kilmer
Sr. Member
- Mar 30, 2005
- 295
- 61
- 🏆 Honorable Mentions:
- 2
- Detector(s) used
- Fisher CZ3 , F75 LTD, CZ70 pro, Teknetics G2, Deus
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
Civil War Medal with name, company & unit. Medal was issued, June 1866.
I spent most of today upset that I wasn't finding any silver. I dug junk, trash, and can slaw for hours and began to wonder just why I was "wasting my time". I went back to a site that I knew had been used as a fairgrounds in the early years of my town. I did find a few wheats but still dug a lot of muddy junk.
I was working a little bit of a grid and got a deep, faint signal. The CZ meter said 8 inches and I dug that and found nothing. I dug two or three more inches out of the ground, stuck the probe in the hole and dug again. I saw a huge edge in the dirt beside the hole and hoped for a silver dollar. I brushed the object off and could tell it had a great pattern of something on one side. I flipped it over and plain as day I saw a name. I brushed again and saw a company F, 78 Regulars, Ohio Volunteers.
My metal detecting dream is to hunt Civil War relics someday and I just held the medal in my hand and marveled. I found James Bay on the Company Roster, I followed the 78 through their amazing tour, found Private Bay reenlisting in 1864 and read and read. These guys were everywhere from Shiloh to Louisiana and back to the Carolina's and Georgia. They formed in Zanesville, Ohio in October of 1861. Their first action they captured Fort Donelson, TN and almost exactly 148 years ago they were headed to Shiloh.
James survived the war, marched in Washington DC and at some point moved to Indiana. He is buried in our local cemetery and his name is on our courthouse square monument to the Civil War. I can't believe how lucky I was to find this key to history in my own hometown. Keep digging guys, it is out there.
HH, Don
I spent most of today upset that I wasn't finding any silver. I dug junk, trash, and can slaw for hours and began to wonder just why I was "wasting my time". I went back to a site that I knew had been used as a fairgrounds in the early years of my town. I did find a few wheats but still dug a lot of muddy junk.
I was working a little bit of a grid and got a deep, faint signal. The CZ meter said 8 inches and I dug that and found nothing. I dug two or three more inches out of the ground, stuck the probe in the hole and dug again. I saw a huge edge in the dirt beside the hole and hoped for a silver dollar. I brushed the object off and could tell it had a great pattern of something on one side. I flipped it over and plain as day I saw a name. I brushed again and saw a company F, 78 Regulars, Ohio Volunteers.
My metal detecting dream is to hunt Civil War relics someday and I just held the medal in my hand and marveled. I found James Bay on the Company Roster, I followed the 78 through their amazing tour, found Private Bay reenlisting in 1864 and read and read. These guys were everywhere from Shiloh to Louisiana and back to the Carolina's and Georgia. They formed in Zanesville, Ohio in October of 1861. Their first action they captured Fort Donelson, TN and almost exactly 148 years ago they were headed to Shiloh.
James survived the war, marched in Washington DC and at some point moved to Indiana. He is buried in our local cemetery and his name is on our courthouse square monument to the Civil War. I can't believe how lucky I was to find this key to history in my own hometown. Keep digging guys, it is out there.
HH, Don
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