Finally!Undeniable civil war bullet dug from my researched site!

MrMarsHill · May 5, 2019

Ive posted a few finds and told some of my story. If you want to know the grounds I'm hunting, just look into the Shelton laurel massacre and "bloody Madison" county. No battles, but lots of troop movement and activity, bushwackers aplenty and the famous massacre of 13 men and boys... I'd say these are decent grounds! Finally today, my dad, dug this 3 ring star base Washington Arsenal made (per my research, correct me if I'm wrong) This confirmed that our search property has some action and some relics to find. I'd love to hear opinions. My best guess is a .58 3 ring Minnie ball made at the Washington arsenal. Let me know! We only had another hour to hunt today because of rain, but I'll be back with more! Thanks in advance for any info.

smokeythecat · May 5, 2019

You have it correct. The star denotes the Washington Arsenal. I love the dropped ones!

CASPER-2 · May 6, 2019

CRUSADER · May 6, 2019

Personally to me it means a really good sign, but by it's self its not a confirmation of a CW Site yet. That would be like us finding 1 Roman Coin & stating we have found a Roman Site. Go & get some more clues & confirm it. :thumbsup:

civilman1 · May 6, 2019

I find a lot of the Washington Arsenal's at Antietam. Congrat's to you and your Dad :icon_thumright:

MrMarsHill · May 6, 2019

Thanks guys! I will get more clues, but this is full confirmation for us. My research has been extensive and the only thing left to do was find an undeniable civil war relic. You should definitely look up the Shelton laurel massacre of Madison county in 1863. We are hunting the area where the troops would have moved on the townspeople. 200 troops came from both accessible directions to capture the "enemies". Our dig site is within 1 square mile of where the 13 graves are today. I'm pretty confident this is civil war ground, lol! I will be back with more though... I am hoping to get back there today! We have connections in the community and an ongoing permission at this specific site. I'm working on the property where the actual massacre took place, but the family has had bad experiences with "visitors" in the past, working on the trust now. The Shelton laurel massacre is still a pretty touchy subject out there in Shelton laurel and around Marshall... still a lot of sad and mad feelings left in these old hills. There are families who still dont speak out here! Good old Bloody Madison county... Jewel of the Blue Ridge.Thanks for the help and inspiration guys! I hope to find lots more to show! I'm also working on a permission for some "battle of Asheville" ground... not much of a real battle, but lots to be found! Any more info on the bullet is welcome as well, I am happy to know I got the Washington arsenal right! Happy hunting all!

smokeythecat · May 6, 2019

Crusader, I'm with you. We occasionally find a Roman coin on this side of the pond and it's apparently not a Roman site!

xcopperstax · May 6, 2019

I am not an expert on the civil war but I think your bullet counts as such. I live in Massachusetts and found a general service button. There were no battles up here but I'd say it is a genuine piece of civil war history. Congrats!

RustyRelics · May 6, 2019

Killer dropped Washington Arsenal! Love those things!

smokeythecat · May 6, 2019

It is going to depend on what else comes out of the site. I hunted a site four times before we found anything Civil War, then found where the camp was and have since come up with hundreds of items. Dig it all. With a dropped bullet, there will probably be more there. It is not unusual to find fired Civil War bullets from coast to coast because the arms were sold as hunting rifles for decades and decades after the Civil War and were used for deer hunting. They still are.

MrMarsHill · May 6, 2019

One of the old guys I talked to in the area showed me HIS great? grandfather's civil war rifle, hanging above his fireplace. I didn't get to take it down and handle it, but it was cool just to see it. He had several bullets, cap box etc. Really cool. Looked like he could take it down, load it up and make some civil war relics right now lol.I've only spent a total of about 3-4 hours on the ground detecting and we've pulled 1 bullet, I hope we are on the right trail! There is a trail leading from the spot this bullet was found, directly to the site of the massacre. It's a small trail, but I think that's our next move... once we dig everything in the spot we already found haha! I love detecting with my parents, but my mom can only handle a few hours and she's done lol! I'll get out there alone one day and put in some real miles! I'll keep everybody updated though! It's one thing to read countless reports of troop movements etc, it's another thing to see the actual history come out of the ground. Definitely expect more from this site, I know I have a good feeling about this one.

Al.relics · May 6, 2019

Super bullet find!

A2coins · May 6, 2019

Cool find research is the key then backing it upwith what you find looks like your on the right path. Good luck to you and your Dad

Professor of Engineering · May 7, 2019

Congrats on the nice CW relic! :occasion14:

smokeythecat · May 7, 2019

I think you'll find it just when you least expect to!

MrMarsHill · May 28, 2019

Thanks guys! We've been back to the site 1 more time and really proved something, in my opinion. We found 3 more, 3 ring Minnie ball and what looks to be an Infantry button. It's hard to make out in the pics, but the "I" is obvious in person on the eagles shield. I'm trying to figure out if we can tell if this button is confederate? It would go right in line with our research, but I feel we need to see the maker or something to know for sure. We also have another spot we thought would be perfect for bushwackers, we've been calling it "ambush rock". We stopped on the way out of our hot spot and in 10 mins we found a Minnie ball that appeared to have bounced off the rocks, laying about 3 feet from one of the HUGE rocks and beat all to h***! The extra flat side of the bullet makes me think it had to hit these huge rocks, as if it was fired at possible bushwackers behind the rocks... which is why we have been calling it ambush rock, lol. I'll draw a diagram or snap some pics next time we are out there... if there is a place to ambush troops, this is THE spot! I know there is more to be found at both spots. I have what I believe to be a few of the small pieces of a "buck and ball" round, but we were unable to locate the rest do to time. The 2 small bald were within 1 foot of eachother and were both ringing up a steady 65 on my Garrett. There is still a couple really solid 65-75 signals in the same hole basically! We left lots of good signals up on that hill. The ground is very soft and airy and it's obvious there hasn't been much traffic... and NO ONE has been digging up there. Well, until we got there anyway haha! Happy hunting everybody! Identification opinions and advice ALWAYS welcome. Sorry I took so long to update the thread too, I had debated on adding another to the "find of the day" but I figured I already had this ongoing post, so why not just add to it lol. I'm heading back again this weekend to our "secret" spot, but I have a trip planned Wednesday to hit some spots in Asheville, NC. Anybody have any ideas of where we should stop? We have researched deeply and know the main areas of interest, but does anybody know any " off the beaten path" type places? I'd be glad to share my secrets of Madison County for some inside knowledge of Buncombe county, lol! I hope you guys enjoy our finds!