Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska
New member
Greg and I had already set up an early morning relic hunt for this morning. Had an impressive electrical storm last night, lasted approx. 2 hours of continual lightning, both vertical and parallel. Some of them were absolutely blinding flashes of electricity, very little rain. However this morning, the humidity left over from that was stifling. Greg and I hit the field by 7:45, and both of us commenced to sweating right away. The humidity was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. I ended up with 2 Civil War bullets, one dropped one melted in a fire, an old key, and a handful of whatnots. After a couple of hours in the meadow, we moved across the road to a cut hayfield, Greg walked to the center of the field, where as if in divine guidance, put his coil down, and dug a rare Confederate Whitworth bullet. I heard him whooping and hollering, and looked up in time to see him finish his chicken dance, but I can tell you right now it wasn't divine guidance, it was a little green leprechaun that follows him around. He got into a little sweet spot and ended up with 8 bullets and the Whitworth, and punctuated that with an 1899 V nickel. Congratulations Greg. The Whitworth was an English precision rifle, used by the Confederates sharpshooters. The elongated bullet is worth approx. $75.00.
"The Whitworth rifle was the instrument of one of the most remembered acts of black powder sniping. On May 9, 1864, during the Battle of Spotsylvania, Union General John Sedgwich was chiding some of his troops for lying down in a ditch to avoid Confederate snipers at a range of around 800 yards. So the story goes - the general allowed that they 'couldn't hit an elephant at this range'. Sgt. E. R Grace of the 4th Georgia Infantry scored a head shot a few moments later, with his Whitworth rifle. As a result, the Union attack was delayed, and General Robert E. Lee won the battle."
Vernon
[attachment 59318 key.jpg]
[attachment 59320 photo2.jpg]
[attachment 59319 Whitworth.jpg]
Gregs Whitworth bullet
[attachment 59343 2296-WHITWORTH_01.jpg]
Whitworth rifle
[attachment 59344 Confederate-Sharp-Shooters-lrg-.jpg]
"The Whitworth rifle was the instrument of one of the most remembered acts of black powder sniping. On May 9, 1864, during the Battle of Spotsylvania, Union General John Sedgwich was chiding some of his troops for lying down in a ditch to avoid Confederate snipers at a range of around 800 yards. So the story goes - the general allowed that they 'couldn't hit an elephant at this range'. Sgt. E. R Grace of the 4th Georgia Infantry scored a head shot a few moments later, with his Whitworth rifle. As a result, the Union attack was delayed, and General Robert E. Lee won the battle."
Vernon
[attachment 59318 key.jpg]
[attachment 59320 photo2.jpg]
[attachment 59319 Whitworth.jpg]
Gregs Whitworth bullet
[attachment 59343 2296-WHITWORTH_01.jpg]
Whitworth rifle
[attachment 59344 Confederate-Sharp-Shooters-lrg-.jpg]