Under Fire!
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(click on a coin for more details... ) |
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Pictured above are the contents of a Confederate soldier's coin purse (the iron butterfly clasp disintegrated as it was being excavated) found where some of the heaviest fighting took place. The French coin and the U.S. 3 cent coin had small holes punched through them along with the remnants of a wire that was used to hold them together. It was a common practice to punch holes in half dimes, 3 cent coins and 1 dollar gold coins and secure them with wire or thread. The reason for this was that the coins were very small and easy to lose. All of the artifacts pictured on this page were recovered from the Confederate battleline near the point where it was anchored on West Ox Road. A three square foot area was excavated as it became clear that the artifacts were associated with an individual Confederate soldier. It is not often that a grouping of battlefield artifacts can be isolated in this manner. Interpretation Our Confederate soldier must have been very determined to hold his ground with what must have seemed like all hell breaking loose. The number of fired bullets (only a couple are displayed) that hit the ground around him indicate he was under intense fire. The unfired Gardner bullets tell us he was either very nervous (understandably so!) and dropped the bullets while reloading... or some of his paper cartridges had gotten wet and were discarded. The fired percussion caps which are used to ignite the black powder showed he was able to load and fire his weapon at least ten times. It was also a common practice for soldiers to carry extra ammunition in their pockets when going into battle. This fact along with the intensity of the battle and thunderstorm raging around him, could easily explain how he dropped his coin purse. One last observation... the presence and location of the French coin strongly suggests that the coin purse belonged to a soldier from the 8th Louisiana regiment. It was found exactly where the 8th joined elements of Early's Brigade in a second battleline. If it had not been for 8th and the three Virginia regiments standing their ground, General Steven's attack would have been successful. |
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