DownNDirty
Bronze Member
Last weekend I continued to explore the roughly 2,000 acres of land that I received permission to hunt last year. Saturday morning a buddy and I decided to start scouting a very large tract that I had not detected on before. We first met with the owner, who is 80 years old but still sharp as a tack. He had mentioned last year that there was an old well in the woods, and when we talked with him he showed the approximate location on a map. He also told us about an old road that was lined with very large oaks in that same area.
We parked my car at the end of a field and made the long hike through the woods in the direction of the old road. Sure enough when we got close the land rose to a large ridge; when we got to the top there they were-a line of very large old oak trees. Three of the trees were huge live oaks which I know live for hundreds of years.
I was immediately drawn to the live oaks next to the old road. I worked my way toward them, and when I got close to one the AT Pro sang out a loud, crisp low 80s tone. "Ah ha!" I thought to myself, "I bet that's an old coin." I dug down about four inches, located the target with my pinpointer and pulled out the target. It wasn't a coin after all; instead it was a shield-shaped brass plate with some letters stamped on it. I rubbed the dirt away and read "1830/401/24. L.W.R./7C." I have never dug or seen anything like it; the only thing I could think of was maybe it was some sort of wagon permit or license that fell off of a wagon as it was pulled up the road.
Later that day I posted it in the "What is it" forum. Thanks to Tnetter "Spats" and some subsequent research I now know what it is. What I found is part of a broken butt plate from a musket that has a long and storied history. The plate was part of a Prussian 1809 model "Potsdam" musket; it is part that was mounted on top of the gun stock like this example
It was issued in 1830 to a Prussian soldier in the 24th Landwehr Regiment (24 LWR), 7th Company (7C). It was the 401st gun issued to that regiment. 'Landwehr' regiments were reserve regiments of the Prussian standing army from 1814 to 1918; they were made up of "older" (25-40 year old) soldiers. When the gun was made it was a flintlock musket.
Somewhere down the line it would have been warehoused as obsolete, but the gun's history does not stop there. In 1855 the Prussian army converted the 1809s to percussion-fired guns and most of the barrels were rifled.
Early in the American Civil War the Union Army did not have an adequate supply of rifles, and the US Ordnance Office purchased 165,000 Prussian 1809s; these were put into service and used until the manufacture of US-made rifles caught up. The Confederate Army may have purchased some as well; they definitely added some to their arsenal by confiscating them on the battlefield.
So the butt plate I found has seen action on two continents and was carried by Prussian and Union or Confederate soldiers- and possibly all three. If only it could talk...
So back to our hunt last Saturday. While the butt plate was definitely the star of the day I did find a complete hoe that was probably made in the 1700s, a belt buckle, a mule shoe and a few other odds and ends.
I made a return trip Sunday that was not very fruitful, but I did find my first bale seal. I did look for the well but didn't locate it.
Here are my finds from the weekend. After finding that butt plate I can't wait to get back and see what other goodies are there
We parked my car at the end of a field and made the long hike through the woods in the direction of the old road. Sure enough when we got close the land rose to a large ridge; when we got to the top there they were-a line of very large old oak trees. Three of the trees were huge live oaks which I know live for hundreds of years.
I was immediately drawn to the live oaks next to the old road. I worked my way toward them, and when I got close to one the AT Pro sang out a loud, crisp low 80s tone. "Ah ha!" I thought to myself, "I bet that's an old coin." I dug down about four inches, located the target with my pinpointer and pulled out the target. It wasn't a coin after all; instead it was a shield-shaped brass plate with some letters stamped on it. I rubbed the dirt away and read "1830/401/24. L.W.R./7C." I have never dug or seen anything like it; the only thing I could think of was maybe it was some sort of wagon permit or license that fell off of a wagon as it was pulled up the road.
Later that day I posted it in the "What is it" forum. Thanks to Tnetter "Spats" and some subsequent research I now know what it is. What I found is part of a broken butt plate from a musket that has a long and storied history. The plate was part of a Prussian 1809 model "Potsdam" musket; it is part that was mounted on top of the gun stock like this example
It was issued in 1830 to a Prussian soldier in the 24th Landwehr Regiment (24 LWR), 7th Company (7C). It was the 401st gun issued to that regiment. 'Landwehr' regiments were reserve regiments of the Prussian standing army from 1814 to 1918; they were made up of "older" (25-40 year old) soldiers. When the gun was made it was a flintlock musket.
Somewhere down the line it would have been warehoused as obsolete, but the gun's history does not stop there. In 1855 the Prussian army converted the 1809s to percussion-fired guns and most of the barrels were rifled.
Early in the American Civil War the Union Army did not have an adequate supply of rifles, and the US Ordnance Office purchased 165,000 Prussian 1809s; these were put into service and used until the manufacture of US-made rifles caught up. The Confederate Army may have purchased some as well; they definitely added some to their arsenal by confiscating them on the battlefield.
So the butt plate I found has seen action on two continents and was carried by Prussian and Union or Confederate soldiers- and possibly all three. If only it could talk...
So back to our hunt last Saturday. While the butt plate was definitely the star of the day I did find a complete hoe that was probably made in the 1700s, a belt buckle, a mule shoe and a few other odds and ends.
I made a return trip Sunday that was not very fruitful, but I did find my first bale seal. I did look for the well but didn't locate it.
Here are my finds from the weekend. After finding that butt plate I can't wait to get back and see what other goodies are there
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