Hi Guys. I'm brand new to this forum, but have been an avid TH'er for over 20 years. I'm very interested in joining in a hunt for any relics from Gen Braddock's army. I moved back here to SW PA a few years ago after being gone for about 35 years, and I'm really into the history of the area.
I've already followed along the believed trail of the force from Connelsville all the way to Braddock, stopping for a brief time at each of the historical markers at the presumed campsites. Just spent a little time at each one, trying to visualize what it would have been like to see the large mass of soldiers and woodsmen camped out, and trying to picture where a coin or button might likely be found.
I also attended the 250th anniversary of the Battle at the Braddock branch of the Carnegie Library, back in the Summer of 2005. They put on a great presentation with various speakers and even had reenactors to give a better feel for the importance of the Battle. A number of us walked along with the reenactors from the library to a location a few blocks away that is accepted as the site of the first shots fired in the Battle. The French and Indian reenactors were on one side of the street, while the British troops stood across from them. Then they fired a volley to commemorate the event. There were also free shuttles to a few other locations where presenters gave more info on the events of the day, and some weapon demonstrations. Another of the stops was high on the bluff above the site, which gave a great overview on where the Battle took place (obviously quite changed in 2 1/2 centuries, but the overall terrain remains).
Anyway, the reason for my post is to find out if any of you fellow TH'ers out there would consider a hunt somewhere along the trail. It would have to be in the Spring, after the ground thaws, but before the huge masses of poison ivy spring up locally.
Portions of Braddock are quite seedy and dangerous looking, but a small group of detectorists could perhaps be fairly safe in a daytime hunt. Not that I'm knocking the town, as I live in another of the distressed old steel mill towns (Donora) along the Mon River, where 20 people died, and hundreds took ill, in the first acknowledged occurrence of "smog" in history back in 1948. Contacting the local police dept to let them know of our intentions could perhaps be helpful, and the idea of possibly offering some of the residents a small donation or a share of any finds could open up a few unsearched areas. There are also some unchanged areas in the vicinity of the battle (hard rock outcroppings) that intrigued me. I also have been offered access to a large farm in the Hunker/New Stanton area that, based on my calculations, had to be directly in the path of the march, and probably, the retreat.
As you can see, I get quite wordy sometimes, but I can talk "treasure" for days on end. I'll put a few of my tales on the forum in the future, as some of my experiences have been, in a word, entertaining. So, if there's any interest in a hunt, let's hook up. Looking forward to hearing from any of you.
Also as a postscript to some earlier posts, I don't feel that there's any credibility to the finding of the General's gold at the Braddock site. They were completely surprised by the attack, fought an intense battle for a few hours, and then quickly retreated back across the Monongahela River twice to get back to the location outside of Uniontown where Gen Braddock finally died from his wounds. Braddock's personal wagon probably would not have been up there in the lead with the troops, and once the fighting started, the treasure guards wouldn't have had time to dig much of a hole to bury a large chest. Also the clay soil here in SW PA isn't the easiest material to dig into once it gets hardened by the summer sun. Just my thoughts on the matter.
