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CS Belt Plate Found! By Bob Shumpert |
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A Top 10 Winner for 2001!
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I've
been Civil war relic hunting for about 6 yrs now. In the area that I
live which is Tupelo,Ms there was a lot of troop movement in the war
years 1861-1865. The only major battle here in Tupelo (know back then as Harrisburg) was the battle of "Harrisburg" & was a victory for the Union Army although, C.S. general Nathan Bedford Forrest gave them a heck of a fight! While most of the known areas around here have been hunted hard, I'm always looking for new places. About 3 yrs ago right across from where I grew up, the fellow who owns the land wanted me to try & find a property stake for him. well the first thing I dug was a dropped round 69 cal ball. That really put my mind to wondering! I eventually found the stake & asked him permission to hunt the area behind his house? He's a very nice guy & my fathers 3rd cousin & he replied sure, help yourself. Well I did & started digging many dropped 3 ringers & 69`s. I now knew this was once a part of a C.S. camp occupied by Generals Beaureguard, Vandorn , & Brag! after the battle of Shiloh,Tn some of the troops marched back to this area! Ok, this past May 30th (2 days after my birthday) I went to hunt over there a while as its close to where I now live. It was getting about dark & I told myself before I left I was gonna dig at least 1 bullet as that had been my goal the last few trips over there so, I walked over this ridge hunting slowly when my cz5 sounded off with a good signal so, I dug down approximately 11-12" & I pulled out this kinda oval shaped thing covered with dirt. I got my small brush from my bag & began to clean the surface off then the letter C was plain as day. at this point I was excited as I started wiping the brass plate & low & behold,,, my first C.S. marked Plate! I then went back over the hole several times before I turned my detector off & filled the hole as it was about dark. I anxiously headed for the truck. I wonder how many times I had missed this signal or, had I ? When I got home, I immediately showed it to my wife & she was excited as well! Then I gently cleaned the remaining dirt off with a damp cloth. this was a Army of Tennessee "egg style" plate & according to records, telegraph wire was used to make the hook. The iron hook was history-gone! solder was still there with indentions of the hook. Well for the heck of it, two days later I went back over to the exact spot where I dug it to see if by chance the hooks might still be there or, at least some of it. I got a faint & I mean VERY faint signal I gently dug in the side of the hole where the plate had been & As impossible as this might seem, I had the complete "intact" iron hook in my hand! I couldn't wait to place it in the solder indentions where it had once been. It was a perfect fit!! I can only wonder if it came off when I removed the plate even though I thoroughly searched the hole before I left 2 days earlier. I lightly cleaned & treated the iron hook & its now resting in place where it had in days gone by!! |
