Castineman1779
Sr. Member
For those of you that have been following my posts about Relics & a gold coin found at the site of "The Penobscot Expedition" of 1779 thanks . As u know I have hunted this site now for 23 years and been fortunate to have found some rare battle relics and one gold guinea lost by a British soldier. Thanks to all of u for keeping the little gold coin alive on Tnet so others can enjoy it's history.
My last post was on the 27th and featured a rare 1 pound American cannon ball I found on that date and wrote here about it. Two days later I returned to see if any other relics could be found on that cliff area. No luck that morning but at the end of my hunt and getting ready to call it a day the relic gods blessed me with something on my "Bucket List" I was hoping to find either intact or at least in two sections. To keep this post short as possible google "Trask Rock" to get a better idea of this little known battle/ siege. The American's employed a variety of ordnance and fired from cannons on the British before a landing to take this part of the peninsula on the 28th of July 1779 . The fired solid shot cannon balls, canister shot, grape sands and bar shots. The latter used to take out ships rigging so the vessel could not function. However bar shot were also fired against ground troops .Bar Shot frags are what I have found in past hunts but never intact as they often broke in two or more sections when coming in contact with solid objects like rocks of trees. So finding one intact or at least in two sections and put together to make it complete is indeed rare and the "Holy Grail" of ordnance for this old artillery sergeant.
My day was about to end finding one grapeshot and a rare spindle to a grape stand and that my friends is a good day from a large site pounded since the 1970s by a small army of relic hunters. . However coming to the end of that hunt I decided to give it 15 more minutes so off the trial I go into the thick woods I go. Fired up my Deus and begun swinging the coil. A few minutes later I get an iffy iron signal. Those of u that relic hunt know "Rust is a Must" so dig everything. So i put my digging tool in the ground and to my surprize , at about 4 inches, pop out the end of a rare American bar shot fragment about 3 1/2 inches long . This would be my 3rd frag of this size which was fired from a 6 pounder cannon and American. Yes I was thrilled to find this relic and was a great way to end my hunt. However being late and my hunt about done marked that dig so could come back another day to possibly look for the rest of it knowing that would be like finding a needle in a haystack since often can be hundreds of feet apart if not already found . "But wait there is more" as u have heard in commercials. So I place the frag in my detecting bag and rest my coil against a tree root to get up off the ground . The coil goes off. I get up to investigate this signal that was between a large rock and tree root. Scrape away the dirt off the root and uncover the top of the second 75 percent of this bar shot. Hell how rare is this I thought. I summise to be found that close to the first fragment it was fired from an American ship went high as it could then fell to earth. 75 percent wedged between a rock and this wood root with the other 25 falling another 4 feet to the ground. So it is a surface and ground find. The largest frag, 75 percent, never seeing the typical buildup of iron oxide found on iron in the ground. So except for some water on it thru the almost 240 years it sat there wedged between that root and rock is a non dug relic and why it appears two toned. . This is probably the rarest of American ordnance and intact. Here r pics showing it resting between the root and the rock. Took me about 10 minutes to carefully hack it out with a hatchet with no damage. My concern was is it complete or is there another small frag left to find? I put both ends together and a perfect fit. Measures 9 1/4 inches and weighs 8 pounds. That day I took it off my "Bucket List". U may never see another. Questions , comments always welcomed. Enjoy. Gary
My last post was on the 27th and featured a rare 1 pound American cannon ball I found on that date and wrote here about it. Two days later I returned to see if any other relics could be found on that cliff area. No luck that morning but at the end of my hunt and getting ready to call it a day the relic gods blessed me with something on my "Bucket List" I was hoping to find either intact or at least in two sections. To keep this post short as possible google "Trask Rock" to get a better idea of this little known battle/ siege. The American's employed a variety of ordnance and fired from cannons on the British before a landing to take this part of the peninsula on the 28th of July 1779 . The fired solid shot cannon balls, canister shot, grape sands and bar shots. The latter used to take out ships rigging so the vessel could not function. However bar shot were also fired against ground troops .Bar Shot frags are what I have found in past hunts but never intact as they often broke in two or more sections when coming in contact with solid objects like rocks of trees. So finding one intact or at least in two sections and put together to make it complete is indeed rare and the "Holy Grail" of ordnance for this old artillery sergeant.
My day was about to end finding one grapeshot and a rare spindle to a grape stand and that my friends is a good day from a large site pounded since the 1970s by a small army of relic hunters. . However coming to the end of that hunt I decided to give it 15 more minutes so off the trial I go into the thick woods I go. Fired up my Deus and begun swinging the coil. A few minutes later I get an iffy iron signal. Those of u that relic hunt know "Rust is a Must" so dig everything. So i put my digging tool in the ground and to my surprize , at about 4 inches, pop out the end of a rare American bar shot fragment about 3 1/2 inches long . This would be my 3rd frag of this size which was fired from a 6 pounder cannon and American. Yes I was thrilled to find this relic and was a great way to end my hunt. However being late and my hunt about done marked that dig so could come back another day to possibly look for the rest of it knowing that would be like finding a needle in a haystack since often can be hundreds of feet apart if not already found . "But wait there is more" as u have heard in commercials. So I place the frag in my detecting bag and rest my coil against a tree root to get up off the ground . The coil goes off. I get up to investigate this signal that was between a large rock and tree root. Scrape away the dirt off the root and uncover the top of the second 75 percent of this bar shot. Hell how rare is this I thought. I summise to be found that close to the first fragment it was fired from an American ship went high as it could then fell to earth. 75 percent wedged between a rock and this wood root with the other 25 falling another 4 feet to the ground. So it is a surface and ground find. The largest frag, 75 percent, never seeing the typical buildup of iron oxide found on iron in the ground. So except for some water on it thru the almost 240 years it sat there wedged between that root and rock is a non dug relic and why it appears two toned. . This is probably the rarest of American ordnance and intact. Here r pics showing it resting between the root and the rock. Took me about 10 minutes to carefully hack it out with a hatchet with no damage. My concern was is it complete or is there another small frag left to find? I put both ends together and a perfect fit. Measures 9 1/4 inches and weighs 8 pounds. That day I took it off my "Bucket List". U may never see another. Questions , comments always welcomed. Enjoy. Gary
Amazon Forum Fav 👍
Attachments
Last edited:
Upvote
29
