Repairs on Gen. Pemberton's headquarters in Vicksburg come to a halt because of federal spending cuts. Will the Greek Revival home be revived one day?

Photos of work two years ago on the federal property in Vicksburg (NPS)

Recent government spending cuts have brought an end to the rehabilitation of the Vicksburg, Ms., house Confederate Lt. Gen. John C. Pemberton used as his headquarters during the Federal siege of the city.

“No work has been completed in the past 12 months, and the contract for Pemberton's Headquarters was terminated for the convenience for the federal government,” Vicksburg National Military Park Superintendent Carrie Mardorf said in an email to the Picket on Thursday.

“The contractor will be removing their tools from the site in the upcoming weeks. That's all the information I can provide at this time," Mardorf said.

I previously wrote two posts about the project at the Willis-Cowan House on Crawford Street, and had recently checked in with the superintendent and other park employees.

The superintendent did not detail what remains to be done or why there was no work done in the eight and a half months before President Donald Trump took office and initiated massive staffing and spending cuts across federal agencies.

“There is no timeline for completion since there is no funding for this project,” Mardorf wrote. (At right, a historic photo of the facade)

She referred me to a federal website that outlines “Termination for Convenience of the Government.”

The first line of the page is, “The Government may terminate performance of work under this contract in whole or, from time to time, in part if the Contracting Officer determines that a termination is in the Government’s interest.”

The term has entered the lexicon because of spending cuts by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Trump and DOGE chief Elon Musk say they are targeting waste, while critics argue much of the spending is essential.

The Vicksburg Post reported earlier this year seven park employees were terminated, but most apparently were reinstated.

Pemberton (left) – working from a first-floor office -- and his staff tried to manage the desperate situation during Maj. Gen. Ulysses Grant’s siege of Vicksburg in 1863.

By July 2, it appeared Pemberton’s isolated, famished and exhausted army could withstand no more. That night, they met and decided to negotiate for peace with Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. Pemberton sent a letter to Grant on July 3 and the surrender occurred the following day – a major defeat for the Confederacy the same week it lost at Gettysburg.

The Greek Revival home survived the Civil War, becoming a residence, Catholic school and bed and breakfast over the years. The NPS acquired the property in 2003 and opened it to visitors from 2008 to 2016, when it was closed because of safety concerns

The $1.3 million Pemberton project paused in 2022-2023 to redesign the two-story, front porch to address structural concerns and replace additional wood pieces that had unforeseen deterioration. Some observers had commented online about the lengthy closure before work resumed; officials said the condition of many of the home's features were worse than anticipated.

In December 2023, crews finished repairing the roof of the Willis-Cowan House and moved on to major work on the porch. A park page on the project has not been updated since October 2024. It says the work was expected to be completed late this year. That included reconstruction of a smaller porch.

Officials had hoped the building would reopen to visitors one day.

Gettysburg hopes Little Round Top will reopen before 161st anniversary events in early July. The site has undergone improvements over the past two years.

A new retaining wall is built at the 91st Pennsylvania monument (GNMP)

Gettysburg National Military Park estimates Little Round Top will reopen to the public in late spring or early summer, nearly two years after a massive rehabilitation project began, according to a park spokesman.

The popular site closed on July 26, 2022, to the disappointment of visitors who planned trips but welcomed by others who lauded the project.

The hill is where Union forces fought off a furious Confederate assault on July 2, 1863, during the three-day battle in Pennsylvania.

Park officials have said they are addressing ongoing problems at the overcrowded site. They cited erosion, overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, and degraded vegetation.

“This project will also enhance the visitor experience with improved interpretive signage, new accessible trail alignments, and gathering areas. These improvements will allow visitors to better immerse themselves into the historic landscape that is essential to understanding the three-day Battle of Gettysburg,” a 2022 news release said. 

A park page on the project says the aim is to “reestablish, preserve, and protect the features that make up this segment of the battlefield landscape.” 

Some 164 feet above the Plum Run Valley to the west, the hill became the anchor of the Union’s left flank and a focal point of Confederate attacks on the afternoon of July 2. The 4^th,15^{th and 47th} Alabama regiments made a series of legendary assaults against the 20^th Maine.

“The (Maine) regiment’s sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on Little Round Top and has been credited with saving Major General George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat,” according to the American Battlefield Trust.

Wednesday’s update on social media indicated Little Round Top may be open in time for 161^st anniversary programs and events in early July. The Picket reached out to park spokesman Jason Martz..

"Maybe. That is our hope, but it's too soon to speculate," Martz said in an email.

Little Round Top seen from Plum Run Valley (Library of Congress)

Little Round Top traditionally is the top destination for park visitors, he said, followed by the visitor center and museum and Devil's Den.

When asked about archaeological investigations during the work, Martz said a lot of battle material was found, including “a few unique items, but nothing that would move the needle too much one way or the other. The archaeological process is long and drawn out and final details won't be available for quite some time.”

A Dyer artillery round was found in February 2022, with park officials saying then they believe a Confederate cannon fired at Federal position and mistakenly dropped them on friendly Texas regiments trying to navigate the difficult terrain.

Martz said officials have enough details to largely close the loop on that story and will provide an update in the future.

Gettysburg's 'First Shot House': Building undergoes major restoration, has its red finish back and offers a new parking lot

All better now: A new parking area at the Wisler House outside Gettysburg (NPS)

We’ve all been there. You come across an historic site or marker and there’s no place to park or pull over. Things can get real dicey if you try to get there.

Fortunately, improvements are sometimes made. Gettysburg National Military Park this week announced it has made visiting “The First Shot House” a whole lot safer with the recent addition of a gravel driveway and five parking spots.

The addition is part of the extensive rehabilitation of the Ephraim Wisler house at 1495 Chambersburg Road (U.S. 30) three miles west of town. A monument outside the two-story 1857 residence marks what’s believed to be the location where a Union soldier first fired upon advancing Confederate troops on July 1, 1863.

The home before additions in the back were removed, as the front looks now (NPS)

Before the upgrade, the curious had to race across the busy pike after parking on Knoxlyn Road. A 2020 Emerging Civil War article provided directions, ending with the line: “Please use EXTREME caution when crossing the Chambersburg Pike!”

Park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket in an email that the new parking lot provides a safer and more convenient environment for visitors to the 4-acre site, which is northwest of the sprawling park.

The National Park Service has spent a few years doing a major overhaul of the Wisler (pronounced Whistler) House. Crews removed modern additions and features and strengthened the embankment in front of the brick house. A porch was built in the front and the roof received new cedar shingles and two chimneys jut out.

A modern addition is removed from the back of the Wisler home (NPS)

“A new interpretive sign is expected to be installed in the coming months and the house will receive a painting treatment called penciling later in the year,” the park said in a press release. “Per historic specifications, the brick Wisler House has already been painted red and the penciling will add a thin line of white paint to accentuate the areas where mortar would be visible.”

Work is nearing the final stages. There are historic features inside the house, largely architectural, but there are no plans to furnish it. There are no current plans to open the house to the public.

When asked why, Martz cited no available staff to run the site and that even with five parking spaces, “there still aren't enough to accommodate an open house type of event. Similar events of the past have attracted dozens of visitors and their vehicles all at once.”

Licensed Battlefield Guides (LBGs) have used the site to discuss the opening shots of the battle and park staff has conducted virtual tours. (Click NPS map at left to enlarge; the Wisler property is on the extreme top left)

On July 1, 1863, war came to the doorstep of blacksmith Ephraim Wisler and his family. Confederate Maj. Gen. Henry Heth’s division was advancing on Gettysburg, and Federal Maj. Gen. John Buford deployed cavalry troopers to buy time before a larger Army infantry corps could go into action.

Among the Union regiments posted west of Gettysburg was the 8^th Illinois Cavalry. The Wisler House, perched on a ridge, made an excellent observation point for pickets.

“At 7:30 am, Union cavalrymen detected the advance of Henry Heth's Confederate division, which had departed their Cashtown bivouac to conduct a reconnaissance in force toward Gettysburg,” the NPS says.

“Lt. Marcellus E. Jones, who commanded the picket line of the 8th Illinois, borrowed the carbine of Sgt. Levi Shafer, rested the weapon on one of Wisler's fence posts, and from the western yard of the home fired the first shot of the Battle of Gettysburg. The Ephraim Wisler home would become enshrined in Gettysburg lore as ‘The First Shot House’... the location from which the great Battle of Gettysburg was inaugurated.”

Rear of the residence after removal of additions, rehabilitation (NPS)

Wisler, 31, reportedly stepped outside the house during the Confederate house and dodged an artillery shell that landed nearby. He died only a month after the battle, leaving a widow and two children. Some sources say Wisler died as a result from the trauma of the day. Others speculate he may have died of disease.

The park has no recorded information about damage to the house itself.

Jones (right) and comrades returned to Gettysburg in 1886 to erect “The First Shot” monument. But controversy came with incident. Others claimed to have unleashed the first shot in the momentous three-day battle that ended with a Union victory.

J. David Petruzzi, in a 2006 article in America’s Civil War magazine, wrote:

“Regardless of which regiment could claim that first shot, whether it was fired at a Confederate line of battle, detached Southern cavalrymen or a noise in the dark by a jittery young trooper, the shot carried no tactical significance whatsoever. But such a claim was evidently important to a small group of rapidly aging and often stubborn old cavalrymen who could argue over the most minute details as if the fate of the world depended on it. We can surely understand if, to them, it indeed did.”

First shot monument right next to the residence (NPS)

Devil's Den, a rocky focal point on the second day of Gettysburg, will close for 6 months as park addresses erosion and safety issues

Visitors to Devil's Den a few years after the battle (Library of Congress)

A second landmark at Gettysburg National Military Park will close for several months this year for major rehabilitation.

Park officials announced Thursday that work at Devil’s Den is expected to begin on March 21. The closure will last five to six months as crews address “significant erosion and safety issues in this highly visited area of the battlefield.”

Devil’s Den was the scene of fierce fighting on July 2, 1863, during the decisive battle. The boulder-strewn hill was the object of forces under Confederate Lt. James Longstreet. The Rebels took the position and engaged in fire with Union troops on Little Round Top.

The park said the work is needed because of the erosion along existing walkways and from unauthorized social trails that have created safety hazards.

“The scope of the project will reestablish, preserve, and protect the features that make up this segment of the battlefield landscape,” it said in a statement. “These improvements will allow visitors to better immerse themselves into the historic landscape that is essential to understanding the three-day Battle of Gettysburg.”

Crawford Avenue, Sickles Avenue and the Devil’s Den parking area will remain open as much as possible for visitor use. Adjacent battlefield locations, such as the Slaughter Pen, Devil’s Kitchen, and the Triangular Field, will all remain open. The construction contractor will occasionally need to close all road access around the area, but notices will be posted ahead of time, the park said.

View of Devil's Den from Little Round Top (Wikipedia, Wilson44691)

The announcement came about a month after the National Park Service detailed a rehabilitation project on Little Round Top, where Union forces fought off a furious Confederate assault, also on July 2.

Park officials said they are addressing ongoing problems at the overcrowded site. They cited erosion, overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, and degraded vegetation.

“This project will also enhance the visitor experience with improved interpretive signage, new accessible trail alignments, and gathering areas. These improvements will allow visitors to better immerse themselves into the historic landscape that is essential to understanding the three-day Battle of Gettysburg,” a news release said. 

An update this week said tree cutting was completed last month and the overall project is out for bid, with two contracts: one for overall construction and the second for revegetation of Little Round Top.

The closure of Little Round Top is expected to begin sometime between March 20 and June 21. The project will take up to 18 months to complete, officials previously said.

After the park announced the Devil's Den closure in a Facebook post, critics and supporters weighed in. One said the need for work at both areas has been known for years and the public will be disappointed that two landmarks will be closed at the same time. Others said people should be grateful the work is happening to perpetuate the memory of those who fought there.

Park spokesman Jason Martz told the Picket in an email that the timing of the projects is coincidence, but they are both meant to address problem areas.

Gettysburg's famed Little Round Top will be closed 12-18 months during project addressing erosion, parking, accessibility and more

Tree cutting this month at Little Round Top will kick off a larger rehabilitation project that will include a 12-18 month closure of the hill where Union forces fought off a furious Confederate assault, Gettysburg National Military Park announced Tuesday.

Park officials said they are addressing ongoing problems at the overcrowded site. They cited erosion, overwhelmed parking areas, poor accessibility and related safety hazards, and degraded vegetation.

Once rehabilitation efforts begin, all of Little Round Top will be closed for 12 to 18 months, the park said. Officials said Wednesday they were unable to provide details on the exact timing of the beginning of the closure, other than "later in Spring 22."

“This project will also enhance the visitor experience with improved interpretive signage, new accessible trail alignments, and gathering areas. These improvements will allow visitors to better immerse themselves into the historic landscape that is essential to understanding the three-day Battle of Gettysburg,” a news release said. 

A park page on the project says the aim is to “reestablish, preserve, and protect the features that make up this segment of the battlefield landscape.” 

Little Round Top seen from Plum Run Valley (Library of Congress)

Little Round Top and Sykes Avenue will be closed Feb. 9-11 and Feb. 14-16 for the cutting of up to 63 trees along both sides of the road. The park says the removal is necessary for the project.

The work is happening now so as not to interfere with the nesting and breeding of northern long-eared and Indiana bats that may roost in the area. “Both species of bat are on the federal endangered species list and the select tree cutting project must be completed before their anticipated arrival in early spring when nesting activities typically begin.”

Little Round Top is the location of some of the most famous fighting of the battle

Rising 164 feet above the Plum Run Valley to the west, the boulder-strewn hill became the anchor of the Union’s left flank and a focal point of Confederate attacks on the afternoon of July 2, 1863.  The 4^th,15^{th and 47th} Alabama regiments made a series of legendary assaults against the 20^th Maine, led by Col. Joshua Chamberlain (right).    

“The (Maine) regiment’s sudden, desperate bayonet charge blunted the Confederate assault on Little Round Top and has been credited with saving Major General George Gordon Meade’s Army of the Potomac, winning the Battle of Gettysburg and setting the South on a long, irreversible path to defeat,” according to the American BattlefieldTrust.