The Yankee cavalry was near, if not in, the Slave Quarters
Saturday, August 2nd, 2008Crew Chief Jessica Brown found a fork, ceramics fragments and dark soil stain a few meters downslope from House One. Her finds suggested the presence of a feature so we opened a series of 1-meter squares we called the Fork Units. What we discovered in these units adds a new dimension to our understanding of probable events around the Quarters during its last days.
Fork Units. We opened nine and one half units over the feature. Hood is opening one.
Bird doggin the screen. Crew members carefully screened the soil from the units, alert for new discoveries in each bucket load. The soil was rich with artifacts. Ceramics fragments, bone, personal apparel and other items were numerous.
Diligence rewarded. Jessica discovers a pink enamel button.
The real surprise! Keenan Holmes found a spent shell casing from a 52-caliber Spencer repeating rifle. These were devastating weapons during their day because they could fire seven rounds without reloading. In addition, a rifleman could carry a cannister loaded with 10 more seven-round, spring loaded tube magazines. The only troops who carried Spencers at Tannehill were the Union Calvary raiders who swept through the Iron Works on 31 March 1865. Does this mean that the Yankees were actually in the Quarters that day? Why did they fire a weapon? We have another exciting clue to add to our growing body of information.