Huntin With Civilman (A First, Pain Bullet Included)

[Getty]

Got out with Civilman1 today. We got started at 6:00 am this morn.We hit a site where shortly into the hunt I thought I dug a pistol ball.So Im excited. I later dug the buckle, Merry Widows condom tin, another tin (not shown) which had some white paste in it ,and what I think to be some sortof heel plate. I dug what I believe to be a sort of heel plate. I also dug on of those BIG forged nails that I like to dig.I was DRENCHED with sweat and said OK. I brought a change of clothes and changed. As we goin down the road Joe says " are you done or do you want to hit another site?" I....being the team player said yeah I got shorts and tennis shoes on now. I wnet ahead and change socks and put on boots. BOY AM I GLAD I DID!. my 3rd signal was a three ringer all mashed up. We hunted and were relentless for couple more hrs. After we returned, I cleaned up the three ringer and realized that it was not mashed up, but my 1ST PAIN BULLET as there are obvious teeth marks on it. All in all it was a great day . I do appreciate having a huntin pardner who is as relentless as I am about leaving with ONE CW relic. Thank You Joe.

 

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[Dman]

Re: Huntin With Civilman (A First Included)

Congrats on your first "pain" bullet. I am also sure it was painful to be out in this heat. Stay cool.

 

[{Sentinel}]

Re: Huntin With Civilman (A First Included)

Congrats Roger on a first! I love pain bullets they are very special pieces of history; I see the ground action you were talking about but can definitely see the teeth marks! Good Job my friend!

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Re: Huntin With Civilman (A First Included)

Incredible bullet find Roger!

I wanted to go out today, but it was too darn hot!

Hopefully tomorrow afternoon,
Dave

 

[KY Relic Hunter]

Getty

Any day you can pull a chewed three ringer from the ground is a good day. I learned from a long time relic hunter friend about ten years ago three things about "chewed bullets".

First - many Civil War soldiers chewed on bullets like we chew chewing gum today, not much on taste, but something to chew on during those long over the road marches.

Second - farm animals (hogs and cattle in particular) would chew on bullets at battlefield sites. Hogs will rut stuff out of the ground to eat it, and bullets would often be rutted, chewed and swallowed by hogs. So at least some of these chewed bullets we dig actually went though a hog's digestive system before finding their way into our goodie bag.

Third - at least some of the chewed bullets we find, were used to help ward off the pain during an amputation or some other nasty surgical procedure. I have heard of these bullets actually being bitten in half by the soldier becuase the pain was so severe.

Anyway, over the past 15 years, I have found maybe 30 of these "chewed bullets , and it is always nice when you recover one to imagine how it got that way.

Great find!

KY Relic Hunter
www.aspha.org

 

[Getty]

Getty

Any day you can pull a chewed three ringer from the ground is a good day. I learned from a long time relic hunter friend about ten years ago three things about "chewed bullets".

First - many Civil War soldiers chewed on bullets like we chew chewing gum today, not much on taste, but something to chew on during those long over the road marches.

Second - farm animals (hogs and cattle in particular) would chew on bullets at battlefield sites. Hogs will rut stuff out of the ground to eat it, and bullets would often be rutted, chewed and swallowed by hogs. So at least some of these chewed bullets we dig actually went though a hog's digestive system before finding their way into our goodie bag.

Third - at least some of the chewed bullets we find, were used to help ward off the pain during an amputation or some other nasty surgical procedure. I have heard of these bullets actually being bitten in half by the soldier becuase the pain was so severe.

Anyway, over the past 15 years, I have found maybe 30 of these "chewed bullets , and it is always nice when you recover one to imagine how it got that way.

Great find!

KY Relic Hunter
www.aspha.org

Right man! "here bite this" while I remove your limb or go diggin in yer innerds for that bullet. I just can not Fathom the idea.

 

[creskol]

Nice saves, Getty! Did those come from that site you were telling me about?

 

[EagleDown]

Right man! "here bite this" while I remove your limb or go diggin in yer innerds for that bullet. I just can not Fathom the idea.

They must not have known that "lead poisoning" can kill you.

Great finds!!

 

[dallgire]

awesome bullet

 

[MiniMe]

huntin pardner who is as relentless

You got that right Roger...he is definitely relentless - Snow, sleet, rain, heat...nothing keeps that man from swinging... and he aint leaving til he finds something

Excellent finds Roger. Congrats on that first Chewed - it is awesome ...still on my wish list. I really like the buckle too. Hope we can all get out soon. HH!

 

[civilman1]

I still can't seem to find where there were any "wild hog's" in the state of Maryland at the time(Sept,1862) and why aren't they still here if they are so bad This bullet came from a wooded area(which was there at the time) on one of the farm's I have to hunt less than a 1/4 mile away from two frontline hospital's.If someone can find something stating there were wild hog's in the area I'll send you a mini riker box with Antietam Relic's straight to your door.......Nice "chewed bullet" Roger and Congrat's

 

[Curious The George]

At one time all hogs were, "wild". A farmer had a herd of hogs. He cut notches in their ears. Each farmer had their own pattern of notches. Then you turned your hogs out in the woods. When you wanted a pork chop you went out in the woods where the hogs ran and shot one with your notch pattern. When the sow berthed a litter you caught the little ones and notched their ears and turned them back out again.

People didn't fence hogs in, they fenced them out. Best time to harvest a hog was after the oak and chestnut mast hit the ground and the hogs got fat on the nuts. This happened in the early fall.

Most chewed bullets are bullets that hogs mistook for an acorn and ate it.

Even during the Civil War lead was a known poison even as far back as Colonial times. Not to say some uneducated person might put a bullet in their mouth from time to time but it wasn't a habit that was generally popular. As far as the biting a bullet during surgery goes that's something from old cowboy movies.

 

[civilman1]

No pig's here in Maryland at the time,had this roundabout with the Bio-Professor about 3 yr.'s ago....I've got some from the same farm,let me collect and post them CTG.

 

[Getty]

No pig's here in Maryland at the time,had this roundabout with the Bio-Professor about 3 yr.'s ago....I've got some from the same farm,let me collect and post them CTG.

CMON Joe! You just dont see it? Do ya buddy? All the pigs left Antietam while all the war was goin on... and came back after it was done there.LMAO. That bite mark is no squirrel or rat. So the pigs came back.

 

[ncsilverspider]

Man, that's an awesome find! I found one of those in my backyard! Congrats!

 

[RiverRat3]

No pig's here in Maryland at the time,had this roundabout with the Bio-Professor about 3 yr.'s ago....I've got some from the same farm,let me collect and post them CTG.

CMON Joe! You just dont see it? Do ya buddy? All the pigs left Antietam while all the war was goin on... and came back after it was done there.LMAO. That bite mark is no squirrel or rat. So the pigs came back.

I believe your bullet to be a pain bullet or a soldier just needing something to chew on. I talked to many friends who raise pigs but it use to be common for farmers back in te day to allow their pigs to naturally graze and forage throughout fields and especially woods. My buddy is starting to do it again because the pigs will eliminate unwanted roots and feed off of nuts saving him money. Now down south I know there are some wild hogs. Great find and I found my first last year. Happy hunting.

 

[Getty]

Everyone claims that " Biting the bullet" to endure pain DID NOT happen. Can anyone prove/cite that " biting the bullet': DID NOT happen? I know the reports say that they had anesticia,but that was at hospital sites. A soldier got hit and someone ran over and chloro formed him. So it is Plausible that soldiers "Bit" bullets correct?

 

[TheCannonballGuy]

Getty wrote:
> Can anyone prove/cite that "biting the bullet" DID NOT happen?

Sure. Try it yourself and tell us what happens to your molars when you try to squash a bullet between them.

Don't want to try it to prove your belief in "pain bullets?"

There are two tests you can safely do to prove or disprove the claim that such bullets are "pain bullets":
1- Try using a pair of steel pliars to distort a .58-caliber or .54-caliber civil war bullet to the degree seen on so-called "pain bullets." Let's be generous... you can use both hands at once on the pliars. Remember, the pliars give you the advantage of Leverage, increasing your hand-strength beyond what your human jaw-muscles can produce with the mere "direct force" of biting.
2- Show your own dentist a "pain bullet" and ask him if human jaw-muscles and teeth are capable of doing that much damage to the bullet without breaking.

I'll tell you what every dentist I've asked has told me. Human jaw muscles are not strong enough to crush a bullet as deeply as we see on almost all "pain bullets." Even if a human had the necessary jaw-strength (called "bite-force"), their teeth will break before being able to put more than slight dents in the bullet.

In no-anesthesia situations, soldiers were given a piece of rope, or tightly-twisted cloth to bite on, or a finger-sized section of green tree-branch, because biting on such things is much less likely to break your teeth than biting down hard on metal.

Forget trying to document the existence of "wild hogs" in Maryland. Not just hogs tried to eat bullets, thinking they've found an acorn. Other large herbivores, such as cattle and deer, possess enough jaw-strength to turn a bullet into a "pain bullet."

 

[MiniMe]

Oh no....not again I think this is something that I think we all need to agree that we don't agree on! I vote soldier "chewed" bullet! Don't care if anyone else agrees.

 

[RiverRat3]

Oh no....not again I think this is something that I think we all need to agree that we don't agree on! I vote soldier "chewed" bullet! Don't care if anyone else agrees.

I vote soldier chewed also. There will always be a what if with anything we all find. The bullet has character and will always be a good conversation piece.