New traverses (top), reproduction guns, new visitor center, Civil War image (Fort Fisher, Library of Congress) In a unusual project, Fort Fisher State Historic Site near Kure Beach, N.C., in coming months will restore a portion of earthworks leveled during World War II to make way for a training base airstrip. The work is in conjunction with a new visitor center. The park will close Tuesday for a few months as workers relocate exhibits, artifacts and offices to the new 20,000 square-foot building, officials said. All site features west of U.S. 421 will be off-limits to visitors, inclu ..read more

A protective tarp is torn and no longer covers much of the roof (Picket photo) Five months after it was ravaged by fire, no decision has been made on the fate of a historic home that is the centerpiece of a recreated antebellum plantation at Stone Mountain Park. The Davis-Dickey home, which was owned by a Confederate colonel, was believed to be a total loss. The November 2023 fire was concentrated in the center and upper portions of the home; its wings were not as damaged. The park is east of Atlanta. The Georgia fire marshal’s office determined that an electr ..read more

Kris Heister, Little Round Top rehabilitation, Spangler Farm (NPS photos) Kristina “Kris” Heister, the new superintendent at Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site, comes from a family with deep roots in Pennsylvania. Her ancestors came over from Germany in about 1732 and produced congressmen and other political leaders in the state. Heister, who has held numerous positions with the National Park Service over a 30-plus year, was deputy superintendent at Gettysburg before the promotion. “I have been amazed by the dedication of my colleagues, our partn ..read more

(Clockwise from top left) Delany post charter, Maj. Martin R. Delany, damaged charter from other post (charter photos: ALPLM), Gustavus or Henry Booth with 5th Mass. Cavalry; same unit as Lewis Thompson (Richard Carlile Collection as printed in Military Images; click all to enlarge) Pvt. Enos Bond and the 17th U.S. Colored Troops fought at the Battle of Nashville. Pvt. Lewis H. Thompson’s 5th Massachusetts Cavalry took part in an assault on Confederates near Petersburg. And Sgt. Shederick Conaway of the famed 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment survived the pitched fighting at Fort W ..read more

Co-authors of a book about underage soldiers in the Civil War and a 19th-century society little concerned about their mental wellbeing have received the 2024 Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize. Frances M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant will be honored April 4 at the Harvard Club in New York City for “Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era” (Oxford University Press). The Gilder Lehrman Lincoln Prize is awarded annually for the finest scholarly work in English on Abraham Lincoln, the American Civil War soldier or the Civil War era. The award includes a $50,000 prize and bronze ..read more

Florida soldier with carbine; siblings with 3rd Tennessee (Fleischer's Auctions) Forty-eight photographs, mostly of young Southern men toting rifles, Bowie knives, revolvers and fierce gazes, sold for $259,000 (excluding buyer’s premium) at a weekend auction, pleasing the widow and son of the esteemed collector who curated the images before they were stolen in 1978. The family of Herb Peck Jr. enlisted the help of law enforcement, other collectors and Military Images magazine in their hunt for 117 images taken during a burglary at their Nashville home. Peck  began collecting in ..read more

Brad Edgerton takes particular pride in one simple gesture amid his great-great-grandfather's many accomplishments: After commanding a regiment of Black soldiers during the Civil War, Alonzo Edgerton invited a family born into slavery to join him when he returned home to Minnesota.  "Everyone knows the North was sympathetic to Black people, but Alonzo walked the walk and followed up the talk with philanthropy for a family he loved,” said Brad Edgerton. -- Article ..read more

Capt. Hawley's frock coat and kepi in a 2nd-floor exhibit at Monocacy (NPS photo) A mended kepi belonging to a New York artilleryman wounded at Monocacy has been returned to the Maryland battlefield ahead of a planned overhaul of its museum. Capt. William Hawley, Company E, 9th New York Heavy Artillery, was wounded in the arm on July 9, 1864. His hat and frock coat have been on display at Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick since 2007. Tracy Evans, acting chief or resource education and visitor services at the park, said Caring for Textiles of Washington, D.C., patched 10 sma ..read more

Sword, box of artifacts and Civil War saddle for years were on USS Chancellorsville (now USS Robert Smalls) One year after the U.S. Navy changed the name of a guided-missile cruiser from USS Chancellorsville to USS Robert Smalls, numerous artifacts from the Battle of Chancellorsville that were formerly displayed on the warship have been returned to a Virginia community. Spotsylvania County officials requested the Navy return items donated years ago by the Friends of the USS Chancellorsville. “We are grateful artifacts previously displayed aboard the former USS Chancellorsville have f ..read more

Courtesy of Gettysburg Foundation, from the collection of the Civil War Museum of Philadelphia CWMP 86.13.33, Slouch hat; Meade photos Library of Congress and National Archives If I ever get around to writing “Cool Hats of the Civil War,” my top choice (spoiler alert!) will go to Union Maj. Gen. George Meade’s slouch hat, followed closely by those of Ambrose E. Burnside and J.E.B. Stuart. While the hero of Gettysburg and commander of the Army of Potomac is sadly overshadowed by many in the pantheon of Civil War commanders, Meade and his hat will always stand tall to me. There are grea ..read more