Haven't seen a post from you in a while, Rees--welcome back. When I was 13 or so I lived on the Naval Base at Pensacola. I'd always been a Civil War buff, and was very, very excited when my dad got orders to land of Dixie. One of the first things I did was ask my father for a metal detector and he built me one of those old Radio Shack kits (for about $19.95!). I immediately took my treasure finder up to the dilapidated and neglected Fort Barrancas, the site of the very first shots of the Civil War (hey, it's an historical fact, y'all!). Of course, the only things that old detector could find were really BIG pieces of metal, and right next to the old draw bridge to the fort, that's exactly what I found. I dug a big hole about 5 feet by 5 feet and pulled dozens of artillery shell fragments out of it; no doubt they came from the famous artillery duels between the yankees at Fort Pickens across the bay and Fort Barrancas during November 1861 and January '62. The fragments have long since disappeared, and the fort has now been reclaimed by the National Park Service (and makes for a very interesting stop if any of you are ever in the area). Sorry for the long post, and thanks for diggin up the old memory, Rees. By the way, that was over 25 years ago, and I'm still out there swinging away.
