Saturday, January 24, 2015

More rusty ACW relics from my collection

Here's another Spotyslvania Battlefield dug (March '76) relic. This is, as labeled, a .69 caliber Springfield bayonet. Now, I have a reproduction .69 bayonet and the diameter of the lug compares pretty well, even with all the dirt and rust crustacean. What's really interesting is that by this time in the war the .69 rifle/smoothbore muskets were pretty rare for both sides, with the .58 cal. Springfields and .577 Enfields dominating the adversaries ranks. The logistics of supplying ammunition for these .69 weapons would have been a nightmare for either side, especially in the rough "Wilderness" area. If only the relic hunter had jotted down the location of this find, it could have narrowed down to maybe what side and what regiment it came from. Then again, this part of the Virginia crawled with Confederates for a good two years before this Battle and could have been just dropped or left behind during a march or camp. Still, a cool find with many stories tell and questions to ask.

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Big ol' pile of heads and armatures for the St. Privat project.