A few finds in an unlikely place...

[MarkDz]

Hi,
I was digging on a riverbank in Northeast PA, a 2+ hour drive north of the nearest Civil War battle (Gettysburg), and I found 3 CW-style 3 ringers and a kepi buckle!
In almost 10 years of detecting, I've never found any real 3 ringers before. Very odd... these appear "dropped," too, not used for hunting or anything else. And each is a slightly different caliber.
I'm going to have to do a little research and see if any veterans lived around my hunting area. I don't think there was a muster field or anything nearby. No idea where this stuff came from, but I like it .
HH, Mark

 

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[deathhare]

Skirmishes happened all over the place and almost all of them are unrecorded.
You probably will find a lot more in the area if you look hard.

 

[diggummup]

Skirmishes happened all over the place and almost all of them are unrecorded.
You probably will find a lot more in the area if you look hard.

I agree. I'd be hunting that area again, and again, and again.

 

[Dwight S]

A simple explanation... Troop movements. While it is true that a lot of troops were loaded on trains and moved around, sometimes it was unavoidable to have to march. And think about how much space it took to camp overnight for a regiment. Not only did you have troops, you had support such as artiliary and supply wagons, ambulances, etc. Do a search of the Official Records for entries regarding surrounding towns, when you find one, read all the passages, it may give you clues. I've found stuff like "In the field, near XYZ river crossing" From this you can read the preceeding entries from the same command and figure out where they came from and then read the following entries to see what direction they were headed. You may find they camped very near where you are. And remember, when they were marching they only did about 15 to 20 miles a day and then camped again. So, if you found a camp, you can then search the records and see what direction they headed and follow up on that. This is part of the "fun" of relic hunting.

The soldiers may have pulled the paper cartridge & bullet apart to use the powder to start a campfire. You can expect to find all kinds of stuff at such a camp site, go back and go slow. Dig everything including the iron, you may find some more surprises.

 

[21stTNCav]

Yep, you may have stumbled upon a camp site. Look around that river bank area. What does the terrain look like? Where would you set up your tent if you had to camp there and get your own water?? Go there and detect also!! Good luck!!