Battle of Chancellorsville artifacts that were on renamed Navy missile cruiser will now be displayed at Spotsylvania County's museum

Sword, box of artifacts and Civil War saddle for years were on USS Chancellorsville (now USS Robert Smalls)

One year after the U.S. Navy changed the name of a guided-missile cruiser from USS Chancellorsville to USS Robert Smalls, numerous artifacts from the Battle of Chancellorsville that were formerly displayed on the warship have been returned to a Virginia community.

Spotsylvania County officials requested the Navy return items donated years ago by the Friends of the USS Chancellorsville.

“We are grateful artifacts previously displayed aboard the former USS Chancellorsville have found a fitting home at the Spotsylvania County Museum, where they can be shared with our community and visitors for years to come,” said Drew Mullins of the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, in a recent press release.

The decision to rename the ship came after the Naming Commission examined more than 750 bases, facilities, buildings and more to see if they commemorated the Confederacy, according to CNN. The commission found the Ticonderoga-class cruiser’s original name honored the major Rebel victory at Chancellorsville.

Civil War sword and scabbard that have been returned by the Navy (Spotsylvania County photo)

The cruiser (CG 62) was commissioned Nov. 4, 1989, and was deployed in March 1991 to the Persian Gulf in support of Operation Desert Storm.

The ship's motto was "Press On," a saying of Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson when his men had Yankees on the run. Jackson was fatally shot by his own troops at Chancellorsville.

USNI News, in a 2022 article about the suggested renaming, quoted a Naming Commission leader's comments on the vessel's crest (below), heraldic background and what was said during the commissioning ceremony and before then, when a Navy officer praised the performance of Jackson and Gen. Robert E. Lee at the battle. The inverted wreath on the crest was a reference to Jackson's death.

The ship’s wardroom featured a painting of Lee and Jackson that was removed in 2016, according to USNI News.

“We looked at the entire context and felt as though that this commemorated the Confederacy,” the commissioner said.

So now, the items are back on shore. The Civil War items included in the Navy’s gifting to Spotsylvania County include:

-- A McClellan cavalry saddle

-- Two framed cases of excavated Chancellorsville battle artifacts, including buckles, belt plates, bullets, tools and uniform fasteners. They appears to be items that were used by Confederate and Union soldiers.

-- An Ames Model 1860 Light Cavalry Saber presented in 1992 to the ship’s captain.

-- Framed map of Chancellorsville 

-- “Battle of Chancellorsville, Sunday, May 3, 1863” print (original art from “Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Famous Leaders and Battle Scenes of the Civil War,” 1896) 

-- A copy of “The Campaign of Chancellorsville: A Strategic and Tactical Study” by John Bigelow Jr., 1910 Yale University Press

Craig Carroll presented these battle belt plates for ship (Spotsylvania County)

The collection includes several modern items associated with the cruiser.

“Plans are underway for the artifacts to go on display but that date has yet to be determined since we just recently acquired the items,” Michelle McGinnis, director of community engagement and tourism for the county, told the Picket in an email.

It has not yet been determined which items will go on display, she said.

Mullins said the museum will be the “perfect location and will serve to honor not only the ship itself and the crew who served our country while working on board, but also recognizes history while giving us the opportunity to learn from the lessons of our nation’s past.”

The late Lynn Freshour, a 23-year U.S. Navy veteran, was active in organizing the Friends of the USS Chancellorsville, according to officials, and helped foster a relationship between the crew and the Spotsylvania community. (Officials said the group is no longer active).

The Navy League, which also supported the vessel, assisted with the transfer of the items to the county. The Picket has reached out to its local chapter for comment.

Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for Naval History and Heritage Command, said the Navy decided to keep a few items from the USS Chancellorsville collection. (As to where the artifacts were displayed on the cruiser, he said possible locations include the wardroom, quarterdeck, a passageway and the captain's office/quarters.)

McConnaughey said among items retained by the Navy are a modern blue and gray battle streamer, several plaques, a mounted 12-pound Napoleon spherical shot (right) and a .58-caliber 1861 Model Springfield rifle-musket.

The renamed cruiser honors Smalls, a South Carolinian (photo above) who escaped slavery by commandeering a Rebel steamship.

At the start of the Civil War, the enslaved Smalls was a pilot on the CSS Planter. On the morning of May 13, 1862, he led a takeover of the ship by its slave crew, sailed past Charleston Harbor's formidable defenses and surrendered the vessel to the Union blockade fleet. His wife and children were among those on board who gained freedom.

Crew of then-USS Chancellorsville with banners from Spotsylvania

Smalls, 23 at the time, was celebrated across the North for his daring ride to freedom and he served as a ship’s pilot for the rest of the conflict. After the war, he returned to his hometown Beaufort and bought his former master’s home.

Following a stint in South Carolina’s Legislature, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served several terms.

The congressman fought against the disenfranchisement of black voters across the South, according to the American Battlefield Trust. He also fought against segregation within the military.

The Spotsylvania County Museum is located at 6159 Plank Road, Fredericksburg, Va. It features 1,800 square feet of exhibits that provide visitors insight into the county’s 300-plus-year history. The area is buffered by land under the control of the American Battlefield. The museum is free to the public daily from 10 a.m. to 4.p.m., except major holidays.

Army's Fort Sam Houston renames road for Maj. Jonathan Letterman, the 'Father of Battlefield Medicine' and a Civil War surgeon

Maj. Letterman (seated) was an innovator in battlefield medical care (Library of Congress)

Fort Sam Houston -- home of the prestigious Brooke Army Medical Center and the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence – is removing the name of a Confederate general from a street and designating it Letterman Road, a tribute to a Civil War pioneer in the treatment of trauma patients.

Joint Base San Antonio officials made the announcement Wednesday, saying Army Maj. Jonathan Letterman is receiving the honor as the “Father of Battlefield Medicine.”

William Hardee Road is being renamed after the recommendation of a congressional commission set up to remove Confederate names from military bases. Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee was a senior commander in the Confederate army. Earlier in his career, after the Mexican-American War, he was posted in Texas, including a stint in San Antonio.

Letterman, a surgeon and administrator with the Union Army of the Potomac, established the first ambulance corps, reorganized hospitals and devised the system of triage treatment, saving the lives of thousands. His ambulance system was successfully tested at Antietam, Fredericksburg and Gettysburg.

“Before Letterman’s innovations, wounded men were often left to fend for themselves. Unless carried off the field by a comrade, or one of the regimental musicians doubling as a stretcher bearer, a wounded soldier could lie for days suffering from exposure and thirst,” said a news release this week about the road renaming.

Demonstration of the Army of the Potomac's ambulance corps (Library of Congress)

Letterman put in place field dressing station near the battlefield for initial treatment and wound dressings. A field hospital, usually in homes or a barn, provided emergency surgery and more treatment. Large hospitals away from the hospital provided long-term care, according to the American Battlefield Trust.

The National Museum of Civil War Medicine in Frederick, Md., offers a medical excellence award in Letterman’s honor, recognizing innovation in treatment. It was pleased by the road renaming at Fort Sam Houston.

David Price, executive director of the museum, says the venue tells the story of Letterman and his leadership in bringing about profound changes in the health of a fighting force. "He simply brought order out of chaos. The system he put in place on Civil War battlefields is the same system used today around the world. His innovations were quickly adopted into civilian medicine - specifically the ambulance system, which we all are familiar with today.”

The Pry House Field Hospital museum at Antietam National Battlefield details Letterman's command of the medical response on the bloodiest day in American history in September 1862. 

“His system was in its infancy and proved invaluable in evacuating the nearly 23,000 casualties within 24 hours of the battle,” said Price in an email.

Letterman's desk is on display in Frederick, Md. (Courtesy NMCWM)

The museum’s Frederick location includes some Letterman items, including his desk, which is on loan from Gordon Dammann.

The first floor focuses on echelons of care, triage, logistics, nutrition and more.“Modern medical military leaders come from all over the world to see the birth of the systems they command today,” said Price.

The museum recently purchased a reproduction Rosecrans/Wheeling-style ambulance from a seller in New Hampshire. It and a Rucker-style reproduction are on view at the Pry House. 

Reproduction ambulances at Pry House at Antietam (Courtesy NMCWM)

Letterman's ideas remain foundational to trauma care.

“I often wondered whether, had I been confronted with the primitive system which Letterman fell heir to at the beginning of the Civil War, I could have developed as good an organization as he did. I doubt it,” said Maj. Gen. Paul Hawley, chief surgeon of the European Theater in WWII. “There was not a day during World War II that I did not thank God for Jonathan Letterman.”

The innovator has been honored before. The now-closed hospital at the Presidio in San Francisco was named Letterman Army Hospital.

Pennsylvania post office is named for an officer thought killed at Wilderness but who went on to a life of service in community

A.G. Williams, second from right, and other 63rd Pennsylvania officers

Andrew Gomer Williams nearly lost his life at the Battle of the Wilderness in May 1864 when he was struck in the temple by a bullet. According to Bill May, a historian in the Pennsylvania city where the soldier spent the last half of his life, Williams was found on the battlefield four days later – alive, but scarred. His comrades must have been overjoyed, thinking he had been killed.

After mustering out a few months later, the Union captain made the most of his remaining days, returning to a Pittsburgh-area community and recuperating before becoming a mill worker, lawyer, legislator and church choir director after he moved to Butler, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh.

Williams was honored last week in Butler with the renaming of the post office on South Main Street to the Andrew Gomer Williams Post Office Building.

Ceremony last week in Butler, Pa., north of Pittsburgh (Rep. Kelly office)

"Andrew Gomer Williams is a true example of an American hero," U.S. Rep Mike Kelly said in a statement. "Mr. Williams lived a life of service to his community and country, and I am proud to cement his legacy in our nation’s history. I hope this honor will allow future generations to learn who Mr. Williams was, and to inspire Americans to live a purpose-driven life just like he did."

Williams, who was born in Richmond, Va., to parents from Maryland, served with Company E of the 63^rd Pennsylvania Regiment, enlisting in 1861 and helping muster three companies. He participated in numerous battles, including Gettysburg, and was wounded at least three times, according to regimental and other histories.

The 63^rd Pennsylvania suffered heavy casualties during the Civil War: 17 officers and 169 enlisted men killed and mortally wounded and one officer and 133 enlisted men by disease. Total 320.

May, in a speech placed in the June 2021 Congressional Record, quoted Williams’ remarks made on the Gettysburg battlefield during a visit in 1889:

“Monuments are as old as our race and all along the history of the dim and dusty age down to the bright and joyous present we have been perpetuating the memory of heroic men.”

Williams (right), May said, was one of those heroic men.

The veteran was a member of the Grand Army of the Republic after the war and assisted comrades and families in Butler, including pension matters. He was on the board of directors for a Civil War orphans home. Williams served terms in the state House of Representatives and Senate.

Williams died in 1923 at age 82, leaving behind his second wife and several children. His grave received a new military headstone in 2021 due to a reenactor group and the local office of the Department of Veterans Affairs.