Ole Miss to recognize slave labor

The University of Mississippi said Thursday that it will post a sign acknowledging that slaves built some structures on the main campus founded before the Civil War. The administration has already added a plaque to provide information about slavery and the Civil War to a Confederate soldier statue near the Lyceum, the main administrative building on campus. • Article

CSS Georgia: Large section of armor above the water for first time since 1864

The west casemate, welded to a frame, is lifted from river. (USACE/Savannah)

The largest surviving piece of a Confederate ironclad that defended Savannah, Ga., during the Civil War is resting on a barge following its recovery Sunday.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers confirmed the 67-ton hunk of iron and wood from the CSS Georgia was brought up from the Savannah River near Old Fort Jackson.

This 31-feet by 24-feet section was called the “west casemate” because of its location in the debris field of the scuttled vessel, which served as a floating battery near the fort. The smaller “east casemate” was recovered June 21. The casemate served as the CSS Georgia’s armor.

The Corps and contractors are removing the remains because of a port deepening project. The CSS Georgia’s crews sank it in late 1864 as Federal forces near the city. Since then, it’s been the subject of 19^th century salvage attempts and damage during dredging operations a few decades ago.

The CSS Georgia is the property of the U.S. Navy, which is interested in seeing its conserved artifacts eventually go on display in museums.

The CSS Georgia may have looked like this (USACE)

Dr. Robert Neyland, head of the Underwater Archaeology Branch of the Naval History and Heritage Command, last week visited the recovery operation. Crews were positioning beams on the river floor to assist with the lift of the hefty object.

He spoke of the challenge of lifting the west casemate: “It has been down there a long time. And you have to free the suction.”

The CSS Georgia’s armor was unique, given its makers used railroad iron fastened to layers of wood. “It seemed clever, as well as an economically and fast way to obtain armor,” Neyland told the Picket.

During construction, one 24-foot length iron would be placed face up, the other piece down – forming interlocking protection.

Recovery operation last week off of Old Fort Jackson (Picket photo)

Neyland said he could see some growth rings radiating out on some of the wood of the east casemate. “There’s a row of really long bolts that go through railroad iron deeply into the planking underneath.”

“All of the recoveries to date will add new and significant information to our understanding of the function and construction of CSS Georgia's armor.”

The recovery team in coming weeks will hoist up smaller artifacts. A 2015 operation that included Navy divers brought up several cannon and thousands of artifacts.

Fort Pulaski reopens: Savannah-area site weathered hurricane, and then a tornado

One of the torn and smashed signs that were sent flying (NPS)

Barely two months after Fort Pulaski National Monument returned to full operations following Hurricane Matthew, another storm system came calling on May 23. This time, it was an EF-2 tornado coming from the west, at about 6 p.m.

“If we are talking an hour earlier, I don’t want to think about what could have happened,” said Joel Cadoff, park spokesman and chief of interpretation. Before 5 p.m., people were still in the fort, on trails or in the visitor’s center at the site, which is a dozen miles east of Savannah, Ga.

Two employees hid in this demilune during tornado (NPS)

The twister sent two staffers to shelter in Pulaski’s demilune, an earthen fortification between the fort’s main walls and the moat. A couple of personal vehicles were lost.

And while it did not cause near the damage as Matthew, the storm slammed a “vulnerable place” – the visitor’s center complex. The building suffered extensive roof and ceiling damage. The restroom roof was destroyed (it is still in service). Several historic signs were ripped from their posts and sent flying, one piece landing 1,000 feet away. Trails were temporarily closed.

The park staff – with considerable outside help from other National Park Service entities – toiled to patch things up, clear paths and make the site again safe. The monument reopened on Thursday, about six weeks after the latest weather calamity.

(NPS photos)

Until the visitor’s center can be repaired, the staff and bookstore are operating out of a casemate inside the fort.

“It’s interesting,” Cadoff said in a bit of understatement about two events coming so close together. Matthew caused an estimated $1.8 million in damage and forced a six-month recovery. The tornado’s bill is at least $400,000 and repairs continue.

Cadoff said Fort Pulaski benefited from what it learned following Hurricane Matthew. “We were much better prepared in an initial response in getting the right people and right knowledge, to get them here to assist us,” he said.

The storms reinforced the need for good shelter points, such as the demilune. The west side of Cockspur Island has a couple World War II-era naval magazines.

Cadoff said visitors can still see some snapped and damaged trees in the marsh.  “You can definitely see the (tornado) path.”

The staff has had enough excitement for the time being. “We would love a very uneventful hurricane, weather season,” he said. 

Pieces of wood jammed by twister into trunk (NPS)

At Pea Ridge battlefield, students search for structures, evidence of a hamlet's culture

Student Madison Atchley and archaeologist Jerry Hilliard (U. of Ark.)

University of Arkansas archaeology students learning excavation techniques have identified the remains of at least four structures in a hamlet that was transformed into a Federal field hospital during the Battle of Pea Ridge.

“There is a whole lot more to discover,” said Jamie Brandon, a professor and an Arkansas Archeological Survey archaeologist.

Brandon, working with staff and faculty, supervised 10 students in this summer’s field school, which concludes Friday.

Excavation of a Leetown kitchen cellar (U. of Ark.)

“We are trying to reconstruct the best we can the footprint of Leetown, this mid-19^th century hamlet,” he told the Picket by phone this week.

Leetown was only a half mile from the pitched fighting of March 7, 1862. Homes were used for hospitals, woods and fields were filled with battle debris, and the stench of death permeated the air, according to the National Park Service.

Two Confederate generals died near Leetown during assaults after their units were separated during a flanking movement. The Confederates were forced to withdraw.

Unlike the famous Elkhorn Tavern some 2 miles to the east, what’s left of Leetown is buried.

Jamie Brandon (second from left) supervises field work. (U. of Ark.)

The Arkansas Archeological Survey, a part of the University of Arkansas system, is in a four-year project examining up to nine areas in Pea Ridge National Military Park. The park, Brandon noted, wants to better interpret to visitors what the village meant to the battle, perhaps through shadow buildings or signs.

Archaeologists want to reconstruct past cultures. “We are interested in how (the fighting) impacted the civilian landscape.” The hamlet was largely unoccupied by the early 1880s.

Brandon said students conducted excavations and were washing artifacts this week. They did find evidence of a Union presence (it is unlawful for the public to dig for artifacts on federal property).

Another view of the kitchen cellar

Maps of the area are not exact, but there could be the remnants of eight to 12 buildings, including farmsteads, a store and Masonic lodge. One that was noted this year was a detached kitchen to the Mayfield log cabin.

The Picket has published posts about spring 2016 excavations in Ruddick’s Field, a couple miles to the east of Leetown. Archaeologists recovered 540 artifacts – the largest a 6-pound solid artillery shot – from the cornfield and in wooded areas. They will be used to plot locations of artillery pieces.

Foundations are all that remain in Leetown (NPS photo)

Brandon said a report on Ruddick’s Field is being prepared for submission in 2019. Archaeologists will return to Leetown next year and a survey of areas on the eastern side of the battlefield – site of an artillery duel -- is planned, Brandon said.

He said this year’s exploration at Leetown was an “initial foray.” Officials hope they can lead a larger volunteer dig, perhaps as soon as next summer.

Work at Pea Ridge is believed to be the first time large-scale remote sensing has been used on such a battlefield, archaeologists told the Picket.

A workshop put on this year for the National Park Service drew expects from all over the world wanting to know more about the mix of technology, said Brandon.

(University of Arkansas)

Md. community recalls 1863 skirmish

As bagpipes echoed throughout downtown Westminster, Md., residents who poked their heads out of their windows were greeted with the possibly surprising sight of Union and Confederate soldiers marching together peacefully down the streets Saturday. This weekend, Emerald Hill, the grounds surrounding Westminster City Hall, have been transported to the 1860s, as the Pipe Creek Civil War Roundtable commemorates the Battle of Westminster at their annual Corbit's Charge event, which continues through Sunday. • Article