Battle of Thompsons Station, TN (Civil War)

goldkey

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May 21, 2013
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Middle Tennessee
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Nokta/Macro Anfibio Multi / Nokta Fors Core /Ace 250 - w/ 9"x12" Coil /
Whites TRX Bullseye
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Battle of Thompson's Station, TN (Civil War)

Haven't posted anything in a while. Decided to go to an area where I grew up....Thompson Station,TN. I remember finding mini balls there as a teenager. A couple of the items I found I still am not sure what they are. The long piece of lead is hollow (2nd from the right on bottom row).....don't know what this would be....any help would be appreciated. The 2 pieces that look like tokens...no idea what they are either. They have a tiny hole in the center and are plain on the back side. No distinctive markings on them either. Any way....it was fun to roam the hills again.....The chiggers were glad to see me..............!
civilwar.JPG
 

Upvote 6
Your post caught my eye and I zoomed in on your finds. I had relatives riding with Forrest that were in that battle. Wow!
 

Haven't posted anything in a while. Decided to go to an area where I grew up....Thompson Station,TN. I remember finding mini balls there as a teenager. A couple of the items I found I still am not sure what they are. The long piece of lead is hollow (2nd from the right on bottom row).....don't know what this would be....any help would be appreciated. The 2 pieces that look like tokens...no idea what they are either. They have a tiny hole in the center and are plain on the back side. No distinctive markings on them either. Any way....it was fun to roam the hills again.....The chiggers were glad to see me..............!
View attachment 857631

I'm right up Columbia Pike in South Franklin. My house sits where the Confederates assembled prior to the Franklin charge, about a half mile SW of Carnton. Thompson Station area is beautiful. Nice Finds!!!
 

the star like deal third from the left bottom row is from a parasol
 

nice finds congrats HH
 

Goldkey wrote:
> The long piece of lead is hollow (2nd from the right on bottom row).....don't know
> what this would be....any help would be appreciated.

It is shaped exactly like the fishing-net weights we dig at river and coastal sites.

> The 2 pieces that look like tokens...no idea what they are either. They have a
> tiny hole in the center and are plain on the back side.

Note the soldering on one side. Those soldered brass discs with a pinhole in the center are civil war Maynard cartridge base-discs. You didn't give us any measurements, so I cannot be more specific about their Maynard cartridge ID than to say that depending on the diameter of the solder-circle, they could be either .37-caliber or .50-caliber Maynard cartridges. Yours appear to be .50-caliber. To view a .37-caliber, see cartridge#170 in the McKee-&-Mason bullet-book.

Where you dig Maynard cartridge base-discs, you'll usually find some complete casings and/or complete cartridges. They are fairly scarce bullets. Go back and hunt that spot again. :)
 

I'm right up Columbia Pike in South Franklin. My house sits where the Confederates assembled prior to the Franklin charge, about a half mile SW of Carnton. Thompson Station area is beautiful. Nice Finds!!!
I know exactly where that is!
 

Some of my old stomping grounds in the same area. A beautiful part of TN. Congrats on some great finds. :icon_thumleft:
 

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I did hunt 2 different places that day. The other location is not far from Thompson Station. That's where I found the 2 cartridge bases. It is a known site of a camp. I have plans to hunt it again as the grass was too tall to hunt well. I agree about the piece of long lead....but wondered why would this be found at the Thompson Station location...no water anywhere close to that location. The Maynard Bases measure 3/4" diameter. The solder part itself measures 9/16".
Goldkey wrote:
> The long piece of lead is hollow (2nd from the right on bottom row).....don't know
> what this would be....any help would be appreciated.

It is shaped exactly like the fishing-net weights we dig at river and coastal sites.

> The 2 pieces that look like tokens...no idea what they are either. They have a
> tiny hole in the center and are plain on the back side.

Note the soldering on one side. Those soldered brass discs with a pinhole in the center are civil war Maynard cartridge base-discs. You didn't give us any measurements, so I cannot be more specific about their Maynard cartridge ID than to say that depending on the diameter of the solder-circle, they could be either .37-caliber or .50-caliber Maynard cartridges. Yours appear to be .50-caliber. To view a .37-caliber, see cartridge#170 in the McKee-&-Mason bullet-book.

Where you dig Maynard cartridge base-discs, you'll usually find some complete casings and/or complete cartridges. They are fairly scarce bullets. Go back and hunt that spot again. :)
 

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Your post caught my eye and I zoomed in on your finds. I had relatives riding with Forrest that were in that battle. Wow!
There's a statue of a horse on a neighboring farm.....Forrest horse was killed in that battle.....and the story goes they almost got Forrest when that happened.
 

Good to see some relics from Thompson's Station. I used to hunt down there a lot and the guy that I hunt with, Wayne J., found a nice Confederate camp down there years ago. That area along with Spring Hill has really grown over the past few years and a lot of our old digging places are now gone due to building and development. Congrats on your finds. Tennessee digger
 

Haven't posted anything in a while. Decided to go to an area where I grew up....Thompson Station,TN. I remember finding mini balls there as a teenager. A couple of the items I found I still am not sure what they are. The long piece of lead is hollow (2nd from the right on bottom row).....don't know what this would be....any help would be appreciated. The 2 pieces that look like tokens...no idea what they are either. They have a tiny hole in the center and are plain on the back side. No distinctive markings on them either. Any way....it was fun to roam the hills again.....The chiggers were glad to see me..............!
View attachment 857631


Great finds!
Live in Leiper's Fork but my business is very near you on Century Court. Years ago had some friends dig some really nice relics when the (now defunct) golf course was being built.
Often wondered what had been pulled out of the ground on Privet Knob prior to the No Trespassing signs.
Thompson's Station is a beautiful area.
 

Goldkey wrote:
> The solder part itself measures 9/16".


Thanks for the size-info. It confirms my previous post's guess. That size of soldered circle means the discs are from .50 Maynard casings.
 

Often wondered what had been pulled out of the ground on Privet Knob prior to the No Trespassing signs.


*Sorry....none of the items found came from Privet Knob............Private Property Finds
 

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