A trip to the lab: It was a thrill to briefly hold a conserved Enfield rifle and see one going into a preservation tank at Georgia state park. These weapons and 18 others were found in a blockade runner wreck. The goal is to put them on exhibit

Josh Headlee prepares to place an Enfield in preservative dolution (top right); at bottom are a brass trigger guard and a piece of the wooden crate used to keep rifles in place during shipment from England (Civil War Picket photos)

There are fun days and then there are really, really fun days. Today was one of the latter.

I began my adventure by hopping into my old SUV for the leafy drive to Panola Mountain State Park near Stockbridge, Ga., below Atlanta. I was excited about finally meeting Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

We have stayed in touch by phone or email for nearly 13 years about a conservation project he calls “a labor of love.”

Of course, I was equally excited about seeing the fruits of that project: Two Civil War Enfield rifles that were part of a crate of 20 lost when a Confederate blockade runner ran aground in Charleston, S.C., in 1863. South Carolina divers brought them up in the late 1980s; the artifacts eventually came to Georgia, which had larger facilities to handle them.

The conservation of the rifles last year reached a significant milestone, with the first walnut stock emerging from treatment and appearing to be doing well outside a wet environment.

I had a chance to briefly hold the rifle stock this morning before we drove over to a laboratory housed in a former golf course building. Adrian Fox, interpretive ranger at Sweetwater Creek State Park, and I had the honor of watching Headlee dip the second gun into a preservation for a two-month bath (Picket video, above).

The British-made weapons have been displayed for nearly 15 years in a 300-gallon aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County as corrosive salts are removed. Headlee, who cleans the tank a couple times a year, chose guns 9 and 10 as the first to be treated with a preservative.

Visitors to Sweetwater Creek – about 50 miles from Panola Mountain - are a bit puzzled when they first see the aquarium, said Fox and Headlee. After all, shouldn’t it contain fish or turtles? And the mass of guns, a crate and lead lining appear to be a jumble.

Park employees tell them the gun cache is inherently interesting.

Rifles in aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park; below a replica used to provide context (Georgia DNR)

“It gives folks a rare glimpse to see historic preservation in action,” Fox told me. Staffers often hold a replica rifle near the tank to help them visualize what’s inside.

Conservation is a long process, so there is no timetable on when the weapons  – which have been in salt or freshwater for 163 years -- are completed. And there has been no decision on where they might be exhibited, finally free of a watery environment.

Headlee says Fort McAllister State Park below Savannah might be appropriate, given the Rebel blockade runner CSS Nashville was sunk there by the Union ironclad USS Montauk.

Blockade runner wreck served up a treasure

The Pattern 1853 Enfields were carried by the blockade runner CSS Stono and were bound for Charleston, S.C., in 1863. The rifles, stored in a wooden crate, were placed in an alternating butt-to-muzzle pattern, and blocks were used to prevent the weapons from shifting. 

The Stono, laden with precious arms, munitions and goods from Europe, ran aground on a submerged sandbar off Fort Moultrie in Charleston Harbor while trying to evade Federal ships.

The crate likely took a hard fall, breaking a few rifles, according to Headlee. (Picket video above and photo, right, of conserved rifle, piece of crate)

Saltwater destroyed most of the iron components, including barrels, locks and bayonets. The trigger guards, butt plates and nose caps at the end of the barrels are made of brass and are still intact.

Interestingly, the nose cap is the only metal piece still attached to the wooden stock of the treated rifle. It appears to be riveted in place and conservators don't want to risk breaking the fragile stock to remove it for treatment. 

Officials did not initially know how many of the highly prized Pattern 1853 rifles were inside, their position or condition. 

Each weapon originally weighed about 9 pounds and was approximately 53 inches long. The bore is .577-caliber. 

The treated rifle I hoisted weighed probably half of that, because much of the metal (iron) had corroded away.

The brass pieces survived. The iron, not so much

Adrian Fox and Josh Headlee with untreated rifle, gun parts and piece of crate (Picket photo)

The craftsmanship involved in the manufacture of the guns was very good, Headlee previously said. “Enfield was top quality.” It was the second-most widely used infantry weapon in the Civil War after the Springfield.

The 1851 and 1853 Enfields, made for the British army, were an important technological advance from smoothbore to rifled muskets, increasing the accuracy and distance.

At least one of the weapons bears the mark, “T. Turner,” believed to be a Confederate inspector of the rifle. His name was on a stamped cartouche in the wood.

Iron in barrel (left) and ramrod area (right) of treated gun are gone; at center is the end of the stock where brass butt plate was attached (Picket photos; click to enlarge)

A tin and lead lining that sealed the cargo from salt air and ensured the rifles were not tampered with is in bad condition. Officials are not sure how much of that can be salvaged for display. The wooden lid to the box did survive and is resting in a freshwater tank with other components.

There is a silver lining to all of this: Components made of brass withstood the onslaught of corrosive saltwater.

Iron or steel screws holding the butt plates in place deteriorated over the years and the plates just slid off, said Headlee.

Conservators years ago found in the crate a bullet mold, tools and tampions -- cork and brass plugs inserted into the muzzle to ward off moisture. The team counted 20 tampions “in various states” of condition. 

Tampions are used on cannons and rifles to keep debris from falling into their barrels. (Picket photo, left, of tampion and other items at Panola Mountain.)

Headlee reached out to Enfield experts in England and elsewhere about the half dozen remnants of iron bayonets found stacked together. They told him bayonets normally would be shipped in a separate box.

“Why bayonets were in this crate I have no idea,” Headlee told the Picket last year. “They are all but gone. The fact we have this much is amazing.” The pieces are about an inch and a half long.

The Enfield fired a Minie ball. No ammunition was found in the crate.

A jug of preservative and a case of nerves

Headlee in 2022 selected two rifles  to be treated with a solution made by Preservation Solutions. Conservators previously used SP-11 to treat an intact coffin found in 2013 on the edge of the marsh at Fort McAllister, a Confederate river outpost below Savannah. Results on the coffin led to use on the Enfields.

Before the chemical treatment, the rifles are kept in water, which protects their cellular structure. 

Josh Headlee pours SP-11 preserver into tank with Enfield rifle (Picket photo)

The treatment takes about two months and the rifle is turned once.

Without immersion in a preserver, pieces of wood will shrink, warp and crack.

“They could literally just fall apart,” Headlee previously told the Picket.

SP-11 is designed to displace water in the wood with preservatives that help to solidify the wood so it can be permanently exposed to the air. (At left, butt plate and other components, Picket photo)

The curator has been watching the preserved rifle to see whether there is leaching, cracking or splitting of the wood. 

He has seen no problems; a white film appeared on some of the stock as it emerged from the tank, but it was successfully cleaned off, he added.

“So far, it looks good,” Headlee said during my visit.

If the second rifle does as well as the first, another two rifles will be selected for the preservation treatment, perhaps this summer. In the meantime, he will travel back to Sweetwater Creek in the coming weeks to clean the tank and inspect and care for its contents. Fox, the interpretive ranger, said the staff there is very interested in the progress of the work.

The curator concedes he was nervous when the first gun emerged from its bath, and he will probably want to babysit the second a bit, as well.

As for me, it was exciting to see the Enfield components up close, especially the wooden block (Picket video above) that held the rifles in place when they were crated more than 160 years ago. I just imagined a craftsman cutting the grooves in which the barrels rested.

Oh, what a day.

Battle of Hampton Roads anniversary: They flocked to a Va. museum to look at USS Monitor artifacts and get a good view of its turret, which is normally submerged

Patrons take photos of turret interior (Kyra Duffley/The Mariners' Museum and Park); view of exterior (MMP)

Hundreds of those attending a Battle of Hampton Roads anniversary event at a Virginia museum got a rare glimpse Saturday at the USS Monitor’s battle-marked turret out in the open, rather than awash in conservation solution.

Conservators at The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News in January accessed the turret for the first time in more than five years, following draining of the 90,000-gallon tank that surrounds the remarkable ironclad artifact.

Since then, a treatment solution has been drained and filled weekly as conservators perform maintenance in its interior. Dents from Monitor's 1862 duel with the CSS Virginia are visible today.

Will Hoffman, director of conservation, told the Picket the 20-year conservation process is working.

"What we have seen is the further loosening of corrosion since the last time we were in the tank. This corroborates what our electrochemical monitoring system has shown," he said.

Sabrina Jones, senior director of advancement at the museum, told the Picket in a Monday email an estimated 70 percent of Saturday's 1,000 visitors attended an open house at the “wet lab” that houses the upside-down turret and other Monitor items still undergoing conservation.

Following this weekend, a new treatment solution will be incorporated into the turret tank by the end of the week, Jones said.

"Conservators will not enter the tank again until maintenance is required (likely years) or until we are ready to 'flip' the turret. We do not have a timeline on the flipping as it needs several partners to 'engineer' it and a campaign to fund the materials and work," said Jones.

The tank was drained to allow for the assessment of the desalination process (removing harmful ocean salts), routine maintenance and the removal of nut guards from underneath the turret. The nut guards are the remains of thin armor plating used in part of the turret.

March 8-9 was the anniversary of the clash between the ironclad and Virginia.

Conservators perform maintenance recently inside the artifact (Courtesy Mariners' Museum and Park)

“That turret is the first turret that fought in combat in world history,” Hoffman told TV station WAVY ahead of the weekend. “Every turret on a ship, you know, from gun battleships all the way through now with autonomous Lidar you see on modern ships, all that comes from the turret that’s sitting in that tank behind me.”

The turret was raised off Cape Hatteras, N.C., by U.S. Navy and other divers in 2002 and brought to Newport News. The Mariners’ Museum and Park displays hundreds of Monitor items recovered since its discovery in 1973.

Many artifacts, including two Dahlgren guns, gun carriages and personal effects from sailors were recovered from inside the turret. The finds there included the remains of two men who were unable to escape when USS Monitor sank during a storm on Dec. 31, 1862, as it was being towed south in the Atlantic Ocean.

A child-sized display pool set up Saturday (Kyra Duffley/The Mariners' Museum and Park)

Saturday’s events included lectures, 3D-printed artifacts, a STEM design program and tours of the museum galleries. It was cosponsored by NOAA's Monitor National Marine Sanctuary. This year's focus was about maritime careers, such as engineering and underwater archaeology.

"This weekend was an absolute home run as the galleries were buzzing all day with new and returning folks," said Jones.

USS Monitor Center director emeritus John Quarstein, who was among the speakers, told the Picket he has been inside the turret numerous times over the years.

Visitors gaze Saturday at the turret and other artifacts in wet lab (Kyra Duffley, Mariners' Museum and Park)

“My amazement is based on several experiences.... when I thought about the shot damage, when I think about the men serving in the turret and what they experienced, when I realize how the turret revolutionized naval warfare, etc. I also think about the many design flaws found when looking at the turret and then think about all of the graft, greed and grift involved in ironclad construction during the War of the Rebellion,” he wrote in an email.

Quarstein has a new book, “From Ironclads to Admiral: John Lorimer Worden and Naval Leadership,” coming out next month. Worden skippered the USS Monitor during the battle and later served on the USS Montauk.   

Retired atmospheric physicist and author Charles McLandress presented a lecture about William F. Keeler, his great-great grandfather. Keeler’s numerous letters home are the basis of a book by McLandress, "Ink, Dirt and Powder Smoke: The Civil War Letters of William F. Keeler, Paymaster on the USS Monitor."

“The main points of my talk were to highlight the importance and beauty of Keeler's Civil War letters and to tell the life story of this complex and fascinating individual (Forty-Niner, dry goods merchant, watch maker, iron founder, inventory, orange grower, newspaper correspondent and more),” McLandress told the Picket. “I interweaved the story of the Monitor with Keeler's impressions of events and people, with focus on the Monitor.”

On Picket first: USS Monitor conservators drain turret tank for first time since 2019, will conduct visual checks and maintenance inside beginning Thursday

The turret and its Dahlgren guns after its 2002 recovery in the Atlantic (The Mariners' Museum and Park)

Conservators later this week will be able to access the turret of the USS Monitor for the first time in more than five years, following Monday’s draining of the 90,000-gallon tank that surrounds the remarkable artifact.

The Mariners’ Museum and Park in Newport News, Va., broadcast the four-hour draining – the first since 2019 -- on YouTube and took questions from those curious about the long conservation process.

For the next several weeks, the treatment solution will be drained and filled weekly, and conservators will have access to the turret interior for maintenance. They are expected to enter the turret Thursday.

"On the days the conservators are physically working in the turret tank, they will stop occasionally throughout the day to run the sprinklers in the tank, in order to keep the turret saturated and prevent drying," said Tina Gutshall, The Mariners' grants administrator. "The rest of the year, the tank stays filled."

One benefit will be for museum visitors to see the empty turret on March 8, the anniversary of the 1862 Battle of Hampton Roads between the Union ironclad Monitor and CSS Virginia.

Following that, a new treatment solution will be incorporated into the turret tank, The Mariners' said.

The tank was drained to allow for the assessment of the desalination process (removing harmful ocean salts), routine maintenance and the removal of nut guards from underneath the turret. The nut guards are the remains of thin armor plating used in part of the turret.

A live chat during the draining brought a host of questions, including the goal of conservation, other shipwrecks, the sophisticated design of the turret and more. One commenter said an ancestor was a carpenter who worked on USS Monitor’s interior wood components.

Will Hoffman, chief conservator, participated in part of the chat, saying he and his colleagues were excited about getting inside the turret during the next several weeks to assess the treatment and clean the electrolytic reduction system that removes salt.

Cannon damage on USS Monitor after clash with Virginia (Library of Congress)

The turret was raised off Cape Hatteras, N.C., by U.S. Navy and other divers in 2002 and brought to Newport News. It is positioned upside down.

The chat and YouTube presentation asked for donations and support for the long-term project.

The next step is to flip the turret and treat it with dry ice. The conservation of the turret could be complete within 10 years, but officials have no firm timetable.

Crews have worked inside the turret during previous drainings, but most were several years ago. The long-term aim is to put the turret on display at the museum with other Monitor artifacts.

“We are working closely with NOAA to encourage support from industry experts on the technical expertise and to raise the funds to make this next monumental step a reality,” Hoffman said in the chat.

A major point of study is whether it is best to treat the turret as is (a large ring), or to take apart the 198 wrought iron plates, which are in bolted layers of eight, to get at them separately. "We do not plan to take the armor ring apart, but aim to disassemble the roof assembly once the turret has been rotated," conservators said in an email to the Picket.

I asked Jeff Johnston, who was a historian and program specialist with NOAA’s Monitor National Marine Sanctuary, about the significance of Monday’s tank draining.

Erik Farrell uses special drill in Dahlgren bore in early 2020 (Mariners' Museum and Park)

“It allows the conservators a chance to inspect how the conservation is progressing, replace any anodes that need it, and/or reposition anodes for better treatment where necessary,” he said. “They can inspect the turret and clean up any generated sludge. It's also a great opportunity for museum visitors to get a good look at the turret while the maintenance is happening.”

Additionally, Johnston said, conservators have the option of dry ice blasting to help the electrolysis better reach the surface metals and reduce rust. The museum said this week that approach continues to be the plan.

"Full dry-ice cleaning will follow the turret rotation, which is still in the planning phase," conservators said.

The Mariners’ Museum and Park displays hundreds of Monitor items, including the anchor and engine, recovered since 1973.

Turret after draining several years ago (Courtesy of The Mariners' Museum and Park)

Many artifacts, including the two Dahlgren guns, gun carriages and personal effects from sailors were recovered from inside the turret. The finds there included the remains of two men who were unable to escape when USS Monitor sank during a storm on Dec. 31, 1862, while it was being towed.

One commenter wondered how the ironclad’s crew coped with the concussive forces generated when the Virginia’s shells struck the turret.

“​​It is incredible to imagine what it would have been like inside the turret during the Battle of Hampton Roads,” the park replied. “It was hot, the ships were exchanging fire and the turret was spinning continuously.”

USS Monitor Center director emeritus John Quarstein told the Picket several sailors and officers were concussed during the battle, including chief engineer Alban Stimers. “When the first shots from the CSS Virginia struck the turret's side, everyone in the turret then knew that nothing could harm them.”

Quarstein (left), who routinely gives lectures on USS Monitor and other Civil War vessels, says the ironclad was truly a revolutionary warship.

“So many sections of the little ship that saved the nation, especially the turret, reinforce the fact that the Civil War is the first industrial war which changed America forever.”

On March 6, 1862, the new Union ironclad – its radical design dubbed “Ericsson’s folly” by its doubters -- steamed down New York City’s East River for the short journey to Virginia. There were doubts about whether the Monitor could withstand the seas and intense enemy firepower; it fired only two cannons from the revolving turret.

But the small ship quickly challenged the heavily armored CSS Virginia upon arrival and ended the latter’s rampage against Federal ships. The stalemate foreshadowed the end of wooden warships.

Editor's note: I will update this post with photographs from this week when they become available.

Until these Civil War Enfield rifles are conserved, they will stay in an aquarium tank at a Georgia state park. Here's how specialists gently clean the exhibit

DNR team removes water and gently cleans Enfield rifles (Danielle Grau/Sweetwater Creek State Park)

Items you might find in a garage or utility shed turn out to be handy tools when protecting precious artifacts that help tell the story of the Civil War.

A team with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources this week used a garden hose, small pump, spray nozzle and a wet-dry vacuum to clean and refill a 300-gallon aquarium tank that holds -- of all things -- 18 Pattern 1853 Enfield rifles.

Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the DNR, has done the task a couple times a year since 2013. He travels to Sweetwater Creek State Park in Douglas County, Ga., west of Atlanta. (Surprised visitors to the museum there ask where the weapons were found and why they are in water, says park clerk Danielle Grau.)

The water is siphoned out of the tank to a sink (Danielle Grau)

The English-made rifles were carried by a Confederate blockade runner and lost when it hit a sandbar and sank in Charleston, S.C, in 1863. They were recovered from the wreckage of the CSS Stono in the late 1980s.

Headlee says the rare guns remain in a state of limbo as they await conservation, with the goal of exhibiting them out of water. Removing harmful corrosive salts from their time in the ocean and using fresh-cycled water in the tank keep them stable.

Unfortunately, the iron rifle barrels, locks and bayonets are heavily deteriorated or gone. A tin and lead lining that sealed the cargo from salt air and ensured the rifles were not tampered with likewise is in bad condition. The trigger guards, butt plates and nose caps at the end of the barrels are made brass and still intact.

Matt Sanford, Josh Snead and Josh Headlee clean interior (Danielle Grau)

We asked Headlee to describe the cleaning of the tank. This week, he worked with DNR archaeologist Matt Sanford and Josh Snead, a field interpreter for Georgia State Parks. All the photos were taken by Grau.

WHY THEY CLEAN THEM: The staff at Sweetwater keeps Headlee up on the condition and clarity of the tank, and he cleans it about twice a year. The main purpose is to remove algae, sediment or muck that could further harm the rifles, metal lining and the exterior crate. Headlee makes sure the aquarium pump and filter are working property. “The most important thing is to keep the water moving.”

PUMP IT UP AND OUT: The team uses a garden hose and transfer pump to draw the water out before the gentle cleaning. “There are no high-tech gadgets we are using,” says Headlee. “How do we get the water out, how do we get the water back in.” The removal takes about an hour.

Brass rifle butts after draining, the weapons during refilling (Danielle Grau)

NEXT STEP: The team used a sprayer and wet-dry vacuum to remove any debris; no cleaning agents are used. We use a “light spray to get any type of algae off.” They don’t scrub the rifles or the other contents, but do use soft-bristle brushes and towels on the glass. Over the years, they find less debris. Early on, Headlee used a colander to sift wood and metal for examination back at the lab. He notes that the malleable tin lining will pose the biggest conservation challenge. “I am not sure what we will be able to do.”

THE GREAT REFILL: After lunch, the team removed any remaining debris and begins filling the tank after brushing the sides. They turned the water off a few times in the filling process to make sure the filter pump was going to work properly and not leak. A fungicide was added. The water refilling took close to 1.5 hours.

Josh Headlee takes a close look during the tank refilling (Danielle Grau)

FINIS! The work is done by late afternoon and the visibility is markedly improved, to the benefit of the rifles and visitors. Headlee says it is even better the following day because of settling and the dissolving of the fungicide.

Getting the artifacts out of water and through conservation will save maintenance, time and effort, says Headlee. Two rifles were removed from the tank in 2022 to test a wood preservative. They are being held in fresh water at another state facility.

There’s no timetable for the conservation work, with other projects at the front of the line. Still, he is hopeful.

“They are not forgotten by any means,” he said.

Recovered Enfield rifle stocks are holding up well, but crate and protective metal lining are showing more signs of deterioration

Enfield rifles are surrounded by a metal lining (Sweetwater Creek State Park)

A crate of 20 British-made Enfield rifles that never made it into the hands of Confederate soldiers has remained in water ever since it was pulled from the wreckage of the blockade runner CSS Stono in the late 1980s.

For the last six years, the weapons have been on display in a 300-gallon aquarium at Sweetwater Creek State Park west of Atlanta. Every six months or so, technicians with the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources clean the tank and check on the status of the artifacts.

“The rifles themselves are in great shape, as far as the wood goes. That’s kind of a mystery,” said Josh Headlee, a curator and historic preservation specialist.

The remnants of the wooden crate and metal lining have not fared so well.

While the rifle stocks are walnut, the crate is likely pine, a softer wood, said Headlee. And the metal lining, made of an alloy, appears to be waterlogged.

The tank was recently cleaned (Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources)

“The metal is taking on properties of cloth, becoming really soft,” he said. The rifles are bulging that metal outward.

Headlee and another specialist recently cleared the tank algae and loose reddish sediment. “I run my hand over (the rifles) and that removes the stubborn algae.”

Pending conservation of the artifacts, technicians have worked over the past several years to remove damaging salt (chloride).

“We are actually right at tap water,” said Headlee. “We feel most of the salts have already leached out.”

The CSS Stono, laden with precious arms, munitions and goods from Europe, in 1863 ran aground on a submerged sandbar off Fort Moultrie while trying to evade Federal ships.

Wooden crate (front) has softened over the years (Sweetwater Creek State Park)

“It looks like this crate had fallen off a stack and one end had busted completely out,” said Headlee. “A couple of the rifles were damaged. Because the crate was damaged all the sediment had washed in it and basically turned to concrete.”

After Georgia acquired the guns from South Carolina, technicians chipped off the encrusted material.

Other crates containing the highly prized Pattern 53 rifles are still lying in Charleston Harbor.

At least one of the weapons bears the mark, “T. Turner,” a reference to well-known English gunmaker Thomas Turner, who turned out quality weapons in the mid-19th century.

The iron rifle barrels, locks and bayonets in the crate are heavily deteriorated from saltwater corrosion. Brass components, including butt plates, trigger guards and the nose cap at the end of the barrels, better withstood the ravages of longtime submersion. Researchers also found a bullet mold, tools and tampions, or cork and brass plugs inserted into the muzzle to ward off moisture. Those items are not in the aquarium.

The metal lining sealed the cargo from salt air and ensured the rifles were not tampered with. Inside, the rifles were placed in an alternating butt to muzzle pattern. Wooden blocks were used to prevent the weapons from shifting.

The artifacts have been in a “holding pattern” until money is secured for conservation.

The 3,000-gallon tank after recent cleaning (Sweetwater Creek State Park)

In the short term, Headlee may look at a fungicide as a way to cut down on algae.

“I would love something more done with them,” he says of the rifles, crate and lining.

Officials are looking into a possible heritage grant to do extensive conservation that will take the artifacts out of the water. For now, the items remain in a protective water environment. 

But even that can’t prevent degradation.

“We are doing everything we can do to slow it down,” said Headlee. “I am noticing it is picking up.”

When history and government collide

Some fans of a planned Civil War memorial park for ambushed African-American Union soldiers in southwest Missouri are upset that a water tower is being built nearby. • Article