160 years ago today, photographer Timothy O'Sullivan took breathtaking images of Grant council of war at Virginia church. Today, O'Sullivan is still a man of mystery

Grant leans over Meade's shoulder (Library of Congress); balcony view today (Kathy Hart)

Timothy O’Sullivan's Civil War photographs documented the horror of combat and the grind of camp life, drilling and marching in less deadly moments. While best known for those four years, O'Sullivan is getting attention now for his compelling images made a few years later out West.

Robert Sullivan, in his new book, “Double Exposure: Resurveying the West with Timothy O’Sullivan,” focuses on the enigmatic photographer’s work after the Civil War.

O’Sullivan, as the author tells the Columbia Journalism Review, left no autobiography, letters or papers. While O’Sullivan is well-known in Civil War circles, it’s safe to say most Americans know little to nothing about him. He died at age 42 of tuberculosis.

Thankfully, O’Sullivan’s work speaks for itself – from “A Harvest of Death” at Gettysburg (1863) to Iceberg Canyon on the Colorado River, circa 1871.

At about noon on May 21, 1864, O’Sullivan (left), using a stereo camera, captured an extraordinary moment on the grounds and from the second-floor balcony of Massaponax Baptist Church in northern Virginia. Union generals Ulysses S. Grant and George Meade and others rested on church pews, wrote orders and surveyed a map after the bloody fighting at nearby Spotsylvania Court House.

John Hennessy, retired chief historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park and a history blogger, told the Picket the images are simply remarkable.

“The series at Massaponax Church is a rare, completely candid series of shots of the army headquarters functioning,” he wrote. “I know of nothing else like it from the Civil War.”

My sole visit to the church came in 2016. With my parents, I walked the grounds. The sanctuary was closed, so I could not ascend the balcony to see what O’Sullivan saw below.

Since then, I have been trying to get an image replicating the view, and late last year Kathy Hart, a lifelong member of Massaponax Baptist Church and its history team, came through, taking the photo above on a rainy day.

Hart has been helpful in describing soldiers’ graffiti still on the walls of the church, Civil War tours she leads and more about the small congregation today.

A team from the American Battlefield Trust last summer shot photos and video at Massaponax for its “Step into History” series. The video was released in February.

In the immersive video, Garry Adelman, director of history and education for the Trust, says O’Sullivan must have been excited as he ascended the stairs to record Grant’s council of war.

I asked the trust for more information about the video shoot at the church, which is at the corner of a very busy U.S. 1 (then called Telegraph Road) and Massaponax Church Road. (The church address is 5101 Massaponax Church Road)

Adelman (left) and team at Massaponax Church (Courtesy of Garry Adelman)

“Doing this was complex stuff,” Adelman said. “Shooting in the church and since we shot in 360 making sure that crew didn’t show up in video was a challenge. Then, outside the church was done on a ladder and using a stick to approximate the window height, as seen in the photo.”

O’Sullivan’s treasured photographs are in the collection of the Library of Congress.

In one candid view, Grant leans over Meade’s shoulder to study a map as they plot the next phase of the Overland Campaign -- a move toward the North Anna River. In another, Grant sits with a cigar clenched in his teeth. Also present is Assistant Secretary of War Charles Dana and staff officers. Wagons of the Federal V Corps rumble by in the background on what is now Massaponax Church Road. Grant’s chief of staff John Rawlins also was there.

Grant realized on May 21 that Confederates remained in strong positions after fierce fighting at Spotsylvania and he decided to move to the southeast to try to get them out in the open. Much of the Union army used Smith Station Road and Massaponax Church Road as it started its march to the North Anna, according to Hennessy.

Period map shows church and Telegraph Road (Library of Congress; click to enlarge)

John Cummings, in his Spotsylvania Civil War Blog, has written about the day that Grant and his subordinates stopped by the church.

According to Cummings, Grant wrote one dispatch from Massaponax, to Maj. Gen. Ambrose Burnside. One of the O’Sullivan photographs shows Grant scribbling on a paper pad.

GENERAL: You may move as soon as practicable upon the receipt of this order, taking the direct ridge road to where it intersects the Telegraph road, thence by the latter road to Thornburg Cross-Roads. If the enemy occupy the crossing of the Po in such force as to prevent your using it, then you will hold the north side at Stanard's Mill until your column is passed, and move to Guiney's Bridge. General Wright will follow you and will cover the crossing of the Po for his own corps. At Guiney's Bridge you will receive further directions if you are forced to take that road. If successful in crossing at Stanard's your march will end at Thornburg.
U. S. Grant,
Lieutnant-General.

Grant writer an order while seated on church pew (Library of Congress)

The Metropolitan Museum in New York, which has a copy of one of the photographs, says of that day:

“The chaotic study is one of the most daring made by any Union photographer. … Evidence suggests that it had been a disastrous day for the Union troops, as the losses were heavy and no strategic advantage had been gained. In the background are rows of horse-drawn baggage wagons and ambulances transporting supplies for the next day’s engagement and the wounded to field hospitals.”

A soldier in one of the O’Sullivan photographs went on to receive the Medal of Honor for postwar gallantry. You can read about that here.

In 1863, during the middle of the conflict, Massaponax gave letters of dismissal to black members and they formed smaller churches. Confederate and Union forces alternately used the church as a stable, hospital and meeting place during various campaigns.

For a time, the graffiti on the balcony was covered by whitewash that covered “unsightly marks and the sad stories were forgotten.” The faded writing is now protected by Plexiglass.

A portion of graffiti left by Civil War soldiers (Massaponax Baptist Church)

According to a document kept by the history team, noted historian Douglas Southall Freeman had this to say about the graffiti:

 “A careful survey of the whole subject of the inscriptions at Massaponax Church leads me to conclude that you have something almost unique. The church was located in the no man’s land on the right flank of the Confederate position at Fredericksburg. The church was consequently visited by men of both armies. I do not know of another instance where inscriptions of both sides have survived to this extent. To extinguish them in any way would be to destroy a treasure which will become more and more interesting to visitors as it is known.”

Today, the church has one foot in history and the other very much in the 21^st century, meeting the needs of those near and far.

The congregation’s diverse 50 or so active members – many of whom commute to work in the Washington, D.C, metro area -- sponsor a food pantry. They also take part in the Samaritan’s Purse ministry, an international relief effort. “We teamed up with the local elementary school to help provide snacks for low-income students. Also, we visit the seniors at a nearby nursing facility playing bingo,” says Hart. (Photo, courtesy Kathy Hart)

A contemporary service is held at 11 a.m. on Sundays.

“Our mission is to love God and each other through worship; to grow in Christ through discipleship; to serve and fellowship together and to impact the community and the world for Christ,” says Hart.

Civil War aficionados stop by all the time to gaze at the church or a historical marker outside about Grant’s council of war.

O’Sullivan, 160 years after he traveled to Massaponax, is getting new attention through Sullivan’s book.

The photographer was an integral part of Clarence King's survey of the West, undertaken between 1867 and 1872. It covered a vast swath of terrain, from the border of California eastward to the edge of the Great Plains. 

Sullivan, in his Q&A with the Columbia Journalism Review, says his subject “never stopped being a war photographer in the sense that there was violence enacted on the communities that the surveys moved through: either by the surveyors, or the way the surveyors framed the land, or the people who were there.”

Keith F. Davis and Jane L. Aspinwall in 2011 published “Timothy H. O’Sullivan: The King Survey Photographs.”

Davis, a photography curator, author and collector, said O’Sullivan was a key and essential figure of his time.

“The challenge was to grapple with a set of related but distinct questions: what he did, why the pictures look the way they do and why this work remains so relevant to today’s artistic practice,” Davis told the Picket in a recent email.

“Despite (or because of?) the dearth of information about O’Sullivan the person, his pictures have had genuinely special resonance for every succeeding generation of viewers. O’Sullivan is an extraordinary, mysterious gift that keeps on giving.”

Man fined $15,000 for using metal detector, digging at Chancellorsville battlefield claimed he did not know he was on federal land

A portion of the Chancellorsville History Trail (NPS photo)

A Virginia man is paying a civil penalty of more than $15,000 after he was caught using a metal detector and digging on the Chancellorsville battlefield, officials said.

Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park on Friday took to social media to remind visitors that it is unlawful to do such activities on federal land, saying artifacts are “an irreplaceable part of the nation’s heritage.”

Acting Superintendent Chris Collins on Monday told the Civil War Picket that the unidentified Alexandria man “was very forthcoming because he did not realize he was on federal property and gave up anything he had.”

The rangers discovered multiple unauthorized excavation sites.

Chris Collins

Collins said nothing significant had been removed from the area adjacent to the Chancellorsville History Trail. Given the circumstances, the agency handled the matter internally, rather than seek federal prosecution, officials said.

A press release said an off-duty Virginia State Police trooper noticed the man digging on the battlefield on March 16, 2021, and contacted the park, which sent rangers “who confronted the gentleman,” said Collins.

The man must pay $15,557.25 for damage caused by the excavation.

The trail is close to the park visitor’s center and State Route 3. The 4.3 mile loop follows “in the footsteps of Confederate soldiers hammering against the Union defense on the morning of May 3, Chancellorsville crossroads and house site, the Bullock House Site, and the apex of Hooker's last line,” according to the park.

The May 1863 battle was a decisive Confederate victory and paved the way for Lee’s invasion of Pennsylvania that summer. It came at a huge cost: the death of Lt. Gen. Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, killed by his own men.

Collins said commercial development and lack of public awareness produce challenges for protecting historic resources. “There (are) consequences if you are doing something like this on federal property.”

Influential Fredericksburg-Spotsylvania chief historian John Hennessy is hanging up his hat after a 40-year NPS career

John J. Hennessy, who says his role was to reflect the evolution of thought on key events in the American story, is retiring this month as chief historian at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park in Virginia.

Tuesday (Sept. 1) was his last day of work at the site.

Hennessy last month announced on Facebook the upcoming conclusion of his 40-year service with the agency, which started as a seasonal employee at Manassas National Battlefield Park and continued at Fredericksburg, where he held his position for two decades.

The Delmar, N.Y., native said he hopes to do more historic interpretation and writing. He is the author of several Civil War books, including “Return to Bull Run: The Campaign and Battle of Second Manassas.” He has contributed to “Mysteries and Conundrums,” the park’s blog, and maintains his own website “Remembering.”

“The world has changed incredibly in 40 years, and our business of public history has changed along with it,” Hennessy wrote on Facebook. “I cannot imagine a better time and place to be a public historian. Never has our work as public historians been more important to our nation.”

After he announced his retirement, hundreds of followers thanked Hennessy for his service at Manassas and Fredericksburg, including leading tours and speaking at events.

One wrote, “You were the historian working the Manassas Battlefield when my Mom and Dad drove down from Massachusetts in the ‘80s for a visit. My Great Grandfather had fought for the 44^th New York at ... Manassas, and you spent the time explaining where he fought, pointing to the ridge/fields. We will always be grateful for you, John.”

Hennessy was of help to the Picket over the years, including articles over the death of a Georgia general at Fredericksburg and the search for a burial site for Federal soldiers who died in the battle.

Fredericksburg Superintendent Kirsten Talken-Spaulding told the Picket that Hennessy’s “contributions are extensive and ongoing.  While he is retiring from the NPS, he will still be contributing to the annals of scholarship of history.  For that we should all be grateful.”

Civil War historians Brooks Simpson and Kevin Levin have extolled Hennessy for pushing the boundaries of interpretation of battlefields and factors contributing to the war and their legacy today, including the Confederate battle flag. They say Hennessy faced criticism from some, but stood firm.

“The chief historian of the Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania National Military Park combines the talents of a skilled military historian with an ability to reflect upon the broader issues of war and peace, slavery and emancipation, and history and memory,” Simpson wrote in 2015.

In 2011, the historian spoke with the Daily Gazette in his native New York about his interest in the Civil War.

“My dad took me to Antietam in the fourth grade, but I don’t remember too much about the trip. I do remember that in the fifth grade I wrote a book about the Civil War that was 87 pages long. I can’t imagine what I said, but ever since then I’ve read a lot and was always interested in history.” He told the newspaper he considers Antietam to be the most compelling Civil War battle site.

Hennessy has said he originally expected to pursue a business career and his time at Manassas would be a brief break between college after graduating in 1980 and joining the “real world.” It turned into a four-decade career with the NPS.

Before joining the staff at Fredericksburg in 1995, Hennessy worked at the New York State Historic Preservation Office and Harpers Ferry Center.

Of working at Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania, Hennessy told the Daily Gazette: “What’s unique about us here is that our story illustrates vividly how the war touched all kinds of different people, not just the soldiers. Traditionally, our story has been told through the soldiers’ eyes, but here we talk about civilians and slaves, and how this community was just consumed by the war. The surrounding landscape was devastated by the two opposing armies for almost two years, and it’s a story with a lot of texture and richness, and it reverberates throughout the American landscape. The story here is told in all sorts of ways: politically, socially and militarily.”

Hennessy wrote last year on his personal blog that while the NPS should not be an agent of social change, public historians have an important role to play in the process of change.

“Using the best scholarship available and thoughtful and dynamic presentation, we need to illuminate brightly the path that brought us to where we are, and then hope that our programs prompt listeners and readers use that information (and, perhaps, inspiration) thoughtfully as they engage in the ongoing quest to improve our nation.”

The park paid tribute to the historian in a Facebook post on Sept. 10.

“He wrote many of our visitor center exhibits and interpretive signs and established many popular park programs such as the History at Sunset series. Over the years, John's efforts have made the history on the ground come alive.”

'Horror of the melee': Stroll at Spotsylvania's Mule Shoe conjures epic scenes

(National Park Service map)

You likely have heard of the Bloody Angle at Spotsylvania Court House. But did you know that scene of vicious combat was just one part of the Mule Shoe Salient, a bulge in the Confederate fortifications at the Virginia battlefield?

A few members of my family recently took a brief driving tour of the May 1864 site and I spent a few minutes walking paths at the Bloody Angle. It was a pretty, late-spring day and I worked up a bit of a sweat.

Line of earthworks near route of Upton advance

We got a quick orientation at the exhibit shelter on the beginning of the driving tour. The next stop recalled the May 9 innovative charge of Col. Emory Upton’s Union troops, a day after a failed attempt to dislodge Confederates from Laurel Hill. Upton’s fast-moving column breached the Rebel line briefly, but Lee’s troops began digging in.

Soon, thousands of men faced off around the Mule Shoe, which provided a tempting target for Federal commanders.

The photo above shows the area where Lee mistakenly removed artillery pieces when he thought Grant’s Yankees were withdrawing. It was a big mistake. Winfield Hancock’s Federals burst through on May 12 and Confederate columns rushed to hold the salient.

According to the Civil War Trust: “After the initial breakthrough … Lee shifted reinforcements into the salient just as Grant hurled more troops at the Confederate works. Fighting devolved into a point-blank slugfest – amid a torrential downpour – which lasted for 22 hours.”

Monument to 126th Ohio Volunteer Infantry

The 24-hour stubborn Rebel defense of the Bloody Angle, a 200-yard western stretch of the salient, bought time for Lee's engineers to construct a new line of earthworks to the rear. The exhausted men left the salient to their new positions, leaving a scene of unparalleled carnage.

Grant left the field a few days when an effort to move on this new position was rebuffed by massed artillery, according to the trust’s summary.

Spotsylvania, which followed the Wilderness, was the third bloodiest battle of the war, with a staggering 30,000 casualties (18,000 Union). It lasted nearly two weeks (May 8-21) and saw vicious hand-to-hand combat at times.

Look closely and you can make out raised fortification

The National Park Service, which maintains the site, calls this part of the Overland Campaign inconclusive. Grant continued his efforts to flank Lee’s army.

South Carolina and New Jersey monuments

Confederate troops rushed toward background to reinforce

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