My best spring hunting season is about to come to an abrupt end. The doctor says I must have surgery on my detecting arm. Years of constant abuse have aggravated, what turns out to be, a torn rotator cuff and with surgery, I will not back in the field hunting for six months. I am secretly hoping for sooner. My wife says, “Use your left hand, LEFT HAND!” Maybe I can swing my CTX 3030 with my left hand. Whom am I kidding? I cannot even wave goodbye with my left hand. Spring started out great when a nearby town moved one of their historic log cabins from an undesirable spot to a new location near downtown. The historic society graciously granted our group permission to check the old lot. What do you know? Out pops a very nice Confederate Script “I”. It has a small push, but for me it is a fantastic find! Before spring, I had been researching a plantation mentioned in a Civil War diary. The diary had provided some indication where it might be. With the help of some old maps and possible landmarks, we were able to reduce it to an area of about 100 acres. Satellite photos from the internet also provided some ideas on where the main habitation could be. Contacting the landowner and securing permission, my hunting partner and I made our first foray to the spot after a spring rain. It was a bad idea. A deeply flowed field and a lot of rain, we were bogging up to our knees in some places. Still we were able to identify a possible site- period glass everywhere on a prominent hill. We managed a few swings while mucking through mud but did not have any luck. Our next outing, things started to turn around. A small sandy knoll near the main scatter produced a few eagle buttons. We were confused as to why this site would produce Union artefacts when it supposedly played prominently in southern war activities. We speculated possibly we had not located the right spot for the main house. This could be a later site occupied after the war during reconstruction. We returned the next day with an additional detecting buddy in tow. Three more eagle buttons were found on the same knoll. One friend tried a nearby high spot, which yielded pre-war flat buttons. Some were the big fancy type but definitely pre-war military. The site was getting more confusing on each trip. Then, the bad news, Doc said my detecting spring was about over. With that, I had about 5 days before surgery. The wife said, “Hunt while you can”. If I have only days left, then hunt it is. I called in to work and off to the field I went dragging whoever in our group was available with me! On our last few trips, we recovered several flat buttons, one more eagle button, and a small shield with 13 stars and stripes, most likely a Union patriotic pin of some fashion. On Thursday, it is on. I dug a one-piece local cast Block “I”. This is probably the nicest Confederate button I have ever found. Friday, I recovered a Union Navy cuff button with gilt and a Coca Cola Swastika watch fob (pre-World War II for good luck). Sunday, I found another Union Navy Cuff button in great condition and a Bull Durham watch fob. Monday, I found a fantastic Confederate Script “A”. Then just for fun, I dug one more Union Navy cuff button. It has been my best run ever in my years of detecting. Now it’s over- well, until I can get my “Swing Back”.
Kevin - Georgia, USA
