Archaeology Magazine - November/December 2016 - 8

LETTERS
Wartime Weaponry
The gun shown on page 48 ("A Splendid
Failure," September/October 2016)
is actually a model 1836 flintlock
conversion pistol. This weapon was

manufactured by Robert Johnson in
Middletown, Connecticut, and was
later modified, probably after the Mexican War, for percussion ignition. It
is rare! Thanks for an interesting and
well-written article about the ironclad.

unexploded ordnance, belong to the
U.S. Navy." While it is true that the
Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) now has custody of the
wreck, it is not the de facto custodian

of Confederate naval vessels
and contents. The United States
never recognized the Confederacy as
a political entity. It therefore laid claim
to all Confederate items on land and
sea as property of the United States.
Surviving Confederate vessels are, in
fact, property of the General Services
Administration (GSA), not the U.S.
Navy. In practice, because GSA has
no archaeological function, it can and
usually does request the NHHC to
take custody of any wrecks discovered.
William Utley
Monrovia, MD

Carl Adamczyk
Philadelphia, PA

The Responsible Parties
In reference to "A Splendid Failure,"
I would like to make the following
comment: The article states, "Moreover, it is a captured 'enemy' vessel,
so the ship and its contents, including
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Robert S. Neyland, head of the Underwater Archaeology Branch, Naval History and Heritage Command, which is
responsible for the preservation, analysis,
and dissemination of U.S. naval history
and heritage, responds:
Mr. Utley is, in large part, correct. The
United States did not officially recognize the Confederacy as a sovereign
nation, nor did any other nation. The
United States did, however, by actions
such as Lincoln's blockade of southern ports, treat the Confederacy as a
belligerent nation. European nations,

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8

particularly Great Britain, made proclamations of neutrality, which in effect
recognized the Confederacy's belligerent status. The United States
considered the Confederates rebels,
but prosecuted the war as one between
sovereign powers. At the end of the
war, the property of the Confederacy
came under U.S. jurisdiction by right
of conquest-there was no successor
to the Confederacy but the United
States. Property of the former Confederacy was assigned to the U.S. Treasury
Department. When the GSA was
created in 1949, former Confederate
property was transferred to this agency.
GSA collaborates and coordinates with
the U.S. Navy for the management of
these wrecks and, on a case-by-case
basis, transfers management to the
Navy's NHHC. NHHC's Underwater
Archaeology Branch is experienced in
managing the archaeological remains
of sunken military craft, including
warships and military aircraft, and is
currently the only agency regulating
the Sunken Military Craft Act of 2004.
Transfers from GSA to the Navy have
also included U.S. Army Revolutionary
War vessels and USS Tecumseh, which
was sold for salvage but repurchased
by the U.S. Congress.
A Lucky Find
I enjoyed your excellent article on the
Savannah gunboat ("A Splendid Failure"). By coincidence, I just purchased
an original broadsheet published by the
Charleston, South Carolina, Ladies
Gunboat Association, inviting citizens
to a fundraising musical concert.
Thomas P. Lowry
Woodbridge, VA

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©2016 The Archaeological Institute of America
ARCHAEOLOGY * November/December 2016

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Archaeology Magazine - November/December 2016