Canteen found in Marietta uncorks 1860s history
One of the Confederacy's last battlefield triumphs was over. All around Kennesaw Mountain, weary young men in butternut had held off Sherman's better armed soldiers before the Union's march on to Atlanta. Now, at CSA Gen. Joseph Johnston's command near the signal post tree, the men were tearing up floorboards to build coffins. In the din, no one noticed a canteen that went missing ...
Maybe that's what happened. Or did it go something like this?
The war had been over for five years. The former soldier, looking to feed his family, hired on to help rebuild the house by the old signal post tree, one of many that Sherman had burned as his soldiers left Kennesaw Mountain. The site of Johnston's former headquarters was the first Marietta home rebuilt after the war. The vet was so glad to have work, he didn't remember setting his canteen down ...
We may never know how it got there, but a Civil War era canteen was discovered the other day by the present-day owner of Marietta's historic McDonald-Lawrence-Sessions House, a Gothic Revival style dwelling several prominent families have called home over the years. It's on the market, and with the floor in an upstairs bedroom sagging like a soup bowl, Harry Norman agent Johnny Sinclair suggested that client Mark Kirk consider repairs. The 139-year-old heart pine boards were wrenched up to reveal an object about the size and color of a wood turtle.
"I didn't make the connection to the Civil War right away," Kirk said.
Kirk's carpenter, Sonny Mordt, did. His father, Gene Mordt, is a history buff, and after the elder Mordt declared it a Civil War relic, Kirk consulted Marietta Museum of History director Dan Cox to be sure.
"I don't think I've seen one like that in many, many years," Cox said. "Usually when you find them, they're in terrible shape."
Fabric covering the tin drum is in good condition on one side but water-damaged on the other. The cork is long gone, making for another tantalizing discovery. Someone made a substitute by rolling up a length of paper or newsprint. Kirk would like to find an expert who could restore the paper, in hopes of reading any writing it might contain.
"My theory is you had a Confederate veteran working as a carpenter and set it down," said Kirk, who hasn't decided whether to donate the item to a museum, or hold on to it.
Cox took another stab at how it came to rest in the second floor of the home, completed in 1878 to replace the one burned by Sherman's army and last restored in 1977.
"It's entirely possible that soldiers ripped the original floorboards from the floor to use for coffins," Cox said. "Your mind goes nuts over stuff like this. We'll never really know. That's the fun of it."
Cox, whose museum includes a number of Civil War artifacts, would be glad to welcome another addition, but knows it's in good hands for now.
"I know it'll be well cared for," he said. "I'm glad [Kirk] found it rather than have someone else find it and sell it. I just hate it when people sell our history."
The house is listed at $449,000 and needs at least $100,000 in restoration, Kirk said. Its historic appeal extends beyond the find its floorboards concealed; the original antebellum kitchen is accessible through a crawl space under the house and up in the dusty attic are an old trunk, some children's furniture and a weathered farmhouse table. The massive old tree that served as the signal post, felled when Whitlock Avenue was widened years ago, had been full of minie balls — spent ammunition, Cox said. The home's grounds likely contain other bits of history. (Warning, treasure seekers: the house has an alarm system, is regularly monitored and spotlights flood the property).
For Kirk, the discovery was a timely one, as his family just observed the 145th anniversary of Gen. Leonidas Polk's death. Kirk's ancestors hosted Polk in the days before his fatal encounter with a Union cannonball on June 14, 1864.
But that's another story.
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