Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1886-03-11
lsiasisssasss Of Virginia Battle Fisla.

Probably the scene of these events
lths battle of the Crater is more Wis.
issd than any other spot among the
battle fields in the southeast of Vir-
ginia- The man who owns the farm
charges visitors q quarter a head, and
conducts them about. Bullets and
ether relics are still plenty. Ipicked
up several bullets in the ploughed
fields, and also piece of shell inside
the Crater itself. There is building
full ofrelics picked up by Mr.. Grif-
hn. the owner Of the place. Three of
them are particularly interesting. One
is made by two bullets meeting in the
air. striking point to point in exact
range. The result is disc of lead 40
large as a silver dollar, and about as
thick, with the base Of the Yankee
bullet showing in the centre on one
side, and the rebel bullet on the other.
Had these bullets passed each other
the fate Of the men firing them would
not be hard to reckon.
Another queer relic is a Confeder.
ate musket. in the barrel of W hich two
bullets met, splitting the barrel open
like banana peel. There the two
bullets can be seen. The rebel bull
let had got about ohe-third of the way
out when it met the prying Yankee
bullet on its way in, and then there
was trouble at once. OF course the
Yankee bullet had no business in there,
or at least it should have waited un.
til the other got out, but it undoubt-
edly was better for the holder of the
gun that it went in the barrel than
in his eye.
Another relic which tells ghastly
story is a Union cross belt plate.
These plates, as many will remember,
were circular, and worn on the car.
fridge box strap, and so came about
over the heart, while the belt plate
was elliptical and came about over
the stomach. Both bore the letters
"U. s." Through the plate picked
up had passed bullet, making .
huge hole, and of course the ball must
have passed into or through the body
Of the wearer.
One musket shown has the marks
of eight bullets upon it. Two of them
are tiattened into the iron of the bar.
rel and remain there. 1t was evi.
IDENTIFY pretty lively times in the vi.
cinity of the soldier that carried that
gun.
There are thousands OF other relics
cups, canteens, sabres, bayonets,
pistols, shells, shoes, pictures, letters,
ETC., making a most interesting col.
lection. There have been tons and
tons of lead and iron carried away
from fields by relic hunters, and the
supply seems inexhaustible. Every
fresh ploughing and rain disclosed
them and you can hardly dig in vain
in the leaves and dirt in any direc.
tion. Indian arrow heads, axe heads,
and other Indian relics are found also,
and a little deeper any quantity of
fossil remains of marine life. Shark
teeth, shells and huge bones of old
ocean monsters are plenty. 1t is a
locality with history that did not
begin with the Crater fight.
One day while Mr.. Griffin was show
ing party of Northern men around,
one Of them said: II am reminded
Of an incident that occurred here. I
had charge of q gun over there in the
works near Fort Morton. One Sun.
day while there was no firing going
on, and We were los6ng about, I saw
q man come over the hill by the GEM
etsry and come down across this slope
toward the rear Of the Confederate
lines. His comfortable and serene
manner irritatsd me, and I made up my
mind to see how close could come to
him, and We ell chucklsd at the idea
Of soaring the life out Of him. I took
good aim and landed Q shot about six
feet from him. You ought to have
seen him git up and git. he was the
scardest and most demoralized John.
ny Reb You ever saw. He went On
ct . rate that would run q dog to
death. and we roarsd With cheers and
laughter to see him dust"
$50 you are the man that fred thst
shot, are you ?" asked GrifHn.
Yes; do yeu know anything abou.
mw
well, I think ! do" was the 70.
ply, II was the fellow you shot at.
was Q lad coming with something for
my father, who was in the works.
did not suppose there was o Yankee
fool enough or mean enough to shoe,