At Vicksburg, woven gabions were used to build trenches and protect soldiers. A new retaining wall there features a modern version to prevent further road washouts

Grant Circle retaining wall, detail of mesh and stone gabions (NPS); old ones at Battery Hickenlooper (Library of Congress)

A giant new retaining wall at Vicksburg National Military Park – part of a $7.4 million project to restore a tour road damaged by heavy rain in 2020 -- features a modern use of gabions, a common feature in fortifications at the Civil War battlefield.

While the 50-foot gabion basket at Grant Circle is made of heavy wire mesh and stone and is meant to improve road stability and drainage, those erected 160 years ago were open-ended and made of woven baskets filled with whatever material soldiers could muster. They were built to protect men.

The National Park Service found the comparison worthy of note in its recent announcement the project at Grant Circle and North Union Avenue had been completed.

Gabions bookend recreated section of Fort Garrott (Vicksburg National Military Park)

“During the (1863) siege, both armies used gabion baskets woven with cane reeds and filled with earth and stone to strengthen trenches and ramparts. While the materials have changed, the core engineering remains the same to reinforce an 1863 fortification or a present-day road,” the agency said.

A large portion of the Vicksburg project included the retaining wall, intended to improve road slope stability and allow water to pass through, reducing the risk of drainage pipe failures.

The historic gabions were a cylindrical basket, open at both ends. When filled with dirt, they could be used as a revetment to form parapets on trenches, according to the park. Both sides would have used gabions in the construction of their fortifications.

Trench line with gabions and tree trunks at Coonskin's Tower at Vicksburg

The Federal army used them to help construct trenches they dug across the Vicksburg landscape as part of the successful siege. Battery Hickenlooper was a prime example.

It was hot work.

In order to dig those trenches, soldiers would have to construct gabions and sap rollers, which were used to dig approach trenches and enabled troops to have cover as they advanced on the Confederate position, the park said in an old Facebook post about fortifications.

Troops turned to giant cane (Arundinaria gigantea), a fast-growing bamboo found across the Deep South. “It became a lifesaver during the Siege of Vicksburg. Soldiers used it to build fascines (bundled cane walls) and gabions (earth-filled baskets) to reinforce trenches and fortifications.” (At left, example of gabions at Fort Sedgwick (Fort Hell) at Petersburg, Va. Library of Congress)

A soldier with a Minnesota artillery battery wrote a June 1863 letter mentioning the features at Vicksburg:

“The embrasures, through which we fire, are made by setting up gabions on each side of the space left for the embrasure, where they are staked down and filled with earth. A gabion is made of stakes, with grapevines, young cane or flexible bushes woven through them, so as to form a hollow cylinder something like a large willow basket without the bottom, only much longer.

"The stakes are left projecting at one end some distance beyond the wicker work, and when the gabion is put in its place these projecting ends are driven into the ground and the gabion is filled with dirt. When we first came into the work the embrasures were not lined with gabions, and the consequence was that in one day's firing we blew out the embrasures so wide that a two horse wagon could have been driven through one of them.”

Before and after view of road section at Grant Circle (Vicksburg NMP)

The completion of the road project means the entire 16-mile tour road is now open to visitors for the first time since 2020, when heavy rainfall created a landslide.

Additional work at Grant Circle included milling and asphalt paving, new striping, curb and gutter replacements and installation of a new drainage system on the west side of the circle. 

Along North Union Avenue, work crews installed 900 aggregate piers under the new roadway as reinforcement to improve vertical load transfer and reduce the risk of lateral soil failure, the park said.

Before and after section of North Union Avenue (Vicksburg NMP)

The Friends of Vicksburg National Military Park helped advocate for the funding.

“The completed project includes improvements to drainage, erosion control, and ground stabilization to help keep these roads open for years to come,” the group said Monday. “This is a success our supporters can take pride in.”

You can't drive to the top of Kennesaw Mountain anymore. But hard campaigners can still walk or bike up; weekend shuttle will go to daily in a couple months

Restriping and other work was scheduled to begin this week at the park outside Atlanta (NPS photo)

I drove Saturday morning (Jan. 3) across town to Kennesaw Mountain National Battlefield Park, hoping to drive to the top of the Georgia peak a couple days ahead of the formal closure of the road to private vehicles.

Oops.

The walk to the summit provides some pretty cool views (Picket photos)

I had forgotten Mountain Road wasn’t open to cars on weekends. OK, how about the shuttle bus operating next to the visitor center? Well, it wasn’t operating because of rainy conditions. So, I did what hundreds of people do every day: Walk the 1.6 mile paved surface to the summit.

I greeted fellow walkers and took in a few signs indicating Confederate cannon and defensive positions from June 1864.

There’s a few for Maj. Gen. Edward Walthall’s division, namely  Quarles and Reynolds brigades. At the top, I used a marker to match views of Marietta and Atlanta and saw one listing 14 Georgia generals who fought for the Rebel army at Kennesaw Mountain. And above that is a cool stretch of emplaced cannons mimicking the Confederate positions.

Beyond the history, you get great views of the skyline and buildings below as you walk the winding road. I returned via the same route because the popular walkup trail was a bit wet and I didn’t trust my knees and bum ankle. (For the curious, the summit is 1,808 feet above sea level.)

I imagine my experience of seeing the road entrance blocked will be a surprise to many visitors this week as the news spread that the park Monday closed the road to private vehicles seven days a week as part of a safety improvement project.

The aim is to reduce congestion, ensure safety and protect resources.

"This change in use addresses growing safety concerns on a narrow, heavily used road," said Acting Superintendent Beth Wheeler in a news release. "We understand this change may impact how some visitors experience the park, and we are committed to prioritizing a safe and accessible experience for all visitors while also preserving the natural and historical integrity of the park."

A marker provides details on what can be scene from near the summit (Picket photos)

The road to the summit will eventually be accessible daily by shuttle, foot and bicycles, the latter of which must follow a specific schedule. The unpaved walkup trail will not be affected by the project.

"Once construction is complete, the park will expand its existing weekend/holiday shuttle service to seven days a week." said Wheeler in an email to the Picket. She said the park has seen increased visitation and held a public comment period in summer 2024.

The bottom line for the next couple months: Visitors can walk up the mountain on the road or the trail, bicyclists can come each day and the shuttle still operates on the weekend.

Work includes restriping the road and improvements to the summit and shuttle plaza near the visitor center. 

Wheeler says there will be a pedestrian lane on the outside edge of the road. The pedestrian lane will be wide enough for both ascending and descending walkers. 

A wider lane will be available for the shuttle and bicycles. It will be separated from pedestrians by new striping.

I noticed Saturday, ahead of the closure, that walkers were spread out over much of the road, so it will be interesting to see whether rangers will be able to keep them to the designated lane. Perhaps there will be sticks or something similar to separate the two lanes. (At right, a walker carried this replica canteen up the road)

Cyclist access will be permitted daily from 7:30 a.m.-10 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. (or 6 p.m. during winter hours) outside of shuttle operating times.

The road has a pretty good elevation grade increase in places and has a couple blind spots. And there's no shoulder lane. In other words, it has looked like any other old road -- with no marked spots for pedestrians.

Park officials say it has seen increased traffic incidents and medical emergencies.

While cars, when not attended to properly, are the most inherently dangerous of the three modes of transportation, pedestrians and bicyclists often have close calls and incidents.

Intermittent road closures to all forms of transportation will occur through late March, perhaps longer, the park said.

Visitor Ann Wright told the Atlanta CBS News affiliate that motorists sometimes sped up not matter how many strollers or bikes were on the road.

Some have questioned whether fewer people will make the trek to the top if they can't drive themselves.

A trail leads from Mountain Road to Little Kennesaw Mountain (Picket photo)

"I think it kind of shuts off a lot of availability for people who aren't physically able to get up there because I know it is kind of more of a strenuous hike, but I think it would be better for the park and for the conservation of the nature for sure," hiker Jenna Nation told the station.

Wheeler said the new shuttle schedule has not yet been set. The park will share information in the spring when the construction project is complete and the new uses and times for Mountain Road begin, she said.

The wartime version of the road going to the mountain top allowed Southern troops to haul cannon to the commanding heights.

Union forces on June 27, 1864, made demonstrations in the area (above), but the real attack occurred farther to the south. The assault was a costly – but temporary --failure as the army neared Atlanta.

There was no fighting at the summit during the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain.

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.

Search for a spot at Fredericksburg cemetery to bury remains of Civil War soldiers makes a surprise find of road, culvert

A NARP archaeologist trowels around the culvert (NPS photo)

The search for a suitable location to bury remains of Civil War dead took an interesting turn recently at Fredericksburg National Cemetery in Virginia, with the discovery of a long-covered road and brick-lined culvert.

The National Park Service’s Northeast Archeological Resources Program was brought in to determine whether there were unmarked burial spots or other features that could be affected by interment of bone fragments found several years ago near the site of a temporary Civil War hospital in town.

Using ground-penetrating radar and magnetometer surveys, the team made the discovery, the program said in a Facebook post this week. They didn’t locate graves but decided to excavate an unexpected feature in the soil where the new vault had been proposed.

“During excavation we uncovered a road/path that went around a site where a monument was proposed during the early design of the cemetery. That monument was never erected and through time the road was buried. Fortunately for us, the geophysics were right, and no evidence was found of a grave ever existing where we excavated,” the post said. “

The search also yielded the culvert. The post did not provide details on the length of the road or its construction. “Projects like this show just how complex park sites can be even just a few centimeters below the surface,” it said.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park thanked the program and said it is evaluating the location and alternatives for the reinterment. The NARP will submit a report on its finds.

Eric Mink, historian and cultural resource specialist at the park, told the Picket in an email the bricks apparently were part of a gutter that once lined a drive or avenue in the cemetery.

“These gutters assisted drainage in the cemetery and were installed about 1867-1868. About 1878, the gutters were filled in to accommodate a horse-drawn lawn mower and ease pedestrian traffic in the cemetery. What was uncovered by the archaeologists may very well be a portion of one of those brick gutters. How much of the gutter survives is unknown, as the archaeologists only excavated a small unit.”

Mink said the avenue that was on the southern end of the cemetery was a circular drive around the Monument Mound. “It was reserved during the early design of the burial ground for a Soldiers Monument that was never erected. The mound was later used as a flower bed, before being removed in the 1880s. Even later, a rostrum was erected at this location.”

Wartime image of the town, shows Rowe-Goolrick home at right foreground, 
facing the Eliza Eubank home at left (Library of Congress)

The cemetery holds the remains of more than 15,000 soldiers who fought for the Union during the Civil War; only about 2,500 are identified. It sits on Marye’s Heights, a strategic area located southwest of the town’s historic downtown. During the Battle of Fredericksburg, Confederate troops held the high terrain and successfully repelled numerous Union attacks.

The cemetery has not had a soldier or veteran buried there since 1945, but the city has asked the NPS to bury the remains at the cemetery.

John Hennessy, chief historian and chief of interpretation at the park, told the Picket: “This is part of the process of identifying a site for the permanent burial of the remains in the Fredericksburg National Cemetery. As you can see, they came across some unexpected features. The process continues.”

Hennessy said that the reported 100 bone fragments were found on city property – the site of the downtown Riverfront Park along the Rappahannock River – by a cultural resources firm working with the city.

Park officials have made no decisions about the timing or nature of any ceremony that may attend the reinterment of the soldiers’ remains.

A November 2015 article by The Free Lance-Star newspaper detailed the discovery of the bone fragments near the Rowe-Goolrick house, which served as a hospital during the December 1862 battle. A report said the bones were found mixed in with buttons and bits of fabric from Union infantry uniforms and other items in what may have been a root cellar.

The discovery was made after a Masonic hall next to the Rowe-Goolrick house site was torn down and officials called the company in to study the site. Presumably, remains of soldiers who died at the hospital were buried in the adjoining parcel.

Recent grave site testing at the national cemetery (NPS photo)

The Rowe-Goolrick house was demolished in 1973 to make room for a parking lot that has since been removed as part of work on the park.

As at other battle sites, temporary hospitals were established in Fredericksburg.

According to the Free Lance-Star, there are written accounts from several individuals, including some serving in the 14^th Connecticut Infantry, that describe convalescing on the house’s grounds. Park officials in 2019 said graves were often overlooked in the years following the war.

Civil War-era church fears road closure

The pastor of Sudley Church, which sits on a Northern Virginia hillside in Manassas National Battlefield Park, worries that protecting the park’s history will destroy his congregation’s future. That’s because the 19th century church, where the floorboards are no longer stained with soldiers' blood, lies along what is now a busy commuter route. To protect the historic park, the National Park Service would like to shut down the stretch of Route 234 in the battlefield. • Article

Sunken Road / Bloody Lane

For several hours on the afternoon of Sept. 17, 1862, wave after wave of Union troops to dislodge a much smaller force of Confederates solidly entrenched in the Sunken Road, used by Sharpsburg, Md., to reach their fields. Finally, the men in gray were pushed back to Piper Farm. A famous photograph shows piles of bodies in Bloody Lane a couple days after the battle. I walked the road on a recent rainy weekday. I was alone, deep in thought about the lives lost that desperate day at Antietam.

Motorists running into monuments

Careless driving has resulted in monument damage at Gettysburg National Military Park, leading Superintendent Bob Kirby to announce that memorial relocation is being considered. • Article