If you can’t make it to Gettysburg, you can take virtual tours of the Leister, Wills and Brian homes here.

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.”

Search for a spot at Fredericksburg cemetery to bury remains of Civil War soldiers makes a surprise find of road, culvert

A NARP archaeologist trowels around the culvert (NPS photo)

The search for a suitable location to bury remains of Civil War dead took an interesting turn recently at Fredericksburg National Cemetery in Virginia, with the discovery of a long-covered road and brick-lined culvert.

The National Park Service’s Northeast Archeological Resources Program was brought in to determine whether there were unmarked burial spots or other features that could be affected by interment of bone fragments found several years ago near the site of a temporary Civil War hospital in town.

Using ground-penetrating radar and magnetometer surveys, the team made the discovery, the program said in a Facebook post this week. They didn’t locate graves but decided to excavate an unexpected feature in the soil where the new vault had been proposed.

“During excavation we uncovered a road/path that went around a site where a monument was proposed during the early design of the cemetery. That monument was never erected and through time the road was buried. Fortunately for us, the geophysics were right, and no evidence was found of a grave ever existing where we excavated,” the post said. “

The search also yielded the culvert. The post did not provide details on the length of the road or its construction. “Projects like this show just how complex park sites can be even just a few centimeters below the surface,” it said.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park thanked the program and said it is evaluating the location and alternatives for the reinterment. The NARP will submit a report on its finds.

Eric Mink, historian and cultural resource specialist at the park, told the Picket in an email the bricks apparently were part of a gutter that once lined a drive or avenue in the cemetery.

“These gutters assisted drainage in the cemetery and were installed about 1867-1868. About 1878, the gutters were filled in to accommodate a horse-drawn lawn mower and ease pedestrian traffic in the cemetery. What was uncovered by the archaeologists may very well be a portion of one of those brick gutters. How much of the gutter survives is unknown, as the archaeologists only excavated a small unit.”

Mink said the avenue that was on the southern end of the cemetery was a circular drive around the Monument Mound. “It was reserved during the early design of the burial ground for a Soldiers Monument that was never erected. The mound was later used as a flower bed, before being removed in the 1880s. Even later, a rostrum was erected at this location.”

Wartime image of the town, shows Rowe-Goolrick home at right foreground, 
facing the Eliza Eubank home at left (Library of Congress)

The cemetery holds the remains of more than 15,000 soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War; only about 2,500 are identified. It sits on Marye’s Heights, a strategic area located southwest of the town’s historic downtown. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate troops held the high terrain and successfully repelled numerous Union attacks.

The cemetery has not had a soldier or veteran buried there since 1945, but the city has asked the NPS to bury the remains at the cemetery.

John Hennessy, chief historian and chief of interpretation at the park, told the Picket: “This is part of the process of identifying a site for the permanent burial of the remains in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. As you can see, they came across some unexpected features. The process continues.”

Hennessy said that the reported 100 bone fragments were found on city property – the site of the downtown Riverfront Park along the Rappahannock River – by a cultural resources firm working with the city.

Park officials have made no decisions about the timing or nature of any ceremony that may attend the reinterment of the soldiers’ remains.

A November 2015 article by The Free Lance-Star newspaper detailed the discovery of the bone fragments near the Rowe-Goolrick house, which served as a hospital during the December 1862 battle. A report said the bones were found mixed in with buttons and bits of fabric from Union infantry uniforms and other items in what may have been a root cellar.

The discovery was made after a Masonic hall next to the Rowe-Goolrick house site was torn down and officials called the company in to study the site. Presumably, remains of soldiers who died at the hospital were buried in the adjoining parcel.

Recent grave site testing at the national cemetery (NPS photo)

The Rowe-Goolrick house was demolished in 1973 to make room for a parking lot that has since been removed as part of work on the park.

As at other battle sites, temporary hospitals were established in Fredericksburg.

According to the Free Lance-Star, there are written accounts from several individuals, including some serving in the 14^th Connecticut Infantry, that describe convalescing on the house’s grounds. Park officials in 2019 said graves were often overlooked in the years following the war.

Going to Gettysburg this summer? Park rangers are back on the battlefield, leading walks, tours and anniversary programs

Little Round Top was a key objective for Rebel troops (NPS photo)

After a nearly two-year hiatus, Gettysburg National Military Park will host ranger-led activities this summer, including hikes and programs focusing on the 158^th anniversary of the July 1-3, 1863, battle.

The park, like others in the National Park Service, largely turned to virtual programming during the coronavirus pandemic.

“Hike the fields of Pickett’s Charge, explore the rocky summit of Little Round Top, reflect on the words of the Gettysburg Address, and much more,” the park said in a press release Wednesday. “There are a host of new and exciting offerings that will appeal to first time and repeat visitors alike.” 

Ranger-led walks, talks and hikes resume this Saturday, June 12.

The park released its summer schedule, including these for the balance of June: A 90-minute hike that provides an overview of the battle; a tour of Soldiers’ National Cemetery, where President Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address; the fight for Little Round Top; care of the wounded; and an African-American history hike.

Park staff waxing the Vermont monument several years ago (NPS photo)

Special July 1-3 programs for the battle anniversary feature hikes for families; first day of the battle; Edward McPherson farm; second day’s fighting; Lydia Leister home; Abraham Brian farm; and the third day, including Pickett’s Charge.

“Visitors are invited to follow in the footsteps of the Confederate soldiers that took part in Pickett’s Charge, the climactic moment of the Battle of Gettysburg. Who were the men that made this assault, what motivated them, and what did they experience in the fields between Seminary and Cemetery Ridge? Join Ranger Matt Atkinson and retrace the route of the most famous charge in American military history.”

The park says that July 3 program involves significant hiking and walking occasionally over rough terrain. Water, headgear, sun protection, insect repellent and comfortable, sturdy walking shoes are highly recommended.

Park Superintendent Steven Sims said in the press release that the summer season will bring back in-person programs that “share the inspiring, tragic, and relevant stories of the battle and its aftermath. Our professional Park Rangers make the past come to life on this hallowed ground.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fantail of the CSS Jackson before fire (Picket photo)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mississippi monument gets TLC at Vicksburg, to be rededicated

A Mississippi monument is being rededicated in a national park on a Civil War battlefield.  A ceremony is taking place Monday at Vicksburg National Military Park. The Vicksburg reports the Mississippi monument underwent a $75,000 restoration funded by the state and promoted by a group called Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park and Campaign. Work included masonry repairs, testing of the monument’s lightning suppression system and thorough cleaning. • Article

"It saved instant death": Bible struck by bullet during 1864 fighting is on display at Monocacy battlefield in Maryland

(Tracy Evans, Monocacy National Battlefield)

(Courtesy of Perry Adams Antiques)

A Confederate-issued Bible is on display at Monocacy National Battlefield in Maryland, where visitors can learn about the bullet that passed through it and wounded a Virginia soldier.

Pvt. Thomas Cox, a member of the Red House Volunteers, Company A, 21^st Virginia Infantry, was captured after on July 9, 1864, at the battlefield near Frederick, Md. He was fighting near the Thomas farm when he was wounded.

The 33-year-old farmer from Carroll County died on Aug. 15 at a Baltimore hospital. 

Tracy Evans, curator and park ranger at Monocacy, said this is the first time the Bible has formally been on display. The exhibit was opened in May and the volume is expected to be out for a few more months.

The small Bible is closed, but visitors can see a photograph of it when opened and read some messages that were written on its pages.

“It’s not completely falling apart but to display it open could potentially cause it to,” said Evans. “If we turn it to a certain page the binding is fragile and you don’t want to tear loose the binding.”

Bible includes handwritten notations (Courtesy of Perry Adams Antiques)

The Bible is remarkable in its own way. There’s a gaping hole in the center of the book left by the bullet. “We are thinking it must have gone in sideways,” Evans previously told the Picket, adding that is perhaps the reason Cox was not killed outright.

Cox asked a fellow prisoner at the squalid West Building’s Hospital in Baltimore to inscribe a message in his battered Bible.

“The ball that struck this book entered my left brest (sic) and came out of right – it saved instant death & will be the means of saving my soul. Thomas Cox,” reads the penciled writing on the margins of a few pages. On succeeding pages is written: “Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord.”

(Monocacy National Battlefield)

In 2015, the park purchased the New Testament for $12,500 from brokers Perry Adams Antiques in Petersburg, Va. Attempts to find a Cox descendant have been unsuccessful, Evans told the Picket.

The park said the Bible is among the few items in its collection to have known Confederate provenance.

Cox said a conservationist examined the Bible and said it was best to keep it as is.

“It is a unique item,” she said. “I think people are interested in it because it has entries in it.”

Postscript: They found this pike head while working on the railroad just north of Atlanta

(Sections of pike. Courtesy of National Park Service)

You may recall reading our posts about the pikes made for abolitionist John Brown, who wanted to arm enslaved persons, and those done in response by Southern governors, notably Joseph E. Brown of Georgia. The latter weapons were intended for home guard units and individuals. 

We asked museums across Georgia about any pikes in their collection. The timing of the partial government shutdown precluded details then from Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield. Park ranger Amanda Corman has since provided this interesting story about a pike in the park’s collection.

A text panel in the museum says: “The ‘Joe Brown’ pike, named for Governor Joseph E. Brown. Unable to furnish Georgia troops with enough rifles and muskets, Brown calls upon local blacksmiths to supply the soldiers with pikes. Between March 1862 and April 1863, Georgia pays five dollars apiece for over 7,000 of these clumsy weapons. They are stored in the state armory at Milledgeville and never used in combat."

The metal head of the pike was acquired in 1949. An assistant chief engineer, R.W. McCabe, of the Nashville, Chattanooga and St. Louis Railway donated the pike to park Superintendent B.C. Yates.

“According to the letter to the former superintendent, the artifact was found by railroad workmen some years prior. While they were cleaning out an old office, they came across the pike and not needing it themselves thought that the park may like to have it,” Corman told the Picket.

As part of the donation, a card was attached, with this legend:

"This Civil War relic thought to have been either pike or an ornamental point of banner staff was dug up on August 17, 1925, by W.J. Thompson, Foreman on the south side of Pier No. 2 of Chattahoochee River Bridge of the Western and Atlantic Railroad while excavating for the enlarging and strengthening of the pier. It was lying on the hard-san strata, the same that the timber base of the old pier rests on, about 10 ft. from the pier outside the original coffer-dam, as well as outside the new one just built, covered by the chunk rock filled around the old pier for protection and by stream deposits to a depth of 16 feet."

Shiloh's hallowed ground: Deteriorated brick wall in part of cemetery is being replaced

Portion of the brick cemetery wall is torn down. (NPS photos)

A contractor is replacing a deteriorated brick wall at Shiloh National Military Park’s national cemetery, the resting place of thousands of Civil War soldiers.

“There are large cracks, chunks are falling off, bricks have broken and fallen out,” park ranger Chris Mekow said of the section’s condition going into the project.

The wall, constructed in 1940, is on the cemetery’s western boundary and faces a parking lot. Extreme weather wore down the mortar, and there were no expansion joints or drainage weep holes. “Because the wall shifted… we could not shut the gate anymore. It actually moved part of the gate.”

The view before the project began last week

The 1911 gates will remain and the new wall will retain the design of the old brick structure, which was demolished late last week. Work is expected to be finished by the end of the year.

The remainder of the cemetery at the federal site in Tennessee is protected by a utilitarian wall made of concrete and stone.

Shiloh’s cemetery, established in 1866, holds about 3,600 Civil War dead, two-thirds of them unknown.

In 1867, workers built a stone wall around the cemetery. A brick wall and ornamental iron gates were added at the entrance in 1911. While the stone wall and iron gates remain, the original brick wall eventually deteriorated, and in the early 1940s was replaced with the current wall. 

A conservation team determined the best of several scenarios was to replace the brick, Mekow said. Officials thought the interior of the wall might be hollow, but that turned out not to be the case: It was solid.

Mekow said between 1,000 and 1,500 visitors annually attend a Memorial Day service within the cemetery. The plot holds about 300 veterans of other conflicts.

The two-day battle in April 1862 was the largest at that time in the western theater; the Confederate offensive, while it had successes, was finally stopped by a fierce Federal resistance. The Southerners had to leave the field, resulting in a Union victory. Casualties were staggering: 13,000 Federal troops, 10,700 Confederates.

Demolition of the wall unveiled no new artifacts, Mekow said. “We were hoping for some kind of time capsule but were disappointed,” he chuckled.

Man donated Civil War artifacts to Monocacy battlefield. He called police about one rejected item. It turned out to be a live shell

Park was able to keep these artillery rounds, bullets (NPS)

A middle-aged man who lived within several miles of Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Md., called rangers earlier this week. He had a box of artifacts that had been collecting dust for years and he wanted the park to have it.

The staff, interested in using Civil War items to educate visitors – even if they had no firm connection to the 1864 battle – met with him Tuesday and looked at the “very nice collection,” said curator Tracy Evans.

There were a cartridge box, breastplate, belt buckle, canteen, bullets, a cap box, two solid-shot shells -- and one more artillery round that got their attention.

Replica 10-pound Parrott gun (Charles Edward/wikipedia)

They could see the fuse for the 10-pound Parrott rifle shell had been removed, but because of rust and corrosion, they could not tell whether the round had gunpowder. “You are looking for evidence of a hole where it had been drilled (to remove the powder),” said Evans. “That’s when we said we were not sure if it was live or not.”

They told the man they could not accept it. The alarmed collector left and within minutes called police from the parking lot, setting in motion the 90-minute closing of the visitor center and the summoning of a state police bomb squad that detonated the round in a nearby field, Evans told the Picket on Friday.

The technicians used a small amount of C-4 explosives to bust the Parrott shell open.

“The C4 actually ignited the powder that was in it. It was live,” said Evans. Inside the cylindrical  shell was case shot with black powder.

Federal cartridge box among donation (NPS)

Park officials said they believed this was the first time a piece of live munitions had been brought by a layman to this particular National Park Service property.

The Office of the State Fire Marshal told the Frederick News-Post that there is always the potential for a citizen in historic areas of the state to find such an item.

“All the time we hear about someone saying I got this from my great-grandfather and this was in the house when I bought it,” said Evans. Park officials are advising people to be aware of the potential for problems with such ammunition.

A collector may think the round is solid shot, without black powder. “It can be very dangerous,” she said.

Police or other agencies almost always destroy artillery rounds when they get a call. The park's Facebook post about the incident drew many comments critical of the detonation, saying it was a waste of an artifact. The staff had this reply:

“As powder gets older it becomes more unstable. There is no way to know if it would never be a danger or explode even under the best conditions. Considering the lives of staff and visitors as well as the artifacts we house, it is our policy no to accept live projectiles. It is up to the owner to decide if they want to keep or dispose of it.”

Canteen will be shown for educational purposes (NPS)

Evans said the donor was “a very nice guy” who later told them “he always kind of wondered” about the shell’s status.

The park is keeping the rest of the items, including the solid shots. “To have … an actual historic piece really brings it to life to people,” Evans said.

The episode could have even more of a disruption if it occurred one day earlier. About 1,000 people were at the park and visitor center for the total solar eclipse.

Note: The Picket was unable to obtain a photo of the detonated shell