A Union officer lost family photos to Rebels near Manassas. A relic hunter found one in the 1970s. No one knew who she was until a man stopped by a Gettysburg shop. He remembered seeing a different image of the girl with the same broach

Image of Sarah McAllister (L) was found by relic hunter; 2 others of her at right (Manassas NBP/Rutgers University Libraries)

Years ago, Civil War memorabilia collector Ken Johns stopped by a shop in Gettysburg, Pa., that was an unlikely combination of Christian bookstore and provider of metal detectors.

Among the items on display was an aged photograph (above, left) known as an ambrotype. It depicted a young woman staring blankly at the photographer, a round broach or pendant affixed to her collar.

Store owner Donald Hinks – having bought the image around 1975 from a relic collector -- had no idea who she was. But Johns, of East Stroudsburg, Pa., did. He was familiar with a book of letters by Robert McAllister, who served in the 1^st and 11^th New Jersey Infantry.

The girl, he told Hinks, was Robert’s daughter Sarah, who was 18 years old when her father lost some of his baggage – and photographs of his wife, Ellen, and two daughters -- to Confederate troops in Centreville, Va., during the Battle of First Manassas in late July 1861. McAllister wrote home, lamenting the incident.

“It was instant,” Johns, now 85, told the Picket about recognizing the teen. “I remember it in total detail.”

That’s because East Stroudsburg (located in the Pocono Mountains) is near New Jersey and Johns had read “The Civil War Letters of General Robert McAllister,” edited by noted historian James I. Robertson and published in 1965 by Rutgers University Press.

The book includes photos of Robert, Ellen, daughter Henrietta and a different one of Sarah, taken a year or two after Manassas. She is wearing what appears to be the same broach. Johns recalled that item when we stopped by Gettysburg that day.

Hinks, now 94, kept the ambrotype for years at the business for years. “Of all the things I have had in the store, it certainly was the most unique,” he told the Picket.

Hinks decided after he and his late wife retired in 2017 to donate Sarah’s photograph to Manassas National Battlefield Park and he reached out to officials there. The handover occurred about a year ago.

“Instead of selling, I thought it best it end up in the museum,” said Hinks.  

Park museum specialist Jim Burgess said, but for Johns’ visit to Hinks’ shop, the image believed to show a young Sarah McAllister would likely have stayed in a private collection.

“The chance of ever identifying the ambrotype was probably less than 1,000.”

Donald and Joan Hinks at their electronics and book stores (Courtesy the Gettysburg Times)

Some called him 'Mother' McAllister, with affection

Sarah was born in Juniata County, Pa., in January 1843. (Her father also was from that area.)

The dust jacket for his book of letters home describes Robert McAllister as former railroad construction engineer who became a successful Union officer.

“Soft of voice, calm of temperament, religious and averse to the use of liquor, he became the epitome of the Scotch Presbyterian warrior -- an officer so concerned for the welfare of his men that he came to be known as 'Mother' McAllister, yet so dedicated to the winning of the war that he was fearless in leading his men.”

McAllister was a lieutenant colonel with the 1^st New Jersey at the time of Manassas. His troops were part of Brig. Gen. Theodore Runyon's reserve division at the time and only got as far as Centreville when retreating Union troops from the battlefield overtook them, said Burgess.

In a letter to Ellen on July 26, 1861, McAllister (photo below, Rutgers University Libraries) wrote:

“I have lost some of my baggage, which is now in the hands of the enemy. The articles are about as follows: my fine large shawl, India rubber blanket, woolen blanket, a new pair of gauntlets never worn, two pair of gloves, several shirts, Henrietta’s portfolio with letters and papers, military books, army regulations, Hardee’s ‘Tactics,’ my large printed Bible with a whole lot of countersigns – and what is more than all, your ambrotype and Henny and Sarah’s dagguerrotypes.

“The reason I took them along was because as I was leaving Vienna, I thought I would get wounded or sick. I would then long to see you, and it would be a comfort to see all your likenesses if I could not see you in person. So now, dear, you will be gazed upon by those notorious Rebels. I want you all to get them taken over again and send them to see as soon as you conveniently can.”

“It is better to lose my bagged than to lose my head. My first campaign has been of use to me.”

Officer fought with valor in several campaigns

McAllister transferred to the 11^th New Jersey in August 1862, and fought at Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. He was severely wounded at Gettysburg. The regiment brought 275 men into that battle. Over half that number were killed or wounded.

After months of convalescing, McAllister took command of a brigade. Subsequent combat included the Wilderness, Spotsylvania and Petersburg.

“His regiment distinguished itself at Chancellorsville and Gettysburg; his brigade was the first to pierce the Confederate line as Spotsylvania's 'Bloody Angle' and saved an entire wing of the army at the Boydton Plank Road and again at Hatcher's Run,” according to the book summary.

McAllister ended the war as a brevet major general and he returned to the business world. He died in 1891 at age 77, and is buried in Belvidere, N.J.

Interestingly, his brother, Thompson, served as a Confederate officer in Virginia during much of the Civil War.

Robert McAllister rides Charley in January 1862 (Rutgers University Libraries)

Relic hunter made quite the find in the mid-'70s

In 1975, a Gettysburg self-employed truck driver who enjoyed metal detecting for Civil War relics made a stop in Centreville, about four miles east of the Manassas battlefield. He often made the trek to Florida to pick up citrus and watermelons, according to Burgess.

Burgess said he was told the relic hunter combed an area in Centreville not far off Route 29 (the old Warrenton Turnpike) with a metal detector and came upon McAllister's lost photograph of daughter Sarah.

“Its case had crumbled over time but the glass, brass frame and image were remarkably well preserved,” said the National Park Service employee.

The enthusiast had no idea who she was. (The man died in 2019.) Hinks, Johns and Burgess do not know exactly where he found the item, how deep it was or other details.

The relic hunter sold the artifact to Hinks (right), who put it on display.

Neither Hinks nor Johns can recall when the latter stopped by and noticed the photo. It could have been in the 1970s to 1990s.

Hinks said until Johns stopped by all he remembered was the image had been found in Centreville.

He kept it in storage much of the time before deciding to donate it to Manassas.

Sisters attended female seminary, later had families

Johns (photo, below) is familiar with where the McAllisters lived and has studied another famous soldier in the 11^th New Jersey, John Schoonover.

Sarah and Henrietta attended Moravian Female Seminary in Bethlehem, Pa., from 1854-57. According to a register, they were ages 9 and 11 when they entered.

"Back then, the seminary offered K-12 education and in 1863, it began offering college level courses for older girls," said Cory Dieterly of Moravian University's Reeves Library. About 260 students attended the seminary while they were students.

One sibling later lived in Pittsburgh while the other had a family in Philadelphia.

 “He always loved his grandchildren,” Johns said of their father, the general.

He says Sarah and Henrietta (photo right, Rutgers University Libraries) sat for a portrait after First Manassas so there father would have them close by.

Sarah Elizabeth McAllister married Wilson Lloyd in August 1863 in Warren, N.J. They had five children, including one named for her father. Robert McAllister Lloyd was born in 1864.

Sarah lived a long life, dying in Mifflintown (Juniata County), Pa., at age 92 on Oct. 9, 1935. She is buried in a Presbyterian cemetery.

An obituary in the Philadelphia Inquirer said her ancestors were among the early Pennsylvania settlers. She was a member of the Colonial Dames of America and left two living children, 10 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren.

Why the image won't be displayed, for now

As I looked closely at the ambrotype donated to the park (full image, left), I discerned what I consider slight disparities between the face of the young lady and the two other images of Sarah.

Could it be someone else?

Johns and Burgess believe they are one and the same: Sarah Elizabeth McAllister Lloyd..

“Our photo is certainly close to the photo in the book (with broach). In football terms, there is not enough evidence to overrule the ruling on the field that our image is Sarah,” said Burgess. “I'm still convinced we have Sarah's image.”

Will this photograph ever come back to life, and be seen?

“The photograph is so small, it would need to be displayed where visitors can get up close to it and then only on a temporary basis to mitigate light damage,” said Burgess. “We may also need to get it properly treated and housed by a conservator first. This is all possible, but won't happen any time soon.”

Three factories were in production along Georgia's Sweetwater Creek when the Yankees showed up in 1864. One mill was burned. What happened to the others?

The falling water and shoals of Sweetwater Creek west of Atlanta attracted mill operators a decade or so before the Civil War came calling.

Besides the New Manchester textile site, which was famously burned in July 1864 by Union cavalry and the workers subsequently shipped north, two other mills were close by -- the Ferguson mill upstream and James M. Alexander’s timber and flour operation just to the south. They were near the small community of New Manchester in what is now called Douglas County.

Adrian Fox, interpretive ranger at Sweetwater Creek State Park, recently showed me a small part of the ruins of the Angus Ferguson timber and flour mill, which also had a small cotton gin. A few stone pilings remain in the creek.

Click to see details on three mill operations along Sweetwater Creek (Picket photo)

Records show Ferguson ran up a white flag of surrender to Union forces. Did it prevent destruction?

Let’s step back a moment, before attempting to answer that question.

Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman had a specific strategy for his troops when they came across mills.

“One of his objectives was to destroy any industry that might be of use to the Confederate government. Now in many cases, he would leave a flour mill, because he was uncertain how long his own troops would be here, and if they were here for a prolonged period of time, they might need flour,” Charlie Crawford of the Georgia Battlefields Association told Georgia Public Television several years ago.

“And so he didn’t destroy every flour mill. But a paper mill or anything that was essentially superfluous to his efforts, but yet might aid the Confederacy, was fair game.”

The New Manchester mill and supporting buildings were fair game, given it was known to produce fabric for the Confederate army. Two mills in Roswell were destroyed, along with a paper mill in Cobb County.

There’s no evidence Alexander’s mill was burned, but there are conflicting accounts on Ferguson’s (left), which was on the part of the creek called Factory Shoals. (A road by that name is the main road in the park.)

Lisa Land Cooper, in her blog “The Story Behind the History,” wrote farmers brought grain to be ground into meal and flour, timber from nearby forests was cut into lumber, and locally produced bricks supplied construction projects throughout the area.

“It was a staple resource for the folks who would have lived out here especially prior to the New Manchester mill being built” in the 1840s, said Fox.

“There nothing in the official war correspondences saying the Ferguson mill was burned. We can see its only mention (above) is the usage of the bridge at that site to get across Sweetwater Creek,” said Fox.

“We know the Ferguson mill immediately surrendered when the union arrived," she added. "The worst damages the Ferguson mill sustained were the loss of grain to feed horses and a few burned bags of wool, but both the building and the machinery were left untouched.”

That contention is cited in the 1987 book “Douglas County Georgia: From Indian Trail to Interstate 20.”

Scenic shoals at Sweetwater Creek (Georgia State Parks)

While Cooper acknowledges some accounts show little damage by Union troopers, she cites an alleged letter by a relative of Ferguson, saying the mill and workshop were burned. It was later rebuilt, Cooper said

Fox said the mill, in fact, was left standing, and the primary miller on site after the war was Orange Bowden, who was formerly enslaved.

A faded sign along Sweetwater Creek (Picket photo, below) details the New Manchester company store and Ferguson’s brick-making operations (at left), which employed enslaved workers and made bricks for the New Manchester mill. At five stories,the mill was the tallest structure in the region.

Cooper’s article said remains of a second Ferguson mill were an attraction into the 20^th century, drawing fisherman and campers. Angus is buried in a small family cemetery inside the park. 

READ MORE ABOUT NEW MANCHESTER:

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2013/07/howls-of-protest-georgia-women-mill.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2017/08/action-civil-war-textile-mill-near.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2017/09/support-team-crew-finishes-work-that.html

https://civil-war-picket.blogspot.com/2010/10/remarkable-story-of-french-flag-ruse.html

Tattooed sailors off Fort Fisher: Talk will focus on the history of the art, designs popular during the Civil War and where ink was placed on the body (even there!)

19th century tattoo designs (Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, Tattoo Pattern Books)

Ah, sailors and tattoos. They go so well together, and have for hundreds of years.

Whether through images of sweethearts, whales or ships, countless generations of sailors have worn tattoos to show social identity, ethnic heritage or simply for identification should they be killed in battle.

Becky Sawyer, historian at Fort Fisher State Historic Site in North Carolina, has conducted about five years of research on those who in participated in the battles for the Confederate sentinel near Wilmington and had some ink on their bodies.

Sawyer (left) will share the fruits of her work on Wednesday afternoon, Aug. 19, at Pleasure Island Library in Carolina Beach. The talk is entitled “Red, Blue & Black: Tattoos Among Sailors at Fort Fisher.”

“Through images and stories, explore this fascinating and sometimes gritty aspect of maritime history. Not for the faint of heart,” the program advertises.

The Picket asked Sawyer to describe the topic and the resources she used. Her responses have been edited for brevity.

Wait for it: The last question below gets to the “faint of heart.”

Q. What will be the main thrust of your message? Why do you find this a particularly relevant topic?

A. Tattoos have always been a tradition of naval history. Tattoos tell a story of the sailors who fought at Fort Fisher, whether they they were in the maritime service for years prior to the Civil War or joined the U.S. Navy to serve their country. They also tell the story of traditions such as the Kanacha tattoos among the Polynesian sailors with the fleet. Tattoos identified men in a time when there were no dog tags. Several of the men on my list were killed in the Battles of Fort Fisher. Some were sent home north to be buried, like Abel Cole of the USS Brooklyn, who had a blue star between right thumb and index finger. He would be buried in his home state of Maine. William Baker of the USS Sassacus is buried at the Wilmington National Cemetery – he had his initials tattooed on his left forearm

Naval rendezvous record describes fancy artwork for one Civil War seafarer

Q. Is this all or almost all about Federal sailors? Which campaign(s) against the fort did they participate in?

A. My focus is on the U.S. sailors who served onboard vessels both as part of the blockade off Wilmington/Fort Fisher in 1863-64 and then also the battles of Fort Fisher. There are also former Confederates who joined the U.S. Navy during the exchange in late 1863 and into 1864 who have tattoos which they may have received while in a prisoner of war camps such as Camp Douglas and Fort Delaware.

Q.  How did you learn about these tattoos? Can you describe the themes? Were tattoos well-known among sailors before the Civil War?

A. Researching the muster rolls for the various ships that participated in the battles of Fort Fisher and then cross-referencing them with the Naval Rendezvous Enlistment records along with pension records of those who served in the battles. As for themes – I have broken it down into 11 categories such as names & initials; things of the sea (mermaids, anchors, ships), religious symbols, patriotic symbols, memorials, bracelets, etc. Tattoos are well-known among sailors prior to the Civil War. 

Artist at work (Library of Congress) and two tattoo designs (Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library, Tattoo Pattern Books)

Q. I know you have researched this for a while and have made previous presentations. When did you begin this research and what piqued your interest? 

A. I began researching this about five years ago or so. At first, it was on foreign-born sailors and then realized the former Confederates who served with the Navy and finding tattoos among the prisoners when they enlisted, and it just snowballed into the research that I have today.

Q. Are there specific sailors you will mention? If so, can you please provide a couple examples?

A. Simon Duggan of the USS Fort Donelson (former Confederate POW) had a cross between his shoulder blades (naval record, below). He was from Ireland. John Love of the USS Wabash had the phrase “Where Liberty Dwells There is My Home” tattooed on his breast. Leander Spaulding (tattoo artist on the USS Tristam Shandy) had a snake and “don’t tread on me” tattooed on his right forearm. Charles Haldgate of the USS Tuscarora had “Dieu Et Mon Droit” (God and my right) tattooed on his right forearm – he was a mariner by trade from Liverpool.

Q. One promotion for your speech says it "is not for the faint of heart." Can you explain why?

A. I found at least two sailors with tattoos on their manhood and then there are tattoos found on the buttocks as well.

Becky Sawyer’s presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m. at Pleasure Island Library, 1401 N. Lake Blvd #72, Carolina Beach, N.C. Call 910-798-6300 or 910-251-7351 for more information.

Sign about tattooed sailors research at Fort Fisher in 2023

Gettysburg's next superintendent specializes in museums and artifacts

The next superintendent at Gettysburg National Military Park and two affiliated sites has been with the National Park Service for 37 years and has experience in museum collections.

The agency on Thursday announced Stephanie Stephens will take over the park, Eisenhower National Historic Site and Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument in the fall. All three sites are in south-central Pennsylvania.

Stephens currently serves as the acting regional director for the Midwest region of the NPS. She will replace Kris Heister, who retired a few months ago.

 “Stephanie’s extensive experience in cultural resource stewardship, museum and curatorial leadership, collaborative planning and community engagement is perfectly suited for this position,” said acting Northeast Region Deputy Regional Director Brandon Bies. “Her curatorial knowledge is especially relevant at Gettysburg, home to the National Park Service's largest Civil War museum collection, where the preservation, care, and interpretation of these meaningful artifacts is a central mission.”

Stephens grew up in Twentynine Palms, California, where a military installation and a national park were central to her community.

Stephens has been with the National Park Service for 37 years, in a variety of leadership positions focused on the preservation and stewardship of National Park Service museum collections and cultural resources. In 2016, she was selected as the National Park Service chief curator.

The Picket asked the NPS to comment on whether Stephens has any near-term objectives but has not yet received a response.

Edwin Coe had a premonition and was killed the next day at Petersburg. The Massachusetts officer's sword somehow got to Hawaii. So many questions remain

The Coe sword was briefly placed near his headstone in 2014 (Petersburg National Battlefield)

How 2nd Lt. Edwin I. Coe’s sword ended up at a jewelry store in Honolulu remains a mystery more than a decade after it was subsequently purchased by Petersburg National Battlefield, which has occasionally shown it to the public.

Paul Perrone, a researcher in the Hawaii attorney general’s office, told the Picket in 2015 he was shopping for a wedding ring for his fiancée – now his wife – when he came across the weapon, which had an inscription bearing Coe’s name and indicating it was presented “by his friends in Worcester, Mass.”

Coe, a 19-year-old acting adjutant for the 57^th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, died 162 years ago Wednesday – June 17, 1864, during an assault on Confederate positions at the Virginia battlefield. Coe (below) had a vivid dream the night before, and he told comrades it meant he would fall.

An online version of the unit’s history led to the soldier’s photograph and biography. There was now a human connection to this well-crafted piece of steel. Perrone decided to broker a sale between the business and the national park in 2014.

After the blade was shipped to Petersburg, two park employees drove it to where elements of the 9^th Corps made the June 17, 1864, assault, about 200 yards behind park headquarters on the eastern section of the battlefield, near the Army’s current Fort Lee. They also stopped by Poplar Grove National Cemetery, where Coe lies.

“Since 2015, the sword has had brief periods of exhibition primarily in pop-up presentations with the anniversary of the Initial Assaults (June 15-18, 1864),” Emmanuel Dabney, chief of resource management at Petersburg, told the Picket this week.

“We've been clear that we are unaware how the sword got to Hawaii, but we've been grateful that we have the sword and are honored to serve as the stewards of it and Lt. Coe's remains at Poplar Grove National Cemetery.” 

Many mysteries remain: Was Coe carrying the sword when he died? How did it end up in Hawaii? Who were his friends in Worcester, Mass., that gave him the sword?

Perrone and Dabney indicated they have learned nothing new on the matter since 2015.

“I think barring some piece of Coe family letters or an observer in the 57^th Mass, we're in the dark on this one,” wrote Dabney.

Sword and scabbard before they were sent to Petersburg (Paul Perrone)

Hawaii has a lot of ties to military history

The sword came to the Pacific Diamond and Swiss Watch Exchange in Honolulu in 2012. Owner Ted Gonzalez bought it from an estate dealer.

“I thought it was unusual just because I’ve never bought one before. I decided to buy it and I decided to keep it,” Gonzalez told TV station KITV.

(Photos courtesy Paul Perrone)

Perrone took an interest and began his research on the Ames Model 1850 foot officer’s sword. The frosted blade contains patriotic motifs -- eagles, cannon, olive branches and arrows -- and was obviously manufactured and decorated with care.

Coe, the son of a Unitarian minister, was born in Medway, Mass. He moved to Worcester and joined another regiment when he was just 17 or 18. He then joined the 57^th Massachusetts.

According to the regimental history, written by John Anderson in 1896, the young lieutenant was “of excellent character, fond of military service, zealous and ambitious in the faithful performance of duty, loved and esteemed by all who knew him.”

It’s not known when the sword was presented to Coe. The inscription said it was a gift “by his friends in Worcester.” 

Coe was struck by a spent musket ball at Spotsylvania Court House on May 12. He threw up both hands and fell; his comrades believed he was finished. “But in a few moments he rejoined the regiment,” according to the unit history,” saying that he had only been stunned for a few seconds.”

Just before the charge at Petersburg, Coe told comrades he would be killed. The premonition proved correct: He was struck in the head during the early part of the advance. Ten enlisted comrades died in the battle.

Coe left no wife or children. His mother applied for a pension in 1891.

His brother, who served in another Federal unit, took charge of his remains and Edwin was buried near where he fell. He was disinterred after the war and placed in the national cemetery now managed by the park.

How did it wind up at a jewelry store?

If the weapon was used used for ceremonial purposes, it might have been in the fallen officer’s tent at the time of the time. Or if Coe carried it during the charge, it could have “ended up in practically anyone’s possession,” Perrone said in 2015.

“With every branch of the service having at least one base in Hawaii, and with so many government contractors and retired military personnel living here, all kinds of interesting things turn up,” said Perrone (left), adding the story is the sword belonged to a retired serviceman.

Gonzalez, the jewelry store owner, told KITV that he and his wife “agreed to do the right thing” with the sword, rather than sell it for several thousand dollars, and he enlisted the help of Perrone.

“I wanted to literally return the sword to Lt. Coe, and Petersburg is where he has been for the past 150 years,” said Perrone, who contacted then-park curator Jimmy Blankenship and the discussions on the sword commenced.

Chris Bryce, chief of interpretation at the time, said the park, using donations and sales proceeds from bookstores operated by a private concessionaire, paid Gonzalez $1,600 for the Coe sword.

Bryce, at the time, said he was unaware of any surviving Coe descendants. Bryce and Blankenship no longer work for the park.

At the 'right place at the right time'

Coe was among tens of thousands of men in blue and gray who were in the area during the Petersburg campaign and siege. “We don’t have a great number of items that we can put to one person, let alone have an image of an individual,” Bryce told the Picket in 2015.

The 57^th Massachusetts was supposed to be in reserve, but took part in the charge. Casualties mounted quickly.

The park believed the Coe weapon is a combat, rather than a presentation, sword. (Jimmy Blankenship, right, with the Federal weapon)

“Chances are good he was carrying it in battle,” said Bryce. “By carrying it,” they (his friends) are with him in battle.”

It's possible the young officer had both a combat and presentation sword, and the one found in the Hawaii shop was the latter. No one knows for sure; Coe may not have even wielded a blade that day.

Students at Worcester State University in 2016 researched the lives of 398 area residents who were killed during the Civil War. Coe was among them.

Perrone told the Picket in an email Monday he and his wife discussed the story just a couple of weeks ago.

“I still feel like returning that sword is something I was meant to do. I'm very grateful to have been in the right place at the right time to do the right thing.”  

Return to 1863: Gettysburg will restore grassland, biodiversity and historic views to a portion of Cemetery Ridge, the powerful attraction in the center of the battlefield

An older view of grasslands on the Gettysburg battlefield in Pennsylvania (NPS photo)

Gettysburg National Military Park has begun its latest effort to restore endangered grassland, with the goal of restoring 160 acres of Cemetery Ridge to their 1863 appearance and providing improved habitat for birds and native grasses and wildflowers.

The project, which is expected to last three to five years, was launched in early May.

“Herbicide will be the main strategy for removal due to project scale and cost-effectiveness,” park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket in an email. “There may be potential for some mechanical removal of invasive trees via chainsaws as well.”

A news release said the restoration project near Hancock Avenue will maintain “open views” that define the 1863 battlefield and reflect the appearance of the agricultural landscape present during the Battle of Gettysburg. "Visitors may experience temporary trail closures or see areas that appear sparse during early stages of restoration." 

Restoration area along Hancock Avenue and west of the Pennsylvania memorial  (NPS)

The work is concentrated around the Pennsylvania Monument and the Eternal Light Peace Memorial, located in the area of Pickett’s Charge on July 3, 1863. I asked Martz to describe how those monuments would benefit.

Eternal Light Peace Memorial: As visitors drive north toward Oak Hill, the monument dominates the landscape. Once the native warm season grasses and wildflower mix take hold and replace the non-native cool season grasses, visitors will notice more color from the flowers and will have the opportunity to bird watch as native ground nesting birds return.

North and west of the Pennsylvania Memorial: These areas of heavy fighting on July 2 and 3 are dominated by non-native cool season grasses that ground nesting birds can't take advantage of. “Once the native warm season grasses and wildflowers take hold within the next three to five years, this area will pop with color and will become a haven for ground-nesting birds,” Martz added.

Officials told Fox 43 visitors will notice the enhanced landscape. (At left, file NPS photo of grasslands at Gettysburg)

"The battlefield is what tells the stories," Martz said. "You can read all the books you want. You can watch all the documentaries that you want, but none of them compare to the place.”

The National Park Service’s Eastern Grasslands Initiative is restoring grasslands across 39 sites in the East.

A 2011 article on the park’s blog discussed the importance of such efforts.

“Abundant in the 1800s when settlers had cleared much land for hay fields and pastures, today grasslands face danger from fires, human development, and changes in agriculture technology. Grasslands are important because they protect large amounts of open space and provide wildlife and nesting habitat for specialized species.”

The habitat is especially important to birds such as the Bobolink, Savannah sparrow and the Eastern Meadowlark. 

Kevin Levin, in his Civil War Memory Substack blog, noted the Gettysburg landscape “has been continuously shaped, interpreted and reimagined since the guns fell silent in July 1863.”

Another section of the restoration project (NPS)

Visitors in recent decades have gravitated to Cemetery Ridge and the open fields traversed by Confederate troops during Pickett’s Charge, he wrote last month.

“Every decision about what to clear and what to plant, what to make visible and what to allow to disappear, shapes the story that future visitors will encounter,” Levin wrote. “The rehabilitation of Cemetery Ridge is not simply horticultural. It is an act of historical argument, one that will influence how millions of people understand what remains the most popular Civil War battle and Civil War battlefield.”

Built by Black laborers, Nashville's Fort Negley -- now getting improvements -- yields a trove of Civil War-era artifacts, including doll's head, percussion caps and glass

Matthew Malone digs in; doll's head and rifle percussion caps were found in that unit (Picket photos)

Above swaths of yellow flowers, known locally as Nashville Mustard, and within sight of the city’s downtown skyline, a small team conducting archaeological digs on the heights of Fort Negley was having a glorious day.

Metro Nashville Historical Commission archaeologist Adam Fracchia and three volunteers worked in two excavation units within the remains of the fort, which was largely built in 1862 by free Blacks and “contrabands” – formerly enslaved people who fled to Nashville during the Civil War.

For all its public appeal, archaeology is especially tedious work. Everything must be recorded and sifted carefully. Some days you come up empty.

But not on this recent Friday.

Liana Blackburn sifts the Tennessee clay as Patrick O'Sullivan works in Unit 6 (Picket photo)

While I soaked up the sunny weather, steady breeze and the great views from St. Cloud Hill, the group – made up of Fracchia, Liana Blackburn, Matthew Malone and Patrick O’Sullivan -- was hitting pay dirt within minutes of setting up shop.

In the few hours that I drifted between the two open pits, the team collected several rifle percussion caps, shards of glass, bricks, cow bones, charred wood from fires and the head of a tiny doll – all likely tied to the time of the fort, which troops left in 1867.

“This is a very exciting day,” said Fracchia, who has been doing archaeological work at the city’s 64-acre historic park for a couple years. “It is unusual to get that many deposits.”

Federal army used string of forts to hold Nashville

Nashville was the first Confederate state capital to fall to the Union, and it didn’t take long for the army to build defensive fortifications to protect access to railroads and the Cumberland River.

Fort Negley during the war (Library of Congress) and Matthew Malone and Adam Fracchia, background (Picket photo)

Later in the war, regiments with the U.S. Colored Troops were among those occupying Negley, which fired on Confederates during the Battle of Nashville in December 1864. It was spared a direct assault; U.S. Colored Troops did fight elsewhere in Nashville during the battle.

Fracchia on most Fridays welcomes the public to take part in the excavations at Fort Negley, which was picked over by relic hunters for a long time. Signs warn visitors it is unlawful to bring metal detectors, dig or remove artifacts.

Still, compelling artifacts such as those uncovered when I was there are still to be found by archaeologists. Fracchia spoke about them with a few visitors who meandered into the project area from time to time.

Park upgrades will honor Black laborers, USCT soldiers

Fort Negley has recently begun the first phase of a major upgrade to the park, which is largely surrounded by highways and commercial development that have largely supplanted the African-American  Bass Street neighborhood.

Many elements of the venue have deteriorated. A key aim is honoring the Black laborers who built the fort.

Site manager Tracy Harris said the work will include improved walkways, interpretive signage, a new overlook structure, a memorial lawn on the site of a former baseball field, Greer Stadium (Background in Picket photo at right) and a Freedom Plaza.

Fracchia and volunteers have been working only in areas that would be disturbed by new walkways and interpretive signs.

The first phase includes an archaeological investigation at the site of the historic Bass Street community along with a public history component, as well as a large-scale mural designed and installed by a local artist, the city says.

Many of the USCT veterans and Black civilian workers settled in the area following the war. The latter were forced to work at Fort Negley, and many died during construction.

Davidson County historian and Tennessee State University professor Learotha Williams said in a February social media post:

African-Americans pressed into building Nashville forts for Union (Annals of the Army of the Cumberland)

“This project and specifically the new memorial lawn will honor all those who came here during the Civil War and, through their service and sacrifice, compelled the city and the nation to redefine citizenship and the meaning of freedom in America.”

Many artifacts seem to be evidence of camp life

On the day I was in town, O’Sullivan and Blackburn worked in Unit 6, which is near what was once a large palisade wall. Much of Civil War-era Fort Negley is gone; young men with the Works Progress Administration (WPA) reconstructed the site during the Depression.

Large stones and walls were set in place, though they have shifted or fallen down in some areas since. (Above, Picket photos from March 2026) City funding for the enhanced park does not include repairing the walls.

Fracchia said the team gets a mix of Civil War and postwar items and it is difficult to tell whether the items we saw that day were deposited during the fort’s construction or later in its service.

Unit 6 might have been a trash pit – inside were livestock bones signifying possible rations for Federal soldiers, bricks and broken bottles, including what may be part of a pickle jar. Fracchia said a wooden post may have been placed within that unit.

Glass jar lid, volunteer Patrick O'Sullivan with cattle rib, fragment of bottle (Picket photos)

The archaeologists became excited upon seeing what appeared to be upside-down bottles.

“I’m excited to see if they are intact,” said O’Sullivan before he and Blackburn carefully dug around them.

The items were not complete – one appeared to be a lid to a jar already collected and the other was the bottom of a bottle believed to be hand-blown.

Fracchia worked with Malone a hundred yards away in Unit 10. While they did not find as many artifacts, they discovered a few percussion caps and the doll’s head, made of either china or bisque.

“We find these mass-produced dolls at domestic sites often,” Fracchia later told me. “I do not know why it was a Fort Negley.” (National Park Service photo, left, from Fort Stanwix)

He made a reference to it possibly being a “Frozen Charlotte,” small, usually unclothed dolls popular during the mid-19^th century until about 1920. If you want to know more about how they got their name, click here.

The short version, according to the National Park Service: The name “Frozen Charlotte” was associated with the dolls once they were gaining in popularity. It is inspired by a folk ballad about an underdressed “Young Charlotte” or “Frozen Charlotte” who froze to death while on a carriage ride to a winter’s ball.

The find was especially exciting, with Malone carefully walking it over for Blackburn and O'Sullivan to see.

Perhaps surprisingly, not many personal items have been found in recent years.

Hey, public: This is your chance to join a dig

The Metro Nashville Historical Commission works out of the restored Sunnyside Mansion in Sevier Park, a few miles southwest of Fort Negley.

Following a disastrous loss at the Battle of Franklin in November 1864, Confederate Lt. Gen. John Bell Hood moved upon Nashville, digging in below the city. Federal Maj. Gen. George Thomas attacked about two weeks later, sending Hood’s battered army off the field on Dec. 16.

One of the master plan renderings of the upgraded Fort Negley (Picket photo)

It has long been known that dozens of bullets, including Minie balls, were left on the porch door and columns on the big house at Sunnyside. Fracchia showed me evidence of those before I traveled to Fort Negley. The restored mansion includes display areas showing where some of the bullets or cannon rounds hit.

Fracchia said officials don’t have detailed descriptions of what happened on the property during the battle, but they believe Confederates must have been a significant target because of the number of bullets and holes. They eventually were forced to retreat.

The commission has found rifle pits and entrenchments on the land. 

Fracchia’s work extends other sites. The commission recently won a grant to fund a website where Nashvillians can upload photographs of artifacts they find on their property.

Adam Fracchia and Liana Blackburn show off Unit 6 to visitors (Picket photo)

Fracchia maintains a laboratory with items from Fort Negley and Sunnyside (I will report more on the latter in a subsequent post).

On the day I was in Nashville, a woman visiting Sunnyside Mansion asked about helping with the archaeological work.

“You have to show the public this is yours,” said Fracchia.

Site grid and Liana Blackburn and Adam Fracchia (Picket photos)

Editor's note: Please contact Nashville archaeologist Adam Fracchia at adam.fracchia@nashville.gov if you have questions about the project or want to join the work on site.