Medal of Honor recipients will take a special train ride in Georgia reenacting the 'Great Locomotive Chase.' They will take the same route used by Yankee saboteurs who were the first to receive the nation's top award for valor

Type of locomotive being used Tuesday (CSX); click to enlarge map showing route of the Andrews Raid in North Georgia; Ohio Pvt. Jacob Parrott received the first Medal of Honor; this is his second issue medal (Picket photo)

On Tuesday afternoon, about 15 Medal of Honor recipients will climb aboard a train in Kennesaw, Ga., to travel back in time while retracing the daring escapade of warriors first awarded the nation’s highest military award for valor.

The journey’s nexus to the Civil War episode will be somewhat remarkable, albeit no actual danger will be involved this time around.

The Medal of Honor recipients – who are meeting Sept. 29-Oct. 4 in Chattanooga, Tenn., for their annual convention – will be riding along the original route of the ambitious Andrews Raid, better known as the "Great Locomotive Chase."

The April 1862 romp began in Big Shanty (now Kennesaw) and ended near Ringgold, Ga., below Chattanooga when the Union men – most soldiers dressed in civilian clothes – jumped off the General, the train they commandeered, when it ran out of steam. Their brave mission was a strategic failure.

The Medal of Honor recipients will see both surviving engines Tuesday and start their two-and-a-half hour train journey near where the Union sabotage mission began.

The public is invited to wave at the CSX train and the honorees during the reenactment ride from Kennesaw to Ringgold. It starts around 1 p.m. ET and ends at 3:30 p.m.

As organizers note, the Great Locomotive Chase is more than a Civil War story. (At right the General inside the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, Picket photo)

“It’s a defining moment in American military history and established Chattanooga as the birthplace of the Medal of Honor. The audacious raid, spanning roughly 87 miles over seven hours, evoked an epic chase," they said in a news release.

The very first recipients (in March 1863) of the Medal of Honor were men who took part in the Andrews Raid. Ultimately, 21 of 24 raiders received the award, while two were not eligible because they were civilians.

Eight Yankee raiders – including leader James Andrews – were tried as spies and executed in Atlanta. They are interred at Chattanooga National Cemetery. Last year, two hanged Ohio participants in the raid -- Pvt. George Wilson and Pvt. Philip G. Shadrach -- were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor after a long campaign by descendants and a Georgia researcher to have them receive the honor.

Tuesday’s immersive reenactment is being principally sponsored by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, the Coolidge National Medal of Honor Heritage Center in Chattanooga and CSX.

The Civil War Picket is planning to attend the events and post updates via Facebook.

Startled Southern conductor sprang into action

Andrews and his men traveled in groups to Marietta, below Kennesaw, where most spent the night at a hotel before the raid.

Their aim was to take a locomotive to Chattanooga while destroying sections of track and Rebel communications. The audacious raiders hoped to deliver a blow to the Southern war effort and morale.

The Texas can be seen from the front of the Atlanta History Center (Picket photo)

On that spring day in 1862, Western & Atlantic Railroad conductor William A. Fuller was shocked to see a group of men steal the General while passengers and crew were enjoying breakfast at the Lacy Hotel in Big Shanty.

Fuller and a couple of others ran north after his train. He didn’t yet know it had been taken by the Union commandos. The conductor ran across a handcar, jumped on three trains and traveled 86 miles -- along with Confederate horsemen who had been reached by telegraph -- after the raiders.

The Andrews Raid did not do much damage to the rail line, but it gained fame in the North, where the men were treated as heroes who struck a blow, however small, deep in enemy territory.

Officials at the Atlanta History Center, which showcases the Texas, have long stressed the engine tells a much larger story of the postwar growth of the city. For its restoration several years ago, they decided to paint the Texas in an 1886 scheme, rather than the bright colors it wore at its former home in the city’s Grant Park -- in part because its surviving parts date closer to that year than the Civil War.

Like the General, the object of the chase, the Texas was saved (in 1907) from the scrap heap.

Here's how the day's events will play out

The Medal of Honor recipients’ formal introduction to the chase will begin Tuesday morning with breakfast at the Atlanta History Center.

From there, participants will take a bus to Kennesaw, about 20 miles northwest. They will attend a lunch program at the Southern Museum of Civil War and Locomotive History, which is home to the General. The museum will be closed to the public Tuesday.

A rather fanciful depiction of the raid and a burning bridge (Wikipedia)

Around 1 p.m., the recipients, guests and others will board one or two modern executive rail cars positioned near where the Lacy Hotel once stood. CSX operates what once was the Western & Atlantic route.

A vintage engine cannot be used because the route was long ago modernized for faster and heavier commercial traffic.

The train will make no stops at it passes historic depots in Acworth, Adairsville, Resaca and Dalton. The retinue will arrive in Ringgold at 3:30 p.m.

Raid's legacy bigger than its accomplishments

During the trip, costumed living historians will tell the Medal of Honor recipients about those involved in the raid. Organizers note there will be no pursuing train, though the reenactors will discuss Fuller’s dogged pursuit, according to Task & Purpose website.

Charlie Crawford, president emeritus of the Georgia Battlefields Association, told the Picket last year the Andrews Raid made no difference in the war’s outcome. Still, he said, the raid “made Southerners behind the lines aware that they could be vulnerable.”

Richard Banz, executive director of the Southern Museum, said those on both sides of the Great Locomotive Chase should be considered heroes.

“These were men who were willing to sacrifice everything for their perspective countries to succeed. Amazingly, they seemed to hold each other in high esteem despite being enemies during this terrible war.”

Gordon Jones, senior military historian and curator at the Atlanta History Center, said the Andrews Raid, through books and a 1956 Disney movie, brought the Civil War to young people.

And, he added in 2024, the caper did result in something sacred that has been special to Americans for generations.

“It’s the origin story of the highest award for military valor the United States government can bestow. It’s about personal sacrifice to save others. That’s timeless.”

There are only 61 living Medal of Honor recipients.

Moving forward: Sultana Disaster Museum in Marion, Ark., signs construction contract for a larger venue about 1865 Mississippi River tragedy

Current design for front of museum (Courtesy Sultana Disaster Museum)

Backers of a larger and more dynamic museum about the Sultana maritime disaster at the end of the Civil War have taken a major step, signing a $6.389 million contract this week for construction of the Marion, Ark., venue.

The contract with Zellner Construction of nearby Memphis, Tenn., involves renovating the 1939 high school gymnasium to repurpose it as a museum and to build an addition to the front of the museum for an auditorium and entry.

“We are elated we have finally signed a construction contract,” said John Fogleman, president of the Sultana Historical Preservation Society, which is leading the effort. “There were many who doubted that a new Sultana Disaster Museum would ever be built.”

Fogleman said he expects construction to perhaps begin in March, after anticipated approval by government agencies. Officials hope the new site will open in mid-2025, ideally around the time of the 160^th anniversary of the tragedy.

“We selected Zellner because of their excellent reputation, their course of work in the past with our architects and the fact they were the low bidder (of five),” he wrote in an email on Wednesday.

The exhibits will be bid separately. None have been as yet designed.

The overcrowded Sultana just hours before the explosion  (Library of Congress)

Gene Salecker, Sultana author, collector and museum supporter, said he believes the big attraction will be a mock-up of the forward part of the Sultana, which will include the boilers.

“Since the boilers were the main cause of the destruction of the Sultana, we are hoping to have a display on how the boilers worked and what went wrong,” he said, describing the overall museum experience as immersive. “We have tons of information and a great number of artifacts to put into each display

“We are hoping to walk people through the entire war/experience of the Sultana. People will walk through a section about the importance of the Mississippi in American history and the Civil War. We will have a display on soldiers in the war, on prisoners and on the prisoner exchange. The history of the Sultana will cover its construction, it's early life, it's importance of spreading the word of Lincoln's assassination, and then the overcrowding, the explosion, the rescues and the reunions.”

The disaster is currently remembered at a small museum a few blocks from the future site. Dreams for a larger facility germinated many years ago.

The city, close to where the side-wheeler Sultana exploded and caught fire in the Mississippi River, broke ground in 2022 for a museum that will honor soldiers who died in the disaster and residents who helped save others who were plunged into the river in late April 1865.

Carved comb made by Union POW in a Confederate prison (Gene Salecker)

About 1,200 passengers and crew perished. Hundreds of Federal soldiers, many recently freed from Confederate prisons, including Andersonville and Cahaba, were on their way home.

Museum officials say the exhibits will build off the full story of the Sultana with information about the importance of the river, the Confederate prisoner of war camps at Cahaba and Andersonville, the bribery and corruption that led to the overcrowding of the side-wheel steamboat, the explosion and fire, and the creation of the Sultana Survivors Association.

Fogleman and others have raised thus far donations, grants and pledges totaling $10.369 million. “We are still seeking money,” he said. The city of Marion has helped with fund-raising, including revenue from the Advertising and Promotion Committee to fund operating costs.

The society’s board added three new members, according to Fogleman, with the aim of having younger representatives and more women. They bring social media, marketing, banking and other skills, he said.

The story of the Sultana runs deep in the blood of two members of the Sultana society.

Fogleman’s great-grandfather, John Fogleman, after lashing two or three logs together, poled his way through the current of the Mississippi River and toward survivors. He plucked dozens of people -- mostly Federal soldiers -- from the chilly river. It’s possible his sons Leroy and Gustavus assisted.

Franklin Barton and LeRoy and Gustavus Fogleman (Courtesy of John Fogleman)

The present-day Fogleman’s and cousin Frank Barton share another great-great-grandfather, Franklin Hardin Barton, an officer with the 23^rd Arkansas Cavalry. He used a dugout canoe to reach survivors, many of whom were burned or scalded.

Frank Barton, treasurer of the Sultana Historical Society, told the Picket on Wednesday he is glad the Sultana story will “finally have a permanent venue that is befitting of this historical event and will honor those men and women that were aboard the Sultana that fateful night in April of 1865. Part of the Sultana story is how this country forgot those individuals and this new museum will be another step in correcting that part of the Sultana disaster story.”

This article will be updated

Previous Sultana coverage:

• Documentary, events mark 150th anniversary

• Will victim's journal and Bible become part of collection?

• Descendants drop flowers in memory of the lost

• Model captures every detail of Sultana
• Disaster took lives of those who had endured so much
• Siblings recall learning of disaster

At James Longstreet's grave in Georgia, taking measure of a man whose reputation gets stronger with time -- and through a new biography

Longstreet's grave on Sunday, birthday cake later at the Piedmont Hotel (Picket photos)

With a copy of the new biography of James Longstreet in tow, I drove Sunday to Gainesville, Ga., for the annual memorial service honoring the Confederate general.

I’ve been to Alta Vista Cemetery before (though I don’t remember it being as chilly) and I was long familiar with (and have written about) Lt. Gen. Longstreet’s controversial life – his performance at Gettysburg and, later, support for Reconstruction, black suffrage and the Republican Party.

When I visited and interviewed people about the Southern pariah nearly 15 years ago, his story was little-known to most Americans. Yes, the novel “The Killer Angels” and the film “Gettysburg,” coupled with scholarship by historians, helped to usher in a reassessment of the general.

But I think America’s current political divide – a take no prisoners philosophy – and its racial reckoning since Charlottesville and Charleston have made for perfect  timing for Elizabeth R. Varon’s “Longstreet:The Confederate General Who Defied The South.” In the past couple months, I have noticed more articles about Longstreet than ever before. Varon’s biography, which I read over the holidays, has generally been well-received.

A small gathering Sunday at Longstreet's grave in Gainesville, Ga. (Picket photo)

On Sunday, I stood near a dozen other people – many members of the Gainesville-based The Longstreet Society -- circling the family plot. While an impressive monument mentions the general’s Confederate service and an iron Southern Cross of Honor is positioned nearby, it’s notable a U.S. flag flies above the grave and violinist played the National Anthem during the brief service –- 120 years after the man’s passing.

Society president Richard Pilcher gave a brief summary of the general’s life, mentioning his military prowess, public service and courage away from the battlefield – working for reconciliation after the war. “Many Southerners considered him a traitor to the cause, and blamed him for the Confederacy’s defeat,” he said.

Of the people I spoke with at the cemetery and at the society’s headquarters about a mile away, only a couple had read much of Varon’s book, which dubs Longstreet “Confederate Judas” in the prologue. But they know the general’s story – and have been his defender for a generation. (Sharon Johns plays during the memorial service at Alta Vista, below)

Longstreet lived in Gainesville the last 30-plus years of his life, filling federal jobs, writing his memoirs, defending his war record and lobbying for the reunification of North and South. The society has held the memorial service for 29 consecutive years.

Member Doug Smith, a lifelong resident of the area, at the service read Theodore Roosevelt’s famous passage about bravery – the kind Longstreet demonstrated as he defended himself when he was assailed by Southerners who deemed him a turncoat for supporting former enemy Ulysses S. Grant and Reconstruction.

Longstreet, who supported slavery before and during the conflict, did an about-face on race and famously led black and white troops in New Orleans during a violent white uprising in the 1870s. And while he was not a racial egalitarian, Longstreet pushed for black suffrage in the decade after Appomattox (He was not an active civil rights activist in his last years.)

The worthy man, Roosevelt wrote, is he who fights for something despite the pain, willing to fail “while daring greatly.”

I spoke with Smith afterward at the historic Piedmont Hotel, the society’s headquarters. Longstreet operated the hotel and lived there for a time, welcoming those who took a buggy from the rail depot a couple blocks away. He famously served them Southern fried chicken, according to legend.

“You could be flawless if you sat on the couch every day,” Smith told me, providing his perspective on Roosevelt’s words and their application to Longstreet.

As members and visitors enjoyed birthday cake (Longstreet’s birthday is January 8), Smith told me he learned nothing as a child about the general. Southern leaders and educators had brushed Longstreet aside, and veneration for his valor was out of the question.

“I never heard of him one bit until the Gettysburg movie came out,” Smith said of the 1993 film that starred Tom Berenger as Longstreet.

The movie focused heavily on the Gen. Robert E. Lee-Longstreet relationship during the battle. The latter, who Lee called his “old war horse,” lobbied for a more defensive posture.

Longstreet in postwar years voiced his opinion that Lee should not have launched the disastrous Day Three attack at Gettysburg. Advocates of the romantic Lost Cause myth lashed out at him, and said he failed Lee at Gettysburg by delaying the execution of orders.

But many Confederate veterans lionized him and he was popular at reunions, including a notable gathering at Gettysburg in 1888.

The society’s museum mostly covers Longstreet’s military service, his family and the hotel. Pilcher estimates about 60 percent of the interest in the general is about his Civil War record.

Longstreet supporters, like those I spoke with Sunday, defend his actions at Gettysburg. Interestingly, one portrays Lee at various events, such as he did Sunday.

“I love Lee, but Lee made a mistake at Gettysburg,” Raymond E. Loggins, dressed in uniform (left), said on the porch of the remaining portion of the hotel.

Smith said Longstreet was a pragmatist and believed it made sense for the South to accept defeat and move forward. As for the general’s motivation?

“The war is over. We lost. Get over it. I’ve got to make a living,” Smith theorized, who has read portions of the new biography.

Even after reading Varon’s book, I still don’t know exactly why Longstreet took the path he did after the Civil War. Was it because of his deep friendship with Grant? Was it by taking federal jobs in Republican administrations, as he did, he would be exempt from foes firing him if he held a local position? Or, maybe he wanted the South to lower its head and do what it was needed to be full equals.

We may never know, and a framed piece of text at the museum, entitled “PRESENTISM,” goes to the difficulty of understanding the thoughts of people who lived 160 years ago.

Only the first floor of the old Piedmont Hotel survives (Picket photos)

“Presentism is an ugly virus invading journalism, history, religion and other fields,” the message reads. “It is the idea that we should apply the modern world’s moral and ethical standards to judge people of the past who had different standards. And, if people from our past are found wanting in the judgment of the present, the virus would eradicate their names and their memorials from the world.”

Of course, many Americans vociferously disagree when it comes to the Confederacy, saying actions speak louder than words. Civil rights activists, according to CNN, say monuments are racist and offensive because they honor those who promoted the enslavement of Black people.

“Destroying these monuments and these memorials will not erase the legacy of slavery,” said Southern Poverty Law Center researcher Kimberly Probolus in 2022. “But abolishing these memorials is a first and essential step in combating the white supremacist values of the Confederacy.”

Dan Paterson, a great-grandson of Longstreet who lives in Virginia, was unable to attend Sunday’s memorial. But he told me beforehand he plans to read Varon’s book soon.

“I was aware of the book coming out for quite some time and my anticipation was guarded as it usually has been regarding Longstreet books over the years,” Paterson wrote in an email, adding he has enjoyed some biographies of the general.

“Given the monument destruction of the last several years, including grave desecration, I am a bit leery of the angle taken on any former Confederate commander, much less my ancestor,” said Paterson, who said he had ancestors who fought on both sides. He faulted the recent removal of the Confederate monument at Arlington National Cemetery.

“Taking down a reconciliation monument right before Christmas is not a good look.”

Regarding Longstreet, Paterson said: “It seems to me, from what I am told, he will probably be the only former Confederate not canceled. Those are the words of my son. who also added that the liberals/progressives are backing him up or his reputation, as it were.”

Longstreet Society's Joe Whitaker dies at 85; he welcomed visitors in Gainesville, Ga., and defended general's reputation

Joe Whitaker greeted Piedmont Hotel guests for years.

I met Joe Whitaker in the summer of 2009 when I first visited the headquarters of the Longstreet Society in Gainesville, Ga. I shuffled up the steps of a one-story wooden building -- all that remained of the Piedmont Hotel, which was operated for years by Confederate Gen. James Longstreet in his retirement.

Whitaker greeted me and proceeded to be an affable and helpful guide to the building. He was very knowledgeable about the general and his legacy.

Word that Whitaker, 85, died on Wednesday saddened me.

C.J. Clarke IV, president of the society, told members in an email that Whitaker “was the best and will never be forgotten.”

Whitaker was the former society treasurer and manager of the hotel. He greeted visitors and showed them the building’s rooms and items linked to Longstreet. He continued to serve on the board until his death.

“Joe was a loyal and enthusiastic supporter of General Longstreet and a thoroughly knowledgeable historian,” Clarke said.

Since we met, Whitaker occasionally sent emails about society events and the annual memorial service for Longstreet.

By then, I had published two articles about the controversial Longstreet and the society’s efforts to honor him and help reestablish his reputation.

On the hotel porch in 2009 (Picket photos)

Longstreet moved to Gainesville from New Orleans about six years after the end of the Civil War. The controversy about his conduct at the Battle of Gettysburg and his postwar support of the Republican Party, Reconstruction and suffrage for blacks dogged him to his grave at Gainesville's Alta Vista Cemetery and for years afterward. 

But time – and many historians – have been kind to the general in recent decades, with many arguing he was a scapegoat for the Southern defeat and failures by Gen. Robert E. Lee.

In 2009, Whitaker said the general’s reputation has been “partially salvaged” in recent years.

Whitaker believed Longstreet was a bit naïve about how his post-war politics would play with fellow Southerners. "He did not understand. He thought everyone was pragmatic, having the common sense he had."

Richard Pilcher and Whitaker last summer.

I saw Whitaker last summer while visiting the Longstreet Society for the first time in several years. He was there with Richard Pilcher, a longtime member and former president of the group. Pilcher told me this week that his colleague was still volunteering at the hotel once a week, despite health problems.

“Joe was our rock and I guess I thought he would never leave us and now he is gone. I have cried several times today,” Pilcher told the Picket in an email. “Joe was a graduate of Gainesville High School and North Georgia College (UNG), a US Army veteran, a patriot, a Christian, the first director of the Piedmont Hotel Museum and my dear friend.”

Clarke told the Gainesville Times that visitors who returned to the Piedmont Hotel would remember Whitaker's face, but not his name. Clarke said they would ask, “Is that (the) man that knows everything here?”

The funeral for the Gainesville native and former wholesaler and warehouse manager is Saturday. A memorial for Whitaker will be held by the society at a future date.

Longstreet memorial service is Jan. 10

James Longstreet

As is their custom, the Sons of Confederate Veterans #1860 (Blue Ridge Rifles) in Dahlonega, Ga., and the Longstreet Society will be remembering the life of Gen. James Longstreet at a Jan. 10 memorial service in Gainesville, Ga.

The ceremony is set for 1 p.m. at Alta Vista Cemetery, where the Confederate general was laid to rest after his Jan. 2, 1904, death at age 82. The public also is welcome to an open house that follows at the Longstreet Society's headquarters, the old Piedmont Hotel, 827 Maple St., Gainesville. Refreshments will be served. Longstreet ran the hotel for several years. 

The society defends and promotes the legacy of one of Lee's Lieutenants. Members believe he was the scapegoat for what went wrong at Gettysburg and the South's loss.

Previous Longstreet coverage:
-- Granddaughter fought to vindicate him 
-- Southern-fried Longstreet, Part 1
-- Part 2: Vilification and vindication

Re-enacting unit performs for Calif. crowds

They are former trotting horses, known as standard bred horses. The California Historic Artillery Society has more than 30 horses, three reproduction cannons, a caisson, a Civil War-era ambulance and a mobile forge. It claims to be the largest horse-drawn artillery battery in the United States. • Article

Researching America's defining moment

Purdue University history professor Caroline E. Janney, who has a particular focus on Reconstruction,  on Thursday becomes the president of the Society of Civil War Historians, a national group of scholars, researchers and docents of historic sites that focus on 1830 through 1880. “It’s kind of fitting that I’m starting my term now because my interest has been the postwar years,” she tells Gannett. “What has always intrigued me is the way the war is very much present in our lives 150 years later.” Janney intends to lead the effort to make the society’s webpages more interactive and user-friendly. • Article

Wall of names has unexpected power

The Maine Historical Society has visually represented the deaths of members of Maine regiments with a memorial wall that is part of the society’s exhibit, “This Rebellion: Maine and the Civil War,” on display through May 26. Inspired in part by the Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C., the wall is 40 feet long, 7 feet high, and, on nine panels with four columns on each, contains the names of more than 8,500 members of Maine regiments who died during the war, as well as names of those missing in action. Among those listed on the wall are four brothers. • Article

Longstreet Society bivouac Saturday

Living historians portraying military leaders in the Civil War will take part in Saturday's annual spring bivouac sponsored by the Gainesville, Ga.-based Longstreet Society.

The event is being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Piedmont Hotel, where Confederate Gen. James Longstreet lived his last years.

The building serves as the headquarters for the society, which wants to educate people about the general's life.

The program includes tours of the home, entertainment and food. There is no charge, but donations will be accepted for the society's causes.

Society treasurer Joe Whitaker said organizers expect men portraying Longstreet, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Gen Ulysses S. Grant to be on hand.

For more information on the event, call the society at 770-539-9005. The event is at 827 Maple St., Gainesville, Ga.

• More information about the Longstreet Society

Longstreet memorial service Sunday

The Sons of Confederate Veterans #1860, the Blue Ridge Rifles, and the Longstreet Society will remember Gen. James Longstreet on Sunday, Jan. 6. The annual memorial service is set for 2 p.m. at Alta Vista Cemetery in Gainesville, Ga., where the general lived his last years until his death in 1904. The public is welcome to the event and an open house that follows at the Longstreet Society's headquarters, the old Piedmont Hotel, 827 Maple St., Gainesville, after the service. Refreshments will be served. Call 770-539-9005 for more information. • More about the Longstreet Society

Upcoming exhibit: Ordinary Kentuckians, extraordinary bloody divide

Few white Kentuckians, whether they fought for the Confederacy or Union, had an abolition ideal during the Civil War. They longed for the status quo.

That status quo was not to be.

Like Missouri, wartime Kentucky provided a classic example of "brother against brother." Although the slave state was militarily in Federal control by late 1862, Confederate cavalry raids and vicious guerrilla warfare brought chaos and terror until the war's end.

The division is the subject of an exhibit, "Civil War: My Brother, My Enemy" at the Kentucky Historical Society in Frankfort. The exhibit, opening June 2, was produced by the Frazier History Museum in Louisville. (Photo above, child in mourning dress)

“It’s got a lot of weapons but it is not a battles and generals kind of exhibit," said Trevor Jones, the society's director of museum collections and exhibitions. “It focuses on families and what the impact of the war was on families. Most of those families are not particularly well known.”

The Davidson brothers of Todd County exemplify the fissures within the border state.

The coat and uniform of Maj. John L. Davidson, killed while fighting for the Union, will be on display. His brother, Frank, joined the Confederate army and survived.

“In the postwar, his family never mentions him again. He is ostracized," Jones said of Frank Davidson.

It's interesting that slave-holding families like the Davidsons chose to align with the Union.

“Kentucky tries to stay neutral the first couple months of the war," Jones told the Picket. "A lot of people are supporting the Union as the best way to save slavery.”

Artifacts on display include a casket wagon used to reinter soldiers, slave documents and plantation horns, dresses, flags, horse tack (photo), letters, and other personal objects, including the Mary Todd Lincoln collection.

Visitors will see pieces of the gallows used to hang partisan Confederate guerrilla Champ Ferguson (photo below) in October 1865. Ferguson, tried for 53 murders, was only one of two Confederates executed for war crimes.

“He was too wild even for (Brig. Gen. John Hunt) Morgan," said Jones. "He went around and killed everybody indiscriminately.”

The exhibit includes interactive features, such as iPads.

"You can be a spy and decipher codes," said Jones. "If you are a soldier you can pack your haversack. You can make choices on what to pack. In the end it will evaluate on whether you will be able to march and whether you packed the right things.”

The society is in the process of putting its entire Civil War collection online, including rosters for U.S. Colored Troops, who trained at Camp Nelson in Kentucky. The society's HistoryMobile will have a Civil War theme beginning in August.

Photos courtesy of Frazier History Museum and Kentucky Historical Society. The exhibit runs through Dec. 8 at the Thomas D. Clark Center for Kentucky History in downtown Frankfort.

• Hours of operation, fees, info on society

Longstreet Society bivouac this weekend

The Gainesville, Ga.-based Longstreet Society's annual spring bivouac this Saturday (April 28), features tours, music, lunch and the groundbreaking of a new walkway.

And if you're not too squeamish, stick around to look for ghosts.

The event is being held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Piedmont Hotel, where Confederate Gen. James Longstreet lived his last years. The building serves as the society's headquarters.

There is no admission, but donations are accepted for helping to pay down a loan on the property. The society has done extensive renovations at the site.

The 30th Georgia Infantry also will make a visit Saturday.

A brick and granite walkway will replace the present concrete pavers connecting the front steps to the gravel parking lot, with a leg going to the front gate. Bricks for engraving are still available.

"We are trying to get the general public to visit the historic restored section of the old Piedmont Hotel," said society treasurer Joe Whitaker. "The portion remaining has a lot of pictures, prints, documents and other items of interest."

At 9 p.m., Night Life Paranormal Investigations, a Georgia organization, will use sound and motion detectors and other devices to detect any activity.

"There has been some success in the past at discovering some activity," Whitaker said.

For more information on the event, call the society at 770-539-9005 or e-mail old_pete@bellsouth.net. The society is at 827 Maple St., Gainesville, Ga.

• More information about Longstreet Society

Longstreet Society yard sale Saturday

Here's another timely item on the Longstreet Society, which operates from an historic building in Gainesville, Ga.

The Piedmont Hotel is the centerpiece of the society, which was formed in 1994 to honor the life of Confederate Gen. James Longstreet, who lived in Gainesville in his last years and died at age 82 in 1904.

The yard/estate sale is from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 29) at the Piedmont Hotel, 827 Maple St., Gainesville.

Items for sale are expected to include kerosene and electric heaters, glass lantern globes, bricks, wooden shutters, an antique mahogany and brass coffee table, chandeliers and more.

The society uses the old hotel rooms to tell Longstreet's story. He bought and operated the hotel for several years. Society treasurer Joe Whitaker said the proceeds will go toward an outstanding $50,000 loan. The group has done extensive renovations over the years and bought a lot next door for parking.

The hotel has seen an increase in visitors and is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

For more information on the sale, e-mail longstreet@longstreetsociety.org or call 770-539-9005.

Longstreet Society seminar held on bloodied ground of Manassas

The Gainesville, Ga.-based Longstreet Society earlier this month visited Manassas National Battlefield Park, scene of the general's crushing assault on the Union army in the second of two engagements on the Virginia battle ground.

Speakers included Perry Jamieson, co-author of "Attack and Die: Civil War Military Tactics and the Southern Heritage," and Scott Patchan, who wrote "Second Manassas: Longstreet's Attack and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge."

In August 1862, Gen. John Pope clashed with Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson in Northern Virginia. At Manassas, their armies slugged it out on Aug. 29. According to the National Park Service battle summary, "During the afternoon, Longstreet’s troops arrived on the battlefield and, unknown to Pope, deployed on Jackson’s right, overlapping the exposed Union left. Lee urged Longstreet to attack, but “Old Pete” demurred. The time was just not right, he said. Critics have said Lee should have overruled Longstreet.

After futile Federal attacks on Aug. 30, Longstreet made his move.

"Seeing the Union lines in disarray, Longstreet pushed his massive columns forward and staggered the Union left. Pope’s army was faced with annihilation. Only a heroic stand by northern troops, first on Chinn Ridge and then once again on Henry Hill, bought time for Pope’s hard-pressed Union forces."

Pope withdrew to Washington and Lee prepared for an invasion of the North.

Dan Paterson, great-grandson of Longstreet, told the Picket he spoke at the seminar about how the maligned Longstreet's postwar support for black suffrage made him the "fall guy" for the war's loss.

The 2012 seminar is scheduled for Oct. 6-7. It will cover the Seven Days Campaign in Virginia.

Longstreet Society seminar at Manassas

Some of you may recall the Picket's two-part report on Confederate Gen. James Longstreet, who spent his last years in Gainesville, Ga.

I find his controversial legacy one of the most fascinating aspects of postwar scholarly and public debate.

The Gainesville-based Longstreet Society is holding its annual seminar Oct. 1-2 at the Manassas battlefield in Virginia. Longstreet was present at both battles there. Society president Richard Pilcher said Longstret's performance at the 1862 clash was among his best.

• Preview of this year's seminar
• General's vilification and vindication
• Southern-fried Longstreet

'Gone But Not Forgotten': Learn about Georgia sites at archaeology group's meeting

Born in Indiana, Confederate Brig. Gen. Francis A. Shoup lent his name to a unique fortification that Union Maj. Gen William T. Sherman, intent on taking Atlanta, called “one of the strongest pieces of field fortifications I ever saw.”

The timber and earthen redoubts – known as Shoupades -- were built in the Chattahoochee River Line and were manned in July 1864.

The arrowhead shape of the forts allowed defenders to shoot in several directions. Connecting them was an infantry trench. Attackers could be fired on from several angles.

Few of the fortifications (left, model by Bill Scaife) remain.

The survey of the River Line is one of Civil War abstracts to be presented at the spring meeting of the Society for Georgia Archaeology (SGA), set for May 14 (Saturday) at the Henry County Chamber of Commerce in McDonough.

May is Georgia Archaeology Month and the non-profit organization’s program that weekend is entitled “Gone But Not Forgotten: Rediscovering the Civil War Through Archaeology.”

“Discover what archaeologists have learned by conducting fieldwork at forts, battlefields, prisoner of war camps and related sites across Georgia at this fun-filled and engaging affair,” SGA says.

The public is invited.

Other presentations related to the conflict:

-- Challenges of a Civil War battlefield, concentrating on investigations of the battles at Lovejoy Station, south of Atlanta.

-- Rescaca battlefield and the myth of the “hunted out” site. GIS analysis of 126 items found in a survey provides new insights into the nature of the fighting in one part of the North Georgia site.

-- Lessons learned in survey techniques at Camp Lawton, a Confederate POW camp near Millen (demonstration dig, top photo). Last summer, Georgia Southern University and federal and state officials announced the discovery of a trove of artifacts in the undisturbed site.

-- On the trail of Sherman and Johnston: Managing and researching sites on national forest land in northwest Georgia. The sites previously had never been documented using modern techniques. Preliminary results of investigations will be presented.

-- Archaeological sites around Dalton, including the Battle of Dug Gap Mountain. The sites and artifacts “provide opportunities to examine the battle from the soldier’s perspective.”

The program also includes a May 15 (Sunday) visit to nearby Nash Farm Battlefield & Museum and the Veterans Wall of Honor & Historical Military Museum at Heritage Park. The 204-battlefield was the site of the largest cavalry raid in Georgia's history and houses related artifacts.

“We hope the public will get a deeper understanding of archaeology,” GSA President Catherine Long told the Picket.

Many GSA members are professional archaeologists and hobbyists. Others work for governments or cultural resources companies.

The group, which has about 300 active members, concentrates on preservation of historic sites and educating the public about their significance.

It also warns of the dangers of vandalism and relic looting, which results in history “being taken out of context,” said Long.

During tough budgetary times for state and local governments, building partnerships is crucial for helping to preserve sites and promote stewardship, according to the society.

The society’s ArchaeoBus brings educational programs to students and residents across Georgia.

SGA also sponsors local chapters to reach those “interested in archaeology avocationally,” Long said.

The society says seating for the May 14 event is limited. The program is in the Hudgins Room at the chamber, 1709 Highway 20 West, McDonough, Ga. 30253. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. The event includes a benefit silent auction. Registration is $10 for SGA members and $15 for non-members. Lunch is not provided. A donation is requested for Sunday’s field trip to Nash Farm. Call Tammy Herron of SGA at 706-831-3169 for more information, or e-mail her at tfherron@gmail.com.

• Registration info | • More about SGA | • Meeting agenda