Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska
New member
[attachment 100966 contest.jpg]
[size=large]LET THE GAMES BEGIN... and you don't even need to wear a dust mask for this one. The contest is for Civil War relics dug by me from a Union cavalry camp in central Virginia. They are an unfired Spencer bullet for the Spencer rifle plus a fired Spencer bullet.
Brief history:
The Confederate forces of Virginia under command of General Robert E. Lee had been under siege from Federal forces in the southern cities of Richmond and Petersburg Virginia for nearly a year. Lee's troops were in dire need of resupply, and he ordered the evacuation of the Confederates from both cities, and started marching westward in an attempt to meet up with Confederate supply trains to resupply and feed his near-starving army. Once Lee accomplished this, he was going to turn south and head to North Carolina and hook up with the Confederate army of North Carolina under General Johnson. At the time, Lee had approximately 30,000 Confederates under his command; General Johnson had about as many as well. Together they would have made a formidable army. However, General Grant relentlessly pursued Gen. Lee on his westward trek. Several times, Gen. Lee was almost within reach of the Confederate supply trains when the Federals would get there before him, and the trains would have to leave again in a westward journey or face capture by the Union. General Grant sent a message to Abraham Lincoln that he thought he could end the war if he "pushed the thing". Abraham Lincoln sent a message to General Grant, "Let the thing be pushed, then." Grant did just that. He hotly pursued Lee and his army, it was pretty much a running battle. Lee was outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. The one battle Lee was forced to fight in was Saylor's Creek, Virginia, where Lee lost 1/3 of his army, either killed or surrendered... the Confederates near starved and out of ammunition had no choice but to surrender, being surrounded by the Federals. Nearly 6000 of them laid down their empty weapons and another 2,800 or so killed or wounded.
The Federal cavalry, under the command of General Sheridan and General Custer (of Little Bighorn fame) were south of Lee's army and paralleled Lee's western trek. It was their job to prevent lee from turning south. The cavalry numbered approximately 20,000. This unfired Spencer bullet and a fired Spencer bullet is from the encampment of these Federal soldiers, a couple days before Lee surrendered in Appomattox, Virginia. In fact, it was these very cavalry soldiers that eventually captured Lee's supply trains at Appomattox, denying Lee his desperately needed munition, food, and supplies. Surrounded and without foreseeable hope, Lee had no choice but to surrender the army of Northern Virginia to his nemesis, General Ulysses Grant~ 4 years to the day of the start of the bloodiest war in American history. 600,000 died in that 4 year war.[/size]
[attachment 100967 Sham.jpg]
[size=large]OK, here's the "Scam Wow" guy to tell you all about the contest. Below is a picture of a simple combination lock I bought at Wal Mart today. The numbers are from 0 to 9. To win the contest, you must guess the three number sequence it takes to open the combination lock. Those sequence numbers are still attached to the back of the lock. I will help in making this somewhat easier by telling you that the second number in the combination is "5" or below. The FIRST person to guess the correct sequence that opens the lock will be the winner. So if Bubba guesses the correct number on the second day of the contest and then Cooter guesses the correct number in the third day of the contest ~ well Cooter lost cause he's a bonehead and didn't check that the number was already taken.
Please check other guesses BEFORE you guess to make sure you are not duplicating another, therefore voiding your chance.
Please put your three number sequence in the subject box. The Scam Wow guy doesn't have time to look in the text box for numbers. The contest will end Wednesday night at 7 PM eastern time.
As with many of these Spencer bullets I dug, most had some damage. Remember they are nearly 150 years old, and have weathered many seasons in the ground. This Spencer bullet has some damage on the back side of the casing, a small hole and some cracking on the case. I have secured the damage and it should not get any worse; as is, it makes a very nice presentable historical relic from the Civil War and can be proudly be displayed in your house, office, or prison cell.
GOOD LUCK!
Vernon [/size]
[attachment 100969 Lock.jpg]
[size=large]LET THE GAMES BEGIN... and you don't even need to wear a dust mask for this one. The contest is for Civil War relics dug by me from a Union cavalry camp in central Virginia. They are an unfired Spencer bullet for the Spencer rifle plus a fired Spencer bullet.
Brief history:
The Confederate forces of Virginia under command of General Robert E. Lee had been under siege from Federal forces in the southern cities of Richmond and Petersburg Virginia for nearly a year. Lee's troops were in dire need of resupply, and he ordered the evacuation of the Confederates from both cities, and started marching westward in an attempt to meet up with Confederate supply trains to resupply and feed his near-starving army. Once Lee accomplished this, he was going to turn south and head to North Carolina and hook up with the Confederate army of North Carolina under General Johnson. At the time, Lee had approximately 30,000 Confederates under his command; General Johnson had about as many as well. Together they would have made a formidable army. However, General Grant relentlessly pursued Gen. Lee on his westward trek. Several times, Gen. Lee was almost within reach of the Confederate supply trains when the Federals would get there before him, and the trains would have to leave again in a westward journey or face capture by the Union. General Grant sent a message to Abraham Lincoln that he thought he could end the war if he "pushed the thing". Abraham Lincoln sent a message to General Grant, "Let the thing be pushed, then." Grant did just that. He hotly pursued Lee and his army, it was pretty much a running battle. Lee was outnumbered nearly 3 to 1. The one battle Lee was forced to fight in was Saylor's Creek, Virginia, where Lee lost 1/3 of his army, either killed or surrendered... the Confederates near starved and out of ammunition had no choice but to surrender, being surrounded by the Federals. Nearly 6000 of them laid down their empty weapons and another 2,800 or so killed or wounded.
The Federal cavalry, under the command of General Sheridan and General Custer (of Little Bighorn fame) were south of Lee's army and paralleled Lee's western trek. It was their job to prevent lee from turning south. The cavalry numbered approximately 20,000. This unfired Spencer bullet and a fired Spencer bullet is from the encampment of these Federal soldiers, a couple days before Lee surrendered in Appomattox, Virginia. In fact, it was these very cavalry soldiers that eventually captured Lee's supply trains at Appomattox, denying Lee his desperately needed munition, food, and supplies. Surrounded and without foreseeable hope, Lee had no choice but to surrender the army of Northern Virginia to his nemesis, General Ulysses Grant~ 4 years to the day of the start of the bloodiest war in American history. 600,000 died in that 4 year war.[/size]
[attachment 100967 Sham.jpg]
[size=large]OK, here's the "Scam Wow" guy to tell you all about the contest. Below is a picture of a simple combination lock I bought at Wal Mart today. The numbers are from 0 to 9. To win the contest, you must guess the three number sequence it takes to open the combination lock. Those sequence numbers are still attached to the back of the lock. I will help in making this somewhat easier by telling you that the second number in the combination is "5" or below. The FIRST person to guess the correct sequence that opens the lock will be the winner. So if Bubba guesses the correct number on the second day of the contest and then Cooter guesses the correct number in the third day of the contest ~ well Cooter lost cause he's a bonehead and didn't check that the number was already taken.
Please check other guesses BEFORE you guess to make sure you are not duplicating another, therefore voiding your chance.
Please put your three number sequence in the subject box. The Scam Wow guy doesn't have time to look in the text box for numbers. The contest will end Wednesday night at 7 PM eastern time.
As with many of these Spencer bullets I dug, most had some damage. Remember they are nearly 150 years old, and have weathered many seasons in the ground. This Spencer bullet has some damage on the back side of the casing, a small hole and some cracking on the case. I have secured the damage and it should not get any worse; as is, it makes a very nice presentable historical relic from the Civil War and can be proudly be displayed in your house, office, or prison cell.
GOOD LUCK!
Vernon [/size]
[attachment 100969 Lock.jpg]
