huntsman53
Gold Member
Well TNET friends, I am little embarrassed to ask for advice on retrieving targets in my' yard since I have metal detected off and on for going on 50 years but you will understand why when you read this! First off, I have suffered mostly severe back problems since March of 1973 while on bivouac in AIT in the U.S. Army and it has gotten progressively worse and worse over the last 20 years or so. My' back is so bad now that all of the lower lumbar discs (L1 through L5) are deteriorated and sitting on top of each other grinding away and popping out of place. To make matters worse, due to injuries and nerve neuropathy due to the pinched nerves in my' back, I have a lot of trouble squatting to dig and get back to my' feet. Now, through research, I found that the Civil War Battle of Mossy Creek was partially fought through my' property and it was an intense battle at times. First, the Confederates came through the area and engaged the Union Forces in Mossy Creek (now Jefferson City, TN) and pushed them all the way to New Market, TN before both forces broke off the fighting. After receiving reinforcements from Dandridge, the Union troops pushed the Confederate troops back through this same area and the Confederates made their last stand at the Fairvue (Fairview) mansion about 300+/- yards down the road from my' home before retreating to Talbott Station then to Russellville. My' property is somewhat on an uphill slope and I have long suspected that a slightly higher 2 to 3 foot wide hump or ridge in my' yard is what is left over of an entrenchment that the Union troops built while advancing on the Confederate troops. I have ventured into my' yard several times with metal detector in hand but have always found the many targets overwhelming to say the least. My latest venture was kind of at the end of my' "L" shaped driveway where it turns toward the garage. There is a large Cedar tree just to the right and this spot is the highest spot on my' property and is right where the high hump kind of melds into the landscape. I swung the metal detector (a newly acquired Garrett AT Pro) for a few minutes but hit 30 or more targets just within a 4 foot square. This area at the end of my' driveway has been used to turn around our' vehicles and has been filled with gravel many times over many years and is like rock to dig through. Technically, there is no way for me to dig the targets without either sitting down or laying down. I don't have heavy equipment to dig with but if I did, I would dig up everything and sift it through my' heavy duty 4 tier sifter. I can't afford to hire anyone to do the digging nor would I considering the potential for rare Civil War relics and other valuable items and I really have a hard time getting my' daughters and any of my' grandkids to help me. Any advice on how to move forward to retrieve any and possibly all targets in my' yard would be very much appreciated!
P.S. I believe that the original owner of the property and builder of my' home, descended from the original landowners/settlers from the late 1700's or early 1800's and believe he was fairly wealthy. I have a feeling that he may have buried some caches of money or there are some Civil War weapons buried in my' yard because I have came across several fairly large targets in the yard while metal detecting.
Thanks!
Frank
P.S. I believe that the original owner of the property and builder of my' home, descended from the original landowners/settlers from the late 1700's or early 1800's and believe he was fairly wealthy. I have a feeling that he may have buried some caches of money or there are some Civil War weapons buried in my' yard because I have came across several fairly large targets in the yard while metal detecting.
Thanks!
Frank
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