I HAVE BEEN RELIC HUNTING FOR 20 YEARS HERE IN PA. I HAVE HUNTED A NEW YORK CAMP FOR ABOUT 15 OF THOSE 20. I HAVE NEVER DUG OUT A FIRE PIT OR A TRASH PIT AT THIS CAMP. I HAVE DUG LOTS OF MELTED LEAD THOUGH. I KNOW IT WAS USED A FEW TIMES BY DIFFERENT UNITS. AT ONE PART OF THE CAMP YOU FIND BUCK AND BALLS AND IN ANOTHER SECTION IT'S ALL THREE RINGERS. SO MY QUESTION IS DID THEY ALWAYS DIG FIRE PITS IF STAYING OVERNIGHT OR SEVERAL DAYS? ALSO WHAT WOULD i LOOK FOR WHEN LOCATING A TRASH PIT OR FIRE PIT? IT NEVER REALLY ENTERED MY MIND UNTIL I SAW THEM DIGGING SOME ON THE DIV DIGS. ANY HELP IN WHAT TO LOOK FOR ECT WOULD BE A GREAT HELP! I KNOW THEY STAYED AT LEAST 2 NIGHTS. JULY 5TH AND 6TH OF 1863.
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CIVIL WAR FIRE PITS AND TRASH PITS.
- Thread starter jeffpa
- Start date
My own personal experience is that fire pits were set up just about every night in bivouac unless it was hot weather. They are usually found in the "Whittle & Spit area" of the campsite. This area, as you would imagine, is where there is an abundance of melted lead and carved bullets and little else. Sometimes carved bullets were thrown into the fire. My experience.... these areas are usually between the officers' area and the enlisted area. Other fires were set in the "cooking areas".
Trash pits as well as "sinks" and latrines are usually around the periphery of a camp. The longer the stay the bigger the pit. These are usually within 100 paces of the camp and must be "probed for" unless a large amount cattle bone and iron are found at the surface.
Hope this gets you started.
Dave Poche
Trash pits as well as "sinks" and latrines are usually around the periphery of a camp. The longer the stay the bigger the pit. These are usually within 100 paces of the camp and must be "probed for" unless a large amount cattle bone and iron are found at the surface.
Hope this gets you started.
Dave Poche
motherlode1
New member
If you notice carbon or ash when digging a target,enlarge the hole and investigate
Jeff, Here in the Trans-Mississippi, and south Arkansas in particular, I'm not sure that Specs or Guidelines were necessarily followed too closely...... the Union soldiers may have been a little more adherant than the Confederates. I personally don't know how many actual fire "pits" were dug...... rather than the fire just being built on top of the ground...... which at this time the remnants would be in a "lens" beneath the surface of the ground. I have dug several "pits" of this nature with the melted lead, and broken/melted glass, and other relics being pretty shallow in the ground. ( And, if this area had been farmed after the camp had been there, then no real "pit" can even be located...... the relics having been scattered by the plow.) However, I have dug into a few actual fire pits...... where the relics may be as deep as a foot and a half or so....... and, I don't think that was all due to soil build-up alone. I personally don't remember ever actually digging into a trash or privy pit, and they'd have to probably be probed, or recognized by the debris scattered by the plow..... or dozer, or the logging skidder in the woods. I'm sure that some of the camps should have these trash pits and privy pits...... because of the length of the occupation. But, I just have not located them.... by probing, or any other means..... I should probably be kicking myself in the butt for not having done so. I have noticed some segregation among a couple of the larger camps that I hunt like that that was mentioned.... my partner and I have found Carbine bullets in one area, "Common" 3-ringers in another area. There's one area that nothing but Sharps bullets and .44 Colts came out of, another where nothing but Merrills and Burnsides were found.... and still another area where nothing but .69's were found.... including the Musketoons. Dave Poche is certainly among the experts in this area..... he and his associates have done tons of research, so I would certainly defer to him for any in-depth guidance.
huntinghunter
New member
JEFF,
HELLO, I'VE BEEN IN YOUR SHOES BEFORE, AND CAN AGREE WITH DAVE POCHE. IT MAKES SENSE TO CHECK THE PERIMETER OF A CENTRAL POINT, ESPECIALLY IF YOUR CERTAIN THE ENCAMPMENT LASTED MORE THAN A NIGHT. IF I WERE TO SCAN YOUR AREA, ONE WOULD LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THERE TO BE ACCESS INTO THE SITE VIA A ROUTE, A HILL, TO SET UP CAMP, AND ONE THAT CAN VIEW THE SURROUNDING AREA. THERE MAY BE A EASTERN SLOPE TO THE HILL WHERE THE SUN WOULD RISE BEING JULY, THE THERMALS WOULD RISE, WITH THE RISING OF THE MORNING SUN. I BELIEVE YOUR "TRASH" PIT OR "PRIVY" MAY LAY ON THIS SLOPE, GIVEN THE SMOKE WOULD LAY LOWER TO THE GROUND , OR IN THE VALLY FLOOR BELOW, THE HUMIDITY WOULD HAVE BEEN HEAVY IN THE AIR AS THE SUMMER NIGHTS WOULD'VE BEEN MUGGY AND HOT. SMOKE IS A SIGN OF ENVOLVEMENT, SO THIS WOULD GIVE AWAY LOCATION. YOU MAY WANT TO TRY A 100 YARD PERIMETER AROUND YUR RECOVERIES. FOCUS ON THE AREA THAT LEADS TO RETREAT, WEATHER IT BE, DOWN, OUT, OR ACROSS. YOUR AREA PUTS ME INMIND OF A PLACE I ONCE MD, NEAR A GOLF COURSE!
HELLO, I'VE BEEN IN YOUR SHOES BEFORE, AND CAN AGREE WITH DAVE POCHE. IT MAKES SENSE TO CHECK THE PERIMETER OF A CENTRAL POINT, ESPECIALLY IF YOUR CERTAIN THE ENCAMPMENT LASTED MORE THAN A NIGHT. IF I WERE TO SCAN YOUR AREA, ONE WOULD LEAD ME TO BELIEVE THERE TO BE ACCESS INTO THE SITE VIA A ROUTE, A HILL, TO SET UP CAMP, AND ONE THAT CAN VIEW THE SURROUNDING AREA. THERE MAY BE A EASTERN SLOPE TO THE HILL WHERE THE SUN WOULD RISE BEING JULY, THE THERMALS WOULD RISE, WITH THE RISING OF THE MORNING SUN. I BELIEVE YOUR "TRASH" PIT OR "PRIVY" MAY LAY ON THIS SLOPE, GIVEN THE SMOKE WOULD LAY LOWER TO THE GROUND , OR IN THE VALLY FLOOR BELOW, THE HUMIDITY WOULD HAVE BEEN HEAVY IN THE AIR AS THE SUMMER NIGHTS WOULD'VE BEEN MUGGY AND HOT. SMOKE IS A SIGN OF ENVOLVEMENT, SO THIS WOULD GIVE AWAY LOCATION. YOU MAY WANT TO TRY A 100 YARD PERIMETER AROUND YUR RECOVERIES. FOCUS ON THE AREA THAT LEADS TO RETREAT, WEATHER IT BE, DOWN, OUT, OR ACROSS. YOUR AREA PUTS ME INMIND OF A PLACE I ONCE MD, NEAR A GOLF COURSE!