Welcome To This Month's Featured Article As Seen In Western & Eastern Treasures Magazine

Ken was excited to find these Georgia Military Institute cadet coat and cuff buttons, but baffled by their presence at what seemed an improbable site... until research revealed the amazing answer!

I live in a region rich in Colonial history, with old plantation sites and Revolutionary War forts such as Fort Clinch, Fort Frederica, Fort King George, and Fort Pulaski. The area is also abundant in large live oaks which date back to those early days. I purchased my first metal detector, a White's Spectrum XLT, around Christmas 1998, hoping to find some 18th and 19th century coins and artifacts. Up to that time, I'd never been much on American history, but I was destined to get a firsthand lesson about the past.

I decided to try my luck at a location where I had always noticed pieces of broken blue & white antique china. Surely those fragments were a good clue that a few metal objects from the same era lay beneath the surface. Setting my detector in "Relic Mode," I headed toward a group of large oaks. The first signal I got was solid, with a depth reading of 3". Checking it out, I uncovered an old pewter carriage bell with the clapper intact. Like the china, it was a good sign, but not exactly the kind of find I was hoping for. Still, it did confirm the existence of a lost plantation site.

Other Civil War era artifacts included a militia panel plate, tongue & wreath buckle, powder flask, bullets, and gilt "flower" buttons, along with early to mid 19th century coins, an 1853 calendar medal, and a couple of wedding bands.

Gradually I drew nearer the group of live oaks that I felt had a story of their own to tell. My first signal was crisp, in a "bottle cap" range, and about 4" down in the sandy soil I found what appeared to be a military button. My wife, always observant, quickly informed me there was a date on the button... 1851! Now I knew I was in a good area.

I continued scanning and found a worn 1831 large cent and a Very Fine 1819 large cent. As an amateur, I assumed that the coins were my most valuable finds so far. Within the next hour, I found a smaller GMI cuff button and a rose gold GMI coat button with the same date (1851) on them. Now the fun was beginning- but the day was almost over.

The following day, I contacted a friend of mine in Atlanta who has been involved in detecting for years. Just mentioning the date on the buttons was enough for him to identify them. They were from a Georgia Military Institute cadet uniform and were worn during the Civil War. Sherman later destroyed the Institute during his march through Atlanta. After sending my friend a photo of the buttons, he confirmed that these were actually gold gilt Civil War era school buttons (Albert's SU-128 and SU-130).

Ken Holcomb holds display cases loaded with relics he recovered at this old plantation and Confederate training site.

But how did they get 300 miles from Atlanta, and why were they here? As far as I knew, no Civil War battles had been fought here. The only knowledge I had of the Civil War in the area was from my wife's grandfather. His grandfather served in the Seaboard Guards, Company D, of the 26th Georgia Volunteer Infantry, was wounded in the elbow at Winchester, Virginia, and road on horseback to Georgia to avoid having his arm amputated. This later would prove to be valuable information.

During the evenings and weekends, I kept the detector running hot, taking every opportunity to continue the search. In fact, I worked in such a feverish frenzy that my wife threatened to attach a weedeater to the detector, so my time would be "more productive." I searched the area repeatedly in various modes and, as is normal on old plantation sites, I found a lot of flat buttons with various backmarks. By employing moderate discrimination, I was able to eliminate readings from the many nails scattered about the old homestead. I gradually increased my search area to about two acres. A fully gilt GMI coat button was found in the vicinity of an old well, and another at the base of a smaller oak.

One afternoon after a heavy rain I went back over some of the area previously searched. I found an 1853 3¢ piece, an 1854 half dime, an 1837 half dime, and another GMI coat button. Obviously, the search wasn't over yet! In the next several weeks, I found additional GMI buttons, bringing the total count to ten (six coat buttons and four cuffs). I also found many other military and related artifacts.

Buttons, buckles, thimbles, a lock, a spur... thanks to finds like these, it's easier to envision what everyday life was like on the plantation long ago.

But the big question remained: Why were they here? After extensive research in the local public library, I found the answer in a book, South Georgia Rebels by Alton J. Murray, which detailed the establishment and history of the 26th Georgia Volunteer Infantry. The 26th Regiment encamped in the area in January 1862. These troops were local volunteers, such as my wife's great-great-grandfather, with little experience in warfare. Edmund N. Atkinson, a graduate of GMI in 1856, joined the regiment and provided the direction necessary to equip these men for the long journey ahead.

The troops would soon serve with Lawton's Brigade under Gen. Stonewall Jackson and fight in all the major battles in Virginia and Maryland. Only 78 of the original 1,100 men in the regiment were present at the surrender at Appomattox. Edmund N. Atkinson, Colonel of the 26th Regiment, was wounded five times and later imprisoned at Point Lookout Prison in Maryland near the end of the war.

To me, these buttons are symbolic of the great expectations of a young cadet and of the Confederacy during the early stages of what will forever remain known in the South as the War of Northern Aggression.

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