The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1892-09-08
FROM VIRGINIA.
Echoes from the BattIefeids, with Some
Notes about War Relics,

Notes about War Relics.
EDITOR NATIONAL TRIBUNE: In my recent
rambles over the old battlefeds / have coll
leeted and brought away many relics. At
Ream's Station was so fortunate rs to find an
unexploded Schenkl she'll, and a fragment Of
another which were thrown by gun in my
own battery. Here l found also 12 pound
solid shot which had been thrown by Battery
b. 1st Il. l. L. A., at the house Of Capt. Heath, TO
dislodge the enemy's shsrpshOoters III the bat
tie of Aug. 25, 1854. At Kelly's Ford picked
up Hotchkiss case-shot uEexploded. As my
battery threw many of these at Mr.. Kelly's
brick mill in the scrmmage OF Nov. ?, 1863.
tho chances are at least even that it was hurled
at rebellion through the muzzle of a 10th
Mass. rife.
/ was amused at Antietam recently, or rather
at Sharpsburg, to hear the young man who has
large collection of war relies on sale in the
town, pointing out Schenkl-shell from which
the papier mache had been torn away. as rebel
shells. and the bona fdo rebel sIells-those
three inch fellows, long, smooth, with a
metallic fange at the base. of which he had 10
Or 12-he was passing off as Union shells. /
mention this in no spirit of criticism of the
young man, who, by the way. is very intelli-
gent gnide over the battlefield, but only to
show how little is known about these things
to-day. / was nonplussed myself to give name
to some oblong, plum shaped solid shot, which
he has in his possession, weighing, perhaps,
four or five pounds each. / never saw their
like before. Who will name them to me?
For long time those cleaning balls, with
removable base tin disk, were thought
by the natives who picked them up to have
been explosive bullets used by the Union
armies, but they have now dropped that theory
Anent to explosive bullets, each side charged
their use upon the other, each Indignantly
denying that it ever resorted to such barba-
rous missiles / have in my collection two
alleged explosive bullets, one from the field of
Fredericksburg, the other from Chancellors-
vile. From careful study of these specimens,
and they are representative of the class l
convinced that they may have been and prob
ably were defective bullets of the ordinary
pattern. / think this is coming to be the ac-
cepted opinion, for had such things as explosive
bullets existed, some perfect uuquestioned
types would have been found losg ago some
where.
There is another relic to which / must allude
in this connection-a positive rarity among
relics. In 1869, when lead and iron were lying
about on the old fighting ground by the ton,
ran across marvel OF a curiosity. 1t was
sprargle of lead made up of two bullets which
had apparently met and welded in mid-air. /
did not find it myself, but the circumstances
under which obtained it were not such as to
suggest humbug, nor did l suspect one, and
the modest ambition to possess probably the
to pay a pretty good price for it-good for those
days of supersbundance in battlefield mementos
and | bore it off with somewhat of an air of
triumph. My triumph however, was short
lived, for not many years elapsed ere L found
another relic-hunter who possessed a similar
prize to my own, and, strange to say, obtained
it from the same source. Worse still, have
since traced two more to the same collector.
And yet, if my specimen is counterfeit, it Is
still almost as much of a marvel as if genuine,
for it is well done
To those who intend visiting the old battle
fields next month expecting to find many
relics themselves, l regret to say that they
will be disappointed. Every visible thing in
the line of metal, except old rust-eaten
coffee-can or canteen or cartridge-case, has
disappeared. Now and then something is
found in an out-of the-way place Of value.
Not long ago a man wrote me that he had
come into possession of a gold plated saber
and scabbard which was picked up in the
woods near Five Forks Aug. g. 1901. But
this is rare happening. / have saber,
given me last year by an e1-Johnny, found
by him not long before while clearing up his
farm, under pile of brush near the Cox
road over which Lees army retreated from
Petersburg; but last month walked the en-
tire length Of the rebel fortifcation at Five
Forks ON the inside finding absolutely moth
ing of wariike nature save csrtridge-case.
On "a Si1aii pdtcH vi SIOuHu III tHc HOouo III
front, where fire had eaten away decaying
vegetation, / had better luck, picking up a
trigger-guard to a musbset and horn-handled
jack-knfe
Wooded battlefelds undoubtedly include
much material which sooner or later may be
yielded up, but the open was well CLEANED
long since, although the plow will turn up
stray bullets and shell fragments for years.
Iron and lead had cash value at the close
of the war, which led to gathering them up
ard selling for old junk. Armstrong, of Peters
burg still has in his warehouse much of this
stock. which he works up in his foundry.
The find OF recent years in my collection, on
which / place much value, is musket picked
up in the McCaull meadow near the Bloody
Angle at Spottsylvania, across which Upton
and his gallant men charged on the afternoon
of May 10, 1854. 1t is in an excellent state Of
preservation, i'll view of the fact that it had
lain there in the marsh quarter of century.
And yet it was the fact of its being water
covered much Of the time that preserved it so
we'll.
The old works on the Peninsula and at Cold
Harbor, miles upon miles of which are stand
ing in an excellent state of preservation, will
some day yield up immense treasures of bullets
and shells. Old Fort He'll, before Petersburg,
when leveled, will be another fruitful field for
the relic hunter.
Within a comparatively short time Confed-
crate D1ltS were aDuniailt anu ulotTlDuteu ny
the holders with lavish indifference; but,
presto! parties have been advertising for them,
and they now have cash value wherever you
find them. 1t is easily accounted for. The
war is over. The sores are pretty well healed.
Mementoes of that epoch are being distrib-
uted more widely every year. The demand
is increasing and a scarcity is inevitable.
After Lee surrendered, on our return march
from Appomattox, / gave q negro 15 cents for
hundred dollar bill to take home memento
1t formed the basis of what is now very fair
collection of these rash promises to pay.-B,
Boston.