deepsky48
Greenie
I lived in Frederick, Md from 1991 to 2005. I searched the Monocacy River at the Battlefield site only once.
WHY only ONCE? I was addicted to GOLD in the water at beaches of the Chesapeake where I ...like the guys in "Treasure on the Chesapeake" book FOUND gobs of silver coins and jewelry and a few gold rings.
CAN YOU SEARCH LEGALLY IN THE RIVER ALONGSIDE A BATTLEFIELD?? At the Monocacy you can (or could).
The Monocacy is considered a "navigable river" and the Park boundary ends on the bank (and is posted with boundary signs).
You cannot search the bank or on the battlefield proper. You can search in the river. You can only access from the Bridge crossing at Monocacy Junction.
I walked in 3 feet of water and headed towards the old trestle where battle pictures showed union forces running from the artillery blasts
and their rifles were being lost in the river and shell bursts were shown in the water near the trestle.
I got an immediate signal and reached down and my hand went around a smooth heavy ball. It was a confederate cannonball with a brass
fuse plug and a pewter plug intact. Next signals were several grape shot the size of golf balls. Then a long signal...a bayonet. As I neared
the trestle, I got two more cannonballs and a pentagonal-shaped fragment containing the brass plug.
Then at the trestle I was constantly digging grapeshot when I got yet another long signal and pulled up a Musket sans stock. Then 5 minutes later I
got a sharps carbine again without the stock.
I quit searching and headed back to Frederick. The reason I searched at all was that a friend told me that 3 months earlier when the Monocacy was "down",
he found BY SIGHT...several Hotchkiss shells a Parot shell and some ammo plates as well as a hat device. Evidently the union forces were dumping ordinance
into the river to keep it from falling into rebel hands.
I got numerous signals that I could not reach due to being over 4 feet deep or settling deep in the crevices between rocks on the bottom.
I cleaned up the items and contacted the owner of the Gettysburg Metal Detector shop and showed him the items. I traded them for a new Whites Detector. and NEVER WENT BACK to the river.
You all should give it a try if you get a chance. As a side note and a particularly sad note....I offered the items to the lady Park Ranger that ran the Park. She refused them because "we have to display what the Park Service issues to us". I asked her where the items on display in her museum came from and she replied,"except for the drum which was found on the Monocacy field, the items displayed came from the battle of Bull Run".!!!!!
P.S. I surmise that the cannonballs were unexploded due to either fuse coming out in flight or going out when hitting the water.
Clint
WHY only ONCE? I was addicted to GOLD in the water at beaches of the Chesapeake where I ...like the guys in "Treasure on the Chesapeake" book FOUND gobs of silver coins and jewelry and a few gold rings.
CAN YOU SEARCH LEGALLY IN THE RIVER ALONGSIDE A BATTLEFIELD?? At the Monocacy you can (or could).
The Monocacy is considered a "navigable river" and the Park boundary ends on the bank (and is posted with boundary signs).
You cannot search the bank or on the battlefield proper. You can search in the river. You can only access from the Bridge crossing at Monocacy Junction.
I walked in 3 feet of water and headed towards the old trestle where battle pictures showed union forces running from the artillery blasts
and their rifles were being lost in the river and shell bursts were shown in the water near the trestle.
I got an immediate signal and reached down and my hand went around a smooth heavy ball. It was a confederate cannonball with a brass
fuse plug and a pewter plug intact. Next signals were several grape shot the size of golf balls. Then a long signal...a bayonet. As I neared
the trestle, I got two more cannonballs and a pentagonal-shaped fragment containing the brass plug.
Then at the trestle I was constantly digging grapeshot when I got yet another long signal and pulled up a Musket sans stock. Then 5 minutes later I
got a sharps carbine again without the stock.
I quit searching and headed back to Frederick. The reason I searched at all was that a friend told me that 3 months earlier when the Monocacy was "down",
he found BY SIGHT...several Hotchkiss shells a Parot shell and some ammo plates as well as a hat device. Evidently the union forces were dumping ordinance
into the river to keep it from falling into rebel hands.
I got numerous signals that I could not reach due to being over 4 feet deep or settling deep in the crevices between rocks on the bottom.
I cleaned up the items and contacted the owner of the Gettysburg Metal Detector shop and showed him the items. I traded them for a new Whites Detector. and NEVER WENT BACK to the river.
You all should give it a try if you get a chance. As a side note and a particularly sad note....I offered the items to the lady Park Ranger that ran the Park. She refused them because "we have to display what the Park Service issues to us". I asked her where the items on display in her museum came from and she replied,"except for the drum which was found on the Monocacy field, the items displayed came from the battle of Bull Run".!!!!!
P.S. I surmise that the cannonballs were unexploded due to either fuse coming out in flight or going out when hitting the water.
Clint
