Bite the bullet. Civil war hospital near camp.

[Dutchman266]

Soldiers historically "bit the bullet" as a way to cope with extreme pain, particularly during surgery or battlefield wounds, as the act of biting down on something hard would distract them from the intense sensation, essentially providing a psychological coping mechanism; this practice is most commonly associated with the American Civil War era where medical practices were often brutal and without anesthesia.

 

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[metrotec]

Found several bullets that had teeth marks or bites. Most marks were from squirrels or wild hogs.
Some I found were near where battlefield hospitals were located.
Also I read that guards were posted on piles of amputated limbs to keep wild dogs away, Chickamauga.
ie; river of death

 

[ncsuwolf]

Can you post some different angles of that “bullet”? Hard to tell what you have there

 

[VTColonialDigger]

I first want to say that that is a really cool find! I don't want to discount your find in any way, but the story that soldiers bit down on bullets during surgery is largely believed to be inaccurate. Other than extremely rare exceptions, most bullets thought to exhibit human teeth marks came from other sources, with the usual culprit being pigs. Pigs have a tooth impression that can look similar to that of a human, and they are known to bite bullets, as metrotech noted. Additionally, by the time of the Civil War, types of anesthesia had been developed and were used in an estimated 95% Civil War of operations. Aquachigger did a video titled "Civil War Hospital Pain Bullets: Busted" on this topic if you are interested in a more in depth discussion on the matter.

 

[Dutchman266]

My belief actually my be that the soldier that had that probably had a toothache.

 

[Dutchman266]

Tooth marks all over it. Hard to get a good picture. Lots of patina. Central Kentucky

 

[Gare]

Some interesting finds

 

[ncsuwolf]

Tooth marks all over it. Hard to get a good picture. Lots of patina. Central Kentucky

Not disagreeing with you, but I am having to guess it’s lead from the pics, certainly can’t make a determination that 1) it is/was a bullet 2) that those are teeth marks, and 3) if they are teeth marks that they are human.

Do you have any idea what type of bullet it was? Was it found in a union or southern area?

 

[Dutchman266]

Found on a hilltop just south and east of Lancaster Kentucky on a property owned by a friend of mine. We found many artifacts of the civil war. It's believed that a camp was setup on the hilltop to overlook and challenge anyone on the road between moving between Richmond and Lancaster. My friend bless his heart is passed away now. This small camp was sent from camp dick Robinson located in northern Garrard co. We have found many artifacts. Lots of camp lead bullets. I have a broken axe head that I'm proud of a Cateen throat and a. Worm which was used to remove bullets from there rifles. Also found a Spencer bullet.

 

[Dutchman266]

Going to miss my friend very much. His sister gave me permission to continue detecting. Let me know if you wish to see any of it. Thanks for your input.

 

[ncsuwolf]

Going to miss my friend very much. His sister gave me permission to continue detecting. Let me know if you wish to see any of it. Thanks for your input.

Spent a lot of time in/around that area earlier in my life. Cool story on the spot, sorry to hear about your buddy. Would love to see additional items.

 

[Dutchman266]

Here's a few. Glad to share.

 

[Dutchman266]

My friend had told me there was a field hospital in the area as far as he knew

 

[Dutchman266]

All found in union camp. I believe the chewed bullet was a round ball. What's odd is I found a 69 cal bullet. The rest 58.cal.found a lot of fired 58 cal. Lots of buck and ball. Some of is mystery.

 

[Dutchman266]

Here's a few. Glad to share. View attachment 2193108

Sorry about the blurry picture

 

[ncsuwolf]

All found in union camp. I believe the chewed bullet was a round ball. What's odd is I found a 69 cal bullet. The rest 58.cal.found a lot of fired 58 cal. Lots of buck and ball. Some of is mystery.

The fired mixed with the drops can be confusing. I’ve found both in areas I know no “action” occurred. And that’s in both union and csa camps. Only thing I can think is either boredom/bragging rights/target, hunting(unlikely), or emptying the rifle without having to work the bullet. I’m not smart enough to know what happened 150+ yrs ago and likely we’ll never know the exact story behind each find. One question…..you seem to have as many/more fired than drops. Are the any 2 ringers mixed in?

 

[Dutchman266]

The fired mixed with the drops can be confusing. I’ve found both in areas I know no “action” occurred. And that’s in both union and csa camps. Only thing I can think is either boredom/bragging rights/target, hunting(unlikely), or emptying the rifle without having to work the bullet. I’m not smart enough to know what happened 150+ yrs ago and likely we’ll never know the exact story behind each find. One question…..you seem to have as many/more fired than drops. Are the any 2 ringers mixed in?

Don't know I'll have to look. Some was camp lead. I believe most of the fired bullets I did find in a small embankment. They did spend late fall and winter there. My friend had found a Minie ball with the end of a ramrod stuck in the tip of a Minie ball. Tried to him to give it to me no such luck

 

[Tony in SC]

I believe it is a hog chewed bullet.

 

[E-Trac-Ohio]

Great finds - congrats !

 

[Dutchman266]

I think your right about a hog chewing on it. What I didn't think of is that it being a civil war camp and this looking like a round ball may have been there years before.