πŸ₯‡ BANNER CIVIL WAR HUT SITE w/buttons, glass, 249 BULLET DAY and more!

parsonwalker

Bronze Member
Feb 16, 2013
1,491
2,856
Virginia
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
2
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Modified GI Mine Detector (In the 60s)
Metrotech (In the 70s)
Tesoro Tejon (Now!)
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Best day hunting in over a year! I stumbled upon a central Virginia Hut site, which is something I've ALWAYS wanted to dig. I HAVE to tell you the story of mostly dumb luck that led me to it. I had hunted this known camp for years, and this trip had yielded 10 bullets, a shell frag, bucks and some other stuff.

DSCN4013.jpg

I got another bullet signal, but on the way to the bullet I unearthed an obviously 19th century bottle neck. The bullet was an inch or so beneath. I thought to myself, "This deserves at least a little exploration." I got below the plow line, and immediately saw a layer of black ash from a very old campfire.

DSCN3995.jpg

Having found some nice stuff around campfires before, I widened and deepened the hole.

DSCN4024.jpg

At about two feet, the neck of a handblown milk bottle (I think) first made its appearance.

DSCN4011.jpg

It was broken, but as I retrieved the pieces, another 3-ringer fell out of the dirt wall.

DSCN4018.jpg

After some buttons, a broken projectile point (Maybe the soldier was a digger, too!), a clay pipe bowl, some leather, hog bones, ration cans, and a total of four broken bottles, I noticed "bands" of rusted metal in the soil. It took me a minute to realize that I was looking at the metal remains of the bands of a wooden nail keg (barrel)! Sitting straight up and down in the pit. All the wood was long gone of course. but it was easy to see the bands, all in the right place. I wondered what might be in the bottom of that keg. As I dug, I noticed the color of the soil began to change. It was the familiar white patina of lead, mixed with the black of black powder . . .

DSCN4027.jpg

I carefully pushed my shovel in below the discoloration and when I withdrew the shovel, there were EIGHT 3-ringers in it. From that point on, the bullets came out by the handful.

DSCN4020.jpg

DSCN4028.jpg

DSCN4021.jpg

DSCN4030.jpg

I stopped counting at one hundred.

DSCN4023.jpg

It was a moving experience to sit in that pit, which had become sizable, and view it much like it was, when its previous occupants abandoned it.

DSCN4010.jpg

Final results: 239 bullets, 3 Eagle coat buttons, 2 Eagle cuffs, partial fork, pieces of 4 bottles, hog bones, broken projectile point, a line of percussion caps STILL IN THE PAPER SLEEVE, 3 china shirt buttons, Nails, melted lead, suspender buckle, leather fragments, clay pipe bowl, a piece of wood and I saved some campfire ash and the metal bands from the nail keg. Had I known my day total would have been 249 bullets, I would have hunted into the night for just ONE more! I plan to dedicate a large display area for JUST the contents of this hut site. I welcome any insight or interpretation. It's my first hut.

DSCN4014.jpg

DSCN4016.jpg

DSCN4017.jpg

DSCN4018.jpg

DSCN4020.jpg

DSCN4021.jpg

DSCN4022.jpg
 

Upvote 121

iWeld

Jr. Member
Aug 26, 2017
47
55
Warrensburg Mo
Detector(s) used
AT Pro
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Unbelievably awsome! So jeoulous. I can't wait till I finally find treasures like that! Great post!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk
 

RVRoamer73

Silver Member
Apr 19, 2016
4,275
8,037
Georgia
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
CTX 3030 Nox 800
Stealth 720i ,RTG 6"
Lesche GS 36
Predator Raptor
TRX pp
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Awesome!!! Congrats !! That was surely the motherload....:occasion14:

"BANNER" vote in....Awesome!!
 

Last edited:

tndirtdigger

Full Member
Feb 21, 2015
108
754
Middle Tennessee
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
2
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800, Garrett AT Pro, Garrett AT Max
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
That is an amazing recovery. I hope to find a big stash of bullets and other relics like that one day! Nice
 

Valley Ranger

Silver Member
Mar 24, 2011
2,515
1,368
Shenandoah Valley
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
Minelab Equinox 800, Garrett AT Pro (2), Makro Racer 2, Garrett AT Pinpointer (2)
Primary Interest:
Relic Hunting
Epic hunt! Great history saves!!
 

Kurios1

Silver Member
Feb 25, 2017
3,766
7,383
FEMA REGION 5 North Central Illinois
Detector(s) used
Nokta Impact Whites DFX 300 & M6 Matrix, Minelab Explorer II (2), Makro Red Racer & Racer 2, Garrett AT Pro.
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
This is just another WOW event in the life of a real treasure hunter! So very cool to have experienced all this history revealing itself to you little by little. Or by the handful! Wonderful story and well articulated. The pictures ROCK as well! Just excited for you mate! Totally cool discovery! Thanks for sharing it with us.:headbang::icon_salut: Voting Banner!
 

Last edited:

Tnmountains

Super Moderator
Staff member
Jan 27, 2009
18,696
11,647
South East Tennessee on Ga, Ala line
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Detector(s) used
Tesoro Conquistador freq shift
Fisher F75
Garrett AT-Pro
Garet carrot
Neodymium magnets
5' Probe
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
What a diggers dream day! I have a diary account of here where they mounted a gun on an Indian mound and the soldiers dug out the sides of mounds digging arrowheads as the gun fired. They dug many mounds around here in their spare time. I guess that was metal hoop on top of metal hoop. Goes to show how deep the stuff is getting now days so good job on seeing the signs and digging out the hut site. I wonder if the hut site is actually marked on the civil war atlas as it has a symbol for them on the maps.
Great hunt ParsonWalker. I am pulling the trigger with a vote on this one. Not seen a nice pile of lead like that in a long, long time.
HH
TnMtns.
 

CRUSADER

Gold Member
May 25, 2007
40,812
45,165
ENGLAND
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
27
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus II v0.6 with 11" Coil
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very interesting.

I note no-one has made a stab at explaining it yet? Buried barrel with usable bullets.:icon_scratch: Why?
 

Rubka888

Hero Member
Jun 13, 2013
511
911
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
1
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I vote banner as well! What a great arrangement of the bullets in a circle, I love that picture!
 

Davers

Gold Member
Jan 8, 2013
8,126
7,145
N.of , I-285...GA
Detector(s) used
Whites Spc xlt & Tesoro Tejon- Now back ...Fisher 1266-X. TRX Pointer. New .Teknetics G2 + . New AT Pro .
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Very interesting.

I note no-one has made a stab at explaining it yet? Buried barrel with usable bullets.:icon_scratch: Why?

Got to love those 'US' sites as they were very wasteful.
or
To much to haul & hidden so the Confederates could not use them ???
 

Davers

Gold Member
Jan 8, 2013
8,126
7,145
N.of , I-285...GA
Detector(s) used
Whites Spc xlt & Tesoro Tejon- Now back ...Fisher 1266-X. TRX Pointer. New .Teknetics G2 + . New AT Pro .
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hmmmmm.

Got to love those 'US' sites as they were very wasteful.
or
To much to haul & hidden so the Confederates could not use them ???
.

Guess we will never know.
 

Davers

Gold Member
Jan 8, 2013
8,126
7,145
N.of , I-285...GA
Detector(s) used
Whites Spc xlt & Tesoro Tejon- Now back ...Fisher 1266-X. TRX Pointer. New .Teknetics G2 + . New AT Pro .
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Super Dig.

Parsonwalker
Your a blessed Man to find a hut site but a Good One.

Already Banner Voted.:icon_thumleft:

Your post got me 'shaking' Think Ill go on a hunt today.

Man! I Can say so much more but??? Just an amazing dig.

Yr gonna need a Sturdy Big Display case.

Other than your original 10 , were all the Minnie's the same type?
Glass & buttons to boot.:thumbsup:

Glad for you Man.
Davers
 

the_mad_cladder

Hero Member
Jan 2, 2015
846
2,380
North Carolina
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
1
Detector(s) used
XP Deus with all the coils, MI-6 pinpointer, Ace350 and Garrett pro pointer.
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Cool finds. I just voted banner. Good job.
 

Bill D. (VA)

Silver Member
Oct 7, 2008
4,711
6,212
SE Virginia
πŸ₯‡ Banner finds
6
πŸ† Honorable Mentions:
2
Detector(s) used
F75 SE (land); CZ-21 (saltwater)
Primary Interest:
Other
I know you had fun with that one. Quite an assortment of period artifacts, and the quantity of lead from that one spot is staggering. Nice going man!
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Discussions

Top