Castineman1779
Sr. Member
For u folks still following my hunts in Castine and read them since I came back on TNet to feature a gold soldier's lost gold coin found there in May of this year . Thank u very much for your comments. This is my 23rd year hunting this site and got to say for some reason, she, Castine has been very kind to me to share this history with us all.
If u are not familiar with this battle/siege in Castine, Maine in July and August of 1779 please google "Penobscot Expedition" to get up to speed or check out my previous posts of which there r many since she, again Castine has given up some great history.
Anyway this has been, no pun intended, a banner year for me with this year alone ,with decent weather compared to previous years , some nice rare ordnance found plus the Shock & Awe moment I had in May finding my first gold colonial coin. One would think after 32 hunts there, stating early in April with finding first day another French Flur DE Leis 6 pounder ,what could be left to find? However being a site of hundreds of acres in heavily wooded areas it has been a challenge to find this history and indeed not a walk in the park .Got my share of my own "Battle Wounds" so to say with falling over logs, scratches bumps and bruses and even chased thru the woods by angry bees. My relic hunting friends it was all worth it? Yup I have been now for 23 years up for the task of finding this history, written 6 articles for Western Eastern Treasures and given 3 presentations about this battle/ siege. Been a god a of my life being a student of this battle/ siege that as in the end a humiliating defat mainly forgotten in history.
So that being written I need to get on with yesterday's hunt. Earlier this year I was on a mission to find a cannon ball from the American's , British and even the French where the Brits had captured a French ship called the Saint Helena and brought her 14-6 pound cannons into action . 15 years earlier I found my first 6 with a Flur DE leis marking. In April dug my 2nd . In June pulled out a beautiful 6 pounder Brit 6. Later that month a American 1 pounder imbedded in shale in a cliff. So made my mission objective but would have liked to find an American 6. Yesterday I was re hunting the area the Brit ball was found in on a short 3 hour hunt. First two hours narda and looked like might get skunked till up came an American grape shot. Number 72 this year. Things were looking up and then got a mixed reading on my Deus that sounded like a mortar frag. However up came a large horseshoe. Thinking hey maybe a good sign of good luck put it on a branch of a tree and moved on. 15 minutes later , not far from the horse shoe, got a nice large solid signal that looked promising. Not wearing my cheaters to see the reading on my Deus so put them on. A nice 42 to tell me it may indeed be a cannon ball. In previous hunts one pounders read 35 . Dug down about a foot and uncovered the familiar roundness of a cannon ball. Got it out and was a American 6 pounder. If u have ever found a REv WAr cannon ball or collect them notice American's are very crude with crude seam lines and spres. This indeed was an American example. Ended up a great day with 3- 6 pounders of 3 counties . Here r pics. THanks for reading .Am I back on the hunt today. U betcha soon as I post this. Thanks as always. BTW Did go back and get that horse shoe Gary
Just uploaded some new pics from this hunt and the American ball. To me there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the roundnesss of a cannon ball sitting in a hole that had laid there for now 240 years. The two cannons by the way are American and from part of the fleet that were burned in Bangor harbor in Bangor, Maine by their own captions . They were found when dredging the river when building the new bridge in 1953. A pair of 6 pounders.
If u are not familiar with this battle/siege in Castine, Maine in July and August of 1779 please google "Penobscot Expedition" to get up to speed or check out my previous posts of which there r many since she, again Castine has given up some great history.
Anyway this has been, no pun intended, a banner year for me with this year alone ,with decent weather compared to previous years , some nice rare ordnance found plus the Shock & Awe moment I had in May finding my first gold colonial coin. One would think after 32 hunts there, stating early in April with finding first day another French Flur DE Leis 6 pounder ,what could be left to find? However being a site of hundreds of acres in heavily wooded areas it has been a challenge to find this history and indeed not a walk in the park .Got my share of my own "Battle Wounds" so to say with falling over logs, scratches bumps and bruses and even chased thru the woods by angry bees. My relic hunting friends it was all worth it? Yup I have been now for 23 years up for the task of finding this history, written 6 articles for Western Eastern Treasures and given 3 presentations about this battle/ siege. Been a god a of my life being a student of this battle/ siege that as in the end a humiliating defat mainly forgotten in history.
So that being written I need to get on with yesterday's hunt. Earlier this year I was on a mission to find a cannon ball from the American's , British and even the French where the Brits had captured a French ship called the Saint Helena and brought her 14-6 pound cannons into action . 15 years earlier I found my first 6 with a Flur DE leis marking. In April dug my 2nd . In June pulled out a beautiful 6 pounder Brit 6. Later that month a American 1 pounder imbedded in shale in a cliff. So made my mission objective but would have liked to find an American 6. Yesterday I was re hunting the area the Brit ball was found in on a short 3 hour hunt. First two hours narda and looked like might get skunked till up came an American grape shot. Number 72 this year. Things were looking up and then got a mixed reading on my Deus that sounded like a mortar frag. However up came a large horseshoe. Thinking hey maybe a good sign of good luck put it on a branch of a tree and moved on. 15 minutes later , not far from the horse shoe, got a nice large solid signal that looked promising. Not wearing my cheaters to see the reading on my Deus so put them on. A nice 42 to tell me it may indeed be a cannon ball. In previous hunts one pounders read 35 . Dug down about a foot and uncovered the familiar roundness of a cannon ball. Got it out and was a American 6 pounder. If u have ever found a REv WAr cannon ball or collect them notice American's are very crude with crude seam lines and spres. This indeed was an American example. Ended up a great day with 3- 6 pounders of 3 counties . Here r pics. THanks for reading .Am I back on the hunt today. U betcha soon as I post this. Thanks as always. BTW Did go back and get that horse shoe Gary
Just uploaded some new pics from this hunt and the American ball. To me there is nothing more beautiful than seeing the roundnesss of a cannon ball sitting in a hole that had laid there for now 240 years. The two cannons by the way are American and from part of the fleet that were burned in Bangor harbor in Bangor, Maine by their own captions . They were found when dredging the river when building the new bridge in 1953. A pair of 6 pounders.
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