My Current Excavations Relics Of A Confederate Parole Camp
With the fall of Vicksburg Mississippi, July 4th 1863
the captured Confederate Soldiers signed an oath not to take up arms against the North until properly exchanged. The Confederate Army setup several parole camps for the soldiers to be sent to for rest & refitting and to await proper exchange. These artifacts were recovered at one of those camps and tell a very interesting story of the Confederate Soldiers who were in these camps during the last year of the war.
This massive CS camp covers over 80 acres
and once the cotton came out and the fields got plowed, Confederate buttons were coming out of the ground like I have not seen in a long time and more fire pits were found as well. I added a new vehicle to my relic hunting gear so things were a lot easier in getting around this massive camp.
These hut sites and fire pits are almost 3 feet deep
in these fields. They are so deep that the fire bricks are still in a circle and have not been disturbed. They produce many artifacts, such as buttons, bottles, gun parts, marbles and even animal bones from the pigs and cows that they ate. Digging these is very time consuming and generally take a whole day to insure that all items are cataloged photographed and preserved for future generations to learn from and enjoy.
Some of the many artifacts that this camp has given up.
