The IRON BRIGADEs Colonial Site Visit

[BuckleBoy]

The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Hello All,


Kindafoundabuckle came up with a GREAT name for our treasure crew--in thinking about the pounds and POUNDS of IRON we clear from old house sites in order to get the goodies, he nicknamed us the Iron Brigade. Well...the name has stuck. So here is the story of our latest Iron Brigade hunt...

With snow all over the ground, I braved the weather and went with Rodeo Recon, Foxhound, and Recon's Girl back for one more visit to the colonial house site. Last time we were there, we had pounded the flat button spot on the site to death. I realized on the drive there this time that I had never hunted the opposite side of the site from that spot as meticulously--so I decided that I at least had a game plan for this pounded site. When we got there, I turned on my detector at the top of the hill, took a few sweeps, and got a flat button (the farthest one yet from the site). At this point I knew we at least had a chance for a successful hunt. After circling around the spot where the button came up, I headed down the gentle slope and into the site. I spent most of my time well away from that pounded "button honey hole" and got my game face on Pretty soon, I had my first coin--a 1907 Indian Head. The photo doesn't really do this coin justice, but it is one of the nicest IH's I have ever recovered (and that's saying a lot, considering that most of mine came from those wonderful, sandy soils during my time in Virginia as a kid). Here's a photo of the coin after cleaning:



I continued to work this area as a relic hunter would--you CW hunters out there will understand what I mean by this. Oh yes I dug plenty of iron this visit too--but not much BIG iron (whew!). I did manage to get a small OLD buckle out of an nail infested spot. I'm assuming it is probably a shoe buckle. It has a dull luster to it like pewter, and it appears to be crudely cast or handmade. Here's a photo:



My next goody was an eyeball find--it had weathered out of a previous dighole after the rains and snows. A Colonial clay pipe stem I like this one a great deal, as it is more ornate than many of the pipe fragments we're apt to find.





I kept working up close to the brush and managed a shallow--but large--croatal bell. I have a theory that one of our bunch walked over it and dismissed it as Big Iron because it was an overload signal. I have learned through the years that overload signals aren't always reliable in plowed fields. I had never found a croatal bell before, so I was stoked. The bell bears the number "2" cast into it--and it retains the piece of twisted iron at the top that was used to fasten it on so many years ago. It also has the iron ball clapper still inside.

Here's the photo of all of the finds:





This site has been very good to us. Since targets are getting quite thin there, I think it's safe to post our totals from the site:

COLONIAL ERA FINDS:

1 1774 Half Real
1 1789 Half Real
1 1781 Real

32 Flat Buttons
2 Pewter Buttons
9 Musket Balls
12 Pewter Spoon Fragments
1 Ramrod Thimble for a Flintlock Rifle
1 1820's Pewter Military Whistle
1 Colonial Clay Pipe Fragment
1 Small Buckle

MID-1800's FINDS:

1 1850's Militia Belt Plate
1 1850's Powder Flask (one whole panel)
2 CW-Era Remington Revolver Powder Flask Fragments
1 Eagle Button
5 Toe/Heel Taps
1 .54 Cal. Spencer Bullet Casing
1 Minieball
1 Fragment of a Silver Pocketknife depicting a Rifleman
1 Brass Spoon Fragment
2 Small Buckles
1 Croatal Bell
1 Brass Escutcheon

LATE 1800's-EARLY 1900's FINDS

1 1895 "V" Nickel
1 1895 Indian Head Cent
1 1906 Indian Head Cent
1 1907 Indian Head Cent
1 1909 Wheat
1 1910 Wheat

1 Philadelphia, Chicago, Cincinnati, and St. Louis Railway Button
1 Brass Key for a Mantle Clock
1 Pocket Watch Frame
3 Assorted Buckles
1 Suspender Clip

Plus Harmonica Reeds, Melted Lead, other bits... and iron, and More Iron, and EVEN MORE IRON... :P

If you missed any of our hunts on this FANTASTIC site, here are the links:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,138237.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,139354.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,138694.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,139346.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,138400.0.html

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,139494.0.html



Best wishes to all of you from the Iron Brigade,


Buckleboy

 

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[Colonial KirkPA]

Re: Valentine's Day Colonial Site Visit

Bucky Boy,

You rock! The Iron Brigade is top-notch!

Kirky Boy

 

[civilman1]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Sound's like a pretty safe name for the club BB I see you guy's are still cleaning up....Great find's and HH!!

 

[Baldingboy]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Buckleboy,

Awesome finds as usual. Keep swinging bro...were frozen up here.

Baldingboy

 

[johnreb1980]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Nice finds BB.

 

[Colonial Zoyboy]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Buckles, you guys have been kicking some serious metal detecting arse recently. With more high-quality research, you guys are bound to find many sites similar to this one.

Keep the fever high, man!

Kyle

 

[discovery_bound]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Great posts and even better finds!! Might one be able to enlist as an IRON BRIGADE recruit?!!! hahaha

Awesome job, keep 'em coming!

JW

 

[FoxHound0985]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

It's definately been a great site to us. Hey, maybe after they plow it we might be able to coax a few more Spanish Silvers outta that place . Take care and HH!

Fox

 

[grasshopper]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

thanks for the recap! that site sure has been great to you!!

 

[john37115]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Persistence is Key. Don't ya wish you could find just one old sight that wasn't loaded with iron and you could go through it like a sunday stroll and pick up all the goodies?
I carried away over 100 lbs. of iron the other day ( 2 five gallon bucket full ) I have collected since the first of the year. Looks like you guys are doing an awesome job and I love the name IRON BRIGADE it sounds like a artillery unit or something.

 

[River Rat]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

BB,

I love the name,
digging's your game.
The Iron Brigade,
got it made.



Love the finds!!

RR

 

[halfdime]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Good going! Maybe you should have a unit patch commissioned .

 

[wyattrr]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

As usual you ROCK...Always setting the standard...I assume you do your homework on areas worth Mding...Have you ever run into a situation where you stumble onto something Major but it's on LAND protected by the STATE?? What do you Do??

Anyhow...HH

 

[ModernMiner]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

BB,
Congrats to all of you on some fantastic relics from that site. Your persistance paid off for sure.
That IH you just found has some great detail to it. Congrats.
I've never found one of those bells yet either.
What were they used on and for?
-MM-

"If it's tons of metal you're looking for,
the Iron Brigade is sure to score."

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Good going! Maybe you should have a unit patch commissioned .

We're actually thinkin about having one made.

As usual you ROCK...Always setting the standard...I assume you do your homework on areas worth Mding...Have you ever run into a situation where you stumble onto something Major but it's on LAND protected by the STATE?? What do you Do??

Anyhow...HH

Of course we do our homework. But we steer clear of state-owned lands! There are many, Many housesites to be found.




And to everyone else who replied, thanks for the AWESOME jingles you've composed for the Iron Brigade. I really appreciate your thoughts, and your wit.


Regards,


Buckleboy

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

I've never found one of those bells yet either.
What were they used on and for?
-MM-

Croatal bells were used for livestock and sheep for un-enclosed grazing--so that the animals could be found. They range in date from the 16th to the early 19th centuries, and they are a common European find as well. They appear to have been made in many different sizes. The number stamped into many of them *might* correspond to this.

Regards,


Buckleboy

 

[ModernMiner]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

I've never found one of those bells yet either.
What were they used on and for?
-MM-

Croatal bells were used for livestock and sheep for un-enclosed grazing--so that the animals could be found. They range in date from the 16th to the early 19th centuries, and they are a common European find as well. They appear to have been made in many different sizes. The number stamped into many of them *might* correspond to this.

Regards,

Buckleboy

Very cool.
Thanks BB.

 

[Steve in Michigan]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Buckleboy,

I am affraid the name Iron Brigade has been used by other metal detectorist for a pretty long time. I know of one site, www.coinist.com, that uses that name and when someone that detects with one of its members, they are then allow to attach the name as well to their signature. Its like an initiation. You must detect with one of the Iron Brigade members to become one. Also, here is another story about the Iron Brigade:

http://www.ironbrigade.net/

This site is dedicated to the men of the Iron Brigade. The majority of the Iron Brigade was composed of young men from Wisconsin. Three regiments from Wisconsin and one from Indiana were formed in to the best known fighting brigade in the Army of the Potomac. To offset heavy losses, a Michigan regiment was latter added to keep this brigade a uniquely "western" unit. On these pages and links you will find some of the more interesting facts and stories of these regiments -- and the men who lived and died so long ago, but to us, seem only to be just out of reach.

The men of the Iron Brigade first made a name for themselves simply as members of "Rufus King's Brigade". But as commanders and uniforms changed, and the conflict advanced to the war's most critical moment at Antietam, they earned some more titles. The men of the south knew them first as "That damn Black Hat Brigade" and latter to all as the "Iron Brigade" because they "stood like Iron" in the face of withering enemy fire. The truth is, the history of the Iron Brigade begins like a song of glory and victory assumed, and ends with the brigades virtual destruction on the first day of Gettysburg. The men were not of iron, but of flesh and blood and they anointed their nations fields with more of themselves than any other regiment in the Union.

Take care!

Your Friend,

Steve in Michigan

 

[BuckleBoy]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

Buckleboy,

I am affraid the name Iron Brigade has been used by other metal detectorist for a pretty long time. I know of one site, www.coinist.com, that uses that name and when someone that detects with one of its members, they are then allow to attach the name as well to their signature. Its like an initiation. You must detect with one of the Iron Brigade members to become one. Also, here is another story about the Iron Brigade:

http://www.ironbrigade.net/

This site is dedicated to the men of the Iron Brigade. The majority of the Iron Brigade was composed of young men from Wisconsin. Three regiments from Wisconsin and one from Indiana were formed in to the best known fighting brigade in the Army of the Potomac. To offset heavy losses, a Michigan regiment was latter added to keep this brigade a uniquely "western" unit. On these pages and links you will find some of the more interesting facts and stories of these regiments -- and the men who lived and died so long ago, but to us, seem only to be just out of reach.

The men of the Iron Brigade first made a name for themselves simply as members of "Rufus King's Brigade". But as commanders and uniforms changed, and the conflict advanced to the war's most critical moment at Antietam, they earned some more titles. The men of the south knew them first as "That damn Black Hat Brigade" and latter to all as the "Iron Brigade" because they "stood like Iron" in the face of withering enemy fire. The truth is, the history of the Iron Brigade begins like a song of glory and victory assumed, and ends with the brigades virtual destruction on the first day of Gettysburg. The men were not of iron, but of flesh and blood and they anointed their nations fields with more of themselves than any other regiment in the Union.

Take care!

Your Friend,

Steve in Michigan

Steve,

Thank you for your information on the original "Iron Brigade." I was already familiar with them, but there were some interesting tidbits on the website you provided.

Is the term "Iron Brigade" trademarked? I didn't see anything on coinlist that would indicate that it was. And I also couldn't even find the name on that site. Are you an Iron Brigade member? There is no initiation for my group of buddies here, and I intend to continue to use the name. Our finds from the past 8 weeks alone should speak to our skill, passion, and dedication to the hobby--and if anyone gets any hurt feelings over the use of the name, consider this my humble apology in advance.

Regards,


Buckleboy

 

[Montana Jim]

Re: The IRON BRIGADE's Colonial Site Visit

I say go with "Iron Brigade South Si-e-e-e-e-e-d" LMAO 8)

If we had a gang we would be called "Our Gang" - But that's been used too...



Whats in a name? I looked at the other site and a search revealed in the
last 6 months only 20 posts by anyone using the moniker "Iron Brigade" - 10 posts
from one guy, one post from another. I doubt these guys are gonna care
much unless someone goes to that forum and causes a ruckus.