How do we find a Civil war camp and trash dumps?

[sidney]

Can someone please tell us how do we find a Civil War trash dumps sites and camp sites.

We live in Richmond VA. We need to know what to look for and what to look for in the woods, for we hunt alot their?



Thanks.

 

[Canewrap]

Jeez, in Richmond I would just look for the nearest stream and hunt out from there. The conventional wisdom is that the troops needed water, a source of wood, and reasonably well drained ground to make a camp. If once you get to the stream it looks like it would be a good place for you to pitch camp, start hunting.

 

[GRAY GHOST]

hello sidney, i live about a half hour south of you in c-field. i can tell you now it's a whole lot easier to ask how to find a camp than it is to find one. richmond has been hunted pretty hard over the years, so if your're hunting in the woods, that tells me right away your're hunting outside of richmond, which is good. us relichunters are notoriously quiet about our hot spots, or where we think the good stuff is. and for good reason. i've always believed that just about anywhere you can put your coil to the ground, especially anywhere near richmond, is a good place to go to. all ground is old ground to me. they don't make it anymore, do they? the more you hunt, the more you'll find. go everywhere that you can. look for this: high ground near a source of good water. concealment from as many directions as possible. you can easily envision a ring of defenses around a major spot like richmond. where would you encamp your men? think about it. look at the lay of the land. and how will you know when you have hit a camp? oh man, there's no feeling like it. believe me, you will know it. black soil pits hiding lead melt globs. half melted bullets that were too close to the fire. brass tent adjusters that someone forgot to pull up. gun parts. carved bullets. buttons galore. harmonica reeds. old coins. candle holders. the list goes on and on. and with every camp is a community trash pit close by. the trashpits require a lot of patience. if the troops wintered over, then they built sunken log huts with small stone fireplaces. look also for multiple depressions in the ground close by each other, and evenly spaced. more often than not, finding a true untouched camp is a very rare thing, and it takes a lot of hunting and time to find one. and a whole lotta luck. sometimes it's hard to tell if you've found a yankee or confederate camp. so, sidney, i hope this bit of experience and info fresh from my bag of tricks will help you and your friends out. good luck, you can pm me sometime, and hh,

 

[chumline]

Wow Excellent post and full of great facts! Thank you for taking the time to compose all the info.....very educational!
Chumline!