Virginia friends group mapping battlefields

Culpeper preservationists are charting a plan to develop a map of 10 local Civil War battlefields. The National Park Service this week awarded a $30,050 grant to the Friends of Cedar Mountain, the nonprofit group working with partners to protect and maintain the battlefield on U.S. 15 where opposing forces clashed Aug. 9, 1862. The grant will be used to create a landscape study of Cedar Mountain as well as battlefields at Mine Run in Orange County, Morton's Ford, Kelly's Ford, Rappahannock Station I and II in Rappahannock County, Auburn I and II, Buckland and Brandy Station. • Article

Clemens, U.S. Grant and Hannibal, Mo.

Samuel Clemens

Hannibal, Mo., will be forever linked to Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain), known for his writing, rather than his participation in the Civil War. The City Council has agreed to make a $1,000 match toward the purchase of a $2,500 blue highway sign indicating that the community is one of a series U.S. Grant Trails in Missouri. While Clemens’ Civil War participation was reportedly limited to a two-week stint with a Confederate militia, he later wound up a close friend of Ulysses S. Grant. Grant’s autobiography, written as he was dying of cancer in 1885, was published as a two-volume set by Mark Twain. Grant’s memoirs made approximately $450,000 for his family, leaving it financially secure. • Article

Navy divers bring up first cannon from wreck

(U.S. Navy)

One down .... three to go.

That's the cannon count for U.S. Navy divers working from a barge in Savannah, Ga., as part of an operation to remove the remnants of the Confederate ironclad CSS Georgia from the shipping channel.

Divers on Wednesday brought up a small artillery piece called a "six-pounder" -- a reference to the weight of the cannonball. It's the first time the cannon has been above the Savannah River surface since the CSS Georgia was scuttled by its crew in December 1864.

The Navy has been in town a few weeks to assist the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in collecting artifacts and removing pieces of the vessel --  including its guns, ordnance, casemate and propeller -- in the first phase of a deepening of the channel to the Atlantic Ocean.

The ironclad may have had as many as 10 large guns onboard during its operation. Two were recovered years ago and are on display at Old Fort Jackson, near the wreck site. Four have remained in the river and are being brought up by Navy divers, who have recovered about 150 pieces of ordnance and munitions from the murky depths. They'll remove the boat's larger pieces after the cannon are out of the water.

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers wreck photos
• Facebook page for U.S. Navy divers

Donated quilt has many stories to tell

A cherry quilt buried with other precious family heirlooms during the Civil War has a permanent home -- the International Quilt Study Center and Museum at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The 155-year-old quilt, with its still vibrant greens and reds, intricate cherries and stems, has been the subject of much lore -- and more than a few family squabbles. • Article

More ordnance coming up than expected at CSS Georgia site in Savannah

Spencer Puett prepares for dive (U.S. Navy)

A team of Navy divers has recovered about 100 pieces of unexploded ordnance and munitions on the bottom of the Savannah River at the CSS Georgia wreck site – a number higher than what archaeologists first expected.

Navy officials expect dozens more will be lifted from the Confederate ironclad’s grave in Savannah this month before they remove remaining cannon, pieces of casemate, the propeller and other components of the warship.

The recovery operation, which includes previous artifact removal by divers contracted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is part of a larger project to deepen the river channel to carry containers vessels to and from the Georgia city without being dependent on the tide.

“I’m just really proud of my sailors, and we are all very proud to work on this piece of history,” diving and salvage commander Chief Warrant Officer Jason Potts said in a Navy article.

The CSS Georgia was scuttled in December 1864 to prevent it from falling into Union hands.