rife pits

[stevengugas]

My house sits on a hill in an area frequently used by Confederate troops up until 1863, just north of Culpeper, va. Several camp sights are only a mile away. Over the years I have found about a dozen pits that I believe are rifle pits. They all have parapets with trenches behind them and circle my hill. Several have large stones braced against the parapets. All are on the forward slopes of the hill facing an old road used by troops to travel to Front Royal, Va. from Culpeper. Each pit is between 50 to 75 feet from the next, and all appear to have intersecting fields of fire to the front. The trenches are much more pronounced than the photos show. I'm a former Marine infantry officer and dug a lot of pits just like this. Just wanted to get some other opinions.

 

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[ticndig]

may be dug in camp , dig one out and see what you find. if it's a hut hole you will for sure find charcoal and very often bones, oyster shell and hopefully some nice relics.
if you get any signals at all you need to dig down until you hit hard dirt . I say hut hole because of the number of holes you see there.

often these dug in camps are on an east facing slope to catch the morning sun and also almost always close to a water source .

the last one I dug had hundreds of nails in it and a very nice South Carolina coat button.
I've dug huts in Culpepper , orange , stafford and spotsy. lots of good relics if they are virgin.

 

[RTR]

My house sits on a hill in an area frequently used by Confederate troops up until 1863, just north of Culpeper, va. Several camp sights are only a mile away. Over the years I have found about a dozen pits that I believe are rifle pits. They all have parapets with trenches behind them and circle my hill. Several have large stones braced against the parapets. All are on the forward slopes of the hill facing an old road used by troops to travel to Front Royal, Va. from Culpeper. Each pit is between 50 to 75 feet from the next, and all appear to have intersecting fields of fire to the front. The trenches are much more pronounced than the photos show. I'm a former Marine infantry officer and dug a lot of pits just like this. Just wanted to get some other opinions.View attachment 1907749View attachment 1907752View attachment 1907751View attachment 1907749

I think you have nailed what went on there ,(to the T). No question to whats left on your next move.....Good Luck !

 

[birdman]

Good luck, looks like lots of great finds to be had.

 

[stevengugas]

Yep, water source, a stream is at the bottom of the hill. Hut hole is a new term to me. Exactly what is it? Thanks

 

[ticndig]

The Soldiers dug into the hillside and built their hut underground to survive winter camp . this is a recreation of a hut that is at the civil war museum in Stafford VA https://jaken.tripod.com/hutdig.html.

 

[stevengugas]

Thanks for the info. I'll do some digging tomorrow.

 

[crashbandicoot]

Arkansas Post National Memorial is only a few miles from my house and I go there often to walk.Small park,few visitors,peaceful place.There are rifle pits there that look very similar to what you have here,I think you,re on the right track.Wish I could detect there,a lot of history in that place.

 

[duggap]

The guys used trenches, but did they actually have rifle pits? I have never read anything about them digging rifle pits.

 

[Gene Mean]

The guys used trenches, but did they actually have rifle pits? I have never read anything about them digging rifle pits.

https://sites.google.com/site/confe...ons-website---basic-information-on-rifle-pits

I like Tnet. Learn a lot.

 

[crashbandicoot]

The guys used trenches, but did they actually have rifle pits? I have never read anything about them digging rifle pits.

Trenches,rifle pits,you sat potato,I say potatto!The ones at the Post look like pits or foxholes as a later generation called them,the Park Service calls them rifle pits so I usually use that term.