The Value and Treatment of Civil War Military Sites

Abstract

The American Civil War was a defining event in the history of the United States, and scholarly and public interest in the conflict remains high. Archaeological sites from the Civil War can provide valuable data that cannot be gleaned from the archival record or oral history. The archaeological study of battlefields, skirmish sites, earthworks, trenches, camps, and picket posts provides specific details that augment the other data sources. However, the archaeological treatment of Civil War sites—specifically the use of inappropriate methods—continues to be a problem. As many areas of the heartland of the Civil War face growing development pressures, it is imperative that archaeologists reconsider their approaches to Civil War sites.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

American Battlefield Protection Program 1995 Battlefield Survey Manual: The Civil War Sites Advisory Commission Methodology, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.

Birkett

C. J.

Ross

D. E.

Martin

K. R.

Sell

S. D.

Gary

J. A.

, and Santillo

S. A.

2001 Fort Pocahontas: Results from the 2000 Field Season, William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research, Williamsburg, Virginia. Submitted to Sherwood Forest, Charles City, Virginia.

Botwick

and Neville

A. M.

1997 Phase I and Phase II Cultural Resource Investigations, Route 37, Frederick County, Virginia, Gray and Paper, Inc., Richmond, Virginia.

Braley

C. O.

1987 The Battle of Gilgal Church: An Archaeological and Historical Study of Mid-Nineteenth Century Warfare in Georgia, Southeastern Archaeological Services, Inc., Athens, Georgia. Submitted to Oglethorpe Power Corporation, Tucker, Georgia

Busch

K. L.

1991 Appendix F: Mass Spectrometry Analysis of Residues in Feature 23 Bottles and Jars, in Camp Baird: Archaeological and Historical Investigations of the Autumn 1864 Camp of the 32nd US Colored Infantry, Hilton Head, South Carolina, Legg

J. B.

Espenshade

C. T.

, and Snyder

L. M.

, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Greenwood Development Corporation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, pp. E1–E5.

Chadderdon

T. J.

and Cunning

T. A.

1994 Phase I Cultural Resource Investigations for the Proposed Virginia Department of Transportation Winchester Area Headquarters, Frederick County, Virginia, The Cultural Resource Group, Louis Berger & Associates, Inc., Richmond, Virginia, submitted to the Virginia Department of Transportation, Richmond.

Connor

and Scott

D. D.

1998 Metal Detector Use in Archaeology: An Introduction, Historical Archaeology, 32:4, pp. 73–82.

Espenshade

C. T.

2001a Camp Baird Retrospective: Lessons Learned from the 1989 Excavations of a Civil War Camp, paper presented at the 2001 meetings of the Archaeological Society of Virginia, Williamsburg.

Espenshade

C. T.

2001b The Challenge of Civil War Sites, Progress and the Environment, 5:2, Skelly and Loy, Inc., Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

10.

Espenshade

C. T.

2001c Novel Approaches to Reconstructing Lifeways in Camp Baird, the Autumn 1864 Encampment of the 32nd USCT, paper presented in the symposium, Scientific Tools in Historical Archaeology at the 34th Meeting, the Society for Historical Archaeology, Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Long Beach, California.

11.

Espenshade

C. T.

and Grunden

1989 Archaeological Survey and Testing of the Palmetto Headlands Tract, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Greenwood Development Corporation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

12.

Espenshade

C. T.

and Grunden

1991 Contraband, Refugee, Freedman: Archaeological and Historical Investigations of the Western Fringe of Mitchelville, Hilton Head, South Carolina, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Greenwood Development Corporation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

13.

Espenshade

C. T.

and Holland

1995 Cultural Resources Survey of a Proposed 91 Acre Development, New Hope Battlefield, Paulding County, Georgia, Garrow & Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Southlife Development, Inc., Dallas, Georgia.

14.

Faulkner

C. T.

1991 Appendix E: Parasitology Report on Samples from Latrines, in Camp Baird: Archaeological and Historical Investigations of the Autumn 1864 Camp of the 32nd US Colored Infantry, Hilton Head, South Carolina, Legg

J. B.

Espenshade

C. T.

, and Snyder

L. M.

, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Greenwood Development Corporation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, pp. E1–E5.

15.

Fox

R. A.

Jr.

1993 Archaeology, History, and Custer's Last Stand, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

16.

Fryman

R. J.

1995 “Engaged the Enemy Again”: An Assessment of the 1862 and 1864 Civil War Battlefields at Newtonia, Missouri, Garrow & Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Newtonia Battlefield Protection Association, Newtonia, Missouri.

17.

Garrow

P. H.

Holland

J. L.

, and Thomas

L. A.

2000 Camp Lincoln of the Army of Southeastern Missouri: Historical and Archaeological Studies of 23CT355, Van Buren, Missouri, TRC Garrow Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Young General Contracting, Poplar Bluff, Missouri.

18.

Geier

C. R.

and Hofstra

W. R.

1991 An Archaeological Survey of and Management Plan for Cultural Resources in the Vicinity of the Upper Opequon Creek, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, James Madison University, submitted to the Frederick County Board of Supervisors.

19.

Geier

C. R.

and Hofstra

W. R.

1992 A Phase I Evaluation of Archaeological Cultural Resources in Place on Terrain Lying Within Corridor Alternatives of the Route 37, Winchester Bypass, Frederick County, Virginia, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, James Madison University.

20.

Geier

C. R.

and Potter

S. R.

, editors 2001 Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War, University of Florida Press, Gainesville.

21.

Harbison

2001 Double the Cannister and Give 'Em Hell: Artillery at Antietam, in Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War, Geier

C. R.

and Potter

S. R.

(eds.), University of Florida Press, Gainesville, pp. 348–360.

22.

Harwood

J. M.

2001 “No Danger of Surrender”: An Historical Archaeological Perspective of the Civil War Battle of Wilson's Wharf, Charles City County, Virginia (Draft), William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research, Williamsburg, Virginia, submitted to American Battlefield Protection Program, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.

23.

Jensen

T. L.

2000 Civil War Archaeology at Fort Pocahontas: Life Between the Trenches, Archeological Society of Virginia Quarterly Bulletin, 55:3, pp. 126–134.

24.

Jensen

T. L.

Burling

E. J.

Park

Williams

J. A.

, and Schmidt

A. A.

1999 “A Tale of Three Centuries” 1999 Excavations at Fort Pocahontas, William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research, Williamsburg, Virginia, submitted to Sherwood Forest, Charles City, Virginia.

25.

Johnson

M. F.

2000 Civil War Burials, Centreville, Virginia, Site Number 44FX1791, Fairfax County Archaeological Services, Resource Management Division, Fairfax County Park Authority.

26.

Jolley

R. L.

1997 A Metal Detector Survey of Camp Mason (44FK533), A CSA Winter Encampment, Frederick County, Virginia, Winchester Regional Office, Department of Historic Resources.

27.

Jones

D. C.

Roberts

M. D.

Espenshade

C. T.

, and Poplin

E. C.

1991 Investigation of a Slave Row at Spanish Wells Plantation: Archaeological Data Recovery at 38BU869, Spanish Pointe, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Asset Management Associates, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

28.

Jones

J. B.

1998 An Archaeological Evaluation of Site 44FK533, Proposed Winchester Area Headquarters Project, Frederick County, Virginia, William & Mary Center for Archaeological Research, Williamsburg, Virginia.

29.

Jones

J. B.

1999 “Our brigade has never been in winter quarters, but always in tents & moving about …” Lessons Learned from the Archaeological Evaluation of Camp Mason, and Early Confederate Winter Encampment near Winchester, Virginia, Archaeological Society of Virginia Quarterly Bulletin, 54:1, pp. 20–35.

30.

Joseph

J. M.

1988 War on the Rapidan, Moss Publications, Orange, Virginia.

31.

Klein

Lindtveit

Theriot

Webster

, and Duncan

2000 Archaeological Mitigation at the Carriesbrooke Earthwork and Encampment (44FK66), The Center for Historic Preservation, Mary Washington College, Fredericksburg, Virginia, submitted to the Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond.

32.

Legg

J. B.

Espenshade

C. T.

, and Snyder

L. M.

1991 Camp Baird: Archaeological and Historical Investigations of the Autumn 1864 Camp of the 32nd US Colored Infantry, Hilton Head, South Carolina, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Greenwood Development Corporation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

33.

Legg

J. B.

and Smith

S. D.

1989 “The Best Ever Occupied …”: Archaeological Investigations of a Civil War Encampment on Folly Island, South Carolina, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, Columbia.

34.

Lowe

D. W.

and Wert

J. D.

1992 Study of Civil War Sites in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, National Park Service, Washington, D.C.

35.

McLearen

and Kiser

R. T.

1996 Archaeological Significance Evaluation 44FK514, Frederick County, Virginia, Laboratory of Archaeology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond.

36.

Nance

J. D.

and Ball

B. F.

1986 No Surprises? The Reliability and Validity of Test Pit Sampling, American Antiquity, 51:3, pp. 457–483.

37.

O'Donnell

M. J.

1996 Centreville Dead Recovered, North South Trader's Civil War, 24, pp. 36–40.

38.

Official Records (Or) 1971 War of the Rebellion: A Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies, compiled by R. Proctor, Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C.

39.

Potter

S. R.

1991 “To Peel this Land”: The Historical Archaeology of War, paper presented at the 1991 Society for Historical Archaeology Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, Richmond, Virginia.

40.

Potter

S. R.

and Owsley

D. W.

2001 An Irishman Dies at Antietam: An Archaeology of the Individual, in Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War, Geier

C. R.

and Potter

S. R.

(eds.), University of Florida Press, Gainesville, pp. 56–72.

41.

Potter

S. R.

Sonderman

R. C.

Creveling

M. C.

, and Dean

S. L.

2001 “No Maneuvering and Very Little Tactics”: Archaeology and the Battle of Brewer Farm, in Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War, Geier

C. R.

and Potter

S. R.

(eds.), University of Florida Press, Gainesville, pp. 3–28.

42.

Pratt

G. M.

1995 The Archaeology of the Fallen Timbers Battlefield: A Report on the 1995 Field Survey, Heidelburg College, Tiffin, Ohio, submitted to The Maumee Valley Heritage Corridor, Inc., Toledo, Ohio.

43.

Scaife

W. R.

1993 The Campaign for Atlanta, published by the author, Atlanta, Saline, Michigan.

44.

Scott

D. D.

1994 A Sharp Little Affair: Archaeology of the Big Hole Battlefield, Reprints in Archaeology, Volume 45, J & L Reprint Company, Lincoln, Nebraska.

45.

Scott

D. D.

Fox

R. A.

Jr. Connor

, and Harmon

1989 Archaeological Perspectives on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.

46.

Scott

D. D.

and Hunt

W. J.

Jr. 1998 The Civil War Battle of Monroe's Crossroads, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Department of the Army XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and the Southeast Archaeological Center, National Park Service, Tallahassee, Florida.

47.

Smith

S. D.

1994 Archaeological Perspectives on the Civil War: The Challenge to Achieve Relevance, in Look to the Earth: Historical Archaeology and the American Civil War, Geier

C. E.

Jr. and Winter

S. E.

(eds.), The University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville, pp. 3–20.

48.

Snyder

L. M.

1991 Chapter 6: Faunal Remains, in Camp Baird: Archaeological and Historical Investigations of the Autumn 1864 Camp of the 32nd US Colored Infantry, Hilton Head, South Carolina, Legg

J. B.

Espenshade

C. T.

, and Snyder

L. M.

, Brockington and Associates, Inc., Atlanta, submitted to Greenwood Development Corporation, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, pp. 180–219.

49.

SOUTH CAROLINA STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE 2000 South Carolina Standards and Guidelines for Archaeological Investigations, South Carolina State Historic Preservation Office, Columbia.

50.

Sterling

B. B.

2001 Archaeological Interpretations of the Battle of Antietam through Analysis of Small Arms Projectiles, in Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War, Geier

C. R.

and Potter

S. R.

(eds.), University of Florida Press, Gainesville, pp. 323–347.

51.

Sterling

B. B.

and Slaughter

B. W.

2001 Surveying the Civil War: Methodological Approaches to the Antietam Battlefield, in Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War, Geier

C. R.

and Potter

S. R.

(eds.), University of Florida Press, Gainesville, pp. 305–322.

52.

Sylvia

S. W.

and O'Donnell

M. J.

1990 Civil War Canteens, Moss Publications, Orange, Virginia.

53.

Toon

1991 Unbottling the Past, Research Horizons, 9:3, pp. 16–19

54.

VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HISTORIC RESOURCES 2000 Guidelines for Conducting Cultural Resource Survey in Virginia, Virginia Department of Historic Resources, Richmond.

55.

White Star Consulting 1998 Newtonia Battlefields Archaeological Survey, White Star Consulting, Mount Pleasant, Tennessee, submitted to the Newtonia Battlefields Protection Association, Newtonia, Missouri.

56.

Whitehorne

J. W. A.

and Geier

C. R.

2001 The Battle of Cool Spring, July 16-20, 1864, in Archaeological Perspectives on the American Civil War, Geier

C. R.

and Potter

S. R.

(eds.), University of Florida Press, Gainesville, pp. 73–94.