Nearly epic Civil War dig with a new and an old machine

smokeythecat

Gold Member
Nov 22, 2012
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Maryland
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XP Deus II
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All Treasure Hunting
I decided to beat the rain. I wanted to get one day digging out this weekend. I went to a POUNDED Civil War site some distance from here. My Tesoro Cibola wanted to come, so I said ok, it and the Deus were "arguing" in the back seat about who would do better.

Got to the site and basically switched machines a few times. Here are the results. Both machines did very well.

Took the Cibola first around a log we had been digging last week. First thing out was a piece of a civil war cartridge box tin, nothing dramatic, but you don't find many anymore. I found some glass and nails in the hole, and just decided to move a little of the horrid red dirt back and I'm basically flipping some dirt over and I see this little "A" on top of the pile. The Cibola had heard it as non ferrous, remember that machine is a turn and go type. It is a Union kepi hat letter "A". This is the first hat letter I have ever found. View attachment IMG_0742.jpg I found a hat #"1" last summer, but this is my first hat letter and I was jazzed. Went around the tree some more and pulled out some small pieces of camp lead. I moved over a few feet and found two bullets "hiding" about 4" down under a large tree limb, which I had to move out of the way. View attachment IMG_0740.jpg Then I moved to the other side of the tree, and alternately used the Tesoro and the Deus, depending on which whimpered the most. I wound up with 2 eagle buttons, 1 underwear button and my first ever coat Virginia Button! All in all a good day.

View attachment IMG_0743.jpg

I then got tired of this little are, and moved off around 50' looking for any concentration of metals. I found some broken glass, the one piece is from a green flask, nails, more camp lead, and two 1930's shotgun shell bases. These are now hard finds from this site as it has been dug since the 1960's. The largest piece of camp lead the Deus nailed down near a gulley. It was fun. The site doesn't seem to produce coins. They may have been cherry picked out of it a long time ago. View attachment IMG_0744.jpgView attachment IMG_0745.jpgView attachment IMG_0746.JPGView attachment IMG_0747.JPGView attachment IMG_0748.jpg
 

Upvote 37
Thank you. Do you think the "A" is a company letter? That's what I've been believing all this time. The site I'm in is a mixed infantry and cavalry site. Have not found anything like an "eagle a" to think it was artillery. Just curious.
 

Smokey, you are correct. The A is a company letter. I had just made a post concerning the find of an artillery button, and I had a brain freeze. This was worn signifying the soldiers company he was assigned to. Great find and in great shape too.
 

I know NY and Mass buttons have been found within 100 yards of this site. I could probably figure out which regiment was there, but that Civil War atlas has print so tiny I can't read it.
 

Sweet finds!!! Those buttons are very nice!!! Great saves!!:occasion14:
 

I love those buttons , I have a Virginia or a South Carolina button on my bucket list, nice job Smokey
 

Congrats on all of your finds, and another excellent Civil War find.
 

Thank you. I'll be going back but signals are getting fewer and fewer. What I do is if I get in an area with scrap iron, I just dig around and shave off a few inches of dirt to see what is underneath. Then detect the "New" top of the ground, and it works very well.
 

Congrats on the nice set of finds.

That "A" is really something else. Wow.
 

I'm hoping there are some more of these in the spot. By switching to the higher 74khz setting on the Deus HF coil, more things are showing up than in the last couple years. I found out the 28khz didn't do the job. The 74 does it however. It will pick up some of the half dollar size ration can pieces, but I can live with that.
 

very interesting. I dug w that looks exactly like that A same exact Style. Civil War General service button was found nearby. But I always figured the W was from a piece of Machinery or something. I just went looking for it and now I can't find it. Congrats on the nice group of finds and thanks for the education on the letter.
 

Not sure about a "W". I did get back to the spot and stumbled on a bottle dump. Most broken but not all of them! Now for the cleanup. Also got my first coin or ID tag or token from the site. Probably a coin but it's not getting cleaned today. I had a boo boo.
 

you killed it again !
 

My shovel killed it again. This is a tough spot. Looks like the mad gophers had a party. I did fill in all holes, smooth the dirt and redecorate with sticks and leaves.
 

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