By Greg Shipley
FORT JEFFERSON – Ian wanted us to conduct one more detecting sweep of the spot where we’d located a Fort Jefferson period target shooting range, before the corn crop got planted in that field, so we did on Memorial Day Monday. Ian, Brian Siefring, and I concentrated on the shooting range area and more fired .62 caliber musketballs, various caliber fired rifle balls, and fired buckshots were recovered in the same spot as where we’d found 151 fired balls during our May 10th outing.
As the target range seemed close to being thoroughly detected, Ian continued working out, in an easterly direction. About a hundred yards farther away from where Fort Jefferson had stood, Ian recovered an exploded fragment from a powder-filled artillery shell. Military records indicate that there were two pieces of artillery mounted on the Fort Jefferson bastions, and one was an iron howitzer, which fired this type of artillery shell.
Along with nearly 50 iron canister (or case) shots that have already been recovered, to the north and south directions of this 1791~1796 US military outpost, a fragmented cannon shell has now been found, more than a quarter mile from General St Clair’s fort site.
Also pictured are two .62 caliber balls with interesting features, as well as a large blob of melted lead with several large buckshot shells visible within the blob.
About 50 yards back from the target range, I recovered another large tombac button, of the type St. Clair’s infantrymen would have had on their uniform coats. Additionally, that’s where the melted lead recoveries have been located, so that a possible picket post may have been nearby.
This recent activity resulted in the discovery of 74 additional lead items, bringing the total to 225 lead artifacts, 2 tombac buttons, and an artillery shell fragment from the May 10th and 26th recoveries. The corn is now planted, and we won’t have the opportunity to resume investigating this Fort Jefferson-related site until after the Fall harvest. Still, it is another interesting spot that we’ve located.
Special thanks to Dr. David Cox
