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   | The Relic Hunter | Vol. 34 - Oct. 2000 |
Lost Confederate Encampment
By Ed Fedory
Photos by Mark Swann
 Selected for its view of the surrounding countryside, and close proximity to a major source of fresh water, the site of the Confederate camp had all the natural features any officer could have desired. |
As General Braxton Bragg's Army of Tennessee advanced to attack the Union right flank, many a Confederate soldier wondered if he would still be drawing breath the following morning to celebrate the new year.
For Bragg's troops it had been a long year, and they could still feel the sting of their October defeat at Perryville, Kentucky. From Kentucky they had been pursued by a force of 45,000 Union soldiers under the command of Major General William S. Rosecrans. The Army of the Cumberland was looking for one last victory with which to end the year before retiring to winter quarters.
The initial engagements of the 31st saw Confederate troops pushing back the Union force to Nashville Pike; but with reinforcements arriving, the line held at that point. New Year's Day witnessed a temporary lull in the fight, but not in the movement of troops, as a Union division crossed Stones River during the day. On January 2, Confederate troops attacked their strong position on a bluff east of the river, driving them back across McFadden's Ford. The Confederate attack was quickly repulsed, and they were forced to retreat to their original position.
There were several skirmishes during the next couple of days, but by the 5th, Union forces were occupying the town of Murfreesborough, and Bragg's troops were in retreat to Shelbyville and Tullahoma, Tennessee. With the approaching snows, it was time for both armies to enter winter quarters. An old year had ended... a new one, begun... but the future still held several years of battle and bloodshed before the Civil War would end.
The rattle of musketry and cannon fire no longer echoes and rumbles along those Tennessee valleys, but those distant hills have changed little during the seasonal cycles of nearly a century and a half. The cities may be larger, and the surrounding lands more developed, but the hills still hold their secrets. Like half-heard whispers, the tales of glory, the creaking of leather saddles, the beat of horses' hooves, and campfire laughter are carried faintly on the night air. Ghostly armies still ride... spectral sergeants still swear... and somewhere in the distant half-light of a phantom fire, a young drummer boy practices a drum roll for eternity...
 This sampling of Mark's collection leaves little doubt that he takes his relic hunting very seriously! |
It is the sound of history, both of deeds recorded and those that will forever remain unknown. To listen, to understand, the ear must be tuned to that "pitch of the past:- a task that most relic hunters seem to accomplish quite handily.
For relic hunter Mark Swann, growing up in Nashville in the 1960s, it was a simple matter to "tune in" to the past, step from his back porch, walk a few yards into the woods, and begin finding Civil War relics. During his teenage years, Mark devoted a majority of his time to the recovery of thousands of relics, ranging from the first Minie ball he found on his way to school one day, to hundreds of buttons and numerous cannonballs, projectiles, buckles, and belt plates. It was a love of history and detecting which began early, and continues to this day.
Even Mark will admit that relic hunting the central Tennessee area had changed quite a bit over the intervening years. "Most of the larger campsites have been gone over and searched hard for quite a number of years," he notes, "but several smaller and less known sites remain virtually intact to this day. Some have yet to be found."
It was that very search for lost encampments which drew Mark and his relic hunting buddies, Brett and Cliff, into a four-wheeling excursion toward a ridge of hills three miles distant from the nearest paved road. From their research, they knew that the site held promise, and it combined all the natural features any officer in the field would desire, including high ground and a major source of fresh water.
Having attained the summit, they found an old logging road leading to a natural spring, which was clearly indicated on an old map. All the elements for a great hunt were in place... now it was just a matter of a lot of legwork and finding the relics!
As the search began along the two miles of ridgeline, the initial finds were less than spectacular, consisting of numerous shotgun shells in various stages of decay. A decision to work an even broader pattern among the hardwoods yielded only one dubious bonus, an old mule shoe!
 Mark Swann, along with his relic hunting partner, Brett Clark, proudly displays a Confederate two-piece buckle... a recovery any relic hunter would envy! |
It was only when the ridge began to narrow, and they entered a flat, open, and terraced area, that their luck began to change with the first recoveries of melted lead mixed with charcoal and a number of square cut nails, which is often a good indication of a campsite.With his eyes following the sweep of his detector's coil, Mark noticed something whitish partially exposed on the ground. Even before he had it in his hand, it was immediately identified as a .69 caliber Minie ball. Within a couple of minutes, other members of the team were digging on targets with similar results. It was obvious that their research and legwork had paid off... they had found a lost camp!
Within a half-hour of the initial relic recovery, the first button, an Army officer's coat button, saw light once again after more than a century. It was quickly followed by a Block I button. "What was interesting about the Block I recovery was that once I had dug it from the ground and passed the coil of my detector over the hole again, the signal was still ringing in my headset," Mark recalls. "It was as though I hadn't taken anything from the soil. I probed around, and was able to add yet another Block I button to my collection. Recoveries like that just don't happen often enough!"
 In addition to the CS belt buckle, the site of the Confederate camp yielded "snake buckles" and an assortment of Civil War buttons. |
There seemed to be plenty of luck to spare that day, as Cliff targeted a dumpsite beside a drainage ditch. According to Mark, Cliff didn't move from that spot for hours... and no wonder. As Cliff dug, handfuls upon handfuls of haversack hooks emerged, mixed with discarded and unfired bullets, and numerous buttons. In a phrase, it must have been a relic hunter's dream come true!
Continuing to search the top of the ridge, Mark suddenly received a loud signal. "It was the type of signal which had belt buckle written all over it!" At 6" he recovered the wreath portion of a two-piece Confederate belt buckle. Passing the coil over the hole again produced nothing but dead air. "I decided to work a circular pattern out and around from where the first piece was recovered. Ten feet away, I was able to recover the missing CS portion to complete the buckle!"
From such recoveries, it's easy to see why Mark prefers to work campsites, rather than the sites of battles and skirmishes. "With shipments of new supplies coming into the campsites, battle-ravaged and field-abused uniforms, along with other pieces of barely serviceable equipment, were often thrown into the surrounding woods, or down the nearest embankment," he explains.
As with all relic hunts, and especially those which have been highly successful, the day ended far too soon. Yet even as the sun set, Mark, Brett, and Cliff knew they would be returning to search their lost campsite... and although bone-wearied and dog-tired, the trio shared one thought on the long walk back to the truck: It doesn't get much better than that!
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