Grants march

[rws51]

On July 4, 1861 Grant started his march to the Illinois river from Springfield Illinois with a regiment of troops. They camped at two different locations near where I live. One location is about 2 miles from where I live and was called Allinson's Grove. After some research I located the grove where Grant and his troops camped. The site is a farm field today and permission to search there shouldn't be a problem.
My experience with civil war artifacts is limited here in central Illinois and I am not sure what I might find if anything there.
I would expect to find buttons and possibly a few dropped bullets and maybe a coin or two if I'm lucky. Does this site sound promising to the experienced Civil War hunters here or could I make better use of my time searching elsewhere? I hunt with a Fisher cz5 and would hunt the site with my 10 1/2" coil and dig everything that made a sound. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure this site has never been searched before just because of the location so it should still contain anything the soldiers dropped while camping there. Thanks.......................

Roger

[hanoverdigger]

Hello Roger, yeah that area does sound REAL promising. I say hunt it with all you got. You may want to set your discriminator to where it knocks out small nails, or you may want to just dig everything. Your choice. As for the buttons you posted, they look to be period. The one on the left is an officer's staff button and the other one is a general issue. Both are good finds but really aren't worth that much. State buttons are generally worth a little depending on what state. Buckles, boxplates, breastplates can bring anywhere from $75 on up depending on condition. If you can locate a North/South price guide, that would be your best bet in determining prices. But don't expect to get that listed price if you sell to a dealer. Best bet would be to sell to a collector. Hope this helps and I hope you do well hunting that spot. Robert

[rws51]

Robert,
Thank you for you reply and for giving me some idea what my buttons were. Like many other hunters in colder climates my hunting is over until spring and warmer temps. I'll bide my time researching sites like the Allinson's Grove site and give it my best shot when it warms up. It would be great to dig a Civil War era gold coin on the campsite ! Happy Hunting....

Roger