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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All photos Monocacy National Battlefield

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

NPS continues investigation of 'Stonewall' Jackson monument vandalism at Manassas

(National Park Service photo)

The National Park Service is continuing to investigate vandalism – in the form of poured and sprayed paint – on the famous Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson monument at Manassas National Battlefield Park, a spokeswoman said Thursday.

NPS spokeswoman Jenny Anzelmo-Sarles said “no more details are available for release at this time.”

The monument after it had been scrubbed (NPS)

Crews by Thursday afternoon had removed all the paint and will repolish the black granite base at a later date, the park said in a Facebook post about the vandalism that was discovered at about 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday.

White paint was poured on three of the four sides of the polished granite base. The word “Dead!!!” was written in gold spray paint. 

Cleanup of vandalism of Stonewall Jackson statue at Manassas Battlefield Park is progressing well. Latex paint washing off  @nbcwashington pic.twitter.com/hFGdFa5tua

— Julie Carey (@JulieCareyNBC) October 4, 2017Vandalism has been reported in other locations in the country amid the debate over what to do with monuments honoring or recognizing the Confederate cause and its leaders.

The monument was erected in 1940 near the Henry House. It’s where Jackson received the nickname “Stonewall,” at the First Battle of Manassas on July 21, 1861.

(NPS photos)

An NPS web page said this of the dedication, which came during World War II but before the United States entered that conflict: “Mounted atop an eight-foot base of black granite etched with Brig. Gen. Barnard Bee's immortal phrase, "There Stands Jackson Like a Stone Wall," the stalwart Jackson in the saddle projected the same strength and determination that Americans needed in the current perilous affairs.”

NPS law enforcement park rangers are investigating Wednesday’s incident; anyone with information is asked to call 301-714-2235.

Paint it black: Restored locomotive Texas' color scheme will symbolize Atlanta's rise after war

(Photo: Max Sigler, Steam Operations Corp.)

The decision has been made: The restored locomotive Texas – made famous in the Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War – will return to a black paint scheme when it goes on display at its new home in Atlanta.

As the Picket reported in September, officials at the Atlanta History Center have been conducting historical research and analysis on the Texas as it was deciding what era of its history the locomotive should depict. A committee was tasked with making a recommendation.

“How can this engine best educate folks? What story do we want to tell with this engine?” Jackson McQuigg, vice president of properties at the AHC, said at the time.

The AHC said Wednesday that the Texas, built in 1856, will appear as it did “when it was the workhorse of the Western & Atlantic Railroad” from the 1880s and beyond. The locomotive and its tender will be primarily black. Since the 1930s and before the current restoration, the displayed Texas was festooned in places with brighter colors.

Howard Pousner, manager of media relations for the AHC, said some final paint detail decisions will be made soon. The locomotive will include the Western & Atlantic lettering and the name Texas.

"This still is a work in progress. Right now, we’re trying to figure out how to replicate the look of Russian iron for the boiler jacket, for instance," Pousner said. "And historic photos, which of course are black and white, have us leaning toward white lettering. But that’s not a final decision, either. The driver tires are likely to be white as well."

During its Grant Park days

The locomotive, which sat in the former Atlanta Cyclorama building in the Grant Park neighborhood for nearly 90 years, will be moved (along with the painting of the Battle of Atlanta) to the AHC campus in the Buckhead neighborhood.

Officials said they will stress the Texas' role in Atlanta's rise as a transportation hub and its involvement in the Great Locomotive Chase.

Craftsmen with Steam Operations Corp. have been conducting the restoration since December 2015. They have worked out of a large building at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer.

The transportation museum announced Tuesday that the public will be able to see the restored locomotive during a celebration from April 28-30. The locomotive may be moved to Atlanta in May.

The story of the Texas, which was built in 1856, made the color scheme choice a bit complicated.

Should the restored locomotive have a Civil War appearance? The fact that much of the existing engine is not original, because of the replacement of nearly all of its working parts over time, would it made it extremely difficult to replicate such a look.

Companies such as the Western & Atlantic at that time had a livery of colors that might include bright red, blue, brown, gold and green wheels and accents. During the Civil War, the Texas likely featured many of those colors -- or others.

In April 1862, James Andrews and his band of Union raiders – having captured the locomotive General -- tried to destroy much of the Western & Atlantic Railroad and communications as they rushed northward from Marietta to Chattanooga, Tenn. They were chased by two locomotives, with the Texas running in reverse in the final stretch.

Texas with a different number in 1907 (Atlanta History Center photo)

The raiders achieved little success and eight of the nearly two dozen captured participants, disguised as civilians, were later hanged in Atlanta as spies. Andrews was among them.

The bright-color fad lasted only a few decades. Like thousands of other locomotives, the Texas was converted from burning wood to coal. They didn’t look so fancy when covered in black soot. The Texas was black by 1880, said railroad historian Jim Wilke, and it stayed that way until it ended service in 1907.

The locomotive was saved from the salvage yard and eventually was put on display with the famous painting in a building at Grant Park. The balloon stack and cab, which still has some of its original wood, were painted brown. The wheels and cowcatcher became a bright red. The bands, or belts, around the boiler, the sand dome, some pipes and the valve chests were a dull gold.

As it appeared last summer (Picket photo)

Wilke said he believes artist and historian Wilbur Kurtz did the best he could during the 1930s restoration. Kurtz spoke with people who had memories of the engine, Wilke said. But nuances and precise details may have become lost. Plus, historians have not been able to locate paint schemes for Danforth, Cooke and Company, which manufactured the Texas.

Pousner said officials have not decided what the cowcatcher, or pilot, will look like.

The paint scheme choice is not a total surprise, given AHC officials have touted the Texas’ importance to the commerce of the city after the war.

McQuigg said then that painting the Texas black would be keeping with its appearance for much of its life. “The Civil War is important … but there are other stories as well.”

The locomotive and tender earlier this month (NC Transportation Museum)