| It was the first day of the DIV mini hunt. The camp was occupied by 6th Corps troops with a probable CS overlap. I debated whether to surface hunt using the larger (and heavier) elliptical coil or stick with the lighter stock coil. I decided to start out with the stock deciding that if I located a hut it would be the easier of the two to maneuver amongst root and rock. My hope was to locate a hut right off and hunker down for a morning of focused excavation.
I was fortunate in my first hour to hit pay dirt, literally. The signals I heard were broken and indicated a fire pit or a hut that lay below the surface. Clearing the area eventually led to the uncovering of brick red and scorched fire box, several broken whiskey bottles and the ubiquitous bent hut nails. Having learned from others that most intact bottles are found near and around the firebox I began a more careful excavation and was rewarded with a beautiful patent whiskey lying above, pointed downwards towards the ash. The olive/teal green whiskey was void of any dirt save an earthen plug that was easily removed from the applied lip. That was a great way to start the morning. Others had been shouting out their finds and the excitement was palpable as Ron Stump and others announced bottle after bottle surfacing from huts down slope. The lure of more finds pushed me to quickly fill and move on to the next hut. It wasn’t long before I detected a find that would put me in hut number 2. As I worked the detector I looked around to see dozens of diggers working on the many rock piles that memorialized and marked the huts of the 6th Corps. My next signal had no such monument. Still the rich dark dirt in the first shovel full and the depression under foot spoke more of a hut than of erosion or stump removal. Within a minute I was looking down into a hole, a digger’s window into the past, where an Austrian bayonet lay. That removed I just knew there was more to this spot than a random find, the bayonet serving as a sign to dig even deeper. I recalled the words of the author who spoke at our last monthly relic meeting when he referred to that “inner voice” that says “there is more to find”, that the story isn’t over. Digging on I exposed the huge roots of the massive oak that shadowed me, a veritable pit of pale boas and constrictors forming a seemingly impenetrable obstruction between me and the hut floor. This was work. I was graciously loaned a root saw which became invaluable in the effort to clear this mass. At about two feet down and in what seemed to be a hut corner, a deep ash layer became exposed. Much of it was dusty gray, almost fresh. I was expectant now. Out of that corner would come a single burned New York coat button and one .58 minie. I was disappointed but not discouraged knowing that I had not yet tapped into the full extent of the hut’s dimensions. Anything could be hiding in what remained. I had to be careful to avoid falling into a haphazard hack and scoop mode. At this point in the hunt I had run the detector for a total of about 10 minutes and the hunt was in its third or fourth hour. I was close to finishing this hut number 2, collapsing large chunks of earth from the edges of the hole when I looked down to see a disk slide down into the loose dirt at my feet. There was no doubt in my mind that I had a eagle plate staring back at me solder side up… and it looked perfect. I called out “plate” so anyone within shouting distance would have the opportunity to see it brought to light after these 144 years. Several diggers surrounded the hole to enjoy the moment. John Kendrick took photos; Bob Buttafuso jokingly suggested that it was going to be an Ohio. We all admired the find as it rested there. I was a pretty eagle plate with one loop intact, a good solid back and a decent face. It is, admittedly, a common relic by digger standards but on this particular day in that 6th Corps camp, on the 6th of April, in hut #2, in the company of some of the best diggers around, and under that ancient oak, companion to a bayonet and a burned New York coat button, it was one very satisfying, and memorable recovery. |