First of 20 Enfield rifles to be preserved emerges from wood treatment at Georgia lab. After 160 years in water, weapon made for South appears to be doing fine

Right side of treated rifle, bottom portion, nose cap at end of barrel, two rifles chosen for treatment (Georgia DNR)

Conservation in Georgia of 20 Enfield rifles has reached a significant milestone, with the first walnut stock emerging from treatment and appearing to be doing well outside a wet environment.

“I was thinking about it; this is the longest this rifle has been out of water in over 160 years,” said Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the state’s Department of Natural Resources.

“I want to give it a little time to monitor it closely and make sure nothing bad is going to happen to it. However, I think it’s going to work. The rifle seems pretty stable,” he said.

The British-made weapons – which went down with a Confederate blockade runner in Charleston Harbor -- have been displayed for nearly 15 years in a 300-gallon aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County as corrosive salts are removed.

The stack of Enfield rifles in lining and crate at Sweetwater Creek State Park.

Saltwater destroyed most of the iron components, including barrels, locks and bayonets. The trigger guards, butt plates and nose caps at the end of the barrels are made of brass and are still intact.

The state’s aim is to eventually exhibit the wooden remnants of the rifles.

Lab picked two rifles for initial treatment

Headlee in 2022 selected two rifles (left, Georgia DNR) to be treated with a solution made by Preservation Solutions. Conservators previously used SP-11 to treat an intact coffin found in 2013 on the edge of the marsh at Fort McAllister, a Confederate river outpost below Savannah.

Before chemical treatment, the rifles are kept in water, which protects their cellular structure. 

Without immersion in a preserver, pieces of wood will shrink, warp and crack. “They could literally just fall apart,” Headlee previously told the Picket. (Treated rifle above, Georgia DNR. View shows were the lock and hammer would have been.)

SP-11 is designed to displace water in the wood with preservatives that help to solidify the wood so it can be permanently exposed to the air.

The curator said he is watching the preserved rifle to see if there is leaching, cracking or splitting of the wood as it continues to dry.

If this weapon remains stable, Headlee said, the second Enfield will undergo the treatment. “We’re slowly picking the hard crusty layer off of it before we put it in the wood preserver,” he added. (Left side of the rifle, above)

The items are being treated at a facility at Panola Mountain State Park east of Atlanta.

Divers pulled up prized weapons decades ago

The Pattern 1853 Enfields were carried by the blockade runner CSS Stono and were bound for Charleston, S.C., in 1863. The rifles, stored in a wooden crate, were placed in an alternating butt to muzzle pattern, and blocks were used to prevent the weapons from shifting.

The Stono, laden with precious arms, munitions and goods from Europe, in 1863 ran aground on a submerged sandbar off Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor while trying to evade Federal ships.

An archaeological diver pulled up the box carrying the 20 rifles in the late 1980s. One end was damaged, apparently when the ship sank. Some of the Enfields were damaged.

Officials did not initially know how many of the highly prized Pattern 1853 rifles were inside, their position or condition. 

Each weapon originally weighed about 9 pounds and was approximately 53 inches long. The bore is .577-caliber. (At right, treated gun, Georgia DNR. It shows were the trigger guard and assembly would have been.)

The craftsmanship involved in the manufacture of the guns was very good, Headlee previously said. “Enfield was top quality.”

The Enfield was the second-most widely used infantry weapon in the Civil War after the Springfield.

The 1851 and 1853 Enfields, made for the British army, were an important technological advance from smoothbore to rifled muskets, increasing the accuracy and distance.

At least one of the weapons bears the mark, “T. Turner,” a reference to well-known English gunmaker Thomas Turner, who turned out quality weapons in the mid-19^th century.

Barrel plugs called tampions remarkably survived

 A tin and lead lining that sealed the cargo from salt air and ensured the rifles were not tampered with is in bad condition.

But there is a silver lining to all of this: Components made of brass withstood the onslaught of corrosive saltwater. Conservators are still trying to determine how to treat them.

Iron or steel screws holding the butt plates in place deteriorated over the years and the plates just slid off, said Headlee.

Conservators years ago found in the crate a bullet mold, tools and tampions -- cork and brass plugs inserted into the muzzle to ward off moisture.

The team counted 20 tampions (above, Georgia DNR) “in various states” of condition. Tampions are used on cannons and rifles to keep debris from falling into their barrels.

Headlee finds it remarkable much of the cork used for the Enfield tampions remains.

“They were just found in a grouping. We feel like they were in a box or bag in the crate.”

A closer look at chains and bayonet remnants

The Enfields featured a nipple protector, which kept the hammer away from the firing mechanism when not in use. A chain was attached to a plug placed over the weapon’s nipple.

Headlee last year sent me a photo of one chain from the Stono guns (above, Georgia DNR). “Some of them are still on the rifles.”

He reached out to Enfield experts in England and elsewhere about the half dozen remnants of iron bayonets found stacked together. They told him bayonets normally would be shipped in a separate box.

“Why bayonets (remnant below, Georgia DNR) were in this crate I have no idea,” Headlee said. “They are all but gone. The fact we have this much is amazing.” The pieces are about an inch and a half long.

The Enfield fired a Minie ball. No ammunition was found in the crate.

Eventually, if all goes as hoped, the 20 rifles will go on display somewhere in the state.

“Even up to the end of the (Civil War), the Enfield rifle was kind of the M16 rifle of the day,” said Headlee. “It had been used for years and years. Bang for the buck, it was as good as any standard weapon.”

Springfield and Enfield rifles were neck and neck in effectiveness, he added. “They were like a Ford and a Chevy.”

Interestingly, the  nose cap is the only metal piece still attached to the wooden stock of the treated rifle. It appears to be riveted in place and conservators don't want to risk breaking the fragile stock to remove it for treatment. 

There's a whole lot of fungus among the USS Cairo's wooden timbers. Scientists conduct study to help find ways to slow decay of historic ironclad at Vicksburg

The USS Cairo and an image of one of the fungus types found in the wood (Reprinted from Journal of Fungi); Claudia Chemello and Bob Blanchette examining Cairo timbers in 2024. (Paul Mardikian photo)

Confederate ships Little Rebel, Colonel Lovell and General Beauregard proved harmless, but Alternaria, Cladosporium and Curvularia are doing a real number on famed Civil War ironclad USS Cairo.

That’s because the latter are among a host of fungi eating away at the star attraction of Vicksburg National Military Park. The Cairo was the first armored vessel sunk by an electrically detonated torpedo and has been on display for decades.

A recent study found the wooden wreck is suffering continued fungal degradation, despite the application of chemical treatments over the years. Scientists who cleaned and examined the ironclad at Vicksburg National Military Park last year were alarmed by what they witnessed and have since analyzed.

“Finding so many fungi that cause wood decay alive in the ship timbers was a surprise,” said lead author Robert "Bob" Blanchette, a professor of plant pathology at the University of Minnesota.

Larger timber pieces inside the Cairo wreckage (Reprinted from Journal of Fungi)

“The wood surfaces are decayed and many of the timbers have had their strength properties compromised -- but many of the timbers are large and thick and still have moderately good integrity,” Blanchette wrote in an email to the Civil War Picket. “However, the presence of active decay fungi indicates they are progressively causing additional decay.”

The study, published in the Journal of Fungi, urges the Cairo -- which sits beneath a fabric canopy, but has open sides -- be moved indoors to a climate-controlled space to combat the toll from high humidity and heat.

Blanchette and his co-authors said keeping relative humidity below 55 percent would help arrest fungal action.

“An enclosed structure would also prevent dust, insects and animals from interacting with the ship. Undoubtedly, the condition of the wood will continue to deteriorate if the existing biodeterioration and biodegradation processes underway in the ship are left unaddressed,” they wrote.

The team was brought in by the National Park Service to evaluate the fungi and provide guidance on long-term preservation. The agency knows moving the ironclad indoors is necessary, but funding has not been secured.

Visitors can see gunboat during govt. shutdown

The Cairo and accompanying museum officially opened in 1980 (NPS photo)

The Picket reached out to the NPS and the park for comment on the study. An email said officials would respond to non-government shutdown queries once “appropriations have been enacted.”

Visitors to the park along the Mississippi River can still see the gunboat seven days a week. The Cairo museum has been open a few days but after Tuesday will be closed until the shutdown ends and money flows again to national historic sites.

Blanchette and Benjamin Held, also with the University of Minnesota, and Paul Mardikian and Claudia Chemello of Terra Mare Conservation say more study of the fungi is needed.

“Decades after various preservative treatments were applied, we now find soft rot and white rot fungi are in the wood,” Blanchette told the Picket. “Many of these fungi have not been studied and we do not know much about their biology and ecology. Others have received some investigation and some of these are known to tolerate various wood preservation treatments.”

The end comes in the Yazoo River above Vicksburg

The USS Cairo at anchor in 1862 (Library of Congress)

The USS Cairo’s fame has far exceeded its brief history. Built in a hurry in Mound City, Ill., and commissioned in January 1862, the ironclad sank only 11 months later. In between, it helped lead to the fall of Fort Pillow and Memphis, Tenn.

At 175 feet long and with a top speed of six knots, the vessel carried 13 guns and 251 officers and men. Seven shallow-draft City Class river ironclads prowled the Mississippi River and connecting shallow waterways, menacing Confederate supply lines and shore batteries, the National Park said.

Before the Federal attack on Haynes Bluff, Cairo skipper Lt. Cmdr. Thomas O. Selfridge Jr. led a small flotilla of gunboats into the hazardous confines of the Yazoo River on Dec. 12, 1862.

“Tasked with destroying Confederate batteries and clearing the river of torpedoes (underwater mines) the flotilla inched its way up the murky waters. As the Cairo reached a point seven miles north of Vicksburg the flotilla came under fire and the aggressive Selfridge ordered his guns to the ready and called for full steam, bringing the ironclad into action,” the NPS says.

“Seconds later, disaster struck. Cairo was rocked by two explosions in quick succession. The first tore and gaping hole into the port (left) bow of the wooden hulled ironclad. The second detonated a moment later near the armored belt amidships on the starboard side. The hole on the bow proved to be catastrophic.”

Selfridge ordered the Cairo to be beached and the crew to abandon ship. The Cairo slid from the river bank into 36 feet of water with no loss of life. About a half dozen sailors were injured.

Mud protected the ironclad for almost 100 years

The ill-fated ironclad disappeared into history for nearly a century.

Using maps and an old military compass, the legendary Ed Bearss, a historian at Vicksburg National Military Park at the time, and two comrades found the mud-encased ironclad in 1956.

A portion of the casemate rests on a barge in the 1960s (NPS photo)

Despite financial shortfalls, barge problems and a zero-visibility river that deposited silt at an alarming rate, the vessel was eventually raised in 1960 and 1964-65.

Hopes of lifting the ironclad and her cargo of artifacts intact were crushed in October 1964 when the three-inch cables being used to lift the Cairo cut deeply into its wooden hull. It then became a question of saving as much of the vessel as possible. The decision was made to recover the USS Cairo in three sections.

Barges carried the remnants to Pascagoula, Ms. The wreck was moved in 1977 to the Vicksburg park, where it was partially reconstructed and placed on a concrete foundation. The Cairo has been treated with a variety of chemical sprays and coatings since the 1970s. 

Frame that holds the Cairo's timbers in good shape

Diagram showing where samples were taken (Adapted from Library of Congress for Journal of Fungi article)

While submerged and under river sediments, bacterial degradation and soft rot took place, said Blanchette. After recovery, lots of different types of decay took place, including aggressive brown rot and white rot.

He and the other researchers gazed at the microstructure of the wood to see the effects of fungi. “Micromorphological characteristics observed using scanning electron microscopy showed that many of the timbers were in advanced stages of degradation,” they wrote.

They took 66 samples of wood – oak, pine and poplar -- from the wreck. “The large number of diverse fungal taxa that are present in the ship’s wood raises concerns about the future preservation of the ship,” the journal article said.

Blanchette (left) said fungi tolerant of preservation treatments applied to the Cairo found their way into the wood over time, causing decay.

 “The fungal isolation results and presence of so many fungi with the capacity to degrade wood also suggest that there is a need for additional studies to better understand how soft rot and white rot fungi tolerate and interact with aging wood that has been previously treated with wood preservation compounds,” the study said.

The park also asked the U.S. Forest Service to study the 1980s Glulam structure that holds the boat in place. It appears the frame is in pretty good condition, except for a few areas. (That team did not examine any of the ship’s timbers.)

Blanchette said his team did not find evidence of termites, though it did not include insects in the study. “As indicated in the Forest Products Lab paper, this must be monitored in the future since they can be a serious threat.”

The Forest Service also recommends moving the Cairo inside.

“The canopy currently is shedding precipitation from the actual frame, but the entire assembly is subject to substantial swings in relative humidity and temperature that could exacerbate issues with mold and decay fungi. The structure is also currently exposed to the risk of swarming insects such as termites, powder post beetles and carpenter bees.”

'Persevere, don't give up': Georgia preservation group honors team for saving tabby building in Darien that survived fire during Civil War. The Adam Strain has a new life

In July 2023 (Picket photo), nearing completion (Marion Savic), and side view (Ethos Preservation)

The tabby Adam Strain building in coastal Darien, Ga., looked forlorn, lonely and, frankly, about to collapse in 2008 when it was listed among the state’s “Places in Peril.”

The Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation cited residential development pressure and the demolition of an 18^th century house north of town. Local concern for the Strain, which was built around 1815 and survived the Burning of Darien during the Civil War, had reached “a new high,” the nonprofit said.

Someone needed to step up and purchase “this rare survivor” and come up with a vision for its use as part of Darien’s heritage tourism program, the Trust urged.

That finally occurred in January 2020, when Milan and Marion Savic bought the Strain and began a long and expensive restoration of the distinctive warehouse perched on a riverfront bluff.

Marion Savic holds award with the Adam Strain team. Milan Savic is at far right (Photo GTHP)

The Trust this past weekend recognized the work by the Savics, consultants and preservation companies with its Marguerite Williams Award, presented annually to the project that has had the greatest impact on preservation in the state.

Last November, the Savics opened Tabby House Brewing in the Adam Strain and a restored bank building next door. The couple is developing an upstairs museum about the project and its ties to the local culture.

“It is an important example of a building that many thought was too far gone (left) being saved through perseverance and a commitment to quality craftsmanship,” Ben Sutton, director of preservation and legislative advocacy for the Trust, told the Picket in an email Monday.

The commerce building’s connection to the Federal burning of Darien in 1863 first drew me to its story, but the passion of the Savics and local residents kept me plugged into the daunting project.

“We had an amazing team that came together to do what was near impossible -- save the beautiful Adam Strain,” the Savics said in a Facebook post about the award.

I asked Marion Savic about the five-year effort and what advice she might give to someone taking on such an involved and complex project.

“It takes dedication, perseverance, good quality contractors, engineers, architects, etc. to make it work -- and money,” she replied. “State and federal tax credits definitely help offset some of the cost. Persevere, don’t give up and the outcome will be worth it.”

It weathered a firestorm during the Civil War

The Adam Strain has stood amid palm trees on a bluff of the small, interior port city above St. Simons Island for more than two centuries. Tabby ruins of other businesses lie just below the site and Darien’s famous shrimp fleet is just to the east.

Scene from "Glory" shows troops arriving in Darien in June 1863.

Tabby is a type of cement made from crushed oyster shells, lime and other materials and was popular in Georgia and Florida for several centuries leading up to the Civil War. Stucco was placed on the exterior to protect it from water damage.

The warehouse was used to store cotton prior to shipment in 1861 and 1862 before the Union naval blockade clamped down on Georgia’s coast during the Civil War.

In June 1863, Darien held little strategic value to the Union, but Col. James Montgomery (below), commanding the African-American 2nd South Carolina Volunteers, supposedly believed it was a safe haven for blockade runners.

He had another reason for shelling, looting and burning Darien, leaving only a few buildings standing among the charred ruins. The destruction was depicted in the award-winning 1989 film "Glory."

Steven Smith, site manager for nearby Fort King George Historic Site in 2013 when the Picket first wrote about the town’s burning, said Montgomery “wanted to make a political statement. Here was a town built on the backs of slaves.”

After most townspeople had fled, Montgomery ordered Col. Robert Gould Shaw and the famed 54^th  Massachusetts Infantry to participate. While Shaw didn’t mind the looting to help resupply his troops, he opposed setting the town to torch. He apparently relented under threat of court-martial.

The Strain survived the fire but much of its interior was destroyed. The episode caused a howl of protest across the South and even in newspapers in the North.

'A case study in tabby preservation'

The warehouse was repaired after the Civil War and saw a rebirth for several decades before it was used for storage following World War II. It then sat empty for about 50 or so years.

The Strain, perhaps the oldest surviving in Darien, was beloved by its 2,000 residents, who worried for its future as its appearance worsened. The years rolled on.

Downtown has grown since this view of the Strain (Courtesy of Kit Sutherland)

It came within whiskers of being demolished before the Savics stepped in and bought the property. Two hundred-plus years had done its damage. A wall had a pronounced lean, the back wall facing the river was hanging by a prayer and other areas were in need of structural stability. The building was at risk of being toppled by strong winds.

Now, the building is an additional tourist draw in the city near St. Simons and Jekyll islands.

On Saturday, the Trust presented numerous preservation awards in Brunswick, Ga., during its annual Spring Ramble of historic homes and sites. The organization seeks partners to revitalize properties it has acquired or, as in the case of the strain, raise awareness of other endangered historic resources.

A press release on the award reads in part:

“From 2020 to 2024, the Savics and their team undertook a complex, multi-phase rehabilitation -- restoring historic tabby walls, wood floors, windows, and even a rooftop hoist system -- while installing a concealed steel frame to ensure stability. The adjacent 1880s-era Darien Bank building was also restored and incorporated into the project.

The large upstairs room features a bar, event space and artifacts found during work (Picket photo)

“Today, the buildings house the Tabby House Brewing Company and Museum, reinvigorating Darien’s waterfront and drawing new energy to the historic district. With techniques that now serve as a case study in tabby preservation, this project stands as a powerful example of vision, perseverance and the profound impact historic preservation can have in shaping Georgia’s cultural and architectural legacy.”

The recipients of the Marguerite Williams Award for 2025 are: Marion and Milan Savic, Bennett Preservation Engineering, Ethos Preservation, GEL Engineering, archaeologist NicholasHonerkamp and Myrna Crook, Landmark Preservation, LKS Architects, Method Engineering and Saussy Engineering.

The Strain team recognized Fred Ecker of Landmark Preservation for  his leadership and expertise.

30th edition of the Civil War show in Dalton, Ga., offers boatloads of relics, three lectures and a familiar place for collectors and vendors to network

The Bullet and Shell table at the 2018 weekend event in Dalton, Ga  (Picket photos)

Patrons at this weekend’s 30^th edition of the Chickamauga Civil War Show in Dalton, Ga., can take in lectures on battlefield preservation, religion during the conflict and Reconstruction.

The annual firearms, artifacts and relics show at the Dalton Convention Center, 2211 Tony Ingle Parkway, takes place Saturday and Sunday. During dealer move-in Friday, people can pay $50 for an “early buyer” badge that gives them the first crack at many items. They can use the pass through the weekend.

Show organizer Mike Kent, who has been producing Civil War shows for 34 years, including 20 at Dalton, said nearly 200 vendors will set up items on 450 tables.

“Standout displays of Confederate buckles by Dr. Bill Blackman, Kenny Copelin and Scott Riddle are always one of the top attractions at the show and Father Bob Miller, who is one of our guest speakers, will also have a display on religion during the war,” Kent (left) told the Picket.

Kent said all Civil War shows have evolved over the years. What started out as mainly a show for dug relics from the Civil War has developed into an all era, militaria-type show with relics, artifacts, weapons and memorabilia from the Revolutionary War up through World War ll.

“As Civil War material becomes more difficult and expensive to acquire, collectors are tending toward items from more recent eras such as WW ll, but the Dalton show is still 80% to 90% Civil War related.” Kent also runs the larger Franklin Civil War Show in Tennessee, held in December.

Beyond sales, relic shows are a major place for sellers, museum curators, authors, collectors and others to network.

While there is a fee to enter the Dalton hall, three lectures Saturday in Room 1-A on the first floor of the trade center are free and those interested do not need to enter the show to listen. The schedule:

11 a.m.: Anthony Hodges, head of the Tennessee Civil War Preservation Association, and Joe Trahan, president of the Georgia Battlefields Association, will discuss battlefield preservation.

Noon: Father Bob Miller, a Catholic priest and historian, speaks on “Religion is what makes soldiers brave: Seven reasons why faith was important during the Civil War.”

1 p.m.: Historian and author Scott Sallee lectures on Reconstruction following the Civil War, and its three phrases.

Civil War photo collector and expert David Wynn Vaughan of Atlanta plans to attend Friday’s VIP session. “I (always) hope to find a nice Confederate image.”

Ronald S. Coddington,  author, historian and publisher of Military Images magazine, has previously set up shop at the Dalton show -- interacting with patrons by scanning tintypes, ambrotype images and cartes de visite for possible print and online galleries for this magazine, getting story ideas and weighing in on a card’s value.

While he is unable to attend this year, Coddington said he enjoys meeting the public.

“The passion and knowledge these caretakers have for artifacts is inspiration. And the opportunity to be physically present to touch the artifacts is not something you can get in the digital world -- at least not yet.”

A prospective buyer checks out firearms in 2010 (Civil War Picket)

Kent says photo collector and dealer Paul Reeder, known for his Confederate images, will be at the show. Military Images has published some of his collection.

Show hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and 9 a.m.-3 p.m. on Sunday.  Admission is $12 for adults; children 12 and under are free. Friday’s VIP session ($50) is 10 a.m.-7 p.m.

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.

Much-needed R&R: Three Fort Sumter flags are headed for a cool, dark place after years on display. Here's more about the banners

US storm flag, top, garrison flag, lower left, Palmetto Guard (NPS)

Three Fort Sumter flags – among them the U.S. flag that waved during its bombardment -- have been on display for at least 20 years, powerful symbols of a nation torn apart and brought back together.

Gunfire wasn’t their only enemy: saltwater spay, humidity and light took a toll on the flags. Now it’s time to give them some down time. Today and Wednesday, gloved curators will carefully remove the fragile banners from exhibit.

“It is long overdue for them to be rested,” said Brett Spaulding, chief of interpretation for Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park in Charleston, S.C. “Light is an issue for all textiles that are on display. To help preserve them, it’s common practice to rest artifacts.”

The museum on the island will be closed both days; the grounds of the fort and bookstore will remain open and ranger programs will operate normally, officials said.

Storm flag flies above the fort on April 14, 1865 (Library of Congress)

The flags are among the most famous of the Civil War: The 33-star U.S. garrison flag flew over the fort until it sustained wind damage on April 11, 1861, hours before Rebel artillery effectively began the Civil War. Its smaller successor, the storm flag, flew during the 34 hours of the attack.

Both were removed from the island by Union Maj. Robert Anderson after he surrendered. The storm flag immediately became a patriotic symbol for the remainder of the conflict and raised the status of the Star-Spangled Banner to what we know today.

The Palmetto Guard flag was the first Confederate flag to fly over the fort after the departure of the US Army on April 14, 1861. 

(NPS photo)

The storm and Palmetto Guard flags have been at the Fort Sumter museum. The garrison flag is at the Fort Sumter Visitor Center (above) at Liberty Square in downtown Charleston.

All underwent conservation before they went on display. “Despite taking great care to protect the artifacts they are best preserved when stored in a clean, dark, cool, and dry environment for periods of rest,” the park said in a news release. 

Here is more about the three flags:

U.S. 33-star garrison flag (wool bunting, 20 feet by 36 feet)

This was the larger of two U.S. flags to fly over Sumter in April 1861. When the Civil War began, the United States flag had 33 stars: one representing each state in the Union. After Fort Sumter, President Abraham Lincoln had to decide whether to leave all 33 stars on the flag or to remove those of the seceded states. Since Lincoln's mission was to preserve the Union, no stars were removed.

The garrison flag flew as tensions rose before the bombardment. By the evening of April 11, hours from the exchange of artillery, the larger banner suffered extreme wind damage and it was taken down. It has lost the most material of the three historic flags.

McCrone Associates, which partnered with the NPS to authenticate the flags, wrote this about the project:

“A crucial finding was that the fibers were characterized by “glass rod fracture,” indicative of severe photo degradation -- findings verified through micro chemical tests, as well. Thus, museum personnel were strongly advised to keep the rolling up and unrolling of the flags to an absolute minimum. 

"The severe climatic conditions of an ocean island, together with prolonged exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, were responsible for irreversible damage to the integrity of the individual fibers, so that every movement of the flags resulted in countless more broken fibers. These facts, together with the constant whipping in the wind, accounted for the missing portions of the garrison flag.”

Remarkably, the blue canton of the tattered flag is largely intact.

U.S. 33-star storm flag (20 feet by 10 feet)

(NPS photo)

While it flew only three days over the fort, this banner was the sturdier banner and was taken by Anderson to New York City a week after the surrender for a rally. He was celebrated as a hero. The storm flag later was the object of fundraising across the country for the Federal war effort.

Anderson said of the flags in 1863, according to the Post and Courier newspaper:

 “I feel that no one can love and ... keep as carefully as I do this sacred relic, and it is my earnest wish that when Fort Sumter shall be again our own, I may be permitted by the government to there once more unfurl it, or should I die before that time, that it may be wrapped around my body when it is borne to its last resting place ...”

On April 14, 1865, five years after the garrison surrender, Anderson (left) returned to Fort Sumter as the storm flag was raised. Charleston had been under Union occupation for two months and the liberated black population had put on parades.

“Lincoln had pushed for the April 14 ceremony and was invited to attend, but with the break-neck speed of events in Virginia following the fall of Richmond, the president opted to stay in Washington instead,” according to Emerging Civil War. 

“The flag ceremony went on without him. That evening, at Ford’s Theater, John Wilkes Booth put a bullet in Lincoln’s head. Had the president gone to Charleston, how different might things have played out.”

In 1905, the garrison and storm flags were donated by Anderson’s family to the War Department.

Palmetto Guard Flag (9 feet by 6 feet)

From the National Park Service: As victorious Confederates entered Fort Sumter, John Styles Bird Jr., a private in the South Carolina militia unit known as the Palmetto Guard, placed his unit's flag on the parapet facing Charleston.

Palmetto Guard flag on display at Fort Sumter Museum (NPS)

The single star signified the independent Republic of South Carolina and the tree harkened back to the Revolutionary War. The fort remained in Confederate hands for the next four years until evacuation in February 1865.

John Styles Ashe, son of John Styles Bird Jr., donated it to the National Park Service. They were transferred to the National Park Service at Fort Sumter in 1954, according to the Post and Courier.

No timetable for them to be put back on display

Spaulding, the interpretive ranger, told the Picket in an email that there are no current plans to replace the flags. “Later this year, we will look to develop temporary displays to occupy the empty space.”

He said it is not currently known whether significant work is needed or will be done on the three flags.

“For right now they are only being stored and preservation will take place at a later undetermined time. At this time, no date has been set for the return of the flags” to exhibit.