Old number 9: Vandals and thieves tried to diminish this Civil War cannon. The weathered survivor, displayed for a decade at a Georgia battlefield, will be a star artifact at an upcoming Atlanta History Center exhibit

Key's battery howitzer at Pickett's Mill (Picket photo), number 9 on top of dented muzzle (Georgia State Parks), gun after it was recovered in Spalding County, Ga. in 2010, and artillery Capt. Thomas Key (Wikipedia); click to enlarge images

A dinged-up 12-pounder howitzer that survived numerous battles, years of vandalism and theft from a city park will be returned next month from a Georgia battlefield to the Atlanta History Center, where it will be featured in a new exhibition telling a bigger story about the Civil War.

The gun, manufactured in Boston in 1851 for the Arkansas Military Institute, has been on loan for nearly 10 years to Pickett’s Mill Battlefield State Historic Site northwest of Atlanta. It’s possible it was used to mow down Federal attackers who futilely charged through a ravine toward Confederates waiting for them in strength.

“Captain Key's howitzer is one of the most important artifacts /stories we have going into the new exhibit,” Gordon Jones, senior military and historian at the AHC, wrote the Picket in a recent email. “It'll be a cornerstone of the Atlanta Campaign area, right up there with the U.S. Army wagon, Confederate flag that flew over Atlanta, Cleburne sword, plus more new acquisitions.”

Jones was referring to Confederate Capt. Thomas Key, whose Arkansas artillery battery served in the division of legendary Maj. Gen. Patrick Cleburne during the Atlanta Campaign.

Key's Battery flag (Wikipedia

The AHC in 2016 lent the gun to the state park as it prepared to move the “Battle of Atlanta” cyclorama painting from the city’s Grant Park to the center’s facilities in the Buckhead neighborhood (The gun, below, during its move from the AHC to Pickett's Mill).

For the AHC and history aficionados, the audacious Key and his four-gun battery are remembered for being in the thick of things in numerous 1864 Atlanta Campaign battles – Dalton, Pickett’s Mill, Peachtree Creek and Jonesboro, among others..

Yet this bronze gun has a postwar history as interesting as its service during the war. It had several postwar homes and was vandalized while displayed outside in Grant Park. Indignities included a broken cascabel, hacksaw marks and scores of indentations.

The howitzer was subsequently stolen, turning up in a county south of Atlanta.

The AHC gained custody of the weapon and had it refurbished and placed on a carriage that was built in 1936.

Thomas Bailey, who makes and restores carriages and other artillery components, recalls working on the Key howitzer, which has an artillery shell jammed into its 780-pound barrel.

“It always stood out to me how beat up it was,” said the owner of Historical Ordnance Works in Woodstock, Ga. “Somebody tried breaking it up for scrap. There were saw marks on the trunnion.” He estimates the barrel had about 60 marks from a sledgehammer.

So you can say this gun is a survivor -- from the horrors of war and the ravages of vandals.

Key and his men always in the thick of things

The Key battery howitzer was one of two cast by Cyrus Alger & Co. for the Arkansas Military Institute. The number 9 is stamped on its muzzle face and the barrel is marked with an eagle atop a globe.

At Chickamauga, in September 1863, his superiors lauded Key for his gallantry and effectiveness, saying that in the fiercest part of the struggle he ran his battery by hand to within 60 yards of the enemy's lines.

Key and his cannons played a large part in the Confederate victory at Pickett’s Mill on May 27, 1864. Cleburne ordered Key to place two guns to the right oblique to enfilade the ravine. 

It’s uncertain whether number 9 was one of those two, but it certainly was among the four battery guns there.

Federal troops under Brig. Gen. William Hazen charged uphill in their attempt to take the top of a ridge. Key’s howitzers were ready for them. The battery fired about 182 rounds of spherical case and canister in two hours.

The Federal army suffered about 1,600 casualties at the battle, compared to 500 for the South. (At right, volunteer Michael Hitt at Pickett's Mill ravine in 2023, Picket photo)

On July 25, 1864, Key’s Battery was issued Napoleons captured from the Federals during the Battle of Atlanta and number 9 was sent to the Macon Arsenal. The Napoleons were considered a step up.

In his postwar book, Key wrote he regretted parting with number 9, which had been with his men at Perryville, Missionary Ridge, Resaca, New Hope Church,  Peachtree Creek and other battles.

“So it cannot be thought strange that I regret having separated from my command a gun that has been my companion under such trying and bloody circumstances.”

The howitzer made a lot of stops after the war

A 2016 newsletter produced by the Georgia Battlefields Association tells what happened to number 9 after the war:

At war’s end, the gun became property of the U.S. Army and was sent to the Washington Arsenal.

In 1880, upon a request on behalf of the state militia, number 9 was one of four guns (including two originally belonging to the Georgia Military Institute) sent to Rome, Ga. In 1887, Atlanta requested four obsolete guns for display in Fort Walker in Grant Park; the Rome guns were selected. (Fort Walker is not far from the old Cyclorama building).

“Over the years, the gun was vandalized: initials scratched, dented, pieces broken off, overturned, etc.,” according to the GBA newsletter, authored by Charlie Crawford, who then served as GBA president.

Michael Hitt, a volunteer historian at Pickett’s Mill and Civil War researcher, provided the Picket two vintage post cards (below) showing the gun when it was at Fort Walker.

In one photograph, the barrel lies on the ground and the left cheek of the gun carriage is heavily damaged.

“Maybe a tree or part of one fell on it,” Hitt said. “The other image shows it remounted, with a big dent on the muzzle, at an 11 o'clock position.”

Something unexpected found at residence

In the 1980s, Hitt – then a suburban Atlanta police officer -- restored three artillery pieces languishing at Fort Walker, part of the South’s defensive works in Atlanta. But vandals continued to damage the guns.

“There’s a lot of history connected with that fort,” Hitt, lamenting the lack of city protection, told The Atlanta Journal in 1984 (article below). “It’s like they abandoned it.”

Things somehow got worse.

“In 1985, all the guns were removed from Fort Walker,” according to the GBA. “Number 9 was removed from its carriage and displayed on a Grant Park monument, from which it was stolen in summer 1993.”

In February 2010, a tip about stolen goods led sheriff’s deputies to a Spalding County house, where they found stolen items, including a crate with a damaged cannon barrel inside. The whole affair was covered by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Hitt at that time identified the gun as number 9 and said it was part of the Helena Artillery, also known as Key’s Battery. It was part of the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

While a small debate ensued on whether the gun belonged to Georgia, Arkansas or the U.S. Army, the gun eventually was reclaimed by Atlanta. According to the GBA newsletter, it sat in a crate in the foyer of the old Cyclorama building for a few years.

In 2014, the AHC struck a deal with the city to restore and relocate the giant painting, locomotive Texas and other artifacts in the Cyclorama building to a new wing in Buckhead. That meant the howitzer would move, too.

What a long strange trip it's been for gun

After it was cleaned up, the Key howitzer was shown off in the visitor center at Pickett’s Mill, which is in Paulding County, just northwest of Atlanta.

John Nash, head of the Friends of Pickett’s Mill Battlefield, recalls taking his cannon trailer to the AHC to take the gun and carriage to Pickett’s Mill. The carriage was among those built by Works Progress Administration (WPA) employees in the 1930s when the guns were at Fort Walker.

Now the gun is heading to Buckhead. (Editor's note: I learned about the upcoming move from a Facebook post on The Atlanta Campaign History and Discussion Group.)

The Atlanta History Center in May closed its longtime Civil War exhibit, “Turning Point,” to make way for two new galleries that will feature breathtaking artifacts and a broader discussion of issues that engage the republic to this day: our belief systems, victory, defeat, reconciliation and the evolving meaning of freedom.

Museum officials said they will announce the confirmed name of the new Civil War era exhibition and an opening date in the next week or so.

AHC CEO Sheffield Hale with Union 20th Corps wagon that traveled near what is now the AHC (Picket photo)

Some people on social media had expressed worry the gun would go back into storage at the AHC. Or they advocate it should stay at Pickett's Mill.

Josh Headlee, curator and historic preservation specialist with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which oversees state parks, said the weapon’s association with the battle made it a compelling artifact there.

“Rather than it sit in storage for all that time, the AHC was generous enough to reach out to us about the loan,” said Headlee. “Since the Key’s Battery played a prominent role in that battle, it has been a wonderful temporary addition to the Pickett’s Mill exhibits. However, Key’s Battery played an important role in the battles for Atlanta as well, so it’s just at home in their collection as it is ours.”

Hitt, a board member with the Pickett’s Mill friends group, agrees.

“I was able to get the Key battery howitzer (loaned) out from the AHC several years ago with the knowledge that it would be returned when it was needed for a display. Well, it is going to be part of a display now at the AHC and I don't have an issue with it. The gun's Atlanta story is just as interesting as the Pickett's Mill story.”

So there’s the story – for now – about old number 9. Living historians occasionally fire a reproduction Key’s Battery gun at Pickett’s Mill. The next event is scheduled for Jan. 17.

Those wanting to see the original gun at Pickett’s Mill before it leaves have only a few weeks. It will be back in Atlanta some time in February

The old GBA newsletter said the artifact might win a contest for most interesting story. “Go see the gun and marvel at its long, strange trip.”

Thieves make off with wood from Port Gibson, Ms., house, leave outrage in their wake

Courtesy of Ms. Department of Archives and History

Preservationists, Civil War devotees and others are outraged about vandalism at a house that saw the opening shots of the 1863 Battle of Port Gibson in Mississippi.

The Mississippi Department of Archives and History said thieves made off with four wooden support beams and damaged interior flooring and walls at the A.K. Shaifer House in Claiborne County.

“This was clearly theft. Unlike most acts of vandalism, this took planning and some effort,” Jim Woodrick, director of the department’s historic preservation staff, told the Picket on Thursday. “We can only assume that the thieves were looking to sell or reuse the original architectural features from the house. Some of the floor joists were, indeed, quite lengthy.”

One report put some of them up to 20 feet long.

The Port Gibson Heritage Trust Battlefield Committee offered a $5,000 reward and the local sheriff's department was notified.

The Shaifer House had its moment in history on April 30, 1863, when forces under Union Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant approached Port Gibson during its famed march on Vicksburg.

A Confederate general checked on pickets in the home’s area. A marker on the site says: “The general found Mrs. A.K. Shaifer and the ladies of the house frantically piling their household effects on a wagon.” A crash of musket fire sent the women fleeing.

The home served as a hospital and headquarters during the battle, which ended in a Federal victory and an opening to Vicksburg, which fell two months later.

Officials said the damage was found on April 1; it likely occurred in the preceding week. Woodrick said emergency repairs have been made  to stabilize the floor and other features. The property has been temporarily closed.

“The repair of the Shaifer House is a top priority,” said MDAH director Katie Blount in a statement. “We are consulting with state legislators, local governments, the Port Gibson Heritage Trust, other state agencies and the National Park Service to ensure the house is preserved for future generations.”

National Park Service photo

The home, which was restored a decade ago, did not have regular security, Woodrick said. Officials are working with agencies and volunteers to improve protection.

The Shaifer House was built by A.K. and Elizabeth Shaifer beginning in 1826. The Port Gibson battlefield is a National Historic Landmark and the Shaifer House is a Mississippi Landmark, officials said.

Woodrick called the crime “horrendous” and social media commenters voiced their displeasure. The website Preservation in Mississippi referred to the act as “bold thievery” and an article was headlined, “Let’s nail the thieves who did this to the Shaifer House.”

A Facebook page listing the reward said a chain indicated the vandals used a vehicle to carry off the structural beams. It asked for tips that might lead to the arrest and conviction of the perpetrators.

“Hopefully, this will bring some much-needed attention to the plight of our historic resources and encourage people to get involved in local preservation efforts,” said Woodrick. “Certainly, there's been outrage among my Civil War brethren.”

Vandalized Gettysburg monument repaired

NPS photo

The Arm is back.

Seven years after it was vandalized, the 11^th Massachusetts Infantry monument at Gettysburg National Military Park was whole again Thursday.

Once the sword-swinging granite arm was placed on top of the pedestal, the staff attached the sword and hand guard, the park said in a press release.

To replicate the vandalized pieces, National Park Service specialist Brian Griffin studied historic photos – including those by Willliam H. Tipton -- and fragments of the arm, fingers and sword.

“Brian … got a perspective of distances, lengths and sizes,” said Lucas Flickinger, supervisor of the monument preservation branch at the battlefield. “It was pretty painstaking. There were two or three weeks of scaling from the photos.”

Griffin spent about three months on the clay modeling and made a plaster cast that was sent to Granite Industries of Vermont in 2012, which made the final product.

The monument near Emmitsburg Road is a bit unusual.

Rather than depicting a full figure, the monument depicts an upraised arm, poised to bring a sword down.

“I think it is a very powerful symbol of resolve,” Flickinger told the Civil War Picket.

Additionally, the 4^th New York Artillery (Smith’s Battery), and the 114^th Pennsylvania Infantry were vandalized on the same day in February 2006. The park previously repaired them.

Despite a $30,000 reward for information, no arrests or convictions have been made. 

• Read the Picket’s previous profile of the monument preservation branch at Gettysburg
• More photos of repaired monument