Civil War Era

While conducting remote sensing explorations of the Potomac and St. Mary's Rivers in 1994, representatives of the Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program (MMAP) began investigating a wreck at Swan Cove, Maryland. Based on archival materials and the existing features of the site, it was determined that this wreck was likely CSS Favorite. From 1999 to 2002, an agreement between the Maryland Historical Trust (MHT), the Maritime Archaeological and Historical Society (MAHS), and the Naval Historical Center (predecessor to the Naval History and Heritage Command), resulted in a series of dives which produced site maps and video footage of the wreck. Around 10 artifacts were recovered included decorative ceramic dishes, jugs, and coal.

Since the 1980s, various investigations have been done at the wreck site of Cumberland. These investigations have mostly consisted of survey and mapping of the site, which contains not one, but two Civil War-era wrecks: Cumberland and CSS Florida. The Underwater Archaeology collection contains around 8 small number of objects originally from Cumberland. This collection includes an ceramic door knob and ship fittings.

Left: A ceramic doorknob recovered from the wreck of Cumberland. Image courtesy of NHHC Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.

The wreck site of Modern Greece was initially discovered in 1962. A joint project by the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (NC DNCR) and the U.S. Navy divers led to the recovery of over 11,000 artifacts from the site [3]. The Underwater Archaeology collection has 4 artifacts from Modern Greece including a complete rifle, two knifes, and one wrench.

Right: A rifle recovered from the wreck of Modern Greece. Image courtesy of NHHC Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.

Cairo was raised from the Yazoo River in the 1960s and the National Park Service (NPS) was later given custody of the remains to display at the Vicksburg National Military Park in 1972. Today, the ship remains and most of the artifacts are still part of the NPS collection, now with their own dedicated facility on the park grounds. However, two small pieces of ordnance recovered from Cairo reside in the Underwater Archaeology artifact collection [5]. Click on the button below to learn more about Cairo through a digital exhibit from the Vicksburg National Military Park.

Left: Image from the USS Cairo Gunboat and Museum at Vicksburg, Mississippi.  Courtesy of the National Park Service .

In 1995, after fourteen long years of searching, Hunley was rediscovered by Clive Cussler and his team from the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA). In the summer of 2000, representatives from the Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB), the National Park Service, and the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology excavated the site and recovered the submarine for conservation at the Warren Lasch Conservation Center, now part of the Clemson University Restoration Institute, in North Charleston, South Carolina [9].

During conservation efforts on the the submarine, conservators recovered over 1700 artifacts including clothing, personal effects, leather shoes, structural pieces, and engineering related artifacts. This artifacts are on loan to the Warren Lasch Conservation Center in North Charleston, South Carolina.

The Underwater Archaeology artifact collection also contains around 130 artifacts recovered from the site of Housatonic in 1997 including a pistol, leather shoe fragments, and coal.

Right: H. L. Hunley being lifted from the sea floor for conservation and study.  NH 97356-12-KN .

The site was discovered by divers in 1963 off Pleasure Island, North Carolina, near Fort Fisher. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975. The Underwater Archaeology artifact collection contains only one artifact from the wreck site of Peterhoff, primarily components of a 19th century toilet or commode.

To the right is the commode on the seabed, prior to recover, in the 1970s.  NH 73674. 

The wreck site of CSS Alabama was discovered of Cherbourg, France, in 1984, and by 1989, an agreement had been reached between the American and French governments recognizing the importance of the site to the heritage of both nations and establishing a joint French-American Scientific Committee which would be responsible for archaeological investigation of the site. Over several seasons of investigation, both French and American archaeologists studied this wreck and recovered around 700 artifacts, which the Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory is responsible for curation. Around 90 artifacts are on loan at the following institutions:

• History Museum of Mobile in Mobile, Alabama;
•  Jefferson Patterson Park & Museum  in St. Leonard, Maryland;
• La Cite de la Mer in Cherbourg, France; and
• Tannehill Ironworks Historical State Park in McCalla, Alabama.

Many of these artifacts come from all over the world, for example a number of Brazilian coins, attesting to Alabama's wide range of operations [11]. Click on the button below to access images of the of CSS Alabama collection.

Left: A 3D model created in 2019 of a clay pipe bowl, also found at the wreck site of CSS Alabama.

A team working for the Smithsonian Institution discovered the wreck in 1967 [12]. Since its discovery, multiple surveys and other archaeological investigations of the site have been carried out, most recently in 2018. NHHC Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory maintains and curates around 65 artifacts from Tecumseh that were recovered over the course of these investigations. The collection mainly contains samples used for analysis, but there are a few ceramics and ship fittings.

Below: An unknown decorative pewter artifact from Tecumseh. Right: A collection of hull and deck plank samples recovered from Tecumseh. Image courtesy of the Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.

While the wreck was discovered by sport divers in the 1960s, it was first visited by Navy archaeologists in 1994. The site has been surveyed twice since since then, to monitor its condition. Most recently, UAB archaeologists worked alongside the Navy’s Supervisor of Diving and Salvage (SUPSALV), Phoenix International Holdings, Inc., and the Institute of Maritime History (IMH) to conduct a two-day sonar survey in March 2016 [14].

With the help of the Maryland Maritime Archaeology Program, around 900 artifacts originating from the wreck site of Tulip have been identified and returned to the Underwater Archaeology Branch (UAB) for conservation and curation [13]. The collection has an array of artifacts including complete lanterns, rifles, navigational instruments, ceramics, and personal effects.

Left: 3-D model created in 2019 of an oil can recovered from the wreck site of Tulip.

The remains from the battle site at Johnsonville are now at the bottom of Kentucky Lake, a man-made reservoir [16]. The Underwater Archaeology artifact collection has 553 artifacts recovered from the Battle of Johnsonville site, some of which are currently on loan to the Johnsonville State Historic Park in Johnsonville, Tennessee. This unique collection includes charred hard tack, personal effects, bricks, leather shoe fragments, and ceramic fragments.

Right: Uniform buttons recovered from the Johnsonville site. Image courtesy of NHHC Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.

The wreck of CSS Georgia was discovered in 1968 during dredging operations in the Savannah River. A series of archaeological surveys followed, but efforts to recover the wreck did not begin until 2015, when it came under threat of disturbance due to the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. Thousands of artifacts have been recovered from the site and in the process of being conserved at Texas A&M University Conservation Research Laboratory in College Station, Texas. Over 8,000 artifacts have already been incorporated into the Underwater Archaeology collection in Washington, DC [18]. This fascinating collection includes cannon, ordnance, steam engine components, personal effects, gaming pieces, and sections of the casemate.

Left: A cannon being raised from the wreck site of CSS Georgia. Courtesy of the  Naval History and Heritage Command .

The remains of CSS Neuse were recovered in the early 1960s and were originally displayed at the Governor Caswell Memorial in Kinston, North Carolina [20]. In 2013, the ship and artifacts were relocated nearby to its own dedicated facility, the CSS Neuse Civil War Interpretive Center in Kinston, North Carolina. NHHC Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory maintains and curates two artifacts recovered from the vessel both relating to ship fittings.

Right: CSS Neuse on display in Kinston, NC, circa 1964.  NH 45684 .

In 2015, Narcissus was officially declared an Underwater Archaeology Preserve by the State of Florida [22]. The Underwater Archaeology artifact collection contains roughly 15 artifacts from the site of Narcissus, consisting mostly of fragmented lantern pieces.

Left: Metal components of a lantern recovered from Narcissus following conservation. Image courtesy of NHHC Archaeology & Conservation Laboratory.