Pair of boots on the Confederate trench . . . bullets in wood . . . Good day.

parsonwalker · Mar 22, 2014

Pretty crazy day. Walking just in front of the Confederate trenches, I look down and there's an artillery fragment lying in plain view on top of the ground.

Fight the briars to the trench and dig my first heel plate. Check the hole and no . . . there's TWO. Lying smack dab on TOP of the trench. Man, what kind of story could they tell?? Were they removed from a body with the intent to be used by another soldier? Did they just sit up there untouched in this desolate bottom for decades until nothing was left but the heel plates? Were they left there later by burial crews? What? I am intrigued by these two simple iron heel plates and their story.

I ended the day with the heel plates, two frags, the outer ring from a bormann fuse and about 20 bullets (Roundballs, Gardners, an enfield, a carbine and 3-ringers) two of them in wood. (Both of those from deep in the trench - assuming they were from trees soldiers would stack on top of the trenches)

My hunting partner found 53 bullets, some good frags, and these knapsack parts all together. We had a good day all around.

CASPER-2 · Mar 22, 2014

NICE HUNT - NICE FINDS :thumbsup:

JohnnyRebCSA · Mar 22, 2014

A good day is an understatement. What depth on the musket balls? Detector used? Glad to see you do well today.

parsonwalker · Mar 23, 2014

Thanks Johnny. We dug them at all depths. The deepest one I dug today was the one in the larger chunk of wood. That was in a "clean" trench that was sandy Virginia soil. Barely audible signal at about 12 inches. I find my detector goes deeper in trenches, especially sandy ones. Dug another deep .69 cal roundball at about 10" in the swamp. By the time I got to it, it was 10" of hole and 8" of water! I use the Tesoro Tejon.

CSA2K · Mar 23, 2014

Great saves man. Love BIW!

73dguard · Mar 23, 2014

Keep an eye out for the boots' leather when you dig. I did a dig in which our team found a civil war boot. It was preserved because the soil was packed airtight and a lot of oyster shell on the surface to keep the bacteria down

VOL1266-X · Mar 23, 2014

That was one great hunt PW. Definitely a site you'll want to hunt again Bud. Super finds. HH, Q.

markp · Mar 23, 2014

great saves, congrats

CoilyGirl · Mar 23, 2014

That's a good bit of lead and other goodies. :thumbsup:

wvplug · Mar 23, 2014

Love the bullet in the wood and can't imagine finding the knapsack parts and not find ANY of the contents. Excellent day either way.

mirage83 · Mar 23, 2014

Good day? Not hardly, that's one great day of hunting, and some superb finds.

parsonwalker · Mar 24, 2014

wvplug said:
Love the bullet in the wood and can't imagine finding the knapsack parts and not find ANY of the contents. Excellent day either way.

Agreed. Perhaps the knapsack was worn out and discarded, or the contents were found by an earlier hunter. The unusual color was because the parts were found in water.

Back-of-the-boat · Mar 24, 2014

I have never been real interested in C.W. posts as I live in California and won't get a chance at that type of dig, but your post brought the personal side to it for me by sharing your thoughts on how you think the heel plates ended up there it showed you put a lot of thought into your hunt and you respect the history also the bullets in the wood and your description of how the soldiers stacked trees to help barricade brings a person onto the battle without having been there. Thank You.

Threshold · Mar 24, 2014

That bullet in the wood is awesome. Thats a desk display piece right there!

flatbutton · Mar 24, 2014

Looks like an awesome hunt! The heel plates are fantastic! Not just the actual find itself, but the wonder of how they ended up that way. It's sure got me thinking! Congrats :icon_thumright:

parsonwalker · Mar 25, 2014

Back-of-the-boat said:
I have never been real interested in C.W. posts as I live in California and won't get a chance at that type of dig, but your post brought the personal side to it for me by sharing your thoughts on how you think the heel plates ended up there it showed you put a lot of thought into your hunt and you respect the history also the bullets in the wood and your description of how the soldiers stacked trees to help barricade brings a person onto the battle without having been there. Thank You.

Thanks man. The personal side is always what's most intriguing to me. When I walk those trenches I cannot help but think of what a terrifying hell it must have been. My hunting partner has been relic hunting (serious hunter) since the 70s and he keeps records. There is about a 10 acre patch of woods near this site where he has found over 9000 shot bullets over the years. Can you even fathom it?

parsonwalker · Mar 25, 2014

Back-of-the-boat said:
I have never been real interested in C.W. posts as I live in California and won't get a chance at that type of dig, but your post brought the personal side to it for me by sharing your thoughts on how you think the heel plates ended up there it showed you put a lot of thought into your hunt and you respect the history also the bullets in the wood and your description of how the soldiers stacked trees to help barricade brings a person onto the battle without having been there. Thank You.

Thanks man. The personal side is always what's most intriguing to me. When I walk those trenches I cannot help but think of what a terrifying hell it must have been. My hunting partner has been relic hunting (serious hunter) since the 70s and he keeps records. There is about a 10 acre patch of woods near this site where he has found over 9000 shot bullets over the years. Can you even fathom it?

ModernMiner · Mar 25, 2014

Great job Guys. That a nice CW relic haul. :thumbsup:

Those heel plates are very cool.
-MM-

Davers · Mar 25, 2014

An Awesome Day indeed...
Love those bullets in wood, I think you stated before that you have found Quite a few cause of the swampy area.
You guys are on a great site .& over 9,000 bullets in a small area ( sounds like one heck of a battle).

It amazes me hearing the stories of the relic hunters from the 1960's 70's Even the 80's & the large amount of relic's that were Dug.
It makes me wonder sometime when we (RH'S) find a boat load of minies at a site & not any or many buttons.
Did past hunters get tired of digging Bullets and dig only Large or Button type Signals ?
Did yall find many shotgun shells?
Sorry For the "Rant"
Awesome finds like yours always gets me thinking.
Davers