metalev4
Bronze Member
- Aug 12, 2006
- 1,165
- 565
The Sgt. rolled out of bed, mouth dry, sour taste from too much bourbon. Believing he might be sick, he wretched towards the flimsy pine door. Flask clutched tightly, he turned the knob, creaking hinges giving way to core chilling wind and pelting snow, stinging his exposed flesh like molten bees. He staggered outside, stumbled over a shivering dog and toppled headlong into the soup of mud, horse piss and ice crystals which comprised all footpaths. The flasks putter spout crushed beneath his weight, leaking the last of its precious cargo into the earth. He reached down, clawing the broken vessel from beneath him. The feel of the smooth metal flashed him back momentarily to a long muddy Virginia march 2 years earlier, where he had eyed the flask protruding from a gnarled knap sack still clinging to a gut shot Confederate corporal, stiff and twisted, eyes open skyward, half submerged in a ditch swollen with lasts nights rain. He abandoned his sullen comrades to retrieve the prize and as an afterthought dislodged the small oval US buckle from the dead mans frayed belt. Back to reality, he noticed a chuckling guard 5 chains distance, marching in place in a futile attempt to milk any possible heat from the movement. Still sprawled out, he watched as the guard discarded damp .58 cartridges into a lead sealed bean can nestled in the dying embers of his fire. The Sgt. rose from the mud bedraggled; wet and suddenly sober he pitched the still corked, now worthless iron flask into the guards fire. In the morning he realized the absence of his belt buckle, which now lay where he had fallen, in a shallow grave under inches of fresh snow; Gone his last physical memory of the Great War between The States.
It was 1866, today he would kill Indians.
Obviously this account is a figment of my imagination; I will never know the circumstances leading a can full of melted bullets and an iron flask to end up in the same small fire within 5 feet of a Baby US buckle. All I know is that they were there and as a relic hunter its fun to imagine the provenance of our finds. Based on the history, terrain, and other finds from the site including sleigh bells, and large quantities of broken whiskey and bitters bottles, I do know that it was very cold and they drank a lot. Anyway, these finds represent my last 2 hunts. My brother and I found 2 fire pits. In the first picture, aside from the bullets, the majority of the brass including buttons, powder flask top and pack parts came to light from the first pit in a small ash layer. The second pit, we discovered during out last hunt when Scott picked up an unusually heavy ration can, half submerged in ashy dirt. The can was filled with melted .58 minie balls. This pit yielded another half an epaulette, eagle buttons including a beautiful GS gilted cuff, Infantry and Cavalry as well as some pack brass and a broken iron flask with a crushed pewter spout still corked . About 5 feet away I was kicking around in the dirt and noticed several square nails. I decided to put a couple of shovels full through the sifter and the baby US plate came up face down with both hooks. I hit the back of it with the shovel; otherwise it would have been perfect. Hard to be too upset, when I never knew it was there. Thanks for sharing my first US plate and random narrative! Happy Hunting.
-Evan
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